CHAPTER 02. JUST TO SURVIVE.

SHELLY.

The sun rays that beamed on my face made me wake up with a stretch.

I tried sitting up but groaned painfully at the sore feeling around my neck.

With much efforts and more painful groans, I sat up. My hand rubbed repeatedly around the sore spot on my neck.

That's what I get from sleeping on the most uncomfortable thing ever.

Now I'm gonna have a sore neck all day. Damn, but the pain is killing!

I caught a glimpse of the wall clock and quickly stood from the couch with a gasp.

It was a Saturday and as always, I help my Mum sell her oysters at the market.

Oyster selling was a typical business for the slums people so I always get to the market earlier than this if I wanted to sell mine quickly.

But now I'm late. For sure, it's gonna be one hell of a long day at the market.

I hurriedly cleaned up the house,washed last night's dishes, filled the buckets with water and did some laundry.

Mum, Vivian and Megan were sleeping-in today just like they do every Saturday, so I did most of the chores.

An hour later, I was ready to go, dressed in a khaki short and a faded blue top.

I packed my hair in a rough ponytail and grabbed the basin of oysters before quietly leaving the house.

The pathway to the market was really rocky. Most times, I end up with many cuts on my legs after my day's journey.

It was a 50 minutes trek to the market. A really tiring one, especially with the hot sun.

I was all sweats and panting heavily when I finally got to the market and to the spot I sold my oysters which had a table and a chair.

I slammed the basin on the table and slumped on the chair,gasping desperately for air.

“You're a mess, Shelly.“ Diana giggled beside me. “And you're late.“

Diana's my childhood friend. We grew up together, ran shits together, made the hood worth living.

She left last year after getting admitted into Greygott high. Weeks later, she got expelled and returned home.

The experience was really traumatic for her. She was always locked up in her room, crying her eyes out. 

I never left her side and was right beside her when she was finally ready to talk to someone.

Day and night, I was next to her, determined to bring back her old self.

But I never really recovered all her old self. Some had gone with the trauma. I only brought back the little that was left.

*

My heavy panting was the only reply she got and that made her chuckle lightly.

“It's your fault. Why did you have to wait till the sun was up? Look how sweaty you are.“ She pouted, dabbing my sweats with a towel.

“Thanks Diana. You're an angel.“

She gave her hair a dramatical flick. “I know.“

“Crazy.“ 

Having cooled-off a great deal, I began displaying the oysters on the table.

“But what happened to you?“ Diana asked. “You're never the type to arrive at the market this late.“

“Last night's dinner was another disaster. Lots of thinking got me staying up till midnight. Plus, I had to crash on the couch because I didn't wanna face the monster in my room.“

“Megan?“

“Who else?”

Diana laughed, like I'd just was cracked some jokes. It got me a little irritated.

“What the hell is funny?“

“You're one hell of a daring girl, bold enough to dream of having equal right with the rich. But you dread your sister so badly like she's some kind of devil's reincarnate.“

“Because that's what she is, a devil's reincarnate!“ I retorted frustratedly. “She keeps making life even harder for me. I wish she's just gonna disappear, forever.“

“You know you don't mean that.“ Diana nudged me slightly. Her gace glowed in smiles.

“I just wish she wouldn't be so hard on me all the time.“ 

“Did she find out about your application to Greygott high?“

“Yup. She spilled the whole thing during dinner. To top it all, she incessantly got on my nerves and I couldn't keep it in any longer. So I said some stuffs but we ended up making Mum cry instead.“

“Too bad.“ Diana sighed lowly.

I nodded in agreement.

“Last night made me realize even more that I can't live the rest of my life this way. We have no money, no peaceful home and no happiness. We lack everything that could possibly make a human happy. I can't keep living like this.“

Diana rubbed my shoulder asuringly, offering a warm smile.

“So what are you gonna do now?“

“Well, I'm gonna have to wait till the announce the winner of the scholarship.“

“You're still hoping to get into Greygott high?“

The look in her eyes was evidently clear she still doesn't support me on this.

After her traumatic experience, Diana nursed a deep hatred for anything that had to do with the rich folks.

She'd flared up when I'd told her I'd sent an application to Greygott high. Later on, she tried understanding me, but she still had her misgivings about it.

“I know you're still not in support of my going to Greygott high but my life is a mess right now. I'm left with zero to no choice.“

“But your Mum...“

“...will someday realize that I'm doing this for her. If I excel in Greygott high and fulfill my dreams, things will change. She wouldn't have to work so hard anymore.“

“So you're doing this for just her?”

“Well, no. I'm doing this for me, too. For Megan, Vivian, you and every other lower class out there. I'm doing this for all of us.“

Silence grew between us for a moment. Then she huffed.

