Justin walked up the dreary driveway of Lailani's cousin's house. After what he had witnessed with Abia, it seemed as if her fate could've been anything at this point.
I still can't believe she would do that. Shit, Abia... I'm very disappointed in you.
But he was more worried about the random disappearance of Polly. Seeing her house somewhat abandoned was a bit concerning, as well as seeing her not upload for a long time, despite being a famous TeleYuber, who relied on uploading videos as a source of income.
"Damn." he said to himself, still in distraught about the numerous conflicts he was currently facing.
Of course, the moment he came back, Kiko pulled up in her car, bottle in hand.
"Ugh... Where have YOU been?" she said, sounding hungover, as usual.
"I was just taking care of business." he answered.
The Polynesian mother took another sip at her beer, not at all interested in whatever he had done today, as far as business concerns.
"Alright. Get your ass inside. My daughter's probably starving right now because of you."
"Excuse me?" he asked, not knowing what Tawna's hunger had to do with him.
"Ugh... Wait, you're that Justin Dark kid, right?"
KID? Yeah, alright. I'm a KID, not a 23 year old MAN.
"Erm, yeah? Who'd you think it was?"
She facepalmed, realizing that she was so intoxicated that she didn't even know who she was talking to.
"Shit, I'm sorry. I had a long, LONG day at work. I thought you were Lailani for a second." Kiko said, apologizing for the confusion. She was so intoxicated that she even stumbled over pronouncing her own cousin's name.
"It's OK." he said. "But, I think you should cut back on that stuff."
The Polynesian mother looked at him. "Why the FUCK would I want to do that?"
"Because it clouds your judgement. Trust me, I've known people who've done the same thing. That alcohol consumes you, screws up your mind."
She slowly blinked at him yet again, still uninterested, proceeding to take another sip of her beer.
For crying out loud... It's hopeless.
He decided to end the conversation right there, as Ms. Kiko was already very set on her ways.
They both went inside, being greeted by Lailani.
"Hey. Welcome back, Kiko." she said, greeting her older cousin.
"Y-Yeah. Welcome to Hell. Pfft! Screw this."
The Polynesian mother plopped immediately on the couch, obviously troubled in her own mind.
I wanna help her, but the alcohol is too busy taking control... Shit, this is just like both Audrey and Aiko last year.
"What's for dinner?" Kiko asked, sounding a bit demanding.
"Oh, uh... Heh heh... Yeah, about that." the Polynesian said, sounding a bit nervous.
"What?"
"I forgot to make dinner for when you came home. I apologize."
Kiko became a bit frustrated. "Are you fucking kidding me?"
Lailani was now very unnerved with her older cousin's sudden behavior.
"I'm very sorry. I've spent the entire day cleaning up and taking care of Tawna. I forgot."
"I don't give a fuck about that. Where's my god damn food?"
Everyone in the room suddenly got very uncomfortable. Seeing Ms. Kiko lashing out over not having any food on the table the moment she came home was a bit of an overreaction. I guess this is the definition of HANGRY.
"I've been at work all fucking day, Lailani. I've been busting my ass, trying to keep my house and shit. Now, I come home and there's literally NOTHING for me to eat! How am I supposed to drink this shit on an empty stomach?"
She finished that rant with another chug, somewhat contradicting her current issue.
"Ms. Kiko-" JD said, trying to reason with the enraged mother.
"And what about you, Fuckboy? Why weren't YOU the one to clean the house? Were you too busy jacking off to tentacle porn or some shit?"
Tentacle porn? Okay, that is just repulsive.
"No, like I said: I was taking care of business." he said, trying to maintain his anxiety at this moment,
"Business?" she yelled. "Yeah, which probably had to do with watching tentacle porn. You like to jack off to aliens or some shit? You fucking creep..."
Well, not jack-off to them, but I did have sex with one... Shit, Celeste. Wonder what she's been up to?
"You're all a bunch of ASSHOLES! Sometimes, I wonder if I'm even alive or I fucking died when my husband left last year. I vaguely remember getting into a car wreck. That's it, I'm calling it now: I'm DEAD and living in HELL!"
Kiko was obviously going on a drunken rant. Hearing her raise her voice at this capacity really was a lot to take in.
However, Tawna suddenly came in the room. Hearing the commotion in the her living room made the Polynesian child a bit upset.
"Mama, please stop yelling." the child said, tearing up.
