Severed Ties

Bear barked enthusiastically as Milly entered the door and kicked her shoes off into the corner. She greeted him with a gentle pat on the head and walked over to the sporadically stained loveseat. Brian was curled up in the fetal position, holding onto a pillow.
“Hey. Wake up. I got some.” She whispered, nudging his ribs with her elbow.
He stirred, his eyes fluttering open before he rubbed them. He then propped himself up using the pillow, and withdrew his legs further so she could have a place to sit.
“Yay.” He sighed, his voice weak and groggy.
“I used this month’s rent money, so enjoy the house while we’re living here.” She groaned, flopping back next to him. Bear then ran into the living room, and threw himself into her lap. The weight of the large dog nearly knocked the bag out of her hand. She pushed him off and shooed him away before setting the bag onto the coffee table.

Brian pulled back his dreadlocks and tied them into a loose bun before withdrawing a lighter from his pocket.
“Smells like shit in here.” He commented, grabbing a candle from the coffee table and lighting it. Lavender mixed with the stagnant smells of sweat and sex from previous nights.
Milly began unpacking the contents of the bag, joking “Maybe you should shower once in a while.”
Brian smiled slightly and put the candle back down, his smile growing as she withdrew the small packet of white powder.
“Thanks, gorgeous.” He then took their last syringe and passed the needle through the flame of his lighter.
“Be careful, now.” She warned, watching him. “I can’t afford to take you back to the ER.”
“I’m fine, I’m fine. Worry about yourself.” He rolled up his sweater sleeve, and tapped one of his bruised, collapsing veins.
She watched, her lips pursed, and heartbeat accelerating slightly with anxiety. She did love him, although things were strained. To have another incident like last time, would absolutely kill her. Instead of telling him to watch the dose, she remained silent and watched him shoot up.

Hardcover books bounced against the already broken drywall. Following that, Milly’s hoarse screaming and Bear’s bellowing from behind the locked bedroom door.
“How dare you?!”
“No…” Brian whimpered, shielding his face, which was already dripping with blood. His frail arms barely provided any protection. Milly continued advancing, bearing a menacing scowl and angry, bloodshot eyes.
“You motherfucker.” She hissed, striking him once more, her fist connecting with his eye socket as his arms flailed away from his face helplessly
Brian was sobbing now, tears and mucus streamed down his face and mixed with the blood, creating a gray-green sheen that coated his bruises. He looked up to the ceiling, head spinning from the continuous blows, praying to whatever deity he could think of for help.

He had taken a few of Milly’s oxycodone to help curb the fiending for more dope. She had found out of course, as they were hers and hers alone. She was never the type to bother about anything, lest her wrath be felt. Her tiny hands gripped his throat and squeezed. He was too tired to fight back, so he allowed her to choke him with all the rage she could muster. His face then turned lavender and glistened with cold sweat as quiet gurgling noises came from the back of his throat. With the remnants of the heroin, oxy, and days without sleeping or eating, he easily fell unconscious and Milly’s hands loosened their grip. Minutes later, his eyelashes fluttered again as he slowly opened his glassy eyes. They lazily looked around the room, trying to focus on a singular solid item. They finally focused on Milly, who was now sitting next to him.

“I’m sorry.” She breathed.
Brian coughed and sputtered, spitting the mixture of blood and mucus onto the carpet.
“Don’t be.”
“I am though, you didn’t deserve that. I’m sorry...and I love you.”
Her long, wispy hair hung down over her face like a blonde veil, and her sweatpants were covered in more blood than his face.
“What did you…” He slowly reached for one of her arms, which she quickly jerked away.
“Don’t touch me.” She hissed.
“Milly. Show me.” He grabbed her wrist tightly and turned her arm. Long slash marks decorated the interior from her wrist to her elbow. Most of the bleeding had stopped and dried.
Brian’s heart sank into his stomach and more tears welled behind his eyes.

“Why?” Was all he could ask, one tear slipping down his cheek.
“I thought you were gonna leave me…” Milly whispered, slipping her arm out of his fingers and back into her lap.
Brian sighed. He had enough. His face throbbed and his bruises reminded him that they existed.
“I love you.” Milly said into her arms, which were now wrapped around her knees as she tightly coiled into herself. Bear whimpered softly from the other side of the door then went silent again.
The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Without warning, Milly grabbed his face and pulled him into a forceful kiss. He was so weak he couldn’t push her off, but he managed to punch her right in her gut.

Her immediate reaction was to bite down on his lip, successfully tearing the captive bead ring nearly right out of his flesh. He screamed in pain against her mouth, and she let go. His hands shakily went back to his bleeding face, as he tried to push the skin back together. She wiped his bodily fluids mixed with her own off of her chin and stared at him coldly before wailing her fists on him repeatedly. Brian screamed again and bolted for the door. Luckily, his cell phone was in his pocket and he dialed the only person left to call. His sister still cared, and she was also the only one left with a car. Bear eagerly followed him outside, and into the lawn. It had recently rained and the grass was still damp. Bear’s tail wagged as he began licking Brian’s hand, as Brian sank down into the grass to call his sister.

