CHAPTER 3

Vera's POV:

 

Anxiety was an understatement when I received the phone call. I've been to dozens of interviews and countless verbal engagements in the past, and I always feel nervous speaking to someone who is purportedly superior to me.

"Yes. Yes." I make a bend toward the small cactus plant, which is in severe need of water. I hold the phone hard in both hands. "Yes. I'll be there." I try to keep the butterflies from fluttering inside my tummy.

Lilly was jotting down words in her notebook on the chair across from me. She took up a chip and tossed it into her mouth while resting her elbow against the counter.

"Thank you for the opportunity," I added before concluding the chat. When the call ended, I flung the phone down. "I got an interview."

Lilly comes to a halt in her writing, twisting the chair towards me in a perfect brow arch. "I thought I told you to rest."

"I did rest!" I exclaimed, pointing to my feet's fluffy bunny socks. I jiggle it a couple times to demonstrate my ease. In addition, I've been catching up on Korean dramas. I don't want to bring it up because Lilly will make fun of me again about my yellow fever.

"It's been five days." She taps her fingertips on the counter. "And you didn't sleep for five days. You essentially cleaned the entire apartment."

"I swear, you're the only person who complains when someone else does your laundry."

"Perhaps I want my underwear to be fond into rectangles rather than squares." Squares are for losers, and I'm not one!" Her tone of speaking was caustic.

"Then, what shape are you?"

"I'm a damn star!"

"Like Patrick Star?"

"Of course." She nudged her brows and gave me a sidelong, mocking look.

"Then that makes me Spongebob, eh?"

She rose to her feet. "Life is sweet; there are snacks we can eat," she sang as she spun the bowl of chips around.

I rose up and did my chicken dance to the fridge, where I took out a block of cheese. "We'll have more fun if we go out instead of sitting around doing nothing. "Let's go exploring; open every drawer," I sang along with her as I melted the cheese in the microwave.

She started whirling back toward me. "Hey, you found my long-lost cheese!" She pointed at the lights in the microwave.

"That's what friends are for!" Let's have some fun together...with-" the microwave dings as I push open the microwave, "cheese and-" "Chips!" she said, holding up the bowl and extending a single leg like the Lion King.

"You're going to be my best friend forever!" she screamed as we hoisted the two bowls in the air.

"Shut up!" A voice rang out from the ceiling. "Broadway doesn't want you, and I don't want you either!" Our wonderful upstairs neighbor yelled.

"This is hot!" Is it okay if I put it down?" I kept singing, ignoring the always-angry shout from upstairs. My hands were on fire, and I was cursing myself for being so dumb. I quickly threw down the bowl and turned on the sink water. I sigh with relief as I place my hands beneath the cold water.

I collapsed back onto the couch, face first, after wiping my hands. Lilly lifts herself up and approaches me, holding the dish of chips. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

Nobody wants to be rejected again.

 "Yes." Liar.

Lilly sighs, a lengthy one that indicates I can't deal with your thick head anymore.

"I've been thinking, Li," I murmured, rubbing my thumbs together. "I...I think I'm going to go back to South America if this doesn't work out."

She appears to be taken aback by my remark. She had previously advised me to call my mother and father and inform them of my situation. She finally stopped after my embarrassing drunken night on the streets. That night, I wailed in her arms, begging her not to kick me out, despite the fact that she had no intention of doing so. I didn't want to go home and let my parents down.

"Vera, you can stay here as long-" 

I shook my head, causing her to pause. A strand of curls is tucked behind my ear. "I've had enough of your kindness, Li. I should know where to draw the line and recognize when I'm talking advantage of a friend's help."

"Oh, Vera." She took a deep breath before embracing me hard. "Believe me, your parents will understand." They're decent people."

"I know they're good; that's why it hurts even more to disappoint them." I inhaled deeply through my congested nose. "They brought me up to be a refined lady, and look at me now, Li."

