"Oh my god," Sicilly muttered under her breath.

"And we never saw Dad again. I don't know if he's still alive, or if he's dead." Lulabell took a drag on her cigarette.

"Well serves him right." Sicilly looked at the clock. It was about 4:45 PM. "So what happened next?"

"Well Mama met Lester's daddy in a bar. This was about a year later. And 9 months after that we got little Lester." Lulabell paused. "And at this point, Mama was slowly losing her mind. She was takin' all these drugs to stop drinkin' which really made her worse."

Concern crossed Sicilly's face.

--------------------------

"Mama, mama." Lulu shook her mother awake. "Darwin's throwing up and-" She was interrupted by a coughing fit. She put her arms up like her mama told her. "And Lester pooped in the bed." Her mother shot up as quickly as possible and ran into the other room. Thunder crashed through the sky and lightening ripped it apart. She ran into the room and pulled the blanket away from the bed and lifted little Lester out and ran him to the bathroom, putting him in the bathtub.

"Get those clothes off! Get them off!" Lulabell ran to her brother to help him get his pajamas off as Darwin ran into the bathroom to vomit in the toilet. Their mother was pushed back, and stepped in Lester's soiled pajama bottoms and yelled out. Lulabell started coughing again, as Darwin wretched, and chaos was breaking through. Their mother sank to the floor in the corner, sobbing and yelling 'Help me! Help me! What have I done?!'

The next morning, it was as cold and dark as the night. The siblings sat on the couch, watching cartoons on the TV. Lulabell sat on the floor, in a nest of blankets running a high fever, while the brothers sat on the couch, kicking at each other, each with upset stomachs. Lulabell was missing school, and it was even flooding outside a little. The kids were just watching TV, as miserable as the weather.

They heard stomps coming down the stairs and Lulabell looked up to see their mother in a stupor. She stood in the doorway and looked at all of the kids. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" She screeched.

"Mama!" Lulabell cried hoarsely.

"GET OUT! GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!" She ran to the children and picked them up by their shirts, forcing them upwards. She opened the door to the outside and threw each of them into the mud. Each of the children was confused, and Lester started crying. Rain poured on them and drenched them to the core. Lulabell picked up Lester in time to see their mother running out of the house with a belt in her hand. "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE?!" She whipped Darwin with the belt and he yelled out loud.

"Darwin! Darwin! Run, run, Darwin!" He ran and grabbed onto his sisters shirt, and Lulabell tried her hardest to lead them away from the lunatic that was their mother. Their mother lashed out again, hitting Lulabell's back. She fell at the trunk of a tree, taking her brothers down with her. She tried to cover her siblings as best she could but she could still hear the smack on Darwin's back.

"Hit me, Mama! Not Darwin! Please Mama! PLEASE!" Lulabell yelled out loud as she was whipped, still trying to cover the other bodies. Tears streamed down her face onto the face of Lester who was already wet and crying and scared. "Please Mama stop! Please!"