Free Say When by Tara West

casual smile on her face as if she just got laid. Either that, or she’s still buzzing from the meth. I decide it’s probably a little bit of both.
    “What the hell, Karri?” I snap.
    Her eyes widen and she tilts her head, looking at me as if I’m the one who’s on drugs. Finally, she juts a hand on her hip and narrows her eyes. “What’s your problem?”
    Un-fucking-believable. The girl has to be smoking some serious shit if she doesn’t see what’s wrong with this scenario.
    “What’s my problem?” I growl. “You leave your kid all day. You don’t even bother to call your mom and tell her you’re okay.” I wave toward the hunk of junk defiling my driveway. “Then you show up at my door with that loser?”
    She rolls her eyes before pushing past me. “That loser is my only method of transportation right now.” She turns to me with an expectant glare. “Where’s my kid?”
    I gape at her. Anger seizes my chest and infuses my skull.
    No “sorry.” No “thank you.” She doesn’t even ask how Tyler is doing.
    “Your kid is sleeping,” I hiss.
    “Good,” she says as she marches up the stairs, her heavy combat boots thudding against the hardwood. “Maybe he’ll sleep through the night.”
    Of course, I think to myself. That way you can party without interruptions.
    She’s already scooping him off the bed when I get to my room. Ty whimpers as Karri straps him into the carrier. She makes no effort to comfort her child.
    Why am I standing here watching this when I should be smacking her upside the head?
    As she turns to exit my bedroom, I jump in front of her, blocking her path.
    Karri rolls her eyes. “Would you move?” she grumbles. “Robbie is waiting.”
    Like I give a rat’s ass about Robbie.
    She tries to walk around me, but I step to the side and latch onto her arm. “How can you do this to Ty?”
    “What?”
    “You’re back on meth, Karri. Don’t lie to me.”
    “No, I’m not,” she says.
    I don’t like how she averts her gaze when I try to make eye contact.
    “Karri, come on,” I plead, hating the note of desperation that slips into my voice. I need to make her understand she’s not just placing her life in danger, but Ty’s, too.
    Karri smacks loudly on her chewing gum while giving me a glare. “Oh, you’re the meth expert now? A girl wants to have a little fun, so she must be on drugs?”
    “Karri, listen to me,” I say, not buying the bullshit that she’s just having “a little fun.” “You can’t be a mom and a meth head.”
    “No shit.” Her voice rises, and Tyler squirms and fusses in his carrier. “I’m not a fucking user. Robbie and I had too many beers last night. I was hung over.”
    Oh, I think to myself. That makes it all better. “Getting wasted on beer is bad enough, but I don’t believe you.”
    “I don’t give a shit what you believe,” she snaps as she uses the carrier to knock me out of the way.
    I tumble to the side, but grasp the wall for support and spin around. She’s already marching down the stairs. Fear and rage fuel my movements as I chase after her. “Why didn’t you have the money to get the oil changed in your car?” I call at her back.
    She reaches the center landing with a thud, rattling the carrier in her grip. She turns on me, as I stumble toward the landing. “Um, maybe it’s because I’m a single mom paying for all of Ty’s shit by myself.”
    “Your mom buys his diapers and clothes.” My voice rises along with my ire. “The welfare department gives you formula.”
    Her smile thins as she narrows her eyes. “I pay for his daycare.”
    I look down at Ty, who is fully awake now. His eyes are wide and watery and he whimpers while sucking his thumb.
    My head feels like a pressure cooker, ready to explode in a fit of rage. My vision tunnels on Karri. “What is it for an oil change, like thirty bucks?”
    Karri averts her gaze as her shoulders fall. “Okay, so I fucked up. What do you want me to say?” she asks in