Hearing her 8 year old daughter upset like that triggered something in her.
"Oh, shit..." she said, gaining a bit of morality from it.
"Tawna... I'm sorry." she added, swooping in to give her daughter a hug. However, the Polynesian child backed away, seeming to be terrified of her own mother.
"Tawna!"
She then ran to her room, slamming the door and locking herself inside. She wanted to be left alone. Justin and Lailani were standing there, now feeling awkward being in the middle of a sudden family conflict.
Kiko sat there, putting her head down, realizing what she had done.
"Fuck... I... Shit..." she said, beginning to put her hands over her eyes. As much as she had an insane alcohol addiction, there was still a good amount of sympathy coming from her cousin and friend.
"It's OK, Ms. Kiko." JD said, putting his hand on her shoulder.
"No it's not..." she said, continuing to break down.
"It is." Lailani said, joining in on comforting her older cousin.
"Ugh... What am I gonna do? I'm a horrible mother." she said, continuing her zinger.
"No, you're not. You just have a bad alcohol addiction, that's all. You should really stop.." Justin added, trying to get through to her.
The Polynesian mother looked at him, wiping a visible tear from her face.
"B-But alcohol is my only friend. I need it." she stated, clearly being an addict.
He shook his head. "Listen, Kiko. I know what it's like."
"Y-You do?" she said, not aware of his addiction.
"Yep. I was addicted to it until I got out of uh... rehab." he said, winking at Lailani. She automatically knew what was going on.
"So, that's where you were?"
"Yep. I went to a rehab center in the mountains. They really did help me, you know?"
She blinked at him, this time a bit faster.
"Listen, I understand you're trying to cope after losing your husband, but this... This..."
"This isn't healthy." Lailani said, adding more depth to the point they were trying to get across.
"Yes, exactly." he replied, happy she was participating in this conversation.
"I know it's not... It's just... It's hard. My husband left outta nowhere. Tawna's been quiet ever since and I've been drinking so much that I almost forgot why he left in the first place."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I can't remember everything leading up to the divorce. All I remember was that he seemed less happy for a few months. I didn't see it coming until he brought me into the living room and said we needed to talk. After that, it's all a blur. Shit, not only am I a bad mother, but I'm a bad wife too."
She's a bad addict, but that can be fixed.
"I guess the drinking really has clouded my thoughts, huh? I can't even remember what I ate for breakfast this morning."
"You didn't." the Polynesian girl stated. "You read the paper and drank beer on your way to work. You didn't eat at all."
"Right..." Kiko said, knowing this was most likely the case. "But still, my life has gone to shit. My ex-husband hates me, my daughter hates me, and you hate me too, Justin."
"No, I don't." he said.
"But I said some horrible shit to you a minute ago. Why don't you hate me?"
"Because I've dealt with this before. My friend, Audrey, did something similar after her uncle died."
"Really?"
"Yep. Uncle Nathan died in his sleep last January so she decided to excessively drink and do drugs in order to cope. Not only that: Her aunt cut her and off and is too busy counting her money and banging younger men/women."
The Polynesian girl slowly nodded, still feeling uncomfortable discussing her old boss's disgusting change.
"Unfortunately, Audrey almost indirectly killed me after a dinner date which ended with me and Tiffany's relationship being fractured and me going into a coma for ten days."
Lailani nodded again, remembering all of this. It was very disheartening seeing him in the hospital bed connected to a life support machine. "Yeah, I remember how hurt you were when you woke up. You could barely walk."
"Yep." he said, further confirming all of these past events.
This was a lot for the saddened Polynesian woman to take in, but knowing that her daughter backed up from a hug was what hurt the most.
"I just... I wish I could give Tawna a better life. She has no father here to take care of her. Just a greasy-ass woman who drinks and goes to work. This is... Ugh, it's a clusterfuck."
"No, it's not. She also has her sweet and loving cousin looking out for her." Lailani said.
"Y-Yeah..." she replied, looking back down. She still felt a high amount of remorse for all of her drunk shenanigans.
Both Justin and Lailani looked at each other, knowing damn well what they needed to do.
They both hugged her, knowing she was still feeling very depressed with all that was going on in her current life.
"Y-You guys..." Kiko said, feeling like she didn't deserve this amount of comfort.
Suddenly, a third person joined in on the group hug. They were very small, but forgiving.
"I love you, Mama." Tawna said, suddenly joining.
