Raleigh awoke on her living room couch. She didn't even remember falling asleep the night before. She grabbed her cell from the coffee table and read the text from Stephen from the night before. You looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you. I'm going to work out early, let me know if you want to grab lunch. Bring your mom with you, I should say Hi to her before I leave. Wow, that was so sweet it was sick. Even though Rae knew Ste just really did genuinely care about her and her mom it sometimes was a little overly sweet. She sometimes wished he'd find a girlfriend before she started to think he was really gay. She laughed to herself, she knew that wasn't the case, but they both were getting older, soon they'd only have each other left.
Raleigh bounded up the stairs to wash her face and brush her teeth; she stopped by her mom's room to find her still sleeping. Hmm, she thought, she slept a really long time. She walked into the room to make sure she was still breathing, and she was.
"Mom?" Rae said shaking her mother gently. "Are you getting up soon?" Carmen stirred slightly, finally opening her eyes. The same deep brown, almost black that she shared with Rae.
"Oh baby, I'm just so exhausted, what time is it?" Carmen asked sleepily.
"It's almost nine now, I fell asleep last night too when Stephen was over, but he wants to go to lunch with us, so you'll have to wake up eventually." Rae said.
"I've missed him. He's a good man Raleigh, better than the men that girls like us normally find." Carmen said, standing up with a stretch.
"I know Momma, I'm going to hop in the shower quick, will you be alright until I get out?" Rae asked.
"Yes, honey, I'll just be downstairs getting something to eat." Carmen said turning out of the room to walk downstairs.
Rae made her way to the bathroom and turned on the shower to warm up the water. Better than the men we normally find, she thought to herself. That was something her mother had always told her. That they were a certain kind of girl, only meant to do certain things with their lives, and only meant to find certain kinds of men. The kind that mistreated them and weren't any good. Rae liked to imagine this was not the case; she could do anything she wanted. She used Natsia as an example. She'd moved from Russia as a young girl and her parents hadn't had a whole lot, and now look at everything she'd accomplished. Rae would be done with her degree soon and maybe she could find a nice house for her and Carmen. She'd show her mother that she could do anything, and she wasn't meant for only a certain kind of man. She could do anything with her life.
Raleigh finished her shower and headed downstairs to find her mom already changed and sitting reading the paper. She walked over to grab some coffee, sitting down next to her mother.
"So where do you think you want to head to lunch today? We could go to Sylvia's, we haven't been there in a while." Rae suggested.
"Oh that sounds nice, is Stephen still coming?" Her mother asked.
"Yeah, I'll just having him meet us there, I can send a text now. He was excited to see you." Rae said taking out her phone.
"Yes, that would be fine. But I'd like to get back home earlier; I'm still a bit tired." Carmen said with a yawn.
Her mother had been awfully tired since she'd picked her up the day before. It was strange to see her so lethargic. Raleigh wondered what she'd done at the home with Harmony for the past few weeks.
"Why are you so tired mom? You should have had a relaxing time with Harmony. Did she put ya to work over there?" Rae asked, laughing.
"No we didn't do a whole lot, I started on a new medicine though, she said she had told you, it might make me sleepy." Carmen said with another yawn. A new medicine? Rae wasn't made aware of any new medications for Carmen, and Natsia hadn't said anything about it, and she handled all of Carmen's medications.
"A new medicine? Do you have it with you?" Rae asked, looking at her mother quizzically. Carmen took out the medication from her purse on the table, which was another thing that Rae didn't like. She always kept her mother's medication locked and either she or Natsia had the key to the lock box. The box had traveled with Carm to Harmony's and Rae had trusted Harmony to keep everything locked up. Rae took the bottle in her hand; it read Gabapentin on the side. This was a medication they'd wanted her to try, but Rae had been wary of it. It had some really scary side effects.
"Harmony said I should be taking every medication I can, to help ease the pain I'm going through. She said you were trying to heal me naturally Raleigh that nonsense doesn't work." Carmen said taking a sip of her coffee.
"I don't know mom, all these medicines are scary, you can't mix certain ones together, we'll have to run this by Natsia first, she knows the most about your medications. Then we can talk about Harmony, maybe she's not the best doctor for you." Rae said with a sigh. She loved Harmony and trusted her. And she was the best recovery therapist she'd found as of yet.
"Honestly Rae, she's a fine doctor, she's cheap as well, and you're always trying to be so fancy." Carmen said, finishing off her cup of coffee. That was the thing that upset Raleigh most about her mother, she always wanted to keep her down, why bother dreaming at all. Rae knew it was just because Carmen's own life had hit so many detours, nothing had gone planned for her, her life had taken a turn for the worst.
"I'm not trying to be fancy mom, I just don't want you being pushed into medications that are not the best for you. I want you to feel better, but I also don't want you sleeping all the time and becoming a vegetable." Rae said, taking the empty cup and putting it into the dishwasher.
"I'm going to finish getting ready and give Stephen a call, why don't you just relax, I'll be ready soon and we'll have a nice lunch." Rae said walking out of the room.
