Hey guys, sorry for the tardiness. But it's finally here. Thanks for your patience.

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Broken: Chapter 31

Broken Mothers

Fang

Dating Max was not the weirdest thing happening in my life. I was almost positive it would be; Max and I do not in any way seem like the perfect fit.

She was smart; so smart I almost thought I was dating a genius. She expected interesting and intellectual conversations; I didn't think I could do that: I'm dumber than dirt. I'm so stupid that I would lose money betting on the instant replay. And yet it works; in fact, sometimes I can actually contribute to those scholarly discussions. Mind that it doesn't have anything to do with science or math.

She's stubborn, bull-headed. If she wants to do something, she'll do it. I'm stubborn too, but not in the same way. She's stubborn in a way that she'll do anything to get what she wants. She wants to get an A in the course? She'll study until three in the morning every night until the exam. She wants to get into college? She'll write the most amazing, tear-jerking application essay, and continue to impress you with her solid 4.63 GPA and amazing list of extra curriculars. She was motivated. She had plans for herself. Max was driven. I, however, was not.

I expected to be disheartened from how ambitious she it seemed like the opposite. It was almost like she was motivating me. She didn't nag me, as a mother should. Do well in school; Apply for a good college; Help the world in some way. No, it was as if the plans were already set. She knew she was going somewhere; even if she didn't. But more amazingly, she knew I was going somewhere, even though I most definitely wasn't. It was enlightening. Almost enlightening enough to do something about it.

Almost.

She was also funny. She would crack me up at times; sometimes so much that it would change my entire day. I would never admit it to her, but she made me feel happier. She made the horrors at home fade away. And her smile: I could watch her smile for years. It was as radiant as the sun. I didn't know how she could ever feel attracted to such a monotone, sarcastic bastard. I hardly knew anyone that would.

But dating Max wasn't weird; in fact, it may be the most normal thing in my life, compared to what Anne has been up to.

I was just waking up: lately, Anne hadn't been bothering Juliet and I much. And by not bothering us much, I mean not at all. It was weird: I kept thinking that Anne was going to stop all of that shit she put us through everyday. She wouldn't talk, wouldn't pester us, wouldn't hurt us: she would just stay quiet. But quiet isn't always a good thing.

She didn't stop smoking or drinking: I don't think that she ever would be able to. An addict can never stop: but here was the addict, fighting the addiction of hurting her children. I didn't trust it.

Why would I? She went through this phase every so often; she'd hear a speech or have a sudden change of heart, that wasn't really a change of heart, but a temporary release. She would always go back to her normal habits: I wouldn't be fooled this time. I wouldn't allow myself. I couldn't.

Maybe one day she'd actually decide to be a human being.

"Wake up, Jules," A voice said. My eyes shot open, I was the only person in the house, or at least the only one who would be awake at 5:48 in the morning. I pushed the covers away, swung my legs off the bed, and rushed over to Juliet's room, walking with a slight limp from soccer practice.

I opened the door, "What are you doing here," I said with a grunt.

Anne looked up at me, with a hurt look on her face, "You and Juliet are usually up by now, and I saw that you were still sleeping, so I thought-"

"You don't think," I whispered under my breath, "You never think. That's why we live in this hell of a life."

That same pained look came across her face, while mine stayed emotionless. Her eyes furrowed; she must think that she was in the right. Like what she was doing was helpful. Anne was never helpful. She was the devil in disquise, and nothing else, especially not our mother. "Look, I know things have been rough lately-"

I chuckled softly, "Things have always been rough. It's how you react to it, Anne. Maybe instead of beating up on us twenty-four/ seven, you could try being a mother. But oh, wait, you don't know how to be one. Maybe that's because Dad was the only one who took care of us. Maybe that's because he freaking cared about us. Instead of our mother, who doesn't give a shit."

Her wet tears began to fall, and I didn't care. She could cry all she wanted, and she still would never receive my pity. And yet they continued falling, quickly and uninterrupted, like a leaky pipe turning into a steady stream of water. One, then another. Drip, drop, drip, drop. "STOP," I exploded, "Just stop. You think that I care? You think that Juliet cares? We don't. Once you stopped caring, we did too. You get as much as you put in, and you put absolutely nothing in. So stop. Because no one is going to feel bad for you. No one is going to want to take care of you; not when you couldn't even take care of your own children."

"Then let me!" She sobbed, the tears still in her murky brown eyes, "I can be better- I- I can quit. I can be your mother."

I scoffed, "You would quit drinking?" Her face dropped, "You'd quit smoking? Quit the drugs? Quit abusing us? Decide to actually do something? Get a fucking job? And keep it? Pay the fucking bills? Stop depending on the government to pay for your shit?" Her mouth was left dropped, as if she wanted to say something, but the ability to speak had escaped from her. She wouldn't quit. She would never quit. She wasn't strong enough.

I sighed, finally at peace with the situation, "It's too late. You never were our mother. And you never will be."

After almost a half hour of Anne begging to drive us, and me screaming back at her, I decided to walk Juliet to school. And so we left, backpacks in hand. We were leaving hell to go to hell. In pure silence.

Until it wasn't.

"You didn't have to yell at her," she said in a small voice, head tilted to the ground, refusing to look me in the eye.

It was the first sentence she had said all day. "Yes I did, Juliet."

"No," she said a bit louder, "You didn't. She was just trying to help."

"Anne doesn't help. She destroys."

"Maybe if you let her, then she wouldn't."

"If I let her help, then she'll end up killing us both. I have to protect us, Juliet. I'm the only one who will."

