Hell Within -- Chapter Nine: The Addict -- Scene 4

-4-

Terra hadn’t seen her daughter in a long time.

Mandy had spent the first part of her life living with her grandmother, but that time was over now.

She had been strung out in a crack house when she’d heard that her mother had died in a car crash, and now that chapter of her life was over. She had gotten herself cleaned up and now, she was ready to be a mother to her daughter.

The butterflies surfaced as she turned her ragged out ’89 Tempo onto Wakefield Drive. And when her mother’s house came into view, she found that the driveway and the front yard were all crowded with the cars of visitors for the funeral reception.

And that’s when she knew this was for real.

Her mother was dead.

She was all Mandy had left in the world.

And she was about to walk into a den of wolves to collect her.

She pulled her car to a stop on the cul-de-sac, put it in park, and then got out and straightened her skirt.

The outfit she wore, a black skirt with a white blouse was the newest she had. It had taken most of her first Check from her new job to buy it, and she thought that she looked almost respectable in it.

She stood up as straight as she could and walked up the lawn and to the front door of her mother’s house, and when she turned the knob she found it unlocked.

She stepped inside and looked around.

Her mother’s home had not changed since her last visit. The walls in the den were painted a pale yellow with the hardwood floors polished to a high gloss. The furniture was all re-arranged with long tables positioned at the walls with hors d'oeuvres for the guests.

And as she scanned the den, she recognized all but a small few of the faces, but she seemed invisible to all of them - until she took a step to the left toward the archway leading to the kitchen.

Marianna, her mother’s best friend, a short lady with salt-and-pepper hair came out of the kitchen and gave her a hard look.

"Can I help you, ma’am?"

Terra was taken aback by Marianna’s lack of recognition. Marianna had been her babysitter when she was a girl. They’d spent more quality time together than she’d ever spent with her mother who had worked three jobs throughout the duration of her childhood.

"Marianna?" she said.

Marianna squinted now more confused than ever and took a step closer to her.

"Do I know you?"

Terra frowned. "It’s me, Terra."

The last hint of southern hospitality fell off Marianna’s face. She nodded as if someone had reminded her of a dirty secret, stepped up to Terra and led her by the arm into the short hallway beyond the den.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped.

"I’ve come for Mandy," she said.

Marianna smirked. "I don’t think so. That little girl has been through quite enough without you barging in on her, too."

"What?" she said loudly enough for the dull roar of the crowd to subside for a moment.

Marianna leaned in closer to her. "I’ll bet you don’t even have a job."

Terra stood up as straight as she could. "Of course I do."

Marianna huffed. "Oh, yeah? Where?"

"I’m the assistant manager of a Wendy’s."

Marianna laughed humorlessly.

"You think that job is going to support you, your drug habit, and your daughter?"

Terra glared at her. "I don’t have a drug habit anymore."

Marianna rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"Listen, she’s my daughter. . . ."

Marianna nodded. "I’m well aware of the fact that you gave birth to her, but you haven’t even seen her in six years."

Terra shook her head. "It hasn’t been that long."

"Oh yes it has. She’s eleven years old."

Terra looked down at her feet.

"Do you even have a place to live?"

Terra looked into her eyes. "I’m staying at the Bridgeton Inn."

"Oh, and I guess you think that the Bridgeton whore house is an acceptable place to house an eleven-year-old?"

Terra grinned at her. "Mom’s dead now, so I guess that this house is mine now."

Marianna looked straight into her eyes, and now her contempt for Terra was very apparent.

"No it is not. Your mother disinherited you. This house belongs to Mandy."

Terra took a step back away from her. She couldn’t believe her ears.

It couldn’t be.

"Marianna?" someone said from behind.

Marianna turned around.

"What’s wrong?" Mandy said.

And indeed it had been six years since she’d seen her daughter. Not only was Mandy not a little girl anymore, but her breasts were just beginning to form. Her hair was shoulder length and brown, and her eyes were penetrating.

She looked much more like her father than Terra.

"It’s okay, hun. Just go on back to your room, and I’ll be there in a minute."

Terra stepped around Marianna.

"Mandy?" she said.

Mandy shrank away from her with suspicion.

"Leave her alone," Marianna was saying, but Terra was more concerned by the fact that her daughter didn’t know her.

"It’s me," she said. "I’m your mother."

Mandy looked at Marianna for help, and Marianna stepped around Terra, helped Mandy back to her room, and closed the door. And then she turned around with her back pressed to the door and scowled at Terra.

"You’re not welcomed here."

"She’s my daughter, and I’m leaving with her. Either be civil about it, or I’ll call and have the police remove her."

Marianna shook her head. "You’ll do no such thing."
* * *
Six months later, Terra opened her eyes, and found herself staring at a bare wooden ceiling.

She didn’t know how long she’d been out or even where she was. But every cell in her body ached, and her head felt like an echo chamber.

And there was a stench too.

At first she though it was sewage, but the odor was too strong. It smelled like a dead animal.

"Where’s Mandy?" she thought aloud.

And she sat up and surveyed her surroundings.

She had been lying on a bare mattress that had been thrown on top of a concrete floor. The place she was sleeping looked to be some kind of old warehouse.

She stood up, and looked about but her daughter was no where to be found. The only evidence as to what had happened was the crack pipe lying beside the mattress.

She stood up to find that she was weak and dizzy, and she scanned the large room for any sign of Mandy.

That’s when she saw the door, slightly open.

She started toward it and with each step she took the odor became stronger, and when she pushed it all of the way open, she found what she was looking for.

The room beyond appeared to have once been some kind of office.

There was a sliding glass window on the wall in front of her with a long counter beneath it. And age-yellowed papers were scattered across the floor.

And Mandy sat curled up in a fetal position in the corner to her left -- casting a fearful eye at something across the room.

"What is it?" she said.

But Mandy didn’t seem to notice her.

She followed the aim of her daughter’s stare to the source.

A body, bloated and not moving, slumped over against the wall.

She recognized him instantly.

It was Howie.

And the syringe that had caused his death still protruded from his left arm.

"Oh, my God," she said, and looked back at Mandy. And she took a step toward her but the girl scampered and shrank deeper into the corner.

She was only wearing a white slip, and now she saw the blood that had gathered on the slip just under her bottom.

"No," she said.

Mandy didn’t reply. She was visibly trembling now.

"What in the fuck happened?"

Mandy looked at her.

And the terrible resolve in her eyes caused Terra to take a step back.

"He came to protect me," she said.

"Who?"

But Mandy said nothing more.

(Continue to scenes 5-7)