Chapter two
1109 Words
Later that morning, Lilian and Andrew jointly called in that they were not feeling too well. So, I was with Mrs jude in the fast food shop the whole day. She took my place at the cash register. I did the rest of the job. I tried to serve the customers so fast. So they would stop complaining about the slow service and lack of workers.
Before I went home, I mopped the floor, since I was the only worker, and scrubbed the bathroom. I was so tired, but I didn't have any other choice.
It was already eight-twenty when I closed the fast food shop. I took a cab to Eastern Ave, where my family rented a small one- bedroom apartment. The moment I was seated on the cab, I ate the shawarma I grabbed in the fast food shop. After eating, I took a power nap until I got home.
“Guess what mom. I got a very big tip today from some customers. Two rich-looking men left a hundred dollar bill for their espresso.”
“What? That is too much,” my mother, Evelyn Anthony, narrowed her eyes.
"Yeah, I couldn't believe it. I told Mrs. Jude that we could share the tip, but she said that it was all mine.”
"Awww …. that's so nice of her, she's so sweet."
“Yeah, very sweet, I'm lucky to have her as my employer." I took my bonnet Off and pulled the rubber band that held my hair in a bun, my short blonde hair instantly cascaded down to my neck. I took a hairbrush and combed my hair until it shone.
“How is baby Mariam ?" I asked our neighbor’s baby. Mom worked as a nanny for almost a year now.
" She's still very adorable, but getting heavier. I don't think I can handle her anymore.” Mum rubbed her chest. She had a mild coronary heart disease. It started five months ago. She was advised by her doctor not to do strenuous activities.
“Then stop babysitting. I don't really want you to work. You are risking your health. Don't worry, I have a job. I'll work during weekends too, to have extra money. We can manage.”
"You're working too hard for us, my daughter. I'm so sorry for being a burden to you, I don't want my situation to be a burden to you."
“Mom, please don't start, don't say that again. I'm your daughter, it's my responsibility to look after you, I love you so much and I will take good care of you and Johnson. I promised Daddy that I will look after you, and I am going to fulfill my promises." I hugged my mother, with moisture in my eyes.
Daddy died of mild coronary heart disease two years ago. I was seventeen at that time. A year before he died was the most traumatic year in our lives. We lost so much money and all our savings. We fought for his life. We lost everything, just to keep up the medical expenses. It was like a nightmare, seeing him struggling to survive, seeing his health deteriorate. He was a good man, full of love and vitality, a very generous husband and a caring father to us. I couldn't help but wonder why the good and God fearing people keep dying before their time on earth.
The moment we finally lost dad, our world collapsed. We were so dependent on our father. We looked up to him and solely relied on him financially.
“What's wrong?" My brother Johnson came out of the bedroom. He looked worried seeing me and my mom hugging. He thought something bad happened again, because the last time we hugged each other like that was when we lost our Dad.
“Nothing really. we just decided to hug each other. We miss Dad.” I smiled at my fourteen-year old brother, showing my braces teeth. His eyes instantly became blurry, full with tears.
“Oh! I thought something bad happened again. Anyway, Chloe, I have some news for you.”
“What is it?"
“I was chatting with Maurice an hour ago, you need to see him, he's looking really good."
“Maurice?"
“Yeah, your one and only love!.
"what is it?”
" He asked me for your i********: account, and I told him you didn't have any social media accounts anymore. Then he asked for your phone number and your work address.”
" Did you give it to him?”
" No! You instructed me not to give your number to anyone right?”
" Right.”
" But he gave me his phone number. He said I should tell you to call him anytime. He will be expecting your call.”
I heaved a sigh. Maurice.
It had been two years since I last saw him. I totally cut our communication. After all I passed through, I don't want to see him again in my life or talk about him. I'm not a child anymore. When I was a child, I needed him, but he pushed me away.
Maurice was my first love, we grew up in the same environment. We went to the same college. We did almost everything together and people always think that we were siblings while some think that we were lovers. Let me say we were a perfect match, I found everything in him. I wanted to grow old with him like my parents did, but he saw me as his junior sister. That really pains me the most.
No I can't face him anymore, I'm not the same girl that he used to know. I'm different, totally different now. The old Chloe was gone, dead and buried. I have to face my life now, and take care of my family. I have a lot of responsibility now. My mum and my junior brother are looking up to, I'm their last hope. It's not easy to be the first born in the family.
“What have I turned myself into because of him.. I know he doesn't deserve me then why am I crying for him every night?.
" No, I am not crying for him, I am crying for myself, at my fate… what have I done to deserve this?”
I looked at myself in the mirror and let out a deep sigh scanning my red puffy eyes and my swollen face. My mom and my brother were staring at me lik
e they were watching a scene.
“Mum! I have to go to bed. Goodnight."
- Writer
