"What a wicked game you played to make me feel this way."
Jo Jameson doesn't need help. At least that's what she tells everyone.
Following the disappearance of her best friend, she's made a lot of changes - be it from the hair dye or the...
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"Sometimes it's hard to do the right thing when the pressure's coming down like lightning."
Rita was working today at the Jameson Family Pharmacy and Jo was in dire need of more Percocet for a desperate customer. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, Rita would not take her thirty-minute break. Rita would continue sweeping the aisles, saying how stopping only gave her brain the chance to think about all the havoc her daughters have wreaked in the past month—her oldest was in jail again and the youngest was expecting for the third time by another unknown man.
Jo flipped idly through a tabloid as she eyed Rita from behind the front counter. The woman looked like she'd been to hell and back in the past few days. Her orange hair had miraculously sprouted a handful of more gray hairs overnight, and the bags under her eyes were big enough to hide a body. Nevertheless, her wit prevailed through it all. "Damn it, girl. Are you letting in a herd of goats behind my back? Every time I sweep one corner, eight new piles of dirt pop up in the last."
"Sorry, Rita. I'll try to find a better place to start my miniature petting zoo."
Rita huffed, out of breath, and laid the broom against a shelf. "I need a cigarette."
"I thought you were quitting?"
"I also thought my daughter knew how to wipe down fingerprints but she got sentenced fifteen. We're all wrong today." Rita reached into her pocket and pulled out a crinkled packet of Marlboros. She pulled one out, slipping it in between her teeth. "You win, kid. I'm taking the break."
Jo snorted as Rita walked out back, hopping over the counter and towards the back pharmacy. She slid her key in the lock, unlocking the deadbolt before swinging open the door. Jo walked through the various aisles, looking for pain pills. She poured a handful in her pocket and left the back room, locking it on her way out.
Jo snuck into her mother's office, sliding three of the pills in her mouth, and plopped down in the swivel chair, air hissing out under her weight. She logged onto the computer and began tweaking the past month's security footage. It was nearly incredible what two semesters of a digital art class could do for her editing skills as she reviewed her handiwork. Now, all that was left was to replace what she could of the pills without completely diminishing her side profit.
From outside the office, she heard a sweet voice call out to her. "Josie?"
"In here," Jo replied as the edge started to slowly slip away. She wasn't far gone enough to be incoherent, but the fuzziness of her head felt nonexistent.
Emily eased through the door in a flowy red top and jean skirt. She looked around the office with unease like she wasn't sure if it was alright to be back here. "What are you doing in here?"