She stopped dead in her tracks, like Max would do, "How would she end up killing us by driving us school? What would it hurt?"

I sighed; I loved her, but she was still young, not knowing. I wish she would stay that way. But she couldn't. Not with this family, "Juliet, Anne is drunk. She's drunk now, she was drunk yesterday, and she'll be drunk tomorrow. You know what happens when people drive when they are drunk? They lose control. And then they crash. And you know what happens next, someone's in the hospital, and then someone's dead. I'm trying to make sure that someone isn't you."

"Fang!" She shouted, "What about when you-"

I stopped her, "We don't talk about it. Okay? I got over it."

She continued again, she couldn't stop, "She's just trying to help. She's just trying to be a mother again."

And then, I had to break her spirits, "Juliet, being a mother to her, is like camping. She gets motivated one day and goes out, buys new equipment, and packs up the car to go to the forest. Once she actually starts camping, she gets tired of it. She gets bored, and goes back to the city. Juliet, Anne's going back to the city, whether it be in a day or a month or a year. She can't handle the forest."

"Maybe she can,"

"She can't, Jules. You know what happened last time she tried to be a mother? You got hurt. I won't let that happen again."

And then we were back to utter silence.

Until we weren't.

She spoke only once more before we arrived at her school, "I don't like it when you act like this. You're worse than Anne."

She greeted me by jumping on my back, "Hello, Fang!" and pecked me on the cheek. I chuckled, then let her get off. She was starting to hurt my back

"God," I said dramatically, "What do you eat, rocks?"

Her eyebrows cocked, "Maybe that's why their missing from your head." I shoved her playfully; she shoved me back. "So, how was your morning? You seem a bit pissed off today." I was always amazed how she could read through my emotionless facade.

"Do you even have to ask? Anne. She decided this morning that she wants to be a proper mother again. Bullshit."

Max grasped my hand, "It's gonna be fine. At least you have a few days off."

I chuckled softly. She was always the optimist, "That's not even the worst of it all. Jules is all pissed at me cause I started screaming at Anne this morning. She called me worse then Anne."

She stopped me from continuing walking into the school. Spring was just about over, and the heat of Summer was coming soon. "You know that's not true. Juliet was just mad, that's all. Don't worry, you're gonna be alright." And then she hugged me, but not a quick, meaningless hug. A genuine one. One that made me think that the world wasn't going to end. I smiled. I didn't get hugs like that very often.

Anne's motherliness continued for three more days, and eventually, Juliet refused to walk with me to school. She decided that even though I had been protecting her for the last nine years of her life, that her mother, who had barely even turned over a new leaf, was the one to trust. The one who would shove her around, and call her names was now her mother.

And so she would drive to school with Anne. And I would walk. I tried to dissuade Juliet as much as I could, but the only thing I could do to pull away from the car was pick her up and carry her to her school. I was seriously considering that option.

But I had to continue with my life, as utterly normal as it was. What that mostly consisted of was school. I actually hadn't been doing too bad with school. I almost had straight B's, something I had never accomplished before. And it was all thanks to Max.

We had started tutoring at school in the library I never knew that we had, since I was permanently on Jeb's 'to kill' list. I couldn't stop wishing that I was off that list, so that I could be around Max more. It was like a drug: once you take it once, you keep wanting more. And I wanted more of Max.

We weren't in a lot of the same classes. She was smart, and I was dumb. She took smart classes, and I took dumb classes. The only class that we had together was History, and we would sit next to each other every single time. I wouldn't dare sit anywhere else, lest I get at least close to her. She would stay two hours after school, and then there were lunch and break, but it still didn't feel like enough. The two hours after school would be used for tutoring, not for hanging out and messing around.

It infuriated me to no end.

I smiled, an idea popped into my head. We were in the library, studying as always, "Hey, you know I've never taken you out on a real date."

She looked up from the book she was reading, "Fang, I thought you were supposed to be studying," She chuckled sheepishly.

"Yeah, but think about it, I never have. You know what, this Friday, I'll take you on a date. I mean unless you don't want to."

The corners of her lips curved upwards, "I would be happy to."

I arrived at home to the sound of stifled crying. I slammed the door open, only to see Juliet on the couch with tears running down her face. "Juliet!" I shouted, rushing toward her, "What's wrong?" She didn't answer; she was just clutching her wrist with the tears streaming down her face, "Did Anne do this?" Her little face nodded. "What did she do?"

She wouldn't answer.

"Please Jules, talk to me. If you tell me what happened then I can help you. Is it your wrist?"

She nodded again. "Anne- she- she was driving me home, a-and she started swerv-ving into the next lane. I-I think that she was drunk or something, a-and I told her to pull over, a-and then she started yelling at me, a-and she grabbed my wrist and threw me on the ground. I-I ran the rest of the way home. She'll be here any minute."

I sat next to her on the couch, and started comforting her, pulling her hair out of her face. "It's gonna be okay. Let me see your wrist."

It was swelled quite a bit, with a purple bruise starting to form, "Does this hurt?" She nodded. The area around it was tender; I was as careful as I could be. "You're going to be okay; it's just a sprain. I'll get you some ice and then we can wrap it up. That okay?" And she smiled slightly.

"Wait," she said, as I was leaving the couch, "I didn't mean that before. When I said that you were worse than Anne. You aren't."

"I know, Jules, I know."

And it's finished. Thanks for the patience you guys. I'll try and be on time next time.

Only 5 chapter left, (not including the epilogue.)

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