“JOANNA” Mom screamed, stumbling into the house. I caught her, supporting most of her weight.

                “Mom?” I asked “Are you ok?”

                Caden came over, putting my mom’s arm around his shoulder. I mimicked him together managing to get her to the couch.

                “I’m just a little dizzy, no worries” Mom laughed, collapsing on the couch.

                “Are you drunk?!” I frowned, crossing my arms.

                She snorted, blowing her bangs “No! Why would you think that?”

                “Its noon, Mom! You got drunk at noon?!”

                “I’m not drunk, Joanna!”

                “Yes you are!”

                “No I’m not!”

                I rolled my eyes, walking away to shut the door. Caden followed after a few awkward moments standing near my mom.

                He stopped me by the doorway “Want me to stay?”

                “No, please, just go home” I said, embarrassed at my mother.

                Caden nodded, hesitating slightly. He reached out, pulling me into a hug. I stumbled forward slightly, surprised at his sudden kindness.

                Cautiously, I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him back.

                He rested his chin atop my head, forcing me to tuck my head against him. It felt nice. It felt nice for him to hug me. Even if it was Caden, I appreciated the action.

                He pulled away, resting his hands on my shoulders. I looked at him, biting my lip.

                “I’ll be over around eight or nine tonight, ok?” He said “If you need me at all, just check your mom’s phone. My number’s in there”

                I nodded, smiling slightly “Thanks, Caden”

                He gave me a half-smile, patting my back “No problem, Pumpkin. See you in a few hours”

                He opened the door, leaving me to my mother. I knew I really shouldn’t let Jason come over since she was in this state. With a depressed sigh, I sent Jason a text telling him to not come over.

                I turned back to the living room where my mom was giggling to herself. She was trying to get Mason to come over to her. Unfortunately, Mason knew drunk-Mom too well. He stayed far away, running to me once he saw me.

                “Oh sure, run to your big sister” Mom snapped “I’m your fucking mother and you go to her”

                “Mom, please don’t curse around Mason” I said hypocritically.

                She rolled her eyes at me immaturely. “You’re not the boss here, Joanna”

                I sighed, picking my little brother up. “Mom, you’re drunk”

                “I’m not drunk!” She crossed her arms, pouting

                “Don’t argue with me. I know you are”

                “But I’m not!”

                “Why don’t you take a nap, Mom? Then I’ll believe you” I mumbled the last part, expecting her to argue with me.

                She simply groaned, standing up and making her way towards her bedroom. I raised an eyebrow in surprise, shocked she listened to me for once.

                I walked over, setting Mason down on the couch. I took his tiny hands, looking at him, “Mase, Mommy’s not in her happy mood today”

                “I know” He said, rubbing his eyes

                “Its alright, little bro” I smiled, trying to cheer him up “If you want, we can go to the park later on”

                He nodded “Can we go now?”

                “I need to go check on Mommy and make sure Jason doesn’t come over and then we will, ok?”

                He nodded again. I grinned, ruffling his hair.

                “Can you go clean up the toys in the mean time, bud?”

                He frowned “I don’t want to!”

                “Then I guess we won’t go to the park…”

                “Fine!” he huffed off the couch. I grinned, standing up. Mason started to put away his toys as I made my way to my mother’s room.

                Our townhouse was set up with originally only two bedrooms. When mom had Mason, she turned the basement into her bedroom. While I would gladly take the basement nowadays, I was terrified of it before.

                I opened the door, walking down the stairs. Her room was simple, only having a bed, dresser and lighting. A few other things for work scattered the floor, but other than that, the walls were bare. She had one picture in her entire room.

                It was taken the last time I’d seen my biological father, Chase. It was everyone I could call family at the time. Chase and Cody stood on the ends, my mother squished between them. I was around 12, Mason being only 1. Cody was holding Mason while Chase was holding me. I was sitting on his shoulders, my fingers gripping his hair to hold on. Mom was smiling, her arms around both the adults.

                I remembered that day too. I felt so tall sitting on Chases’s shoulders. I was surprised he could even hold me up. I remembered that I had fallen off, my mom catching me before I hit the ground. She didn’t trust Chase for shit even back then.

                I studied the picture framing before setting it back on the nightstand next to her bed. I glanced at my sleeping mother sprawled out on her bed. With a sigh, I pulled a blanket over her, taking off her heels. She looked like a wreck, make-up running everywhere.

                I scribbled down a note saying that I took Mason to the park and that there was food in the fridge she just had to heat up.

                I left her room as quietly as I could. I knew I didn’t have to worry about her waking—she was a heavy sleeper.

                But it felt appropriate to leave quietly.

                I checked my phone after shutting the door, reading the text message Jason responded with.

                If ur sure… call me if u need me :).

                I smiled, tucking my phone back into my pocket. I was never big on texting. More or less, I was a caller.

                I shook my head, walking over to where Mason sat on the couch, his shoes next to him. I sighed, getting down on my knees in front of him. I took a shoe, slipping it onto his foot. He couldn’t tie shoes yet, which I had been working on with him for a while.

                “Is Mommy ok?” Mason whispered, not looking at me.

                I smiled slightly, “Yeah Mommy’s ok, Mase. Can you give me your other shoe?”

                He handed me his right shoe, “Why is she being mean?”

                “Cause Mommy did something stupid last night and now she’s suffering the consequences—which she doesn’t like”

                I stood up, grabbing his jacket. Mason slipped it on, heading to the door. I grabbed the house keys, slipping on my own jacket.

