The Heart I was Given

Chapter2

Vaney moved towards me and pulled my dress up,

I was so embarrassed at the same time thankful, he was with some other black guy with low cut hair, ocean eyes and a strong built body like a wrestler.

He turns out to be his closest friend “Noah"

Both accompanied me home that day, I thanked him so much before heading inside

The next day, I find Vaney standing in front of the school gate, at the end of the school session

I walked up to him and bowed a little

Thank you for……

How old are you? He cuts me off

I hesitated a bit before giving a reply

15… I murmured

“f**k!" A voice grunts behind me

I snapped my head back only to find “Noah” standing behind me

I flinched a bit, he smirks

“Follow me" Giavanni commanded

Without hesitation, I dragged my feet behind him like a zombie

He took me to a nearby restaurant and asked to order anything I like

My eyes widened, my gaze fixed on him

You heard me, his deep voice said but with a smile this time

I avert my gaze and then make an order of pasta and wings

Few minutes later, it was brought in

My eyes trailed the plate from the waiters hand, down to the table.

It was like a platter of Gold, my mouth waters at the delicacy in front of me

We hardly eat pasta, no!

What I'm I saying?...

We've never had pasta,

Where would we get the money? I grew up to the struggles of hardly eating a 3 square meal

And it's not even a real meal, just any available trash

“It's getting cold" Vaney reminds me

My hands tremble as I reach out to the fork,

Hmmmph, Vaney sighed. I think I was acting odd

Don't blame me, no one has ever spare me a pity eyes talkless of buying me a f*****g PASTA!

Life in Boulevard is not a joke,

Vaney grabbed the fork and haul the spaghetti, intertwined it within the fork and shoved it in my mouth.

I chew on it slowly, the savory taste that hit my tongue sent a wave of excitement through me, I didn't know when I grabbed the fork from vaney and dig into the food like a wildebeest

In a minute, there was nothing left on the plate

Whoa! Noah clapped his hands

Embarrassment hit me,

I find Vaney eyes on me with an expression I cannot seem to read

“I'm sorry" I whispered

He lets out a chuckle and then stood up and left. only to be back with two extra packed food

He handed it over to me, and put me in a taxi to take me home. I thanked him so much, but he's not the type that accepts gratitude.

And since then, Vaney has always been there for me, I got to know him more, we live five streets away from each other

Not that he was financially stable, but he tries to do his best for me

End of flashback

“Holy Mary" Lucas shrieked, pulling me back to reality

There was smoke everywhere, Omg! The potatoes! My eyes widened in horror

I covered my nose with the back of my palm,

Lucas get out! I yelled

He complied and leave immediately

An asthmatic patient shouldn't be anywhere near smoke

Few minutes later, I clean up the mess, the smoke almost gone

I dished out the horrified potatoes, what choice do we have? But I made sure the part where I dished Lucas and Kayla weren't entirely burnt. While I dished the burnt part to myself.

We sat down in silence while feasting on our food irrespectively

It's was hard to eat the burnt part, so I just tossed it sideways, Lucas noticed and offered me some of his

No it's fine, I rejected his offer,

I can't finish it anyways, he insisted…

Then eat to your fill, I'll eat the leftovers. I said and got up

I picked up my school bag from the floor where I had flung it earlier this afternoon. I rummaged through my books,I had a 10 dollar I had been keeping for a while in there

Vaney gave me 20 dollar earlier, altogether it makes 30 dollar

I came back to the floor where everyone was sitting and handover 10 dollar each to Lucas and Kayla

We're out of foodstuffs I announced, their faces dropped, they knew what it means

Vaney brought some foodstuffs weeks ago, which made us feed well this month

But the last potatoes remaining from the foodstuffs is what I made tonight.

You guys should hold on to that, I know it's not much, but at least it would sustain a day or two.

Tha..nk you big sis, Lucas voice crackled

I chuckled, for what? I asked jokingly

Ever since mama left, you fill that void, you took up her role and tried your best for us.

In my next life, I want to be born as your son, not as your little brother. Lucas muttered with a breaking voice,

Tears fill my eyes as they threaten to fall,

I wiped the tears off and sniffles

I can't break down in front of them.

“It's what big sister does” I smiled taking a seat beside him

Kayla got up angrily, and threw herself onto the bed only for her sobs to echo the whole room

She must have felt miserable by the mention of our mother, she was the best thing we had, we adored her, she was everything to us.

But…. She abandoned us and left, without even looking back for once,

And as if the fact she left wasn't enough,

The pain and stigma we had to embrace to carry on with our lives are torments of hell, An unbearable torture for minors like I and my siblings.

🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋

The next morning, we all woke up early as usual, and get dressed real quick for School

“I made the payment for this session" my dad's voice rang from his room.

I scrunched my eyebrows and ran to his room,

It's not the end of the month, today's 10th or the company decides to pay a bit earlier? I questioned.

A good Samaritan gave me some extra money for the little job I did for him

What?! Dad! I c**k my eyebrows

And what job did you do that makes him pay that amount of money? I asked

He chuckles a bit,

We're contented with the way we live, we might not have everything. But we're okay with the little we have.

People already regard us to some dirty slum rat, don't do something shameful that will prove our blood is indeed dirty! I rant

“Trust me Raya" I won't dirty my hands, he assured me

I relax a bit and nod my head,

“Take these” he squeeze some cash into my palm

That kitchen is too dry for my liking, he said and picked his safety helmet.

Y'all have a nice day, he chanted before exiting the room.

My shoulder slumped, I got out of his room and then we all head outside

Vaney was already outside waiting, he does the justice of taking Lucas to school

I and Kayla attended the same school but different grades while Lucas attended a different School

Vaney takes him to school and then picks him up, I don't know what I've done to deserve such a kind hearted person like Vaney.

He does everything for us, just like any big brother will do.

You guys should take the bus, “Vaney squeeze some cash in my palm.

Bye sis, Lucas waved at me before leaving with Giavanni.

My school “Maple Ridge high school” is situated inside the town, few miles away from Boulevard

My dad didn't allow us attend the ghetto school, so he registerd us in a reputable school outside boulevard

I tried to convince him to let us attend the school in the ghetto or a public school. but he was adamant, even though the school consumes all of his salary.

I thought attending a big school would atleast bring some peace to my life. But I was wrong

The slum I came from brought about discrimination and bully, the rich kids here don't really give a f**k!

They're always picking on me, the girl from the sewage!

“Here comes the slum rat" a girl rattled as I stepped into the hallway

How the hell you crawl into this school from that sewage you call home! Another kid spat

But like I always do, I ignore them all and just keep walking to my locker

But my heart sank, the moment I opened my locker, These rotten kids! I screamed in my head, Anger erupting in me like a volcano!