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23 To 15

"23 TO 15"


it was just us three in that 
room, her, her son and I. 
after the pills were taken, 
her son fought with her, 
trying to convince her 
of her impact on his life. I fought 
with her, trying to get her 
to regurgitate and go to the 
hospital. when her son left, 
I asked her how many pills 
she had taken in total. the 
number was 23. her son walked 
in and out, going outside 
every few minutes to smoke a 
few cigarettes. on his last 
trip outside, I asked her 
again: “how many pills did 
you take?” she said, 
“fifteen.” I looked on in 
shock but understanding. “why 
did you say there was more 
than there actually was?” 
before she could answer, her 
son returned. “hey, you’re 
going to have to stay up with 
her throughout the night 
since she’s refusing to go to 
the hospital,” I told him. he 
kept his eyes on his phone, 
“duh,” he said. shortly 
after, she made herself throw 
up what she could. 23 to 15 
made every sense. her son 
saying duh made none however. 
she said, “I’ll be alright.” 
if they both knew everything 
ahead of time, why didn’t he 
stop her? why didn’t she stop 
herself? it was then I knew I 
wasn’t needed, so I left. 
“keep me updated,” I said 
while touching her shoulder. 
I’m still unsure of what it 
was I walked into but I got 
some poetry out of it. you 
can never go wrong with the 
word. just don’t ask her or 
her son to confirm that. 
you’ll get 23 answers dropped 
down to 15 and her son will 
tell you he already knew that. 
“duh.”


By: Chicano Eddie
4202017

Copyright © Chicano Eddie | Year Posted 2017

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