Chapter 1 : Homeless

Sia’s POV

               I pick up the plate at the cafeteria and hesitate as I join the long queue towards the area where the food is served. I can already imagine the lady rolling her eyes at me. I am not an easy person to love, but the amount of hatred that she has towards me seems absurd. As if my fate has not already done enough to put me in trouble. It is my turn now and I hold out my plate. She puts a small helping of spaghetti onto my plate without any meatballs. A small spoon of vegetables and the tiniest piece of bread in the basket. This is the only meal of my day and I wouldn’t have come if my stomach wasn’t threatening to eat me from inside. I look at her pleadingly. She rolls her eyes and places a box of milk and another helping of pasta this time with meatballs. I smile widely at her and mouth a thank you.

               “I hope you aren’t planning on staying here longer Sia. I want your room to be vacated by Sunday” she hisses at me.

               “Yes, ma'am I will certainly clear out my room by Sunday,” I tell her.

               Panic grips me again. Where will I go? What will I do? No matter how hard I tried I haven’t been able to secure a job. I had tried the supermarket and every store in the vicinity. Almost all the stores had kids from our orphanage working there and there were no vacancies. My plan had failed miserably. It was an unwritten rule that kids had to clear out from the orphanage once they reach the age of eighteen. I had worked hard at the public school and I was so sure that I would be offered the job of a teacher’s assistant but alas fate had other plans. I had been accepted but without the scholarship and also I was not offered the role of a teacher’s assistant as the same had been given to an underprivileged kid from Mexico.

               Now I had no savings, no job in hand, and no place to go to when I vacate this Sunday. Today was already Friday night and I had only one day to find myself accommodation and a job. I was so lost in my thoughts while walking to the seating area that I did not notice when Rachel had held out her foot in my way. I tripped over her foot and fell face-first onto the floor with my plate flying and spilling the contents all over the floor. The tetra pack of milk had burst open and milk had spilled on the floor and the food was all over the place, there was nothing that I could salvage.

               I picked up the plate and walked towards the washing area as I knew I could not argue with Rachel and her gang if I wanted to at least sleep peacefully at night. I picked up another plate and walked towards the serving lady.

               “Hey, didn’t I already serve you dinner?” she eyed me suspiciously.

               “Yes ma’am. I am so sorry but I fell and all the food fell on the floor so I could not eat any of it. I am truly sorry about the trouble” I apologized.

               “What the hell? Not only have you come for a second helping but you dare to tell me that you have made a terrible mess on my cafeteria floor? You pathetic girl, I was hoping to get some rest after dinner but now I have to almost spend half my night cleaning up after your mess! Good Lord, why is my fate so bad that I have to bear with such ungrateful wretches?” she moans loudly.

               “I am sorry Madam Petunia. I am truly sorry for the mess. Don’t worry I will clean and mop the floor after dinner. Please be kind enough to give me something to eat, I haven’t eaten anything from morning and I feel like I might pass out from hunger” I beg her again, tears brimming in my eyes.

               “Get lost. I don’t want to see your pathetic face. As if you would clean, you will only create more work for me. God knows why you are still here. Others of your age have all left and even manage to make donations to the orphanage to show gratitude for everything that we have given them. You on the other hand have never given us a cent but yet you manage to increase my workload. Get out just get out of here before I am more furious and ask you to evict your room tonight” she says furiously.

               I keep the plate right there and turn to run back to my room. The humiliating words sting me like she has slapped me a million times. I take two steps and collide with Rachel again. This time I fall on top of Rachel with her plate falling on her face and spilling the leftovers on her face. I am horrified. I try to help Rachel up but she is livid. A crowd gathers around us quickly and they start laughing at Rachel. Usually, it is Rachel who is seen bullying and picking on kids but I guess the bullied kids now really enjoyed seeing Rachel falling and looking like a clown. This pisses Rachel even more and she is quick on her feet like a cat. She lunges forward and holds me by my hair and stars pulling on it. A sharp pain radiates from my hair and I scream. I try to pull her hands out of my hair but she doesn’t relent.

               In desperation, I punch her and she starts punching and hitting me and I hit back unable to take the pain. The hunger, humiliation, and now the physical pain is all too much to bear. I start taking out my anger on her. I land a few punches with all my strength and I smell blood. I have probably broken her nose, but neither of us stops. I can hear Madam Petunia’s shrill voice screaming for us to stop but Rachel does not stop and neither do I. I feel strong hands holding me and prying me off of Rachel.

               “Enough, Enough. That’s enough now. Stop I say” she manages to separate me from Rachel.

             I could see that Rachel’s nose was bleeding, her hair was disheveled. Her face is red and her clothes are a little torn. I imagine I would look the same without the nosebleeds. I can feel pain radiating from all parts of my body.

               “That’s it. You have tested the limits of my patience. I am done giving you chances. No more. Pack your back and get out of this building right now” she thunders.

               “But Madam, I … It was not my fault. I swear it was Rachel who tripped me earlier and now I didn’t see her coming, it was an accident now. Please don’t do this. Where will I go now?” I plead with her.

               “I don’t care. I am done putting up with your antics. I can’t stand your pathetic face anymore and I am done having my place being dirtied by you. On top of that, you are now picking fights. Have you no shame? I don’t care where you go and what you do, I don’t have to see you anywhere inside the premises. You have half an hour to pack up your things and vacate the premises” she says and shows me the door.

               I see Rachel laughing at me behind Matron Petunia’s back and I can’t take it anymore. I wipe my tears and run towards my room. I take a bag and start putting whatever I can. Well, there isn’t much stuff that I own anyways. Whatever I wear are hand-me-downs from the seniors or the clothes that have been donated by charities. I only have one pair of shoes which were also donated to the orphanage. I pack a few books, the only photo of my mom which I have, that is almost in tatters from my tears and the multiple times that I have looked at it. There is no one here that I want to bid farewell to. I don’t even think about where I am going now, I just want to get out of this place and this humiliation and people laughing at me behind my back. I run out with the bag behind my back. I don’t bother wiping the tears which are flowing constantly now. I take one last look at the orphanage which has housed me for the last eighteen years and which was the only place that I had ever called home. I run into the night without an inkling of what awaits me.