The Devil wears Armani

"Hide here babie do not make a sound do you hear me" I am shoved under the bed , I have questions but I decide to ask them later. "Yes mommy" I look at her wide eyed scared half to death but I know I have to be brave. "No matter what you hear babie do not make a sound okay" I nod my head to show mum that I will be a good brave girl, but I notice a red spot on her stomach that is growing bigger and bigger, mummy is bleeding as she kneels beside the bed, her face looks pale , something is wrong ,she is hurt but I have to stay here. Suddenly she lies on her back ,she looks at me with tears in her eyes "why you crying mommy ?" I whisper , I can hear footsteps and shouting from outside my door. Mum touches my face and smiles , I can't help but smile too. "Mommy loves you so much okay" I look at her worried "I love you too mummy" now she is just staring at me unblinking , "mummy, please I’m scared" I touch her ,I try to shake her still there is nothing ,she just stares at me ,doing nothing ,saying nothing I'm getting angry now.I try to shake her again "Mommy you are bleeding please wake up" blood slowly slips into my favorite rug, "someone is coming mommy, wake up I whisper". Someone is coming i try to reach for her again but I'm so scared so I pull my hand back and I whisper to myself "be brave , be brave". Suddenly I hear my door crushing in and I see large feet I can only see shoes. Mommy is lying in front of the small space shielding me with her body but why is she not moving, she looks so pale. As I lie quietly under the bed, I’m scared they might see me, I hear one of the man’s voices "the b***h bled out I told you she would not last ,what was she hurrying up here for anywhere ,maybe there is more money up here he shouts" another man in mommy s room shouts back ,"Kev dude we have got what the boss asked for we have got to go", "wait a minute" the man with the big shoes starts to kneel, "what’s that" I scream as my alarm wakes me up with a loud beeping noise ,sweat drips all over my back I seat up in my bed as I try to catch my breath and slow down my breathing. The re occurring dream always wakes me up in time better than this stupid alarm I look over at my nightstand to the alarm ,s**t "so it’s been snoozing all this while ,f**k I’m late" I jump out of bed nearly falling over the sheets heaped beside my bed, my room is a mess I was too tired to tidy up last night after my long shift at work. I grab my tooth brush and tooth paste off my nightstand, it’s a miracle it still stands but thanks to the library book that adds to the forth leg . I squeeze some paste and start brushing my teeth as I walk over to the kitchen sink …its full of plates from the previous night I will have to attend to this as soon as I get back from work I rinse my mouth move over to the dungeon bathroom ,I swear prison looks better than this but whats a girl to do .I take a quick shower change into my jeans put on my sneakers and a t-shirt that’s seen better days.I rush out the door and almost crush into my neighbor "morning Heather" she doesn’t answer back I jog past her. I wouldn’t take it personally as leaving in this part of the city, can surely take a toll on any person. Ford street is situated half an hour away from the City. Gloomy buildings , over flowing trash cans, dim lights or no lights at all best describes this place. At every corner there is either a homeless begger or someone ready to mug you ,it looks like they took a page straight out of the medival times only without the mud and horse s**t .Ford Street is where you come to experience how cheap is expensive . I rush past the small shop that sales everything and I mean anything dead or alive one stop shop. I get to the bus stop there is a long queue looks like the bus is late again. We see the smoke that always seems to announce the arrival of the bus suddenly everyone is alert . The bus comes to a coughing Smokey halt ,the fact that this bus is still on the road makes me believe in miracles .I push myself through the crowd making sure that whatever spot I choose I will end up in the bus and that seems to never fail. The door opens everyone is pushing forward I allow myself to be pushed around until eventually I get to the door and jump in ,a long fifteen minutes passes by as everyone is trying to fit though the small door . At last the bus is way above capacity and we start to move towards the city .I get to my bus stop by 6th avenue one of the upscale places in the city. I push my way out as soon as I hit the pavement I start jogging to my work place a high end restaurant called la ,memoir. I choose the back entrance where my boss will not see me as I’m over half an hour late. I only get as far as past the staff break room and I hear the booming sound of Mr Rover's voice. "So what’s your excuse this time ?" he is holding a big mug of coffee, that is bobbing up and down over his huge stomach. I stand still and fiddle with the belt of my bag as I think of a convincing lie since I obviously can’t tell him my nightmares block out my alarm and then wake me up, not that he cares anyway. "I am sorry sir its the bus ,you know the problems with the bus ,I hear they are going to replace it soon", I topple over my words. "Look here Natalia, I do not run a tuck shop here do I make myself clear this is your last warning" .He walks past me back to his office I presume. I get to the staff changing room go to the tap and I splash some water onto my face, move to my locker to drop off my bag and to apply a little makeup, I pat under my arms with my towel and then apply some roll-on ,I tuck in my T-shirt and I head out for the day. Sarah sees me, hey thank you for joining us, I look at her with puppy eyes "come on Sarah you know my problems" she pulls me in for a hug, "sorry hey I’m just kidding "she hugs me and gives me an update on the menu specials. Sarah and I became instant friends after we met interviewing at la,memoir, we both hoped that getting this job was the first step towards earning a place amongst the elite but alas, we are still serving the elite. "So tonight we are hosting some top dogs from PERU,and they booked out the whole place for the day, word has it they are loaded darling ,so we can expect good tips", she beams at me radiating excitement. I look at her trying to be as excited as she is, "really!" I exclaim, "well at least that explains the emptines" she pushes me over to the bar area away from prying eyes, "yeah they actually sent through some guys to check out the place and they booked it for the whole day so all we are doing right now is keep it sparkling clean and then they are going to come in at 8" "No wonder the boss did not bite my head off" "yeah there isn’t much to do really , except ofcos, she hands me a broom "some sweeping". "come on Sarah I have just arrived can I at least catch a break on this one, besides you said it yourself everyone has just about cleaned this place up, please let me go to the kitchen" "Fine to the kitchen with you then" "thankyou Mamie" I kiss her on the cheek as I head to the kitchen where I do my best work. When I first came to La memoir I had submitted my papers with specifications on wanting to be a chef,but the qualifications I had were obtained from my grandmother's kitchen, all I wanted was a chance to prepare just one of my specials, but Mr Rover will not hear of it. La memoir is the place to be with its outstanding reputation of always hosting celebrities, government officials ,I mean anyone who is popular has definitely been here before. It was a miracle that they even allowed me in this place but I always knew that I was good at what I did and one day I would get a chance to showcase it. My dream was to one day own a place like this for myself but at this rate I would open up my own restaurant at approximately 48 years. Sarah was the one person who never let me stop dreaming she is the light that is constant always bringing me magazines and stories about people who eventually made it after the struggle . I get to the kitchen ask if I can help out with anything as soon as Tom sees me … he starts barking orders, "I need everything chopped and diced to perfection people, where were you" he kisses the top of my head, "I’m sorry chef I’m late but Natalia reporting for duty sir" I salute and stomp my feet dramatically. "Okay young lady he hands me a big dish of potatoes , skin those for me and Nat please do not murder those my darling. I need only the skins removed and nothing else" ,he hands me a knife and sends me off to my list favorite of chores. I go out back to one of the sinks. It kills me that I have to stick to these mundane chores, when all I want to do is put spices together ,mix aromas and create a dish to die for, but if I’m found in the kitchen again this time I’ll be done for . Tom is one of the resident chefs of the restaurant, he is 53 years old and has been in this industry for far too long. He took a liking to me and so he lets me do small chores in the kitchen just so my dream doesn’t fizzle out and die and so I go about my duties as ordered.