1.10 A cold winter

As winter came, Riverview were turned to a Winter Wonderland.

Our house was covered in snow, and we had begun hanging holiday lights on the house roofs.

I had had a lot of long talks with Rie about her "activities" after school. She kept coming home later, just before curfew was upon her, so she wouldn't get into troubles. I still got calls often from her teachers, being worried about her. She often skipped school to hang out with older friends, and she didn't do her homework most of the time.
I didn't know what to do about her. We still hadn't saved enough up for moving, so i didn't know how to keep her from selling drugs or what else she spend her time on. I was afraid, scared what she was up to. Could she be stealing as well, to get approval from her so-called friends? I was sure that if she wasn't doing all the criminal activity, they wouldn't hang out with her, but she wouldn't listen to me when i told her that. All i got was a sneer and that i should stay out of it. I felt powerless. I had no idea how to keep her home. I couldn't home school her. I couldn't miss any more work, because we desperately needed the money. All i could do was look by as my little darling Rie turned into a criminal in front of me. She was no more my little angel, as she had been when she was a toddler. She was a drug dealer who desperately needed my help, help i didn't know how to give her. I knew she didn't actually do the drugs. I was sure that if she did i would be able to tell it on her.

"Mom, how would you feel about us all going to the Winter Festival this afternoon?" Bernard asked me. "It would take our minds off the problems at hand, and it would be refreshing getting out between people and mingle." He smiled me a seldom smile, and i tried returning it.
"I guess it could be good for all of us," I said, thinking about the rough time that had passed.
It was decided. We went to the Winter Festival all together. Rie wasn't too happy about it, but Bernard had a good hold on her. She almost always listened to him. It was like she looked up to him.
We took a family holiday photo in the photo booth.

Bernard insisted that we all joined in, so it would be a real family picture. "We can send it as a Christmas Card to our friends," he said, lowering his voice so that Rie wouldn't hear.
Afterwards i had to go to work, so the four of them decided to skate on the skating rink, with Rie as a bystander.

At work i had an important performance to do. It could decide whether or not i got a promotion, so i had spend a lot of time rehearsing, so nothing would go wrong.
At the end of the night when i was done, they pulled me aside and said: "You know, that was quite a show you performed there. I can't see why you shouldn't get that promotion. We could totally use your song for the up and coming tour." I was so happy and a bit sad at the same time. Good, i got the promotion i was after, but again i couldn't go on a tour. I couldn't leave home while things were this messy with Rie. It could be catastrophic to say the least.

I got home to a sleepy house. Everyone had been so tired after their afternoon out that they had gone straight to bed after dinner. I guess i should get used to this because i now worked from 19:00  00:00, performing on venues and writing songs.
Before long i was sure to be a rock star!

The only person who seemed to be Rie's confidant was Camille. The two of them would talk for hours and in the winter they would build snowmen and hang out on the swing just talking.

Rie was a mystery to me. One moment she was talking calm to us and the next she was all over the place, with ideas about space and aliens. Sometimes she would talk about how the police was the true crime of the world and how she planned to take them down. Then she would go quiet and not talk to us for days, except for Camille. They didn't share a room, but they would still stay up late and talk in one of their rooms. I was not allowed in when they were alone, so i had no idea what they talked about.
One day i just had to know a tad of what was going on. I pulled Camille to the side and demanded she told me what Rie was up to.
"I honestly don't know mom," she said all innocent, but i had a feeling she knew a whole lot more than she let me to believe.


Soon enough it was Hans' birthday, and he turned 18. We didn't have a party this time, as he didn't want one and I could handle one at the moment.

After his graduation the next day, we went to the restaurant where we all ate lunch together to celebrate Hans graduating. Afterwards I played some guitar to see if i could get some extra money. It wasn't exactly cheap to eat out. I scored home around 350 simoleons! Not too bad for a couple of hours of work.
James seemed to enjoy himself as well. He met a girl that just graduated. Her name was Malinda Richey and she was 19 years old. Just 4 years older than James. He seemed totally smitten with her.

We soon went home to a warm house. Sometimes i wish i had a fireplace to warm up in front of in the winter. That would be lovely.