It felt good to be out of prison.
Fresh air.
The freedom to come and go as I pleased.
And for the first time in 4 damn years I could eat a meal without wondering if someone had spit or pissed in the food.
Being an ex-con was making it a stone bitch to get a job or even a place of my own.
No one wanted to hire a man with a felony record, and getting an apartment was almost as bad. I ended up staying with my brother and doing day labor to save what I could toward buying a used mobile home.
Since my social life was almost non-existent, I ended up as the default babysitter for my nephews and nieces. This wasn't too bad. I kinda liked having the rugrats around. They kept me busy and gave me something else to think about besides how much my life sucked.
My sister is about 6 years younger than I am. The baby of the family.
I wasn't too thrilled about her dropping her 4 kids off with me while she went out to the bars and got drunk. Hell, that's how she ended up with her 4 kids. She had no idea who any of the fathers were.
On this particular night though, she came home drunk as hell and in a vile temper.
"Come on Sis," I said coaxingly. "You're in no shape to drive tonight. Gimme the keys and I'll get you and the kids home."
"You jus' wanna drive my car," she slurred.
But she didn't resist when I took the keys from her hand. She just stood there swaying and cussed at me.
I got her and the kids loaded into her Chevy and drove them to her house.
My sister had passed out by the time we got there, so I carried the kids in first, and then went back out for her.
Once I got her inside, she woke up and staggered off to the bathroom.
I got the kids all into bed and then sat down on her couch to watch a little TV.
About a half hour later, my sister came back downstairs wearing a white terrycloth robe that I had given her about 8 years before.
She was still bombed out of her mind, and barely made it to the chair in the corner across from the couch before she collapsed. Of course she had a beer in her hand, as if she needed any more alcohol tonight.
She pulled her legs up and put her feet on the chair, wrapping her arms around her knees.
'So when are you gonna get off your ass and find a job huh?" she jibed drunkenly.
"You're 40 damn years old and just getting fat from sitting around all day."
I looked over at her in annoyance. "And you're 34 years old and still getting drunk every night and screwing anything with a dick between its legs." I snapped back.
I should have known better than to try to argue with a drunk.
"At least I'm getting some." She sneered. "Whassa matter? You lonesome for those prison showers or sumpin?"
"I just don't need to catch any of the shit that you keep getting," I shot back. "You've had crabs what, 6 times this year? And the clap twice?"
"Shut th' fuck up," she said sullenly.