Painted Red

Chapter 1; Kiki

For a long time she had wondered about her mom, who she was, what happened to her. She checked the time and realized she had slept in. She rushed to her closet and picked out the beige clothing. Erin didn't even have time to wash herself. She had found out if she looked pretty, people wouldn't be as mad at her as they should be. Running down the stairs, Erin almost fell a few times and came down to the room that always carried the smell of cinnamon.

"Good morning", her father told her as she reached the bottom of the steps. He handed her a bag with food in it for her lunch.

She rushed out the door and onto the street where people were walking to their jobs or to stores. She meets up with two of her friends, Maggie and Jade. They walked together, taking one another to where they worked. Kiki was always the first to be dropped off, since she was a cleaner at the dishstore. Maggie got the rough job, to work on construction, then Jade worked in the president's house as a cook. Erin walked into the store and saw the furious look on his face.

"WHERE have you been," his voice boomed. He had his hands on his hips, he was easily angered.

What was she supposed to say? If she lied, it would be more trouble than it's worth, and if she told the truth she would lose her pay check. She gave him a smile and said, "I slept in thinking about how great work was going to be?"

He didn't look convinced but he smiled and gave a small laugh. "Happy birthday" he said. Her boss walked to the back and was gone for a couple of minutes. When he returned, he brought out a small package wrapped in blue-colored parchment paper with a white ribbon, "Happy birthday," he said again.

"Thank you!" Kiki said, surprised that she had forgotten her own birthday but her bad-tempered boss somehow did. She carefully grabbed the package and began to unwrap it. First she pulled off the bow, then gently began to peel the blue parchment paper off so it could be reused, since it must have been expensive because of the color.

"My son picked it out," he said, "He is rather fond of you."

She was surprised. Was that true? Did Alan really feel that way about her?