I was a kid, I wanna say fifth grade? Anyway, I had to wake up at the crack of dawn to drive to my dad's mom's house. I hated both that woman and the house. We made it there around ten or so. Then my dad excused himself, like, a hour after we arrived, leaving my mom and me with his mom, who hated us both in equal measure for ruining her son's life.

He didn't come back until well past midnight.

I had fallen asleep in the couch and woke up to the fight in the living room. My mother was devastated, and hurt that he left us (he was our ride home), and that it was for drugs or whatever hood shit he was up to. Even after we packed up in the car, he made a pit stop to pick up some drugs for the road and my mother was sobbing in the car. I was trying to comfort but I made it worse, so I just held her hand from the back seat.

They screamed and fought in the car for nearly an hour. I was terrified he was going to pull us into traffic because he was getting so angry. We ended up pulling over and my mom sobbed in the gas station parking lot, screaming at him to just give a fuck. He walked off to smoke and I was able to calm my my down because she could see I was freaking out and she loved me more than she hated him and calmed herself down in my behalf.

The ride home was silent. We got home and it was nearly dawn. My mom made me a snack and then sent me to bed. I didn't fall asleep for a few hours because I was worried he would do something to my mom. When I was sure he was out, I went to sleep.

Highlight: They got me an Enya CD (don't judge me) so the initial ride there was actually quite nice. My mom was actually very excited that morning. She was excited to have a family Christmas.