The Wrong Sister Read Online Free PDF Page B

booze nearly evaporating in fumes from her skin. Her benders would eventually poison her system and kill her one day. Of that he was sure. He’d never seen anyone drink as much as she did when she lost control.
    But at that moment, he sat back on his haunches, feeling completely blindsided. What the hell was this? He left her to care for his infant and discovered her passed out on the bed after only hours.
    Days later, he confronted her again and she finally told him the truth. She did that often.
    That was what was wrong with her. That was why she couldn’t sustain a job or relationship, or even a bank account. She did that and missed workdays on benders that eventually got her fired. Every relationship also got ruined. And of course, no job means no money.
    She promised to stop, and they fought long and hard for days. He railed at her after he found his daughter so neglected. He made it clear that it could never happen again. Not to his daughter. He was set to divorce Vickie right then and there, but she begged him to stay. She cried and carried on, making every promise possible until he eventually relented. She could be so earnest. And so upset. And so heartbroken and horrified at what she’d done to their baby.
    But she was liar, and it happened again. And again. Not immediately. Not even very often. But it kept happening. She again tried to stop. They emptied the house of all the liquor. They never ordered any when they went out, and he stayed glued to her side if they went anyplace where it was served. She attended Alcoholic Anonymous meetings and swore that she had a grip on it.
    Donny was new to everything. He’d never been around an alcoholic. He didn’t know how well they lied, or said what everyone wanted to hear in order protect their opportunities to drink. Sometimes, she didn’t even realize she was lying to him, and even worse, to herself.
    At that point, he didn’t understand what a terrible disease it was. A nasty, take-no-prisoners, ruin-your-life-as-surely-as-cancer-could disease.
    He assumed she understood how awful, devastating and truly wrong her behavior was. No parent was allowed to do that with a baby in the house. It was unheard of, at least, to him. She’d surely get that. He eventually believed she was truly traumatized enough to understand the gravity of what she’d done.
    There again, his naïveté. It was a brutal, but quick learning curve.
    Vickie did it again. She couldn’t stop. He couldn’t leave Julia there, so he put her in daycare. They pretended Vickie had taken a part-time job in retail with crazy hours. As if. But it worked well enough and no one had caught on to their lie yet. Donny dropped Julia off at Tracy’s house as often as he could get away with it. He stopped worrying that he was totally destroying his beloved child when she was with Tracy. He couldn’t stand daycare. What if anyone hurt her? Or ignored her? What if he stumbled onto one of those horrible ones the news reported every six months or so? She was so small, and could talk only in a few words. She definitely could not have a conversation. She was completely helpless, and an easy victim. He couldn’t stand it, so he often relied on Tracy.
    Tracy didn’t really want to accommodate his babysitting needs, and he knew that. But she didn’t refuse him, at least, not yet.
    That was up until the last three days. She said outright no to his requests and hung the phone up on him. Now, he knew exactly why.
    Vickie stumbled from the shower, wet and shaking. She did a face plant into their bed, still all wet, and Donny pulled the covers over her before she passed out once again. He slowly lowered his ass to the edge of the bed and bent forward to rest his forehead on his knees.
    So this was how his life would be.
    The depression of it, the sickness of it, and the sadness over what it had become was enough for Donny to almost understand Micah’s reason for staring at an unloaded gun.

Chapter Three
     
    TRACY