 No job. No husband. I don't have a place to call my own. I have nothing but my silly pride, yet pride does not put food on the table or make the toilet flush smoothly.

"You held yourself together for a whole year without your family or that asshole of an ex-husband's support."

"Only to put my weight on my best friend."

She softly pushes me back, then brushes the dripping water from my face. "There's a reason I'm your bestie." I've been here through thick and thin."

I grin. "Can you marry me?"

Lilly pushed her fingers against her sternum. "Is this a proposal I hear, Miss Brown?"

"Depends. "Do you intend to say yes?"

"Under one condition."

"And that is?"

"You get the job, and...you let me cook for a month...alone."

I let out a sigh. "Don't you mean I should cook for a month?"

"No. You're always cooking." I'd like to-"

"I'll do my best on the first one." You may not, however, cook alone."

"Why not?"

"You ruined the curry last week!" You might as well retrieve the $5 note from under my pillow and burn it as well."

"Why do you have a five-dollar bill underneath your bed?"

"For emergencies."

"What in the goddamn world can you purchase with five dollars?"

We keep talking about the most odd topics until Lilly dashes into my bedroom to steal my five dollars. I had to fight her off with a plastic bat. "My five dollars!"

The week came and went in the blink of an eye. It was finally the day of my interview. I took a position near the door. "I can do this."

"You can do this," Lilly says back.

"I can do this!" I yelled.

"You can do it!" she yelled louder.

I yelled at the top of my lungs, and Lilly did the same. We were both clutching our fists, arching our backs, heads full, swinging in the air, and yelling.

"Shut the fuck up!" Our wonderful upstairs neighbor has decided to greet us once more with the edge of his broomstick.

"Good morning to you, too, Mr.Orien." Lilly grabs our broom and knocks it against the ceiling, something that always irritates our landlord.

"How are you?"

"Good! "Vera has a job interview!" She decides to inform the entire apartment complex.

"Jesus didn't hear you." I muttered, "Yell louder."

"Again? " Did the other girl receive another rejection?"

I took Lilly's broomstick and slammed it against the ceiling. "Thanks for your loving support, Mr.Orien!" I'm sure he picks up on my sarcasm. "And, for the record, I'm not the other girl. "My name is Vera!"

"Understood, Veronica!" I groan when he decides to call me by one of the many names he has given me. "Oh, Lucia!" That was one of his many nicknames for Lilly.

"Yes?" she said, brushing off the fact that he had called her by the wrong name yet again.

"My wife asked if you could teach her how to dance again tonight. She will pay!"

"I'll be there!"

"Thanks, Lara!"

"No problem!" she exclaimed before snatching the broom from my grasp and tossing it into the corner. "What? I'm paid over $40 per hour to train his wife to dance. He is free to call me whatever he likes."

I sigh, knowing that Lilly's passion is dance. Her parents, however, refused to enroll her in dance school, so she enrolled herself. Her parents want her to study business, work for the firm, or become a doctor. There is also a third alternative, but it's something she doesn't want to think about. Lilly eventually went to both college and dance school.

Her parents pay for her college education and living expenses. However, dancing school is not part of what her parents pay, so she accepts tiny engagements and lowers her standard of living. Lilly is meant to reside in a moderate-class apartment, but she chooses to live in a place where you can hear your neighbor flushing the toilet.

"If only I wasn't born with two left feet," I twitch my toes.

"Girl. You're of African descent. Dancing should run in your veins."

"That is so stereotyping." I'm not sure why everyone believes being dark-skinned means you can pop it and lock it. I can't even walk down the street without tripping on the sidewalk.

"I can always teach you." I couldn't help but exhale in envy at her lovely waist as she thrust her hip.

"I'm so envious." I didn't bother keeping my lust for her waist—in the most non-sexual way, if that's possible. She started whirling her way to the kitchen.

"I want your butt."

She returns her attention to me and stuffs a pancake into my mouth as if she were sparing someone. "If you want this ass," she slaps her buttocks, "you eat."

