Rebecca knew she should have gotten rid of it a long time ago, but as she passed her ID over to the man behind the counter and he gave her a nod of approval, she was glad she had it. She gave the man the money and picked up the bottles of alcohol. She thanked him before storming out.
She didn't care about anything at this point. Her father had died, clearly it was her fault. She hadn't been a good enough daughter for him to want to change. She hadn't given him the support he needed so he felt like he could change. She had run away from him, left him feeling abandoned and alone. It was no wonder he drank himself to death. It was no wonder he wanted to see an end to it all. No one believed in him.
She stuffed the bottles in her backpack and took the first bus she could find. She didn't care where it was going. She had nowhere she had to be. She just sat down in one of the seats and hugged her back to her chest.
The bus ride was long, but eventually Rebecca did get off. She saw a park nearby that seemed to be empty and walked straight to it. She sat on the bench and made sure once again no one was around before she pulled out the first bottle.
Her first taste was anything but pleasant. The alcohol burned her throat as it went down and she nearly spit it up, but her former friends had assured her that it took some getting used to. She hadn't drunk much before getting pregnant, and hadn't drunk at all since.
But she had nothing to do, nothing to worry about, no one to go home to and nowhere to be. She kept an eye out so she wouldn't get caught and just drank as much as she could. There was no point in trying to be any better. She had no one left. Her mother was murdered; her father drank himself to death. She no longer cared about anything.
She finished the first bottle and already felt the drink was hitting her hard. She fumbled to pull another one out for her bag but she couldn't manage. She dropped it on the ground and cursed loudly. It was all she had.
"Dammit," she muttered and then looked around. There was a store just on the other side of the park. Certainly they would sell her something to drink. Her ID said she was twenty-one. She grabbed her bag and made her way across the street. She stumbled into the store.
"Kid, you okay?" the man behind the counter asked her. Rebecca nodded her head and gave him a thumbs up. She walked to the back, where all the alcohol was kept, and picked up a six pack. She walked to the counter.
"I'm going to need to see some ID."
Rebecca pulled it from her wallet. The man was fooled by it and gave her the total. Rebecca went to give him cash but found she had nothing. She had given it all to the other guy.
"Dammit," she muttered again. Her wallet was empty. She had nothing to pay with. The man behind the counter looked to her apologetically.
"Sorry. No freebies."
"Please," Rebecca begged but he was insistent. She pointed her finger at him and slurred, "You're stupid!"
"Miss, maybe it's time to go home."
"Maybe you should go home!" Rebecca shouted. "What kind of business are you running here?"
"I'm just the night manager," he shook his head. "If you come back with some cash…"
"Why don't you just give me the drinks and we'll call it even."
"Should I call you a cab, miss."
"No!" Rebecca smashed her hand down on the counter. "You listen here, my father just died and I need this. Now, are you going to be stupid, or are you going to help me out."
"I'm very sorry for your loss, miss, but I'm afraid I can't just give my product away."
"That's stupid. You're stupid… NO! And imbecile! I bet you hear that often you… you moron!"
"Miss…"
"I hope you go out of business because of this stupid policy," Rebecca kicked over the candy stand. "What's so special about money anyways. You know what, go to hell!"
"Have a good night," the manager said as Rebecca stormed out and moved down the street in anger until she saw a family leaving a nearby restaurant. She saw the mother was carrying a purse. Remembering what she had learned, she ran quickly and tried to snatch it.
Only in her state, she didn't have the right coordination. She managed to grab the strap of the purse, but she couldn't get the woman to let go. She tugged and pulled with the mother until her husband stepped in.
"Get off!" he shouted and pushed her away. Rebecca let go of the purse and fell backwards on the sidewalk. The father ushered his wife and kids away quickly. Rebecca stood up and brushed off the snow.
"You know what? You're all just assholes!" she called to them as they walked off quickly. "Big, smelly, hairy holes! I hope you all rot in hell!"
She kicked a snowbank and then continued down the street. She saw another family and convinced herself that this time she wouldn't fail. The family was getting into their car. The father was brushing off the snow, the little girl was getting inside on the left and the mother was putting her baby into his car seat on the right. While she did that, she left her purse sitting on the sidewalk, perfect for Rebecca. She ran as quickly as she could and snatched up the purse.
