“Stop!” I shake her off me and straighten my spine. “I’m tired of this hold he has over you. Why do you always choose him?” My bottom lip wobbles despite my desperation to stay strong and angry. “Why not me?”

“There’s more to it than that,” Mom says, voice quavering. “I’ve done everything for you. It’s always been for you.”

“Liar!” Tears well and I can’t contain them. I swipe them off my cheeks with the palms of my hands. “You do everything Darren says and when he’s not lording his power over you, you drown yourself in your stupid pills! I’m tired of all of this and you!”

“That’s enough,” Darren bellows. “Your tirade is done.”

“Fuck you,” I snarl, my words drenched in venom.

Mom rises to her feet, hands lifting in a placating gesture. “Darren, she’s just upset. Let me handle this.”

His head tilts to the side as he studies her, a cruel expression on his face. “She’s not a little girl anymore. I think she’s owed the truth.”

Bile creeps up my throat.

What truth?

“You can’t tell her,” Mom whispers. “You swore to me.”

I stand up despite the way my knees slightly buckle. Uneasiness has a hold of my nerves and every cell in my body feels alive. Something tells me that the big secret will have me wanting to bolt and I need to be ready.

“Tell me what?” I demand. “What have you been hiding from me?”

Whatever this is will hurt. I can feel it. Like a calm before a chaotic storm. My mother has betrayed me in some way and I need to know what it is, no matter how painful it may be.

Mom’s head bows and her shoulders begin to shake as she sobs. I stare at her with new eyes, aware of how weak she is as she fumbles for her purse, locating a couple of her pills.

“I need to know,” I say to Darren, unable to peel my eyes from my mother. “I need to know what has her choosing this over me.” I motion at the pill bottle in her hand and then at him.

His smile is wicked as he walks over to her. She’s limp but willingly goes into his arms. I want to throw up but manage to keep from getting sick.

“When your daddy died, your mother had a hard time keeping her shit together.” Darren murmurs the words as he gently strokes her hair. “Damn near drank herself into the grave with him.”

I remember those early days after Dad died. When I was a small child taking care of a grown woman who would never leave the bed. I learned quickly how to open cans of ravioli and other easy meals to feed us. I’d done a good job, too, until the food ran out.