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It was nearly dark when Julianna got back home. Those tiny insects that chirped and chirped at night were all it again, the sound rising in a crescendo when she neared bushy paths and fading away when she got to more habitable areas. Little fireflies darted around and the air got chilly at this time of the day. Zexa and her crew had kept at it for close to an hour until a random, kind old lady approached them and made them stop bullying her. Zexa’s last words to her were the promise that they'd see again next week at school.

As Juliana walked past the streets, cutting paths and exits, the buildings and environment changed too. The Oblivion Street that Zexa had mentioned was the area where the creme de la creme of Cadez lived. The houses were modest of course but neatly built and tendered to. Each house had a little cute garden out front, fenced in by white pickets which created a sense of beauty and order. Loitering on that side of the street was not allowed and Julianna could only look in from the far end of the street as she moved along to her house. She did not know she had run so far when she had fled from the house until now. She was battered emotionally and mentally, her grumbling stomach did not even help as it reminded her that she had not eaten anything solid that day. She had burnt pancakes that her mother refused to throw out because what the hell happens to all the ingredients she used in making the pancakes? Would they all just go to waste like that? So the burnt pancakes had not gone in the bin but had gone on the plate and further down into Juliana’s stomach who grimaced as she chewed and swallowed it down with some water. The milk had gone bad and her mama had blamed it on her instead of on the bad refrigerator that never chilled stuff again. Her mama refused to throw it out either because the already bare kitchen would look even more bare, not that her father would even notice that. She could only hope as she bounced up the rickety stairs that led up to their house that there was something she could eat.

Shrubs had overgrown nearly all the sides of the fence of their house which were even made out of corrugated zinc sheets hence Zexa’s cruel joke of letting the wind blow their house away. There was nothing of solid material used in making the house. They had no air-conditioning or heater because they could not afford the light bill so which meant that on sunny days, the house was as hot as a tin house while during winter, the house was colder than a freezer.

Julianna hated the weather extremes because there was nothing that could be used to combat these elements of nature. Just a rickety old fan that blew more hot air into the house such that one was better off just not bothering to turn it on but going outside and finding a cool shade under a tree or something. Her favorite weather was spring and fall. She loved listening to rain splatter on their roof at night, the sound lulled her to sleep anytime and drowned out her father’s shouting matches when he came home roaring drunk as always.

She pushed open the door that gave way with so much ease and she walked in, closing it gently behind her. It was a good thing that Cadez's crime rate was low because thieves would have had a field day on this side of town with their cheaply built houses and zero door and window protections. Not that the thieves were even going to find anything useful, especially in their own house. Who was she kidding?

“Good evening, Mom”.

“Where have you been all day girl?” Asked Julianna’s mother, Sophia with her back still against her daughter as she did the dishes in their tiny sink.

The only window the kitchen had was open to let in the good air and take out the bad one. Julianna could not put her finger on it but the air in the house, especially the kitchen smelled awful.

“I took a stroll”, Julianna responded, not bothering to elaborate.

“So you tumble on the ground like a three-year-old when you take strolls now, don't you? Did you take a good look at yourself?”

Julianna looked down at her dirty shoes, she must have splashed some mud water on the untarred part of the road, especially the path that led up to their house when she had run out earlier. Her hands too were dirty, probably from breaking her fall when Zexa, Gina, and Lyn had pushed her around. She took a look at the knee part of her jeans and groaned out loud, it was dirty too.

“That’s what I thought. Tell me why at your age you can't look after your appearance. Your clothes may be old and cheap, girl but you gotta keep it clean. You're nearly 16 for chrissakes.”

Julianna nodded. No need to argue with her mother about any reason because her mother always wins. She was good at twisting reasoning and logic to fit her argument. Even if Julianna says she had gotten pushed around by some bullies, her momma gonna ask why didn't she push back and clean up afterward before coming home. Never mind that her attackers were three in number and she really did not stand any chance except maybe to push one person and run. But she had been in her feelings and did not notice them until it was too late and they cornered her too fast.

“Set the table, please. We’re having fish for dinner.”

Julianna was incredulous, “the bad, really bad fish?” No wonder the terrible smell in the kitchen.

“Yes, unless of course, you want to cut off one of your arms so we can have fresh steak instead.”

“But mom, we could die of food poisoning”, protested Julianna.

“Well, you could still die of hunger anyway. So you choose.”