Chapter Twenty Eight

Antonia's Pov.

I still wasn't sure why I spilled my guts to Gabriel like that earlier, but I couldn't deny that it felt good to actually talk to somebody else—that wasn't Kendra—about my mother.

I couldn't be sure if it was the right choice to talk to Gabriel, who I still barely knew about something so personal, but seeing how genuinely curious he had been earlier, I couldn't help but explain things to him.

I still couldn't believe that my mother had been shameless enough to approach Gabriel simply because I didn't give her the attention that she wanted from me. Now that I knew that she approached Gabriel, I was certain that she was going to approach him again, and this time, she would definitely ask him for money.

Sighing, I picked up my phone from my bed, preparing to dial a number that I wished more than anything I didn't have to dial. It took me a while to make up my mind, but because I didn't want to be approached by my mother again and I also didn't want her to get involved with Gabriel, I knew I had to let go of my pride and speak to this person.

I pressed the call button reluctantly, expecting the phone to ring for a while before getting a response, but almost immediately, the brat picked up her call. It was almost like she had been waiting for me to call her whole life, which wouldn't be surprising in any way.

"Is this really happening right now? Are you really calling me even after you said that you wanted nothing to do with me ever again and swore to never speak to me?" she asked in her usual annoying voice, which never failed to irritate me.

"I'm not calling you to exchange pleasantries, Joan. I'm calling because I need you to tell me where our mother is staying right now. I'm sure she must have contacted you after getting out of jail, so I need you to tell me where she stays," I demanded.

She scoffed. "And why in the world would I do that for free? If you want to know where our darling mother is staying, all you need to do is fulfill your responsibility as an older sibling, and maybe, just maybe, if I'm satisfied, I'll let you know what you want to know," she responded, not surprising me.

Unfortunately, Joan was also someone that I shared the same blood with, even if we both had different fathers, just like the rest of my siblings. My mother had passed herself around so much to get money for drugs that she ended up getting pregnant for several different men at different times, without ever remembering who the fathers were.

Apparently, my father was the only person she remembered since I was her first child, but the rest of my siblings had been a mistake, and in her words, she didn't even remember what they looked like. All she ever said was that the men gave her just enough money to get by, so she simply slept with them, got herself all drugged up, and forgot who they were the next day.

"I know perfectly well that you're a cheapskate, Joan. I'm not asking you to tell me for free, so there's no need for you to bait me because I know you well enough," I responded.

"Well, according to what I found out the last time I saw her, which was only a few days ago, she told me that she has a new boyfriend that she met while in jail, and they currently live together. Come to the pawnshop, and I'll take you there myself. It's not too far from here," she informed.

"She also mentioned something about you not attending to her like you're supposed to, so I'm assuming that you called me to find out where she is because she must have met with your rich boyfriend like she said she would," she added.

I shook my head in anger. "I don't know what else mom wants from me, Joan. I've already tried my best to help her all through the years, but I no longer owe her or any one of you anything else. You're not even my family," I responded.

I could hear Joan laughing at the other end of the phone, and the more she laughed, the angrier I got.

"There is absolutely nothing funny about any of this, Joan! You're her daughter as well, so why don't you give us some money now that she's out of jail instead of having her bother me?" I suggested, and this time, she laughed even louder, like I had just said the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard.

"You're telling me, an ordinary pawn shop owner who is barely making ends meet, to give our greedy mother some money? You do realize that she sees you as a money bag amongst all of us, and that's the price you have to pay for being the most successful child. She wouldn't ask me for a dime because I'm a dirt poor junkie, just like her," Joan responded, and I couldn't deny that she had a point.

Out of the six children that my mother had, three that I had never met, and the two that I had, I was the only person who didn't fall under the category of a drug addict or a deadbeat.

It was almost like a family curse where we would all end up like our mother, but thankfully, I had been lucky enough to meet the right people, so I managed to escape that fate.

"Well, I'm not to blame for your useless lifestyle, and I can no longer condone anything that mom is doing. If you happen to meet her before I do, tell her to leave me the hell alone and not come anywhere near my boyfriend ever again. I'll come see her soon, but she had better not expect anything from me," I said to her.

She scoffed again. "How much are you going to give me for the information I just gave you? I would appreciate it if you decided to be more generous to your younger sister this time and send a few thousand if you don't..." she was saying, but I became even more irritated and hung up.

Seeing my mother wasn't the best idea, but I had no other choice. Just for the last time, I'd cater to her wimp, give her more than enough money to get her out of my life, and never come back.