My heart broke for my girl. I couldn’t believe her mother could be this fucking selfish. It didn’t matter how hard I tried to protect Kinley from this, it was bound to happen eventually.
“Baby, please go inside.”
“Why, Mom?” Kinley questioned, her voice trembling. “Why now? You’ve been sober for nine years. Why did you do this to yourself? To me?”
“Everythings is alwaysss abouts you!”
“Hey!” I gripped onto her arm. “None of that!”
Her mom yanked her arm out of my grasp, immediately falling onto the road on her ass.
“Mom!” Kinley lunged for her, getting down on her knees in front of her. “Come on. Let’s get you home, okay? We’ll get you in a cold shower, then call your sponsor. It’s fine, this is just a hiccup. You’re still on your meds, right?”
“I don’t knowwww. I’m tireds, Kinleysss Care Bearssss.”
Fresh tears rimmed her eyes. “I know, Mom. I know.”
“I’ll drive your mom’s car to her house, then we can take an Uber back.”
“Thank you, Christian.” Her tone was filled with sadness as I lifted her mom up off the ground while Kinley opened the back door to her mom’s car. Carefully, I set her on the seat before shutting the door, and she was passed out within seconds.
The instant I closed my driver-side door, Kinley threw her arms around my neck and started crying.
“I’m sorry, sweetness. I’m so fucking sorry.”
Tears streamed down her beautiful face, one right after the other. “Why, Christian? Why is she doing this to me again?”
“She’s an alcoholic, babe, and there’s a lot of changes that are happening. I’m sure she’s just trying to cope the best she can.”
“I thought we were done with this. I thought this was in the past. How could I have been so stupid?”
“It’s okay.” I rubbed her back. “We’ll get some food in her stomach, get her in a cold shower, and put her to bed. Deal with the rest in the morning.”
“Okay.”
I texted Julian and asked him to tell my parents what had happened, and all he could reply was, “Fuck, man. I’m sorry.”
Kinley held my hand the entire drive to her mom’s house which was about an hour away. After we finally got her into bed, Kinley didn’t want to leave her, and I understood why. She was worried she’d go right back to drinking again, given the chance.
“Go back to the party, Christian. Your family is waiting for you.”
I pulled her into my arms, knowing she needed me now more than ever. “You’re my family, baby. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Christian…”
“I know, babe. I wish I could take your pain away. The only thing I can do is be here for you in any way I can. We can try to get her into rehab or something if she agrees, but we can’t make her, Kinley.”
“I can’t believe this is happening again. I really thought that part of our lives was over. I don’t understand why she decided to ruin all the work she’s put in at getting her life back together. Nine years to just fall off the wagon. Why? Please make me understand.”
“I can’t answer that question for you, only she can.”
“I’m so sorry about earli—”
“You don’t have to apologize. I’m the one who should be apologizing to you. I shouldn’t have said anything. I feel horrible now that I did.”
“How did you know?”
“I guess I could just tell. She went from being heavily involved in your life to barely seeing you at all. It was like she was trying to hide the truth from you.”
“How did I not see it?”
“Love is blind, Kinley.”
For the next hour, we cleaned up her house, finding empty bottles of vodka stashed everywhere, on top of unopened ones filling her cabinets. She’d definitely relapsed, and from the looks of it, she’d been drinking for a while. Her meds were on the counter, untouched. Standing at attention.
Kinley didn’t say a word, but I could tell she was trying not to break down. Her disappointment was evident as she cried silent tears. Every couple of seconds, I heard her sniffle and breathe deeply in and out.
Once we were done getting rid of all the alcohol she hadn’t opened, it was well after one in the morning. We laid down on the couch, and I pulled Kinley into the side of my body with her head on my chest. I played with her hair, trying to get her to fall asleep. I was fully aware she was mentally exhausted from the night’s unexpected events.
“Christian…”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Do you think she’s going to keep drinking?”
I didn’t want to lie to her. All I could do was promise I’d be there for her. Although, I knew that night was the beginning of the end for her mom and her sobriety.
I just prayed she wouldn’t take Kinley down with her.