                The wind lashed at my face as I stepped outside, hair whipping around everywhere. I looked down at Mason, who eagerly waited for me to lock up. Maybe I should’ve made him wear a hat…

                I locked the door, grabbing his hand as we walked to the park. The park was a good mile away, and in this wind, it felt like two. I half hoped Mason would ask to go home, but the boy loved parks too much for that to ever happen.

                Twenty minutes later, we arrived at the deserted playground, the swinging blowing slightly in the wind. Mason grinned, running over to the swings.

                I followed, coming up behind him. I lifted him up, pulling him back a little.

                “I wanna go up high, Go-ey!” He laughed, kicking his legs.

                “Hold on, Mase, I gotta get you warmed up first!”

                “No! Higher!”

                “I will, I will!”

                I pushed him harder, running underneath him. He giggled, kicking his legs as I appeared on the opposite side.

                I grabbed his tiny ankles, pulling him up and releasing him with a “Whoosh!” Mason laughed, his hands gripping the cold chains that held the swing.

                I smiled at him, so happy he was having fun.

                “I want to stop, Go-ey!” Mason whined after a while. I grabbed the edge of his seat, slowing him to a stop. He slowly slipped off, falling down. His palms pressed against the dirt before he stood up, brushing off his hands.

                Quickly, Mason ran over to the ladder, climbing up. I walked over to the slide, ready to catch him.

                He slid down into my arms. I scooped him up, spinning around. He giggled like crazy and ran up to do it again.

                We stayed at the park for a good hour and a half before I finally told Mason we were leaving. My cheeks were numb from the wind and I could barely feel my fingertips. Mason’s cheeks were rosey-red as he walked over to me, slipping his hand into my own.

                “Thanks Go-ey” He said, slightly out of breath.

                I smiled down at him, squeezing his hand “No problem, little bro”

                “Is Mommy still in a bad mood?” He asked quietly as we left the park property, walking on the sidewalk.

                I shrugged “We’ll find out. Hopefully she’s still having a nap when we get home.”

                “Oh”

                “Tell you what, I’ll make you spaghetti when we get home, ok?”

                Mason grinned, “Do you promise?”

                “Yes, I promise” I laughed. He loved spaghetti and even though it was fairly simple to make, we never made it much. He loved a lot of stuff that we never made.

                When we finally made it home, it had started to rain slightly. Mason and I ran the last block to our house, hoods up, hiding from the rain. I laughed as we ran, unlocking the door quickly. Mason ran in, his hair matted to his head, cheeks red.

                I pulled off my jacket, putting it on the couch. Mason kicked off his shoes, stretching out on the couch. I ruffled his hair, promising to start the spaghetti after I checked on our mother.

                I silently slipped into her room, checking for her.

                She sat on her bed, rubbing her eyes. Her make-up was already too smeared for it to make a difference anymore.

                “Where did you go?” She asked, looking at me confused.

                “I took your son to the park” I whispered, knowing she would have a hangover.

                She closed her eyes, laying back down slowly “I don’t feel good”

                “I’ll get you some medicine. Mom, you have to go back to sleep.” I insisted

                “No, Rodger or Rick or whoever.. he’s waiting for me tonight”

                “Mom…”

                “Joanna, I’ll just have another nap. Wake me up at six please” She said, her head back on the

pillow.

                I nodded “You sure you don’t want a pill or anything?”

                “That would be lovely, Joanna” she whispered.

                I left, grabbing a bottle of medicine and a glass of water. When I returned, Mom was asleep. I didn’t dare wake her up, leaving her medicine next to her. I left quietly, going back to the living room.

                Mason lay asleep on the couch.

                I sighed, debating whether or not to make him food. Glancing at the clock, I figured I might as well. It was 5, which was close enough to dinner time.

                ~*~

                “Mase, get up” I whispered, nudging him gently.

                He groaned slightly, opening his eyes “What..”

                “I made spaghetti. Its ready for you, buddy” I said, poking him awake. He shooed my hand away, sitting up. I smiled, watching him get up and walk out to the kitchen. Mason sat down at the table, picking up the noodles with his fingers.

                I sighed, not bothering to force him to use a fork this time “I’m going to check on Mom”

                It was close enough to six that I should get her up. It was close to the time when Caden should come over… if he was coming over at all.

                “Mom, its six…” I trailed off, shaking her awake. She swatted at me, acting just like Mason had before. Mom opened her eyes, looking around.

                “Holy shit…” She groaned, holding her head. I handed her the medicine that laid next to her for nearly an hour. She gulped down the water, cringing slightly as the pill went down too.

                “Its six…” I repeated, trailing off again.

                She nodded. “I’m good, I’m good. Go up and take care of Mason”

                I left without a word.

                When I came back upstairs I saw a half-eaten plate of spaghetti. I frowned, knowing something was wrong with Mason. He never left any leftovers…

                I walked over to the living room to see him curled up in a small ball. I sat down next to him, putting my hand lightly on his forehead.

                “Mason?” I whispered, feeling his too warm head.

                He groaned, looking at me

                “How do you feel?” I asked, knowing it wasn’t good.

                He shook his head. I got up, draping a blanket over his small body.

                “I’m going to get you some medicine, ok?” I said. “I need you to take it, sweetie”

                He nodded, eyes closed.

                I quietly retrieved some children’s medicine, knowing he was probably  not feeling good from playing in the cold all day.

                Mason took the medicine willingly. I sighed, letting him sleep on the couch. I took a seat next to him, closing my eyes too.

                This just wasn’t a good weekend.

                Mom was acting unusually bad, Mason was sick, and Caden was coming over twice. Again. Pathetically, I crossed my fingers hoping that Caden would somehow forget and just not come.  I didn’t want to deal with his shit at the moment.

                I had enough of my own.