Before Jennifer could say a word. An older and taller high schooler was leaning on the bathroom door. He looked jacked and had visible muscles from his calves all the way to his neck. He gave a very mean looking vibe. The kind which Jennifer didn't want to interact with. On his pointer finger and index finger he hold a small cigarette and puffed a big smoke cloud at Sylvia's face. She didn't even flinch while she was covered in smoke.
"So, who's the kid?" The high schooler asked with very bassy voice while taking a lenghty whiff from the cigarette and blowing again on Sylvia.
"That's my..." Sylvia paused to think for a moment. "My sis- I mean my niece Jen. Yeah, she's my niece. Say hi Jen."
Sylvia coughed and quickly turned her head towards Jennifer. Sylvia tried with her eyebrow lifting and small head nudging to signal to Jennifer to say something to him. Jennifer wasn't sure if the boy was a high school senior or older but his body language and lack of care told Jennifer everything she needed to know. He was one of those kind of people. Jennifer cringed as she couldn't believe her mom hanging with him.
"Hi." Jennifer whimpered and waved her arm.
"Sup." The high schooler replied as he flung the used cigarette at the sink in front of Sylvia.
"By the way Vi. Tell your ma that she's running out of cigs." The boy laughed as he walked to the living room.
"The fuck?" Sylvia shouted. "You know that those are fucking expensive as shit. How do you think I fucking explain to her that my fucking B.F. came here. Raided our fridge empty, cuddled with her daughter for hours and lastly took the last pack of cigs as a trophy!?"
"Not my problem sweetie." Jennifer heard the guy laughing. She swore she heard a loud thud as the front door slammed shut.
Sylvia came back to the bathroom and begun to hit the sink with her fist.
"That fucking loser! I should have listened to my mom when she said she got bad vibes from him." Sylvia screamed as she stomped her feet. "Jen. Kiddo. Listen when I say this. If you see a guy like that. Don't engage with him. He's bad news. Got it!?"
Jennifer ran out of the bathroom as Sylvia's anger turned into a temper tantrum which involved her throwing what ever she got in to her hands. The familiar sting pierced Jennifer's body as she watched the curse rear its ugly head once more. She could feel that turning this ship around was a sisyphean task.