Kiko sniffled, glad that her daughter had forgiven her for her drunken rant, which scared her.
"I love you too, my little Tawna."
They all hugged for a long while. Even though Ms. Kiko Kealoha was insanely addicted to alcohol, deep down everyone knew she still loved her remaining family members that never left, Lailani and Tawna.
"Thank you. I love all of you. Even you, JD, even though I barely know who you are."
He shrugged, flattered that Kyu's touch was probably still active, despite being committed to the blonde nurse back home.
"Heh, yeah. I appreciate it."
They stopped the hug, realizing that it was enough.
"I'm gonna start making dinner, okay? I know you're still very upset that I didn't prepare anything earlier. I apologize."
There she goes again: being overly-apologetic, as usual. At least she feels remorse for her actions...
Later that evening, after they all had dinner, Justin, Lailani, Kiko, and Tawna all sat on the couch watching the small TV in her house. Inna De Poona had an... interesting variety of TV channels. By that, I mean most of them weren't appropriate for an 8-year old girl native to the island that broadcasted this shit.
"Eh, let's change the channel." Lailani said, feeling uncomfortable with the pornographic TV show that they were indirectly exposing Tawna to.
She then changed it to, what looked to be, a show about pirates.
"Okay, good. Something that isn't uh... suggestive." the Polynesian girl added.
Of course, as soon as they began to watch it, an octopus came out of the water and used its tentacles. It was VERY suggestive, making Lailani even more unnerved.
"Oh no..." she said, changing it again.
"Don't look, Tawna." JD added, shielding his hand over her eyes. Although what was going on the television was very disgusting, it didn't seem to phase the little girl at all. She looked almost as if she were in a trance. It's a good thing she's being weird right now, otherwise she'd be scarred for life.
She switched it to, what appeared to be, a kids show. It ended up being something that JD didn't like at all.
"Oh god, NOOOOO!" he shouted, seeing grown-ass men wearing diapers. This is NOT Rugrats.
"Sorry, sorry!" Lailani shouted, knowing he was just as disgusted as she was.
"H-How about we turn off the TV for a bit?" the Polynesian mother said, giving the best advice possible for this type of situation.
"Good idea."
The TV was now off, radiating an awkward silence. It seemed very hard for anyone to grow up on a tropical island if 99% of the TV channels were all pornographic. God, no wonder the Nymphojinn live here. Inna De Poona? Yeah, that's about right.
But the silence was not enjoyable. Being in a run-down house in the rural parts of a tropical island wasn't really calming. If they were closer to the beach, it'd probably be a different story.
However, Tawna faced towards Justin, giving him that same, big-eyed stare she had been giving him ever since he showed up.
"Um... Can I help you?" he said.
She continued to give him the stare, As many times as she had done this, he couldn't help but wonder if there was more to this beneath the surface.
"So, is there a reason for this?"
The little girl blinked, now snapping out of her somewhat hypnotic state.
"You're sad." she said, being vague.
"Sad?" he exclaimed. "What makes you think I'm sad?"
Tawna didn't say anything, but rather hugged him. Feeling her small, somewhat squishy, body cling onto him was like having a small kitten rubbing on his leg.
"Um..." he said, feeling a bit embarrassed having a literal child hug him. It caught him off guard.
"Tawna, get off of him." Kiko said, trying to command her daughter to let go.
"No, no. She's fine." JD replied, not completely minding the little girl trying to comfort him, despite how random it was. I think she has an idea about my mental issues. What a weird, yet special, kid. God, I hope she doesn't have her innocence taken from her.
He patted her on the head, knowing that little Tawna Kealoha needed to be protected at all costs. She was a young child with a lot going on. She still had that view of innocence to her.
"Aw..." Lailani said, thinking his bond with her little cousin was cute.
Her mother smiled, thinking JD was actually a nice guy. She needs a decent father figure like him she thought to herself.
Everyone went to bed after a long and productive day. It started with drunken rants from Kiko, then went into controversial territory with Abia, transitioned to Polly's random disappearance, but ended on a bittersweet note with JD having a bond with the cousins of his long-distance friend.
Maybe, this was a form of rehabilitation for when he returned home. He was still worried about what he may encounter whenever he was supposed to fly back to Commotion City. Considering that Stefano was potentially sending mercenaries to stalk Tiffany, no doubt this would get out of hand at some point.