Young Writers Society

"You know," She pulled one leg up to her chest, letting the other on hang idly off the bridge, "My dad was a good man."

Grier looked up from his drink, "I'm sure he was."

"He was nice to everyone; always wearing this ridiculous smile that seemed to brighten the whole room." She grinned a little at the memory before she took another swig of her beer, "But then we became broke and he changed. I couldn't blame him though, I mean, he had to work three different jobs just to make ends meet." She paused for a moment before continuing "Then he died and everything went to shit."

Grier took another sip off his beer and leaned back against the metal beam that was behind him.

"He was our only source of income so when he died my mom had to go work. It took awhile for her to find a job but she was able to get one as a waitress at a sketchy little diner that was a block from home." Yawning, she reached for her beer.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Grier asked, noticing that her face was becoming flushed. He didn't think she would be such a light-weight.

She sighed and retracted her hand, "What was I saying again?"

"You were talking about how your mom got a job at a diner."

"Oh, yeah. It was disgusting, rats and spiders everywhere, I was shocked they hadn't been shut down. Despite that, they were able to pay my mom enough money for us to afford food and other necessities. Life was getting better, well, I thought it was."

"What happened?"

"I honestly don't know. My mom had started drinking ever since my dad died, which was normal since she was grieving and all, but she started to do it more and more often. I never saw her without a bottle in her hands."

Jess reached for her beer again, and before he was able to stop her she had taken a large swig from it.

"Then one night the bottle was gone. I was so relieved, I thought she was finally getting better. That same night, I found her on the bathroom floor covered in her own foamy vomit."

"Oh..." He didn't know what to say.

"Next thing I knew, she was hooked up to a life support machine and I was alone. I was 20 at the time, legally an adult, so all the hospital bills went to me." She paused and took another sip off of her beer, "I tried everything I could to get the money but it seemed like whenever I payed off one thing another popped up. I was running out of options so I tried my hand at prostitution." She finished the rest of her drink in one gulp and looked up the sky. The tears made her eyes shine. "I lost my virginity to a man that used my back as an ash tray."

Grier did the only thing he could think of and hesitantly put his arm around her.

"Wh-What the fuck are you doing?" She asked, pushing his arm off.

Grier cheeks turned red with embarrassment, "I-I'm sorry, you were crying so I-"

"I wasn't crying, you dumbass," she said, wiping her eyes with the ball of her hand.

Grier looked at her sympathetically, her smudged mascara darkened the already prominent circles under her eyes.

"Let's go." She said getting up, "It's getting cold."