Walking into her room Rae looked over her closet. It was a mix of the same type of tank top in every color imaginable, the same kind of khaki short, the same kind of denim skirt. Her clothing was all basically the same. She always loved to go shopping but she just didn't have the extra money. She had a few nice hand me downs from Natsia, and she and Barbara had the same shoe size, but it was always a little embarrassing to get handouts from her friends, after all she was making it just fine. Once she graduated she could get a higher paying job and then things would be great. She settled on a simple denim mini skirt and a pink sequined halter from express that Natsia had given her a few years earlier, it wasn't anything new but she liked how it hugged her curves without being clingy. She slipped into some espadrilles and scrunched her hair a little. She'd need a haircut soon before it got out of hand. Thanks to her Mother she had hair that was straighter than straight, but her father had given her frizz. The only thing she loved was the fact that her hair was a deep burgundy color, chocolate brown with pinky red undertones. It came from the fact that her father had been a red head and her mother had had jet black hair. She never once dyed it but she did have to spray it to death to get it to stay straight. She curled the ends a bit and clipped it back. Simple and out of her face, just how she liked it to be. She walked back downstairs to gather up her things and get her mom ready to leave, she would need her daily injection before they left.
"Mom? Are you around here?" Rae called out in the apartment. She hoped she hadn't wandered outside, it was so hard to get her to come back from the garden. It had been one of her favorite things as a young girl, before drugs had consumed her life and it was one of the things she still held dear today.
"I'm right here, just putting my shoes on." Carmen said from the kitchen. She sat at the table putting on her sneakers. Rae went to her side to help her with the laces.
"Here Mom, let me help you. Are you excited for our girls day out today?" Rae asked her mother as she laced the sneaks.
"Yes, I did miss seeing you. Did you enjoy your trip to Ireland?" Carmen asked. Raleigh looked up at her mother shocked, she didn't normally remember details like that. Too much of her memory was gone.
"Why yes, I really did. I'm surprised you knew where I'd been. Did Harmony remind you?" Rae asked. Sometimes if you told her something every day she'd hang on to the information.
"No, I can remember important things Raleigh. You don't have to assume I'm so stupid." Carmen said looking hurt. Rae could already tell this was going to be an awesome day.
"Listen Mom, I don't want to argue with you today. Of course I don't think your stupid at all, sometimes you just forget because of all the drugs you used to do, you are so smart because you don't do them anymore. But you can't expect your brain to function the same after all it's been through. You know how much I love you." Rae said standing up and heading toward the door. "Now let's get a move on, or else we'll be late and Stephen might leave, you don't want that to happen now do you?" Rae said. Her mother smiled and stood up grabbing her jacket. Rae knew how much she got loved Ste, they'd always gotten along and he was patient with her through her tirades. She decided to wait on the injection until later, maybe give her that with her Ambien so she'd take a nap and not put up too much of a fuss.
They made their way out to the garage and into the little Ford Focus. Stephen had bought it for Raleigh a few months earlier when he found out she'd been waiting for the bus at her last waitressing job. It hadn't been in the greatest of areas and since she got out at one or two in the morning, he didn't feel good letting her wait for the bus to get home. Of course Rae had put up a fuss, but in the end Stephen had told her it would just be his car that she used since he wasn't home anyway. She'd laughed at the thought of him even fitting in a ford focus; usually they drove around in his explorer. Rae turned on some jazz and they pulled out of the apartment's garage. Her apartment wasn't in the greatest neighborhood, but it also wasn't the worst. At least she was the only one on her side that had a vehicle, so she got use of the garage. It was a lot different driving over toward Natsia and Barbara's complex, with the huge condo's and well groomed lawns. Rae had met Nat first, she only lived down the street but the condos were a completely different world. It was walking distance to the beach and the condos were really nice. It was the kind of complex Rae had hoped she'd be able to afford once she graduated. Barbie had moved into the condos a short time after befriended Raleigh, but she was hardly home. She split up the time staying there and at her boyfriend Justin's house along with being on the road.
They pulled into Sylvia's Beachfront Diner and headed in. Stephen was already there at their usual table, Carmen lit up to see him.
"Hello Carmen! I've miss you. How've you been?" Stephen asked, enveloping the older woman in a hug.
"Oh wonderful dear, Harmony and I watched you every week." Carmen said taking a seat. It was funny how her moods could switch so suddenly.
"Hey Rae, you look wonderful." Stephen said pulling out a chair for her.
"Oh, thanks, just threw on what I could find. How was your workout?" Rae asked, feeling funny in her stomach. She hated when Stephen complimented her like that, it made her feel funny. Like having your brother see you from behind and think you're a really hot chick, then you turn around and you're his sister.
"It was great, if you hadn't slept the day away, you could have joined me. I'm only home 'till tomorrow night, then I think I'm gone for three weeks." Stephen said taking a sip of his water. They waitress came over and took their drink orders; they all got the same thing so time wasn't wasted there. Stephen only joined them when he could but Raleigh and Carmen tried to make it once a week at least.
"So you'll be gone for three weeks? I'll be done with classes by then, will you be home for very long?" Rae asked, sipping on her cranberry juice.
"Oh I'm not sure, maybe a week or so, then off again. It'll calm down a bit closer to thanksgiving, maybe this summer you guys could come out to a couple shows? Bring Nat with ya?" Stephen said. Carmen was not involved in the conversation at all, she was simply staring out the window. Stephen nudged Raleigh so she'd notice her as well. But the second Rae looked over at her mother, she knew it was about to happen. Carmen leapt from her seat and started to scream.