Once Gone by Blake Pierce

She found nothing.
    “April!” she screamed again.
    Riley recognized the bitter flavor of bile in her mouth. It was the taste of terror.
    At last, in the kitchen, she noticed an odd smell wafting in through an open window. She recognized that smell from long-ago college days. Her terror ebbed away, replaced by sad annoyance.
    “Oh, Jesus,” Riley murmured aloud, feeling immense relief.
    She jerked the back door open. In the early morning light she could see her daughter, still in her pajamas, sitting at the old picnic table. April looked guilty and sheepish.
    “What do you want, Mom?” April asked.
    Riley strode across the yard, holding out her hand.
    “Give it to me,” Riley said.
    April awkwardly tried to display an innocent expression.
    “Give you what?” she asked.
    Riley’s voice choked back more sadness than anger. “The joint you’re smoking,” she said. “And please—don’t lie to me about it.”
    “You’re crazy,” April said, doing her best to sound righteously indignant. “I wasn’t smoking anything. You’re always assuming the worst about me. You know that, Mom?”
    Riley noticed how her daughter was hunched forward as she sat on the bench.
    “Move your foot,” Riley said.
    “What?” April said, feigning incomprehension.
    Riley pointed at the suspicious foot.
    “Move your foot.”
    April groaned aloud and obeyed. Sure enough, her bedroom slipper had been covering a freshly crushed marijuana joint. A wisp of smoke rose from it, and the smell was stronger than ever.
    Riley bent down and snatched it up.
    “Now give me the rest of it.”
    April shrugged. “The rest of what?”
    Riley couldn’t quite keep her voice steady. “April, I mean it. Don’t lie to me. Please.”
    April rolled her eyes and reached into her shirt pocket. She pulled out a joint that hadn’t been lit.
    “Oh, for Christ’s sake, here,” she said, handing it to her mother. “Don’t try to tell me you’re not going to smoke it yourself as soon as you get a chance.”
    Riley shoved both joints into her bathrobe pocket.
    “What else have you got?” she demanded.
    “That’s it, that’s all there is,” April snapped back. “Don’t you believe me? Well, go ahead, search me. Search my room. Search everywhere. This is all I’ve got.”
    Riley was trembling all over. She struggled to bring her emotions under control.
    “Where did you get these?” she asked.
    April shrugged. “Cindy gave them to me.”
    “Who’s Cindy?
    April let out a cynical laugh. “Well, you wouldn’t know, would you, Mom? It’s not like you know much of anything about my life. What do you care, anyway? I mean, does it make any difference to you if I get high?”
    Riley was stung now. April had gone right for the jugular, and it hurt. Riley couldn’t hold back the tears anymore.
    “April, why do you hate me?” she cried.
    April looked surprised, but hardly repentant. “I don’t hate you, Mom.”
    “Then why are you punishing me? What did I ever do to deserve this?”
    April stared off into space. “Maybe you ought to spend some time thinking about that, Mom.”
    April got up from the bench and walked toward the house.
    Riley wandered through the kitchen, mechanically getting out everything she needed to make breakfast. As she took the eggs and bacon out of the refrigerator, she wondered what to do about this situation. She ought to ground April immediately. But how exactly could she do that?
    When Riley had been off the job, she’d been able to keep tabs on April. But everything was different now. Now that Riley was back at work, her schedule would be wildly unpredictable. And apparently, so would her daughter.
    Riley mulled over her choices as she laid strips of bacon in the pan to sizzle. One thing seemed certain. Since April would be spending so much time with her father, Riley really ought to tell Ryan what had happened. But that would open up another world of problems. Ryan was already convinced that Riley was