Sticking Togetheer

Emmerette sits in the kitchen brushing Mackenzie’s hair before school: “Ow”! “Too rough Em”! She chuckles: “Sorry Kenny”. Mackenzie huffs, folding her arms: “And I told you, stop calling me Ken it’s a boy’s name call me Mack”! Emmerette smirks: “Like Mac book”? “I hate you”. “Love you too sis”. Emmerette answers as she finishes: “There, all done, now go put your uniform on so we can go ok”? Mackenzie runs off to get changed while Emmerette puts the brush on the table. She debates taking another shot just to calm her nerves, it’s been just them for 2 years now, but she still hasn’t gotten used to it: the responsibility, the pressure, the constant worry that something bad’s gonna happen to Mackenzie or that she’ll be taken from her. She usually got through it by taking a couple shots of vodka before the day started, it settled her, made her feel like she could conquer the world. But she knew that wasn’t a permanent solution, besides she couldn’t bare the thought of letting Mackenzie down, or ending up like their mother, she cringes at the thought before hearing Mackenzie run back downstairs: “Ready Emmie”! Emmerette raises an eyebrow: “Oh it’s Emmie again is it”? “I thought you hated me”. “I just hate that you call me Ken that’s all”. “Aw come on, Emmie and Kenny, don’t you think that’s adorable“? She asks, pulling her close and tickling her. Mackenzie squeals with laughter: “No…it’s not Em”! “Stop”! Emmerette blows a raspberry on Mackenzie’s cheek and she pulls away, wiping it in disgust: “Ew, Em you’re so embracing”! Emmerette laughs: “What am I Kens”? Embracing”! She laughs again: “Do you mean embarrassing Ken”? Mackenzie groans: “Yes”! “That’s what I said and stop calling me that”! She stamps her foot and folds her arms: “Gees you’re such a brat”. Emmerette answers rolling her eyes, Mackenzie sticks her tongue out and Emmerette does the same back before chuckling: “Come on then Macks let’s go”.

That night, half an hour after putting Mackenzie to bed, Emmerette hears a knock on her bedroom door: “Come in Kenny”. Mackenzie comes in looking frustrated, Emmerette chuckles: “Sorry baby couldn’t help it, what’s up”? “Couldn’t sleep”. “Aw, come here”. She picks her up and pulls her into her arms as they lay on the bed together: “Want me to tell you another story”? “Can we talk about mummy”? Emmerette’s whole body tenses: “Mack”- “Please Emmie”? “Just a little bit”? “You can make something up, it doesn’t have to be a real story… I just miss her sometimes”. Emmerette sighs: “I know baby”. She kisses her forehead. As much as she hates reminiscing about the drunk that walked out on them two years ago, she felt a little guilty for never mentioning her. She’d done her best to completely erase her from their memories, she’d even burned all her pictures, that wasn’t fair to Mackenzie, none of this was her fault: “How about the story of mummy in the jungle!”?! Mackenzie gasped excitedly. Emmerette tells a story of a brave woman trekking through the jungle fighting lions, tigers, bears, she wished that was real, that her mum was a fearless warrior and not a drunk who picked a man over her kids, then maybe she’d be here to watch Mackenzie grow up. Once Mackenzie’s asleep she gives her a kiss on the forehead: “I love you baby girl, I’ll always be here for you”. She disentangles herself from her sister and heads back into the kitchen, she was wrong, she did need the shot: Just a couple hits that’s all, it doesn’t make me like mum, I’d never leave Mackenzie, never! She reasons as she reaches for the vodka bottle in the secret part of the cupboard. She grabs the shot glass and pours, downing three shots in quick succession. She breathes a happy sigh, finally feeling vibrant. She puts the vodka bottle and glass back in her hiding spot and skips back upstairs, stopping when she gets to her bedroom door, not wanting to wake Mackenzie. she creeps back into bed, wrapping her arms around Mackenzie. For a few moments she smiles, enjoying how light she feels now the alcohol was back in her system, she was proud, she could control it way better than her mum, she pulls Mackenzie a little closer and strokes her hair, kissing her on the cheek. Things were tough but she knew she could find solace in her sister… and her friend…