Natalie
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Flashback
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It was just me and my mom, hanging out in the living room playing board games like we did every Friday night. Only now, my dad doesn't come right home after work on Friday's, he usually goes to the bar and drinks.

"That was my turn!" I laughed as my mom took my turn. She used to always tease me whenever we played a certain game, whether it was about seeing who finishes first or who cheats the game system.

"You weren't paying attention Nat, I took your turn instead." I watched as my mom rolled the dice and got doubles. She moved her pawn to the next couple squares, and I pouted when I realized she was about to beat me.

I grabbed the dice and rolled them around my hands for a second. "I just need a six, then I win." I whispered under my breath. I threw the dice across the board and whined when I got a two instead of the six that I needed to beat my mom. My mom burst out into laughter at how disappointed I became.

"I'm most likely going to win." My mom stuck her tongue out at me as she rolled a one. She's only three spots away from winning the game and I don't want that to happen. I haven't beat my mom once in any board game that we've ever played.

"When is dad coming home?" I sighed, looking at the time that was very close to eleven by now. My dad used to come home around seven, but for the past couple of months, it's always been way past midnight. "I'm not sure honey. Hopefully soon." There was a slight bit of hope in me that when he came home, that I could actually play a board game with him since I haven't in god knows how long.

Hours went by, and my dad still wasn't home. "Holy crap, it's almost three in the morning." My mom suddenly said, glancing at her watch. A yawn escaped my mouth, but I wasn't even close to tired. I was far from that.

"Can we still play though?" I asked, taking my turn of rolling the dice. "Sure honey. Just make sure I don't fall asleep on the board again." I laughed and remembered that last time we played a game, my mom fell asleep on the board and refused to move her head so that I could take my turn.

Eventually, time passed and it was nearly five in the morning, and I was still wide awake, playing the same game with my mom. "I think it's time we head off to bed. I'm not sure when dad is coming, but we need our rest." I agreed and started cleaning up when I heard the front door open and slam shut, making all the windows in the house shake.

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My dad stumbled in through the door, a beer bottle resting in his hand, while his other hand was pushing against the doorframe. It was normal now to see him drunk out of his mind. I just turned fourteen, and I wasn't sure that a fourteen year old should be witnessing their dad like this.

"Dad, why do you come home like this? I miss the dad that would come home at seven and play board games with us every Friday night. What happened to that?" I asked my dad, who probably didn't know what was going on at this point.

"Things change Natalie. Don't expect it to go back to how they used to be." My dad slurred almost all of his words. My mom came down the stairs, holding me back.

"Daryl, put the beer away and come to bed. It's almost six and we can't sleep all day."

My dad grumbled and walked towards the kitchen, throwing his empty bottle away, then going to the fridge and grabbing another beer. "Nah, I'm fine with what I'm doing now." He tossed the cap across the floor and started gulping the beer at a fast rate.

I pulled away from my moms strong grip and tumbled into the kitchen, trying to grab the bottle away from my dad so that he doesn't end up drinking himself to death.

"Dad, stop! I hate seeing you like this! You're going to end up drinking yourself to death!" I cried out, clinging onto the beer bottle with all my strength. I saw the anger rising in my dads eyes and I was frightened. He snatched the bottle away from me and slammed it down on the counter, smashing the bottle into pieces.

"Stay the hell out of my life."

My heart completely shattered and I ran up to my room, crying my eyes out all night long. I stopped caring for my dad at that point.

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