CHAPTER FOUR

It was silent in the car. I was anxiously chewing on my fingernails, taking deep breaths that didn’t calm me as much as I wanted.

       I had lost my father, and I was about to lose my mother, all in one night. I couldn’t let that happen.

       “Please drive faster,” I pleaded, checking my phone to see that I had just three minutes left out of the seven minutes to be at home.

       The driver picked up his speed, thankfully, but I couldn’t tell if we could make it in time.

       “What’s the matter? I could always call my boss to sort it out for you,” he offered.

       “It’s fine, I’m fine. You’ve both done enough. This is more than enough,” I declined.

       Dragging strangers into my mess, even at their insistence, was not something I wanted to do, especially when I knew that my bad luck never ended. They could help me this one time and the next thing to happen to me would be even worse. I didn’t need that on anyone.

       “It’s really not a problem. He told me to let him know if you need any help, which you seem to do right now,” he pushed, tempting me with the urge to break down and open up.

       “Right there!” I pointed at the apartment as he turned on our street, hopping out of the car as soon as we reached the apartment.

       I ran up the stairs and towards our unit. The door was wide open, and some of our neighbours were standing in front of the door and muttering to each other.

       “There she is,” they chorused when they took notice of me.

       I ran into the apartment, scanning the place. The entire living room had been flipped around, the couch upside down and everything that had once been standing upright was now out of place or broken.

       “Mom?!” I called out, running into her room to find it empty and just as rough as the living room. “Mom!”

       I ran into my room to find it just as rough as I had left it earlier.

       “Where is she?!” I shouted, returning to the living room and facing the neighbors who were now moving back and looking around at each other.

       “A group of men took her,” someone answered.

       “No,” I said to nobody, shaking my head.

       “I heard she stole drugs.”

       “I guess her addiction got the best of her.”

       “…about a million dollars.”

       “…considered taking her to rehab?”

       “Is your dad still at the hospital?”

       “Shut up! All of you!” I screamed, fed up with their words. “Leave!”

       As if they hadn’t heard me, they shared looks and stared back at me.

       “Just go away!” I shouted, retreating into the living room and finding a pillow to throw at them.

       When they wouldn’t go away as fast as I wanted them to, I picked up the syringe from the floor and ran out, causing them to scatter in the directions of their apartments.

“Call 911!”

       “She’s gone crazy!”

       “Does she do drugs too?”

       When the last of the doors closed, I threw the syringe back on the floor and collapsed in the doorway, crying.

       I didn’t know how long I stayed there and cried, but I ended up falling asleep sitting between the living room and the hallway.

       “Goodness, what is this?” I felt something poke my thigh. “Lauren Walter?”

       The snapping of fingers beside my ear forced my eyes open, and I looked up to see Ms. Harlow, the landlady.

       “Oh, Ms. Harlow.” I stood up in a hurry, wiping the drool off the corner of my mouth. “Good morning. I was just—”

       “Pray tell, Lauren; what is good about the morning? Why should I accept such a greeting from you?!” she snapped loudly.

       “What?” I frowned.

       Doors were starting to open and the neighbors were now spilling out of their houses at Ms. Harlow’s voice to see what was going to happen.

       “I barely slept last night. My phone rang all through the night as I received complaint after complaint about you and your mother. I heard that your mother stole drugs worth a million dollars and you chased the neighbours with a syringe?! Goodness, look what a mess it is in here. Your father is still in the hospital, I assume. It’s really bad for you, but there’s nothing much I can do. Bad things happen to everybody.” She sidestepped me and walked into the living room, looking around with a horrified look on her face.

       “All of this mess you and your mother have made while you haven’t paid up to four months' worth of rent?!” she yelled, causing the neighbours to gasp and start muttering.

       “I’m sorry all this happened. I just…I’ll pay up the rent. Just give me time—”

       “Don’t you think four months is more than enough time?” She walked up to me, glaring at me as if daring me to respond to that. “You have one week to pay up the rent and vacate this building.”

       “No, you can’t do this to me. Please, Ms. Harlow, you know I don’t—”

       “I don’t owe you anything, Lauren. You can’t tell me what I can and cannot do to you, especially with the amount of money you owe. You shouldn’t be doing this to me.” She sighed. “I have contacts within the police force. If you attempt to run away with my money or remain in this place after one week has passed, you will find yourself and your mother behind bars.”

       As she walked away, I recalled the envelope in my purse and called out to her.

       “Wait!”

       I picked up the salary I had gotten yesterday and handed it to her. She took it and counted the bills in it with a frown on her face.

       “Is eighty dollars supposed to make a dent? You’re owing me for four months, remember?” she scoffed.

       “I’ll get the rest, I promise.”

       “Remember to leave and return my keys once you pay up. I have no interest in keeping you here any longer.” She walked away after that.

       I was now left with nowhere to go.

       As if I didn’t already have nature against me, I realized that there were only two places I could go—Conrad’s or Shirley’s.