The worst sound James would ever hear in his life was the shoveling of the ground. One may ask why someone would hate this sound, logically. James hated this sound because he knew at that moment his mother would be gone forever. James' mother, Kathy died of a drug overdose just a week before.

As Father Findlay said the last prayer of the funeral, many thoughts were running through James' mind. For a second, he closed his eyes and began to remember one event. James was five at this time. He woke up during the middle of the night because he had peed on himself. As he walked to his parents' room, he saw his father's left arm swing towards his mother face. James was too scared to scream, but instead ran quickly and fearfully to his room. James began to shake and started crying. When he heard his mother fall to the ground, James ran back to room, only to see his mother unconscious and his father angrily staring at her. James could not contain his fear. He ran to his mother, crying for her to wake up. Rob, James' father screamed at James, 'Get the fuck outta here, or you're gonna be like your mother.'� James did not listen. He kept shaking his mother until she slowly woke up. Once Kathy mustered her strength, she told her son to run. They both ran and Rob passed out. Rob got fired from his job at the MTA because of his alcohol addition. When he beat Kathy, he was drunk.

'James, are you okay?'� said Lisa, James' girlfriend of five years. She was extremely pretty, with brown curly hair and hazel green eyes. She met James in high school when they were freshmen. At first they were best friends, but after the spring formal, their feelings blossomed into love. They were now engaged. James abruptly woke up and said, 'Si mi amor, estoy bien.'� Lisa knew that James was not okay, but she also knew that leaving him alone would be the best thing to do right now.

Kathy's coffin was slowing going into its space in the deep ground. Her favorite flowers, daisies were covering over her black coffin, making it look beautiful. The weather was warm with a light breeze, just as Kathy liked it. Right before the shoveling of the earth began, James threw a picture of them in the ground. He started crying, and Lisa consoled him. James could not bear burying his mother. He believed that she did not need to die, let alone the way she died. James turned around, and looked at the family members whom deep down he wanted to kill. These people, so-called family, did not bother to help them at their darkest moments, and lend them their helping hands when she fell deep into heroin.

After the burial, James and Lisa went back to Kathy's apartment to remove the rest of her things. Kathy did not have a lot of possessions. She sold the majority of them in order to support her habit. James opened the door. The apartment smelled like garbage. There were cat feces all over the floor, and Precious, Kathy's cat laid on Kathy's dirty black shirt. James and Lisa began to collect the items and lay out the boxes they got from their car. In Kathy's room, James found a needle. Sadness came over James as he thought of his mother.

'Mom, please stop doing this,'� were James final words to his mother. Nearly seventeen years past since Kathy left Rob. However, the pain of being alone and a single parent consumed her. Kathy turned to drugs to heal her pain. Kathy still managed to take care of her only son. James knew that his mother had to leave drugs. He tried everything in her power to help her quit. James and Lisa offered to pay her for her stay in rehab. They even had an intervention for Kathy. But Kathy did not budge. She told James to leave her alone and not to come back. Kathy felt insulted by the intervention, and believed that after all these years of not receiving help, why should she receive it now. 'I wanna life my life, don't you get it,'� screamed Kathy to James. At this point, Lisa went downstairs to her car. She could not handle the intensity. James sighed and cried, 'We can help you mom, please. Why won't you let me help you? We've been through everything together. Please mom, please!'� Kathy cried and didn't say anything for what it seemed to be a long time. Then she suddenly yelled, 'Because I don't want you to. Leave me be, Ja. Dejame ser feliz. If I wanna take these drugs, es porque me da la gana. '� James did not know what else to say to his mother. He started to get angry, feeling helpless. He said you know what, 'If you wanna fuck up your life, over some stupidass needle, be my guest, but I'm not gonna be here when it happens.'� With these words, James got up and left the apartment.

As James and Lisa left the apartment, James talked about the regrets he had. He wished that he had not left his mother the way she had. Deep down he believed that he could help her. Lisa tried to convince him otherwise. 'Baby, look at the way your mother was. We knew that there was nothing to be done. As long as you knew that you tried to help, there is no need for you to feel guilty. Your mother is in a better place. Los angelitos estan cuiando a ella.'� James kissed Lisa and thanked her for all the support she had been giving him.

James and Lisa were on their way to put the rest of the items in storage. James had to rest of the boxes, while Lisa had a couple of bags. After they put the rest of the items away, Lisa found a letter with James' name on it. She ran and gave it to him. James opened the letter, and could not believe what was written on it. The letter, written 2 days before her death said:

'To my son, my heart, my soul, I am writing you this letter to let you know that I am not going to be around much longer. If you are getting this letter, it's because I'm already dead. I don't want you to cry for me or seas triste. If anything, be happy that I'm no longer suffering. I am in a place where I can be happy and safe. I want you to know that you were the best hijo any mother could have. I am very proud in all the things you accomplished. I want you and Lisa to be happy together because she deserves you. Remember that no matter what, I am always contigo, en tu Corazon.'�

James clinched the letter close to his heart and began to cry. Once again, Lisa consoled him. They slowly walked back to their car, and began to live their lives without Kathy. James felt somewhat at piece, but he knew that it would be a long road ahead.

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