“I'm so unfortunate to have the girl with the most unrealistic dreams as a best friend. But the crazy thing is that I wanna be unfortunate forever if that means being her best-friend.“

I couldn't help the tears that welled up my eyes to see that someone actually had my back despite how unrealistic my dreams were.

“I got you, Shelly. Back when we were kids, now, and always.“ Her voice quivered slightly at the tears that mixed up with it. “I was just so worried you might end up as traumatic as I was when I got expelled. I don't think I've got to worry about that anymore. You're strong, and I know you can do this. I believe in you.“

The emotions were building up heavily in me. It felt so right to share a hug at that momen and so I hugged her real tightly.

“I've got lots of faith in you. So have faith in yourself and go make me proud.“

We disengaged from the hug. Out of the blue, I let out a laugh which grew louder and finally  turned hysterical.

“What's wrong?“ She was staring at me like I was loosing my mind.

“I just remembered that I haven't even been picked yet. But here we are, staging the most heartrending melodrama ever.“

“Of course, you'll be picked.“ she blurted out.

“You're beginning to sound more optimistic than me.“ 

“I got the touch from you.“ she winked. “But anyways, you'll be picked.“

“Let's say I get picked, Greygott high is a thousand miles away from here. I can't afford to ride in a bus everyday.“ I slapped my forehead dejectedly as it dawned on me that I hadn't considered that fact before going ahead to apply. Stupid me!

“I don't think that's gonna be a problem.“ I heard Diana say and I sharply turned to her.

There was a smirk on her face and glitters in her eyes which shows she had something up her sleeves.

I arched a questioning brow at her.

“spill it.“ I tried sounding as flat as I could so she wouldn't play games.

“The thing is...“ she began, adjusting her chair closer to mine.“When I got picked last year, Mrs. Nora Williams had also offered me a job as a maid in her house. But I'd gotten expelled after a week in Greygott high. She'd said it was okay for me to keep my job but I was broken to stick around much longer. When I was leaving, she told me I was free to come back anytime for the job or I could bring a replacement of my choice.

“Okay...?“ I drawled, not getting where this talk was leading us to.

“Don't you get it?“

“As a matter of fact, I don't.“

“You could go as my replacement!“ she squealed delightedly.

I was too shocked at the news that I just watched her with my mouth hanging open.

She noticed my shocked state and her brows furrowed. “What's wrong?“

I scoffed out a bitter laugh. “Nothing. It's just...life is really unfair. I wanna go to Greygott to prove our world to them but it's sad and pathetic that the only means I can go is through being a maid.“

“What's wrong with that?“

“Everything. Being a maid to one of them is like selling my dignity and pride. They're gonna trample on me as much as they want because I'll have to always be at their service. They may have the better world but I've still got my dignity as a human. They're not gonna have that too.“

I blinked back the tears that was beginning to well up in my eyes.

“Sometimes, Shelly, we gotta swallow our pride and live the life fate has handed to us. We do that to survive as long as we can, until we're able to give ourselves a better life. Think about that.“

Just then, customers approached both our tables and we had to get down to business.

*

*

The sun was beginning to set when I finally finished selling all my oysters.

Diana had gone home hours ago so I was gonna take the torturing journey back home, alone.

I held on tight to my empty basin as I took tired steps on the rocky pathway.

Sweats were dropping uncontrollably from my face and I wiped them at intervals.

I made an abrupt stop as I sighted a shiny SUV at a corner of the pathway.

It was a weird thing to see such sophistication in our world.

Clearly put, it's rare to see any rich folk in our slum world. Seeing this got me instantly intrigued to know what the occasion was.

The voices coming from the car got my attention and I found myself walking towards it.

The voices grew louder and I recognized them to be owned by a male and a female, respectively.

“I paid for you, slummy bi*ch, so don't you try to play smart with me!“ The aggressive baritone thundered and a loud female cry followed.

I ran as fast as I could to the car. Lucky enough, the windows were wind down.

I hurried to the window on the driver's side and quickly ducked my head through it.

“That's enough!“ A yell left me, but I was gobsmacked as I got the honour to see who had the female voice.

“Megan?“ I could barely hear myself. Slowly, I took in the situation.

The guy was positioned on top of her and his hard grip was on her flimsy blouse which he was tearing into two. A fresh bruise was on her cheekbone and she looked really helpless.

It's been really long since I last saw Megan looking this weak and vulnerable.

She was always a tigress ready to tear anyone into pieces and I was fooled to think that was truly who she was.

Realizing that her toughness was just a facade and her true self was this weak -vulnerable and helpless- person made me wanna scream out loud.

But then Diana's words resounded in my head like I'd turned on a recorder.

*Sometimes, we gotta swallow our pride and live the life fate has handed to us. We do that to survive as long as we can. Until we're able to give ourselves a better life.*

If someone as tough as Megan could stoop this low to survive,  then I can't help but hate my life over and over again.

Once again, I curse fate for choosing this kinda life for me...for us!