Three days and her mother hadn't returned. She kept the house in a presentable state and ordered takeout food with what was left of her salary but that was also drying out. Money. She needed it.
An extra job would help but how long would she continue eating out before her mother came home?
"Pomeranian dog, Chow chow, Labrador Retriever, Golden Retriever, Havanese, and French bulldog." The girl ticked off each breed with a finger and gave her friend a 'duh' look."What?" She petted the dark, furry dog beside her. "My mom is a vet after all.""But you didn't tell me she made you learn a gazillion breed names." Her friend retorted still in awe."If we stand here all day, what the hell are we paid for?" Pushing friend down the steps of the park, they shared the leeches among themselves, agreeing that Adana would take the three small or average dogs while Leilani, the bigger dogs."Do we have a routine or something?" Adana paused, yielding to the dull ache in the sole of her feet.Her friend hadn't been kidding when she told her they would walk six energetic dogs much less under the sun whose mission seemed to be to give her sunburn. Bad sunburn."Yeah, we'll walk around the park for a while and let them go then giv
Every morning differed for Adana and as she stirred in her half-asleep state, she hissed at the pain that shot up from her legs to her arms, hol ding her in a painful grip.Her legs felt heavier than lead from the late-night scrubbing Helen had dragged her to do, with the excuse that she had been expecting guests the next morning. Still cursing and mumbling, she padded across the hall and stood at the base of the stairs bracing her mind for the heated argument.A few more steps down, the view of Helen screaming her heart out at a half-naked man on the other side of the living room caused her to wrap the sheer material tighter around her."What did you do with it, damn it?" Helen screeched and threw the thick blanket beside her at the man. It made it halfway."I swear I didn't do nothing!" Wrong answer because Helen growled and bent to pick up a used ceramic bowl. The new one.
The question rang in her mind, creating a chilling echo.The bottle in her hand gained ten pounds and she stilled. What could she say that would satisfy his determination to get an answer? By the way, his jaw set, all traces of his attention wavering seemed impossible."Who are you supposed to be?!"The screech seemed like an answer from heaven and the worse kind of sound."Where is your ID?" She pushed on ignoring the stares nearby shoppers gave her. "I don't remember appointing you for this. Look at you." She used her eyes to sweep over Adana's worn-out beanie and jeans, her lips drawn down at the corners and nose scrunched up as if Adana stank.Storm cleared his throat and stood in front of her, cutting her hostile reviewing of Adana off much to her relief. "Of course you appointed her." He offered a disarming smile and Brittany visibly melted."No, I
The voices floated around the café as more people came in for lunch break. There seemed to be even more people than usual today. Lucas served twice as fast, Mrs. Briggs used more materiels at once and Adana and Diego tried to take as many orders in as possible.Adana wiped her brow with her forearm and squared her shoulders just as another couple walked in. She made a beeline to the table. "Welcome to Big B's Café, what's your order.""Adana?"Her head which was concentrated on her poised pencil over her small notepad snapped to the wide eyes of the woman at the table and she choked on a gasp."You didn't tell me you worked here?" It came out as a shocked question to anyone listening but Adana could just here the implore
Her uneven breathing made too much noise in the new deadening silence. She had been recovering from the nightmares haunting her when she heard a scream from downstairs, followed by a crash.A slither of sweat traveled down the middle of her back, a remnant of the viscous dream. She flipped the switch and watched as the light glow bathed the room. The shabby couch where Helen slept on most nights, was turned over and the woman herself faced down flat on the floor."Mom?" Her voice came out tight with nerves. "Are you okay?"Dear God!As she got closer, the blood rushed away from her face and her heart ran for the hills. A crimson pool had formed around Helen's head, her eye which was visible from this side was wide open and
"What?" Lake bolted upright in his seat. "When? Where is sh—"He quietened down, listening to the explanation given over the phone and nodding every now and then. Storm and Celia exchanged looks over the table as their mom came in from the kitchen.Just as Lake ended the call, Storm voiced his question. "Dude what was that about who was it?"Lake took a second to soak in everyone's curious expressions before saying, "It was Adana.""And?""She was in an accident." Lake takes off his reading glasses to massage the bridge of his nose while reeling from the new information. "She only called to let us know that's why she won't be in school for this week or until everything is resolved."Celia clicked her tongue in her mouth and shook her head. "I saw the news this earlier this morning but didn't know you guys knew the girl involved. It wasn't a pretty sight. Can't imagine how she must feel."Sara stood from her chair and came
She looked so calm and helpless in this state but that illusion contrasted with the truth. Steady beeping being the only sound in the room, kept her company as Adana took in every curve of her soft face. "What have I done to deserve this?" She sighed. "I never went against your rules as a child. Everything changed so fast." In the blink of an eye, the eyelids which were previously closed lifted open and those eyes, a clone of hers stared back at her. The blank expression lasted only a second before morphing to one of anguish and anger. The woman on the bed, dressed in the light hospital gown sat up. "You deserve everything I'm doing to you." She started to rise, not taking mind of the connected drip to her hands. "Every single thing, you deserve!" "No." Adana placed a hand on her chest her eyes widening significantly. Mom couldn't be waking back up and comi
Small wisps of smoke emitted out of the cup of cocoa on the breakfast table, the gleam of the sun reflected off it and unto her face. Her fingers swiped and tapped endlessly on the phone in her hand. The clattering behind her seized and the sunlight got blocked out by a particularly curious shadow."You're on that picturegram thingy again." Sarah pointed out and."Instagram, mom." Celia rolled her eyes and narrowed it at a particular post. "It's called ÏÑSTĀGRÂM.""Whatever it's called, you can do it after breakfast and right before first period." Sarah turned away to switch off the cooker. When her daughter continued, she cleared her throat loudly. Celia sighed and dropped her phone on the table."Mom, do you think it's possible to skip P.E?"Sara carried her tray to the table, sitting across her daughter. "Why would you want to skip P.E?"Celia lowered her eyes, playing with a piece of toast. For the past week, she'