Her Mother is a Drunk

I know that sounds cold, and I felt bad that she had such an awful woman as a mother, but her mom was beyond help and there was no possibility of her ever having any semblance a normal life because of this.  They were Irish and Irene’s mother was Kathleen and she developed a real thirst for beer, even before her husband left her and then things just got worse.  I met Irene one day when she was singin’ in the rain and wearing an alabaster pendant of Saint Christopher around her neck.  I was able to recognize the Saint, as my parents had one on the dashboard of their car and I said, “Your necklace was demoted in 1969, you are wearing the saint that ain’t a saint no more.”  Irene smiled at me and said, “I hear what you are saying, but he is not delible to me, as I feel that once you are a saint, you are always a saint.”  There was a creative wisdom in her words, even though I knew that Saint Christopher would never regain his former temporal power.

I asked her why she was out in the rain and she pointed up at a cloud and told me that she enjoyed watching it blow around in the wind.  She said that her mom was sleeping off a hangover and she usually gets angry when she wakes up, so it was best for her to be out of the house to let her simmer down and preserve the little peace that she had.  Irene said that her mom was all over her case about a missing scarf and when she heard her fall asleep, she decided to tiptoe out of there to muffle the sound of her footsteps.  The rain stopped and we could both smell the honeysuckle and I suggested that we take a ride in my car to go get some ice cream.  Irene said, “I call shotgun!”, which made me laugh because there were only two of us and I was driving, so where else would she affix her butt.

Written for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompt – Thirst, for Roger Shipp’s Daily Addictions prompt – Help, for the Daily Spur prompt – Cold, for FOWC with Fandango – Creative, for Christine’s Daily Writing Prompt – Singin in the rain, for Linda G. Hill’s ‘Life in progress’ JusJoJan prompt – Possibility, for Ragtag Community – Temporal, for Di’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Shotgun Cloud Wind, for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Wisdom and for Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Wordle #162, hosted by Yves where the prompts are Alabaster Honeysuckle Delible Hear Tiptoe Recognize Preserve Muffle Little Simmer Affix Scarf.