Susan didn’t have to live with her mother this time. Clearly, her mom didn’t want anything to do with her. Instead, she and her daughter stayed with her grandparents. It was ok for a while. She had food on her plate, a soft bed and someone to help with her child.
She got a job here and there to help with bills and food. Nothing great. Her hometown was very industrial. If you wanted a job, staffing services were your only option. Warehouse work or assembly lines for the win. Her heart ached to be free.
It wasn’t freedom from her responsibilities. It was freedom from the stifling city and control of her family. Even with helping with bills, she still seemed to owe them more than she could repay. It was something they reminded her of often.
That wasn’t the only issue. It was their control. Home and work were her only options. Any friend time was prohibited completely. The rebel in her bucked wildly. Her anger issues grew to red rage. Susan knew she should be grateful. Hell, she wasn’t getting beaten or starved or locked out of the house on cold winter nights. Didn’t she deserve happiness, too? Her daughter brought her ultimate joy. Shouldn’t that be enough?
Her sister was there but not there. It didn’t take long for her to move away yet again. This time it was a different city, but Susan made sure to visit as much as she could.
Years passed and her mistakes kept compounding against themselves. She would bounce back and forth between family members and living in her car or with the wrong men. She followed friends to bars and parties. Alcohol became her sedative yet again.
Each time her poor choices tried to drown her in misery, another miracle would happen. She had three such miracles now. Finding herself wasn’t as easy to discover. But for them, she would keep trying. Three daughters became her reason for everything.
Finding approval and acceptance in the rest of her family was a slippery as a xenomorph. It didn’t stop her from trying, though. Her daughters? They came first now. Drinking stopped. Partying stopped. All of it that didn’t benefit them… stopped.
As for a career. It was her grandfather’s inspiration that inspired her choice. He had taught her auto mechanics, but she loved airplanes. So, that is what she pursued. Finding out how those giant metal machines stayed in the air filled her with the utmost curiosity.
This path finally took Susan and her daughters away from her hometown. More importantly, it took her away from the family that refused to show her love. The family who only saw her as a let down and a black sheep. They still had their claws in her but not as deep.
During holidays, Susan and her entourage drove back. She always wondered how other families spent their holidays. Hers were a nightmare. Between her mother, grandmother and aunt, Susan was insulted and made fun of. Every mistake got brought back to light. She took it as much as she could until Missy would drag her outside for a quick escape.
This went on for several more years before the fated day that she got sucked back to hell.