"Mommy! Mommy!" the little girl started to scream and Rebecca heard the father shout to his wife and kids to stay by the car. His footsteps pounded into the ground as he came after her. He sounded fast, but Rebecca was convinced she could outrun him.
Until she tripped. She didn't know it happened until her face hit the ground. She kept the purse in her hands and tried to get up quickly to run. She could barely feel any pain at all.
"Let it go!" a man shouted behind her and she was suddenly grabbed, but she refused to let go of the purse this time.
"Go to hell!" Rebecca screamed but she was shoved backwards again and the purse slipped out of her grasp. She wasn't ready to give up. As the man tried to walk off she jumped on his back. "Give it back! I got it! It's mine!"
"Go home, kid, you're drunk!"
"Joke's on you, asshole! I have no home! WHOA!"
Rebecca was thrown over the man's shoulder and into the sidewalk. She gasped loudly as she tried to catch her breath after having the wind knocked out of her.
"Leave me and my family alone!" the man shouted at her. Rebecca gasped for breath again as he was about to leave. He stopped walking and looked back. He didn't like having to fight anyone, especially just a kid. He had meant to shake her off, but he hadn't meant to hurt her. He looked down.
"Hey, kid. You okay? Do you need me to call anyone to pick you up?"
"No…" Rebecca sat up and grabbed the back of her head. She pulled her hand away and saw blood. She rolled her eyes, "Is that wine?"
"Damn," the man muttered. He put his wife's purse on his shoulder and then offered his hand, "Let me get you to the emergency room. They'll probably give you a room for the night. They'll check on your head and you can sober up."
"Get away."
"Kid, let me see…"
"I'm fine!"
"Kid…"
"Let me go!"
"Kid, just let me have a… Rebecca?"
The man grabbed her arms and forced her to face him. He looked at her face closely, "Rebecca? Is that you?"
"No, I'm the fucking Queen of England."
"Rebecca, it's me. It's Kevin."
"Screw yourself, Kevin. Go screw yourself and your happy little family."
"Rebecca, I'm Jesse's father. Remember."
"I'm no one's father," Rebecca pulled away from Kevin. "See you never, Kevin."
Kevin rolled his eyes. He followed Rebecca down the sidewalk.
"Why don't you spend the night with us? We've got a guest bedroom with a warm bed."
"Screw you."
"Rebecca, you can't stay out here. Where's your brother? His parents…"
"They're going to hell. Just like everyone else!"
"Rebecca, you really should come with me…"
"NO!"
"You're not leaving me with much of a choice," Kevin said. Rebecca didn't want to listen and tried to walk off but suddenly the ground wasn't under her feet. She felt herself flying. For a minute she thought she actually was but then she realized she was on Kevin's shoulder.
"HEY! Hey, put me down! Fuck off, Kevin! Put me down! This is kidnapping!"
"It's for your own good, Rebecca," Kevin told her. He made it back to the car, where Mia was waiting outside worriedly. She saw him carrying the girl who ran off with the purse on his shoulder and frowned.
"Kev…"
"Rebecca," Kevin said and the pointed through the window at Jesse. Mia's eyes widened.
"What's she doing all the way out here?"
"I don't know."
"It's none of your damn business!" Rebecca shouted.
"I'll call a cab," Kevin said to Mia as he took his keys out from his pocket and gave her back her purse. "We'll meet you back at home."
Mia nodded her head and hesitantly got in the car to take the kids home. Kevin pulled out his cell phone and started to call the number for a cab.
"Put me down! Help! Help! He's trying to kidnap me!"
"Everyone can tell you're drunk, Rebecca."
"You don't know what I am! Someone! Please, help!"
"I'm going to take you home, we're going to give you something to absorb that alcohol, and you're going to spend the night with us."
"He wants to kill me!"
Kevin groaned. He reached for his wallet, "Look, if I give you ten bucks will you shut up?"
"Twenty," Rebecca said. Kevin set her down and handed her ten dollars.
"You'll get the rest at home."
Rebecca glared at him, but she needed the money. She stuffed the ten in her pocket and then crossed her arms.
"You have a stupid face."
