Jessica happily skips to her house as soon as she gets hold of her paycheck. It would be enough to sort out her bills and her father's medical too.
She was happy she escaped from that den of wolves or should she say, poacher.? These people would have caused trouble for her. She frowned when she remembered the voice of the man in the dark.
"Why did he sound so familiar? It's like I have heard the voice somewhere" she said to herself, thinking deeply.
Maybe she was mistaken. Nevertheless, voices aren't too peculiar. One can see more than two people with similar voices. She removed those thoughts from her mind as she drew closer to her house.
Taking a deep breath, she plastered a smile on her face as she got ready for the lie she had practiced for more than an hour.
"Mum! Dad!" She said, walking inside their little apartment.
" Jessy, you are back. Go and freshen up so we can all eat!" Her mother said, making some clanging noises in the kitchen.
" Mum… you…"
"Go and freshen up, young woman! You know how much I hate to sweat!" Her mother said, cutting her off.
Holding back the tears threatening to fall, Jessy did not go straight to the bathroom but went to the kitchen to embrace her mother tightly.
" You knew, right?" Jessica asked, hiding her shaky voice.
" The only thing I know right now is that you stink, sweetie. Now shush… go get freshened up before hugging me" her mother replied, ignoring her question.
Jessica nodded as she secretly wiped off her tears. She ran swiftly to the bathroom, not just to bathe but to also let out bottled-up tears.
Mrs. Graves watched her daughter running upstairs with her barely hidden tears. She felt sorry that she failed as a mother. She couldn't even work so she could fend for her children. Instead of taking care of them, Jessica bore the burden of catering for them all.
She knew about all the work her daughter had been doing just to fend for them. She also knew she was working some hours at a bar after her usual work at the cafeteria.
There were soft footsteps coming toward the kitchen and she quickly hid her tears.
"It's my fault, Catherina. I made her like this. My princess became like this because of my incompetence as a father" Mr. Graves lamented, walking towards his wife.
The couple drowns in guilt, unable to do anything. As they were feeling sorry, the twins came down from their room and were looking everywhere.
"Mum, dad. Where is Jessy? Isn't she back yet? I made her favorite juice" Kristen said, going towards the fridge.
" And I made her favorite cookies!" Tristan doesn't want to be left out too. Although save for two pieces, the rest were burnt to the core.
The twins were both bent on outdoing each other when Jessica came down too. They rushed to her and each brought her what they had prepared for her.
"Jessy, eat!"
"Jessy, drink!"
With a broad smile on her face, she took one of the burnt cookies in one hand and the juice in the other hand. She ate the cookies and drank the juice made by the twins.
Beaming with a smile, the twins were happy. Not just them alone, the whole family was lucky. Even if they lost all that they had, they still had each other.
After having the late dinner, they all went to sleep while Jessica brought out her phone to call her friend, Angela.
"Angie, I am sorry for calling late. I just got home not long ago so I decided to call you. How are you coping?" Jessica asked.
The two friends continued talking for almost an hour until Jessica became sleepy.
" Jess, just email me your credentials and I will look for a job for you here. I think there would be vacancies in my company"
" Seriously, Angie? I will email it to you as soon as possible. I am so grateful" Jessica said, excited in her voice.
" You don't need to thank me, Jess. We are friends and I won't hesitate to help you" Angela replied.
After talking for another ten minutes, they said goodbye to each other. Jessica lay on her bed with many thoughts in her head before she finally fell asleep.
*****
The next morning the alarm rang continuously to remind Jessica to wake up. She managed to wake up after a few more rings. She has to get ready now or she would be late for work.
"Jessy, freshen up and come down for breakfast!" Her mother said.
"Yes, mom!"
Jessica quickly got ready for work and went downstairs for breakfast. She quickly took a few bites so she could hurry to work. Before leaving, she noticed the twins were not ready for school yet.
"Where are Kristen and Tristan? Aren't they ready for school?" Jessica asked.
"They… they already left," her mother said, forcing a smile.
Mrs. Graves wasn't the type that can lie, so Jessica noticed right away that there was an issue.
"What is it, mum? Why are they not in school? And… don't lie to me, please" Jessica said.
" They… "
" We were sent back from school. The teacher said she needs the tuition fee for this semester" Kristen said, coming out of their room. It looks like they were hiding.
" How long have you stopped school?" Jessica asked.
" Two weeks," Tristan replied.
" Mom, you told me you guys sorted it out. What happened? You should have told me!" Jessica said, getting angry at herself for not being observant of her siblings.
She turned to the twins." I will sort this out and you will go back to school on Monday"
She smiled at them before leaving quickly so that her mother won't see the tears falling down her face. Memories of their past rushed into her mind and she kept wiping the tears that refused to stop.
When she finally got to the cafeteria, she was more than twenty-five minutes late. The cafe was already bustling with people. Her boss wanted to scold her but the depressed look on her face made him change his mind.
"Jessy, are you okay?" He asked.
Jessica bites hard on her lips contemplating whether or not she should ask for a salary advance from her boss. She didn't have any other way to get the tuition fee.
She knew her boss was never the type to give out salary upfront but she just wanted to give it a try. Will he agree to give her?
This morning was not what she envisioned!