Chapter 1 : New beginnings
891 Words
After selling my father’s vintage car to a dealer for $25,000 and boarding a bus to Austin, Texas, I had been gone for two days. My cousin Sally stayed there and worked as a dancer at Palazio Cabaret. I was hoping she would make a good impression so I could get a job waiting tables at the nightclub.
Sally hauled me inside and yelled,
“f**k OUTTA HERE” as she hugged me.
“What are you doing here, b***h, you’ve got to be kidding me, yaya? I don’t even need to inquire what’s wrong with you because of how horrible you look.”
I groaned and set my things down on the sofa.
“Sal, I’ve had it with that dude. Can’t go on like this forever.”
She held me tightly, and for a split second I lost breath. “Oh come here my Yaya baby, you’ve lost so much weight and your t**s are missing, that white man has done enough damage,” she said. My mothers side of the family is notorious for having large chest , and Sally truly had enormous melons. When compared to hers, mine were literally pebble-sized.
“It’s a piece of cow poo that Aunt Michelle fell in love with, so screw that. You are the only positive outcome from him, in any case. I’ll have the guest room ready for you. I had no idea I was going to get another guest any time soon, and my boyfriend’s buddy had seriously trashed the room. Anyway, now it is your room. Which hue of sheets are you a fan of?”
“I honestly don’t know how to compensate you, and purple bedding wouldn’t be bad, so thank you Sal.”
“Ugh, darling, I’ve been pleading with you to stay with me after the burial; it’s nothing. Have both Wena and you eaten anything lately? You certainly appear exhausted and pale.I’ll be back in a flash. In the meantime, you can reheat some meals.”
She stepped out of the living room and into the hallway leading to the bedrooms.
I picked up Wena and moved into her flat. It was a three-bedroom, opulent apartment located in Austin, Texas’s energetic Brushy Creek district. The refrigerator was packed to the gills with a variety of snacks, vegetables, and prepared meals when I walked into the kitchen. Sally is obviously not the one to cook, but you could organize a sizable family reunion. Her chef boyfriend must be there. I removed a bottle of milk and some digestives for Wena.
I opened a cabinet door in the kitchen in search of bowls. A mixing bowl was hanging inside the door, as I noticed. Its lip and oblong shape brought to mind my mother’s mixing bowls, freshly baked cookies, and the sound of my spoon scraping the final bits of chocolate batter from the bowl as I licked it clean. I took one while fighting back a tear and filled it with milk and digestive cookies for Wena.
Don’t criticize Wena. She simply enjoys eating strange food.
“What’s going on with you?”
Holding a bundle of filthy linens, Sally asked.
“Yeah I’m good, great crib you got here,’ I said. ‘
“I know right, my guy is stackedddd from the posh family rest or rant.”
Without any justification, she refers to restaurants, as rest or rants.
“Yh I see, regarding that sal I was hoping you might be able to, um..”
Sal kept looking at me while I stumbled over my words.
“If I could what?”
“Your night club do …they require additional bartenders or whatever
“You want to work as a bartender? Be fr.”
“I’m serious, I need cash.”
“You’re literally underage, you’ve not even
reached the age to be in a club yet. I could give it
to you babe. You want money? no biggy”
She walked to the trash and pushed the sheets
inside it.
“Those sheets of mine are covered with c*m stains from that dude.I won’t use it any more.”
I swiftly shielded Wena’s ears.
“Sal, you truly don’t have a filter.”
“You truly haven’t heard anything yet, Yaya, and you want to work in a nightclub. You softie posh kitty, I believe the scene is not for you.”
“What does that even mean?”
“I could talk to my boyfriend if he has an opening at his rest or rant, maybe a waitress or whatever the f**k they do at his fancy KFC, and if he refuses, l’Il f**k his brains out when he gets back from whatever food competition he’s judging in Honolulu, “
we both laughed.
“I honestly don’t know how to thank you, Sally.”
“Come on Tanya, my aunt Michelle was your mother, and I loved her so much. Baby, I’m here for you. Please don’t hesitate to ask me anything.”
“Whatever Sal, quit being so adorable”
“We haven’t done s**t together in a very long time.”
I nodded as I recalled.
“Okay, well, I’m in as long as it doesn’t include me wearing heels.
There is no turning around at this time. The earlier I gather my sh*t together the better.
- Writer
