"CRYSTAL! IF YOU WALK out of that door, don't bother coming back!" my mum snarls.

"MUM!" I scream with my eyes about to pop out of their sockets.

"Shut your trap and return to your room this instant!" my mother seethes.

"Leave her out of this, this is between you and me. I will never agree with your demands. You've turned to a sorry excuse for a mother, our home is in shambles and now, now you want to marry me off to some miscreant, to pay your drug debts. Never!" Crystal says, as she stands toe to toe with our mother.

"You will do as I say! I'm still your mother!"

Crystal let's out a dry chuckle. Her eyes are dark and void of any emotion. Her hand in a tight fist, as she and my mum glare at each other.

I stand to the side, watching the whole drama unfold.

"You? My mother?... You lost that right a long time ago! Right now, when I see you, all I see is a broken woman. A drug addict and a shameless woman, who won't hesitate to sell off her daughter, for a few wraps of crack. You're a disgrace!"

She's caught off by my mother's hand connecting with her cheek.

I gasp.

"I'm out of here!" Crystal walks out of the door and slams it behind her.

I run after her.

"Crystal! Please don't go."

She stops, but doesn't turn back.

"I'm sorry Ana. Please take care of daisy." she jogs off to the car, sitting in our driveway, where her friends are waiting for her.

She doesn't turn back once. I watch them pull out of the driveway and speed off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Crystal is gone" my mother sobs.

I can't believe this. She's acting like she actually cares. Of course, she's gone, she told her not to return home. Why is she acting innocent all of a sudden?

"To where?" I ask with a small frown.

"Crystal is dead Anastasia, your sister is dead." my dad says in a shaky voice.

I feel my knees buckle and its like my weight is too much for my legs to carry, and I just fall... I can feel the tears streaming down my face, but I have no control over them. I turn to look at the two men.

"How?" I ask.

"There was an accident, they were all intoxicated and driving at a high speed. They ran a traffic light and collided head on with a truck... I'm sorry for your loss."

I can't even react, I just stand, and I'm about to walk to our room, when I notice Daisy standing next to the staircase with tears running down her face, I rush to her and hold her tight, and we comfort each other, because we are all we have.

I get flashbacks of memories with Crystal. Even though she wasn't at her best and started hanging with the wrong crowd, she was still my sister. We are victims of the neglect our parents showed us, it took its toll on us, but even more on her, because I guess she couldn't understand how her once loving parents, became strangers to us.

"Is she really dead?" Daisy asks amid her sobs.

I just nod because words have failed me at this point.

IT'S BEEN A MONTH SINCE Crystal passed, today is her burial. Her friends, from school and places she used to hang out, all came to show their last respects before she's lowered 6ft down.

I can't help but stare at my mother as she's taking all the attention and dwelling in the pity from those who came to give condolences. My dad is sneaking gulps of alcohol at intervals, and I'm sure by the end of today, he won't be able to walk home.

Once we are back home, everything pretty much goes back to how it has been, mum getting high on narcotics, dad getting high on liquor, nothing new. They didn't even wait for an hour after getting home, just straight into arguments, then straight to drugs and booze, I don't think they even remember they had a daughter called Crystal. I thought her death would keep them sober and make them see how much of their children's lives they are missing out on, but this showed me that they sincerely don't care.

I keep the leftover food we brought home with us in the fridge and dispose of the flowers, because in this house they mean nothing. When I get to the living room, I just stare at a portrait of Crystal hanging on the wall, she was so beautiful, I always wanted to look just like her.

"So, what's the plan now?, everything goes back to how it has always been? Like we never had a sister?" Daisy asks.

"Pretty much" I say dryly.

"I really wished, mum and dad will see things differently, but I guess not" she says calmly.

"Want to see a movie?" I ask.

"Yeah" she says.

I slide in a movie, and we make ourselves comfortable on the couch and enjoy the movie. If this was a normal household, my mum should be yelling at us right now, reminding us it's well past our bedtime, but ours is probably knocked out.

After watching two movies, I decide to call it a night.

**next morning**

I wake up to someone talking really loud on the phone, so I walk towards the source and I see my dad fidgeting in the living room.

"Good morning" I greet him.

"Your mum is unresponsive, I don't know what happened to her, I just called the ambulance." he says.

I try to force myself to react and maybe feel bad, maybe... But nothing, I don't feel a thing, because instead of grieving with her kids, she turned to drugs, and she probably overdosed.

My first instinct is to run up the stairs to her room and see her, but I decide against it, because I don't want the last memory I have of my mother, to be one of her laying lifeless somewhere in her room, because she overdosed on heroin or something - these days I'm not even sure what exactly she's on. The only memory I choose to have of my mother, is of years ago - when she was beautiful, warm and extremely loving.

I walk into the kitchen, thinking of how we just buried my sister yesterday and my mum, is possibly dead this morning. I make myself a cup of tea and while I'm frying up some eggs, Daisy walks into the kitchen.

"What's going on? Why is dad pacing in the living room?" Daisy asks.

"He's waiting for the ambulance, they'll be here any minute now." I shrug.

"Why is he waiting for an..." she starts.

I don't let her finish

"Mum probably overdosed last night, and now she's unresponsive. "

I hear my sister gasp

"Is she... Dead?" she asks.

"I'm not sure yet, but as of now, all I know is she's unresponsive." I say.

"Such a shame... Have you gone up there?"

"I don't want to. I don't want to see her like that... Oh! the paramedics are here."

I say as I see my dad usher them in, then lead the way, up to their bedroom.

Minutes later, I hear my dad let out a loud cry, I know what has happened, she has been pronounced dead... I can't bear the energy in the house, so I step outside to get some fresh air.

They carry her out, covered with a white sheet, I can't even see her face, thankfully. My sister starts crying, and I hug her, I'm void of emotions and even if I want to, there's not a bone in me that feels sorry for her, she did this to herself.

"Kids, come in!" my father calls out.

I look at Daisy, and she looks at me, the same unsure look on her face, mirrors the one on mine. But, we still walk into the house, to see what he wants. After how many years, he remembers he has kids, how convenient.

"We're going to have to adjust with mum gone. I know I've not been the best father to you girls, and I'm sorry, I'm supposed to do better and that's what I'm going to try to do from now henceforth, I'm really sorry girls." he says with tears running down his cheek.

I have just one question in my head, why? Why did it have to take this long and why did it have to take two deaths in this family for him to realize how selfish he has been?

"Why?" I ask with a straight face.

He raises his head from his hands and looks up.

"Why? Why did you and mum do this to our family?" I ask. The familiar stinging sensation at the back of my eye, is back.

"I'm sorry Angel, I really am... There's no excuse that can cut it, I was selfish and irrational and above all really stupid. I took out my frustration on you all, and eventually your mum caved under the whole pressure and started on a road she couldn't come out of, and that eventually took its toll on your sister. I saw how much my bad decisions affected our family and instead of taking steps to fix it, I turned to what destroyed me in the first place, hoping for it to give me momentary inner peace..."

"But it never did. When you were sober you were forced to face your demons and instead you cowered over and over"

I say quietly.

"I'm sorry Anastasia. You're right, I am a coward, a selfish coward... And I'm asking for one last chance, to be the father you once knew, both of you."

The emotions in this living room are reaching the roof, and it's overwhelming. Daisy is crying, my dad is crying, I'm crying, it's just too much. Once again, I'm beginning to see the man I once knew as my father.

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