A Stranger's Secret

    My dad struck me on the face when I told him I had lost my job. “Dad, I- I- I’m sorry! They let a lot of people go!” I lied, and he knew it.  “Don’t talk back to me!” he yelled at me, striking my face again. I fell to the floor, holding my cheek that was burning from his last strike. I tried not to cry out loud, I didn’t want to upset him any more than he already was. “Get the f**k out of my sight!” I scrambled to my feet before he got a hold of my hair to “help me up.”  He pulled me up and pushed me into the hallway towards my room.  Once I was inside, I cried into my pillow. My only real friend, my confidant, if that pillow could talk, all the things she would say. I’ve cried my sorrows onto her, I’ve told her my problems, my dreams of leaving this house. It was exhausting living in a home where my father only beat my mom and I for not doing things his way. My sister was lucky to get out of here, she found a man to take good care of her. Who loved her and never laid a hand on her.  I couldn’t tell him I lost my job because my boss was hitting on me. He kept asking me out on dates, on dinners. He would send flowers to my desk, he was married! I am not a homewrecker! I could never!  I fired up my laptop to start looking for a new job. I needed to make some money if I ever wanted to move out of here. I searched for any receptionist job openings. It had been two hours and I could not find anything that caught my interest. Maybe I should lower my standards or just take a break. I can always search for a job tomorrow. I sighed hearing my stomach growling. I was hungry. I hadn’t had dinner yet; I know my mom probably put a plate out for me in the microwave just in case I got hungry. I slowly opened my bedroom door; I didn’t want to make any noise coming out on the hallway. It was already 10:30, and I knew my parents were asleep. I creeped into the kitchen and headed straight to the microwave. I opened it and nothing. There was nothing in there. My dad probably told her to not make me a plate. I don’t blame her for not making it, she’s scared of him. I grab a bowl to serve myself some cereal. That will have to do for now. I head back to my room quietly. I don’t want to risk my dad walking in on me eating cereal.  Thankfully, the coast was clear. I gently closed my door and opened up Netflix on my laptop. I needed to get my mind off of things and what better way than to watch a romantic flick. The Notebook was there, I hadn’t watched the entire movie, so I decided tonight was the night I would watch the entire movie. I finished my cereal as I saw how Allie and Noah broke up their relationship. It was so sad! I laid on my bed, watching her heart break and I couldn’t help but cry with her.  I woke up in the middle of the night, the finished bowl of cereal still on my side of the bed and my laptop had died on me. I got up to put the bowl on my desk and put my laptop to charge. I decided to continue my job hunt tomorrow in the morning. I prayed to God to help me find anything, as long as it paid good to be able to get out of this hell hole, I called a home. I crawled back to bed and set up an alarm for seven in the morning. I looked at the time, I had three more hours of sleep, and I could feel how puffy my eyes were from crying last night. I will worry about that tomorrow. I needed to get some sleep for now, it was going to be a busy day tomorrow.   I woke up a couple of minutes before my alarm went off. I made sure I turned it off before I walked to my bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror and my eyes were still swollen from the crying. My cheek was a little red, but at least it wasn’t bruised. My hair looked like a bird tried making a nest out of it. I stripped out of my clothes and began running the shower. Letting the steam begin fogging up my mirror, making my reflection disappear in the mist. I sighed and jumped into the hot shower. The water stung a little against my pale skin, but it felt good.  I made sure my hair was completely wet before I shampooed it. I lathered my long black hair, making sure my scalp felt clean before rinsing it off. The conditioner was eyeing me before I poured some on the ends of my hair and letting it sit there. I took my body wash and started washing my petite frame. It felt as if I was going to have luck today finding a job. I quickly rinsed my hair, making sure the body was coming down as well. I put my hair squeezed the excess water from my hair before wrapping it up in a large t-shirt. I pat dried my body, put moisturizer on.  The mirror was all fogged up, so I had to wipe to be able to look at my reflection. The swelling came down from my eyes, which was a good thing if I planned on doing any walk-in interviews. I walked back to my bedroom, still wrapped up in my towel. I turned on my laptop again and decided to look for what to wear until the machine decided to turn on. I make a mental note to buy a new laptop when I get a new job. This one was like seven years old and it was slow as it could be.  I go into my closet and grab a black jumpsuit. I decided to get comfortable in the meantime if I was just going to be looking for a job in my bedroom. I prayed I would find something. I decided to walk to the kitchen after my hair was kind of dry. I’ll make myself some coffee and some toast so I can start job hunting again. My mom sat there on the kitchen table and gave me a weak smile. “How are you feeling?” she asked me as I opened the cabinet to get a coffee mug. “Hopeful, I’m sure I will find something. I know with this pandemic, it will be hard ma, but I know I can find something.” I smiled at her, reassuring her that I would figure something out. I kissed the top of her head before walking back to the counter to finish making my coffee. We stayed there in a comfortable silence before she told me my dad had gone to work already. I was waiting for my toast so I could head back to my room and continue the job search. My motivation was to not stay stuck at home. I would file for unemployment and hope I could find something to not be getting free money for long. I sipped on my coffee and started my hunt. Someone had to be hiring somewhere. Someone has to need a secretary, a personal assistant a receptionist. I made sure that my resume looked professional enough. I had worked at a convenient store before I worked at that heating company. Just thinking of my last job was pissing me off. I did nothing wrong! I was in a hostile environment. I didn’t want to date the boss, so he fired me. Why couldn’t men understand that no means no. He is a married man with a wife and two kids. I shook my head, I had to get my mind off of stupid things. My resume looked good enough to send to five different companies close to where I live. It shouldn’t be a long commute, or maybe I should look for something a little farther. My mom walked into my room to hand me a plate of food. It was lunch time, and I hadn’t even noticed. I was so engulfed in finding a job I had lost track of time.  “Thanks ma.” I smiled at her as she put her hand on my shoulder. “How’s it going?” she asked me, eyeing the computer screen. “It’s going,” I sighed, “ma, I really pray I find something soon. I don’t want dad being angry at me for not finding anything yet.” My mom gave me a hug that gave me the feeling that I was going to find something. She rubbed my back and left my room.   Two more hours and I still had not received any emails or calls. My phone started vibrating and I got excited! I looked at the screen and I was immediately annoyed.  “What the hell do you want?” I asked Michael. He was my ex-boyfriend, still asking me for another chance. “Diana, baby, please don’t hang up on me. Please, just meet me for coffee, let’s just talk. Please!” he pleaded “I don’t want to talk to you Michael. Stop calling me.” “I really need to talk to you D, c’mon. I’ll meet you at the Starbucks by your house in thirty minutes. Please baby, I’ll be waiting!” and just like that he hung up on me. How dare he call me and demand to go see him because he wants to talk! ‘Diana, stop it! You can’t meet up with him! He hurt you!’ I kept thinking to myself.