Taking a deep breath, I smile patiently at the laptop.
“Thomas,” I say, the smile slowly turning into a frustrated tight-lipped purse of lips, “Didn’t we discuss this a few days ago already? I told you you’re supposed to treat the missing number as the letter x. Remember the formula? Do you, Thomas?”
Thomas cleared his throat from the other end of the screen, scratching his cheeks.
“Yeah,” Thomas mumbles softly, “But I keep forgetting. It’s different when you teach online instead of having you here. I’m just not used to this kind of teaching, I guess.”
Shaking my head, I rubbed my temples. I wanted to tell Thomas that regardless of whether I was teaching him through the laptop or in
Thomas shot me a look from the other end of the screen.“This is unfair,” He whined. “You didn’t tell me he was some sort of math genius. I really tried, Violet. There should be a consolidation prize or something. This isn’t fair!”“Consolation, Thomas.” I hear Helen’s voice from the other end of the screen. Her face pops out next and she waves at us. I smile instantly, it’s been a long time since I’ve last seen her, and even from behind the screen, her eyes still held more warmth than they did when I had seen her last. “Hey, sweetie. That’s one of your brothers?”“This is Blue,” I say, waving my hand to my brother. “He just
The man’s wallet had a few hundred dollars, calling cards, a paper clip, and a picture of a woman who was way too beautiful for him.If I was being perfectly honest, the money he had on his wallet was nowhere near enough of the tips I made that night. The thing about doing bad things was that one of these days, it would come to bite you in the ass. And that’s karma for you. I just didn’t know I’ll be hit by it this early into the game. Usually, karma happens when you’re already old and a bit more stable in life.And that wasn’t what happened to me.I already have a lot of things happening to me recently, and this would even add. It’s like I have a demon clinging onto me and wishing for my downfall.I’ve be
I stare at the black and white picture on my hands.Markus was beside me, staring at it with wide eyes too.Then, all over the room, were my siblings, looking at me like it was the first time they’ve ever seen me. Scarlett had a certain softness in her eyes, there wasn’t any hint of surprise there. She knew, after all. Olive was already sobbing, but there was a smile on her face so I’m sure her tears didn’t mean bad.Red still looked like he wanted to punch something and with the way that Markus was as far away from Red as possible, I’m guessing he was the punching bag Red wanted. My brother was in the same spot he was when I woke up, but this time, Jade was sitting on his lap. My sister had her head leaned on the crook of Red’s neck and her eyes were fluttering
“Do you have something to tell me, buddy?”It was a few days later, and I was having a pretty decent day considering everything that had happened a few nights ago. Obviously, one therapy session together with my family didn’t really cut it out for all of us to speak up about the trauma that we had been through when we were staying at our parent’s house.The only reason Red broke down sobbing is that the little idiot was repressing everything in. According to our psychologist, his anger for himself and for our parents had always been misdirected to other things. The reason he often spoke out of anger or looked as if he was one look away from punching someone was because he was looking to displace his anger on something else.When the psychologist told us this, obviously Red wasn&rs
Helen was sobbing in front of me and I was trying my hardest not to laugh.When she had heard that I was sent to the hospital, she immediately thought it was her fault. Which is ridiculous because Helen is an actual angel? It was not her fault, she couldn’t have known. Plus, I didn’t once blame her for what happened. I never even thought about how she was to blame. Still, I’m sure my neighbor was feeling guilty over something she couldn’t possibly control.Rubbing her back, I lean my head against her shoulder.“It’s not your fault, Helen,” I tell her repeatedly until she gets it stuck inside her skull. “You know how my life was back then, you couldn’t have known that I sometimes, freak out like that.”Helen repl
“Who would have known you would get together with the skank at the club?”I grip my skirt under the table as hard as I could because I was this close to jumping over the table to strangle the guy. The sad thing is, he might even be in to it, which sucks. Markus didn’t seem to have the same restraint as me because he slammed his fists on the table, leaning dangerously close to the man he once considered his friend.“Stop talking,” Markus gritted through clenched teeth. I didn’t even bother looking at my him as I grabbed the glass of juice on the table and sipped from the straw. “You’re being an asshole, Jonah, and you know it.”“Careful, Markus,” Jonah said, all arrogant and boastful. “You wouldn’t want our connection broken just by s
It all started years ago, at my job interview as an entertainer at Ardere.I had just recently escaped my parent’s house. And by escape, that was my way of saying I’ve stolen what I could before I could leave, leaving just enough for my siblings, and ran as far away from home as I could. It was only just me then, I didn’t have Mexi yet. She wouldn’t come until much later. I had nothing but a few dollars to my name, and I knew that I wouldn’t survive with that amount with the dreams that I wanted.I wanted an apartment, a law degree, and a way to get all my siblings out of the house.Obviously, I can’t achieve all of that with just a regular job. With the money I had, which was just a few dollars, I booked a small room at some dingy motel. Then when I was settled in, I grabbed the
When I peeked my head inside the door that lead to Big Mama’s office, it was like I was transported back to the past.There she was again, albeit she looked older, had a few graying hairs, and looked bigger than she did a few years ago. She had a cigar in her mouth again, her eyes down on the folders and papers on her table. There were wads of cash still, but even from afar, I could tell that it was fewer than the wads of cash that she had before. There was also a crumpled piece of accounting paper right next to her.Immediately, she flinched from her seat, covering the papers on her table with her arms. That surprised me. That was the first time she had ever been secretive to others when it came with money. She glanced at me, and I did a small wave. Oddly, she waved back.But then Big Mama did a double-take.&