I salute her while munching on my lunch. "If I get the-"

"When you get the job," she corrected.

I smile broadly, a broad smile that tells the world I'm happy, even though I ran out of toilet paper this morning and had to-. Let's not go there. "When I get the job, I'll take you out to eat with my first real paycheck."

"You better," she says as she hands me my heels. "I want the fancy kind of instant noodles, not the cheap kind."

"I'll go to the nearest convenience store and buy the most expensive instant noodles." I'll even toss in some eggs just for you." Before I said farewell, we exchanged our secret handshake.

I was walking towards the bus station when I tried tying up my hair, only to realize I hadn't brought a hair tie. "Always there when I don't need you, but when I do, you vanish." I talk to my wrist, which causes the old lady sitting on the bench to shake her head.

I boarded the bus after it had turned around. "Another interview?" The bus driver, Bob, inquired.

I grin and nod. "I thought you were only here temporarily."

"I got the job. "I'm now the permanent driver for your community."

I reach inside my purse and drop the coins into the box before proceeding to an open seat. Lisa is standing in the bus's corner, holding Marisa. She was rattling Marisa, but her mind was clearly elsewhere. "Hi, Lisa."

Her gaze tranced steadily towards me; it wasn't as lively as when I initially met her last week.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked as I sat next to her. I place my hand on her arm, praying I'm not overstepping my boundaries.

Lisa gulped before blinking a few times and wiping the water from her lashes. "I'm all right. Allergies." I could see she was lying, but I felt it was improper to question her about it at the time. After all, we had only met twice, not enough to intrude on her privacy.

"Interview, again?"

I nod. "When you hit rock bottom, there's no way but up, right?"

Lisa appears to be slipping into another frigid stare. "You're right," she says quietly. I tilted my head at her. "When you hit rock bottom, you can only go up." She repeated as she stood up, "Bob, stop."

"Umm, Lisa, I can't-."

"Bob! Stop!" Bob veered into the emergency lane and came to an abrupt halt on the brakes. Everyone thrashes forward and backward, grabbing their seats. The little group began murmuring in discontent.

"Can you watch my baby?" Lisa asked, turning to face me.

Did I hear correctly? Did the mother I met twice, including this time, want me to babysit her child? Is this some sort of trick in which someone will spring out and slap me in the face? Maybe Lisa is asking me to watch her baby so she can go to the police station and report that I kidnapped her child. I don't have any money, and I'm sure she knows that, so why? Is she doing this for some sick pleasure?

As I sat there, staring at Lisa, a slew of questions popped into my head. Perhaps Lisa is insane, and I missed it. She shoved her infant into my arms and stomped out of the bus before I could respond. "Wait! You forgot about your child!" I dashed out the door after her. I rush back inside to get her baby bag, only to see her racing in the opposite direction.

The bus squeals and begins to move again. "What are you up to, Bob?" "Didn't you see Lisa handing me her baby?"

"I'm sorry, Vera," Bob says as he wipes sweat from his brow. I've got a schedule to stick to."

I sat down, afraid of dropping the baby if something went wrong. "Then, why did you stop?"

"She sounded like she had something important to do."

I groan and slide my body down. My heels scraped across the metal surface as I leaned back, watching the mold latch onto the ceiling. "Why...Why me?"

Marisa bursts out laughing, and I look down to see her blowing a spit bubble. She claps her hands and laughs again when it pops. "Your mother probably has a good reason; don't worry," I sigh, tickling her face. She'll return."

The bus comes to a stop, and Bob turns around, saying, "Vera, do you want me to turn around?"

I took a deep breath and stood up straight. "No, don't do it." I know what I'm about to do is stupid, but this is the final chance I've given myself.

I check my wristwatch and see that the interview time is approaching an end, so there isn't time to go to the police station. I took up the infant carrier and turned to face everyone. "Who here knows how to strap on a baby carrier?"