I’m running from my father who was murdered by God knows who. I’m running from my drunken mother who couldn’t give one s*** about me or my brother or anything except her drugs and her alcohol. I’m running from my older brother who left me to enlist in the marines. I’m running from my ex-boyfriend who broke up with me and told me later he was cheating on me the entire time. I’m running, but I’ve left absolutely nothing behind.


I opened my front door and walked into my mom with her e-cigarette in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in another. Believe it or not, that’s the norm in our house. However what wasn’t very normal was my older brother on the couch in tears. I walked to the living room and sat right beside him and asked him what happened. He told me that the police called the house. Mom was too hung over to even wake to the call, so my brother answered it. They told him our father was murdered in a hit and run. They don’t know anything about the people that did it. They said that they didn’t know because whoever it was, they killed anyone that even witnessed it. To be quite honest, I think they ‘don’t know’ because the policemen in this town suck and can’t bear to tell a ‘kid’ (aka my 20 year old brother) that his father was murdered.

I don’t think my mother was always a drunk. But for as long as I’ve been alive, she has. I’m pretty sure the reason why I’m kind of screwed up in the head is because she couldn’t stay away from her alcohol and her cigarettes for the nine months that she was pregnant with me. When I was born, my dad and my brother did everything. It still astonishes me how he stayed with her for this long. My dad is…was a good man. He probably stayed with her because he wasn’t going to leave my mother to take care of two kids alone. Especially since he was the baby daddy. Getting a girl pregnant at 18 and leaving is probably one of the worse things you can do. My mother did absolutely nothing except curl up in the house with her alcohol and cigarettes.

My brother took good care of me. He was that stereotypical brother that would do anything to protect his baby sister. Even though I’m only about 4 years younger than him. After watching my mom, he knew he wanted to get out of the house as soon as he could. His only reason to stay…was me. He couldn’t stand the thought of leaving me alone with her. He stayed for as long as he could, but after he knew I’d be okay, he enlisted into the marines. The day he left, he woke me up in the morning to say goodbye. I would’ve gone to the airport to see him off, but I had no way home. My boyfriend was busy that day and knowing him, he wouldn’t have woken up that early to take me. He was going to basic training, so the thought of not being able to see or even talk to him for about two years brought me to tears as he walked out, got into the taxi, and drove off.
When we started out, we were inseparable. He had a car and this rock that they call an island is only so big, so it wasn’t very hard for us to get around. We hung out after school and every weekend. After Junior Prom, he left me. We didn’t talk for a few weeks and one day, he randomly texted saying he had to tell me something. I met up with him where we used to meet when we were together. After about 15 minutes, I called him to ask where he was. He told me he had to go somewhere right after school, but wouldn’t tell me where exactly. I asked my best friend for a ride home that day and on the way home, we noticed his Nissan 350z in the parking lot of some restaurant. I decided I’d just go in to say hi and thanks for leaving me when I thought you had to talk. My friend parked away from the parking lot so that he wouldn’t notice the car and she walked with me to the entrance. As I walked in and scoped out the area, I noticed him sitting in the table closest to the door…but not alone. Across from him was a girl that I know I recognized from school but I couldn’t quite remember her name. When he turned his head and saw me, his face was unforgettable. However, I’m pretty sure mines was worse. I went to him and he told me, “This is what I meant to tell you. This is Cora. We’re on our two month anniversary date right now.”
The worst part was, we only broke up three weeks ago...

Some may say I’m running away. And I guess you could say I am. I’m running away, but I’m running away from absolutely nothing.