“Hello?” She asked after the phone had rang three times. Brian spit more blood into the grass and choked before answering.
“Emily....come get me…” His voice cracked as he whined into the phone.
“Oh, God. Hang on, Brian. I’m coming.” She hung up, and he began shaking, wrapping his arms around Bear for stability and comfort. He sobbed into the dog’s thick fur, and that was the only sound exempt from chirping crickets for a while.
Milly, naturally, had to ruin that.

The sliding door slammed open, and Milly stepped out onto the lawn. Her sleeves were still rolled up, and more gashes littered the remaining skin on her arms. Red dripped into the grass off of her fingertips. Brian screamed again, and jumped as headlights of a car pulled into the driveway. He ran to the car and threw himself inside. Emily gasped and nearly vomited and the sight of her brother’s emaciated, bludgeoned, swelling face that had been covered in a myriad of fluids and colors.

“Emmy…” he stuttered, pointing at Milly. She began walking towards Emily’s car, screaming at them both.
“I’m going to fucking kill myself! Get back here!” She shrieked. Emily didn’t think, she just put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway and got away from the house as soon as her tires allowed her.

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Brian rolled the ends of dreadlocks through his fingers nervously. Anxiety didn’t even begin to describe what he felt considering he had been going through agonizing withdrawal. It had been almost a full twenty four hours since he had last touched heroin. His heart pounded against his ribs, sweat rolled down his emaciated body in bullets, and his body ached as if he had been hit by a bus. Squeezing his eyes shut and inhaling slowly, he tried to regain some composure.

“You’ll be okay…” he whispered, twisting more locks of hair into his clammy hand. “Just don’t think about it…”
The positive self talk did not last long. Thoughts of why he began to kick the habit in the first place flashed through his memory. A while ago, he couldn’t remember when exactly, was when she came into his pathetic life. She did not make him feel pathetic though, like every other girl before did. She metaphorically fixed a broken doll, what was once trash became radiant human life. However, things quickly became sour. Milly showed her true colors. It had been six months since they last talked, and he started to recover from the abuse and anguish she had put him through.

That remained true until he felt his phone vibrate from under a pillow on the other end of the couch. He groaned, dreading the thought of moving even one muscle. From the room next to his came his sister, who walked towards the couch and retrieved the phone. She gave him a soft smile and put it on the end table.
“Do you want me to get you anything? We have some ibuprofen in the linen closet.” She offered.
“No thanks, Emily. I’ll be okay. Don’t worry about me.” His words came out strained as he made the effort to sound somewhat okay.
“You don’t have to be strong for anyone, Brian. I’m bringing you the ibuprofen and some tea. Maybe your sketchbook too if you feel like drawing. Anything could help.”

With that she left the room, and he grabbed his phone. Glancing at the screen, his brow furrowed. There was no number displayed, only “Restricted” in bold black letters. Disregarding all common sense, he pressed the green answer button and brought it to his ear. Continuing to fiddle with his hair, he spoke softly.
“Hello?” The inclination in his voice clearly conveyed his confusion.
“Hey, Brian. I’m stopping by later.” Said the unknown caller.
His red rimmed eyes grew wide despite being irritated by the sunlight pouring in through the window above him. He could recognise that squeaky voice anywhere.
“No. You better not come by my house. I’ve been done with you, Milly.” He stated, his tone borderline threatening.
“I’ll be there in five minutes, okay? Bye bye!” She taunted.

Throwing his phone to the floor, he pulled his sweatshirt sleeves over his track marked arms, turned over, and curled up further into the fetal position. Larger tremors began to surface over his weakened body, and tears began to burn behind his eyes.
“Brian? Are you alright?” Emily asked, returning to the living room.
He didn’t reply with anything more than a cracked whimper.
She set the tea down on the table and sat on the edge of the couch, brushing his hair away from his face.
“Milly…” He shuddered, and tears began to roll down his cheeks, dripping onto the fabric. Holding onto the cushion for dear life, he began sobbing loudly.

Emily, visibly angry, stood up and walked over to the front door, looking outside. She knew that Milly would show up, like she had time and time before. Soon enough, as Emily predicted, a small white car pulled into the driveway. Emily opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch as Milly made her way up the driveway and towards the door.
“Hi, Emily! Just wanted to drop this off for Brian, hopefully he feels better soon!” She cheered, holding a green Mason jar out to Emily.
Emily grabbed it and clenched her teeth. “Leave, Milly.”
“I will, don’t worry.” Milly’s happy disposition was dropped immediately.

She started back towards her car, and got inside. Before shutting the door, she called back to Emily.
“I’ll make him some soup too, and I’ll bring it tomorrow!”
The now infuriated Emily could not think of anything else to do, so she hurled the jar towards Milly’s car. It hit the pavement and shattered into pieces as Milly rolled out of the driveway and onto the main road. Amongst the broken glass was a small bag of heroin, a bent spoon, and a matted clipping of Brian’s hair.