The drive with Serena was filled with complete silence. There was nothing save for the song coming from the radio and her soft directions every once in a while. I drove for thirty minutes before I got to the house she directed me to. She said it was her aunt’s house and it was located on the opposite end of town. It was small and dainty with flower pots around the front and the smell of cookies wafting from inside.
“Thank you so much,” she said as she pulled me into a hug. “Do you want to come in? I’m sure she has some cookies to spare. You will love her oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies.”
“I would love to but it is late and I just want to get home.”
A look of understanding seemed to dawn on her face. “There’s no problem. I’ll just bring some to work for you tomorrow, or rather this evening. Bye, Leindra.”
I waved at her and waited for her to disappear into her house before I started the car and began to drive away. I rarely ever visited this part of town when I was growing up. My parents were always against it and even the friends that I had who lived in this part always had to visit me in my house or public spaces. I never understood why because I always found this part of town beautiful.
Once as a child I snuck away from the playground and came here. I found that the people were just like the rest of us. They were kind and they had a familial bond within themselves that I had never seen before. When I told my mother that I had snuck away at dinner, she was upset and she made me promise never to go there again. She told me there were things I was too young to understand and I believed her and never went exploring again.
The streets were unusually quiet. It was almost like the town was deserted and there was not a single living soul around. Something about the quiet felt eerie almost like I was being watched. I stepped on the gas as hard as I could and made the drive back to my house in twenty minutes instead of thirty. By the time I got home, the lights were still on and I walked in to see Grandma and Chris playing Go Fish on the couch.
They stopped as soon as they saw me and when Chris wasn’t looking, I saw Grandma peek at his cards. She noticed that I had caught her so she lifted her finger to her lips and I assured her with my eyes that I was not going to say a word. Chris should know better than to leave his cards unattended when Grandma is concerned.
“You should join us,” Chris offered but I shook my head.
“I don’t feel like being beaten by Grandma today,” I told him and he pouted. “But I will, however, watch her beat your ass.”
He scoffed. “I am much better at this game than you think.
I raised a brow and he delved into a speech about how we were all underestimating him and he was going to win. It didn’t take up to five minutes after that speech for him to lose. I laughed out loud and he grumbled and challenged Grandma to a rematch. I ate the lasagna they had left out for me while watching Grandma beat Chris three more times.
On the third time, he threw the cards down and stood to his feet. “I give up. You’re cheating.”
She was cheating but he couldn’t prove it. He stormed out of the living room leaving Grandma and me trying and failing to control our laughter. When I heard his door slam shut, I stood to my feet.
“I should probably go to bed,” I had started to walk away when Grandma stopped me.
“How was work? I realized I've never asked before.”
Even though it was a harmless question, there was a look in her eyes that led me to believe it wasn’t as harmless as she would have liked it to sound. I just shrugged and I saw a look cross her face but I didn’t have time to analyze it properly.
“Are you going to work tomorrow?” she asked and I nodded.
“I work every day of the week. Is there a problem?”
She opened her mouth to speak then closed it abruptly. “I was just wondering if you could be home a little earlier tomorrow. Can you make it before midnight?”
“I doubt it, Grandma, is something wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said too quickly and I narrowed my eyes at her. “Goodnight, you should get some sleep.”
She left before I could speak and I almost let out a scream of frustration at how everyone seemed to be walking away from me. I didn’t even bother changing before I flopped on my bed and was out like a light.
When I woke up the next morning, I was very tired. I didn’t know if it was because I stayed up late last night to watch them play cards or for another reason but my entire body felt completely weak. I managed to drag myself out of bed and get freshened up and I couldn’t even be bothered to spite Darius with my outfit so I settled for a simple pair of black leggings and a normal button-up shirt with the first two buttons undone.
I dragged my feet out of the room and Grandma seemed to notice something was wrong because as soon as she saw me she frowned. She placed a plate of pancakes and eggs in front of me and I muttered a thank you under my breath.
“You should stay home if you don’t feel well,” she said but I waved her off. “I’m sure Darius will give you a day off.”
“I’ll be fine. I just need to sleep the day away.”
She looked like she wanted to say more but she decided against it and walked away. Even Chris noticed how bad I looked because he asked if I was sick. I couldn’t deal with their questions so I carried my food into my room and locked the door. I barely had any chance to eat before I fell asleep again.
By the time I woke up, I was better rested but it was almost time for work. I muttered a curse under my breath and rushed out of the house as quickly as I could. I had gotten into my car when Grandma pulled up into the driveway from wherever it was she went. She flagged me down with her hand and despite how late I knew I was going to be, I waited.
“Please ask Darius if you can be home early today,” she said and because I didn’t want to argue with her, I promised her I would.
Despite speeding to work, I still got there a few minutes late. As soon as Serena saw me, she heaved a sigh of relief. Darius and his friends were not in the bar and I was relieved because it meant unless Serena spoke, they would have no idea that I came late.
“I thought you had quit after yesterday,” she mumbled in my ears as soon as I made my way behind the bar.
“It is going to take a lot more than one grade-A asshole to make me quit.”
Her eyes widened as if she couldn’t believe I had spoken about Darius like that but before she could say anything, a customer came to the bar and we had to get to work.
We were working for about thirty minutes before Darius and his friends came. The first thing he did was look for me and when he saw my outfit, I felt his appraisal from the other end of the room. I hated that he had given it and I hated that my body seemed to melt when I had received it. I did not need his appraisal and there was no reason for me to look forward to it.
He made his way over to the bar and I quickly prepared his drink because I wanted him to be gone as quickly as possible. He had barely sat down when I handed him his drink and his smirk seemed to deepen.
“I’m flattered that you already know my drink. This just shows that you are mine.”
“It is my job to know the drinks of regular customers,” I said very dismissively. “It has nothing to do with being yours.”
“Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my jacket is still in the back of your car.”
“I forgot it there last night because of how tired I was. You are reading too much into everything as usual.”
He hummed as if he didn’t believe me and downed the glass then snapped his fingers for a refill. I consoled myself with the thought of actually breaking his fingers as I filled his glass. He downed the second one and stood to his feet.
“You get off work by nine today,” he said and my eyes widened in shock. “The bar is going to be closed early. I want you out of here before ten. Am I clear?”
“It is not that I am not happy to get off work early but is there a reason?”
“I do not need to explain my reasons to you. All you need is to do as I say.”
I took a step back and glared at him. “You don’t get to speak to me like that. You can give orders while still being respectful.”
He ran his hands through his hair as if he was fed up with the conversation. “Does every conversation with you have to end in an argument? Why can’t you just listen to what I say and do it?”
“Maybe it is because you’re trying to claim ownership of me when I don’t belong to you. Has it ever crossed your mind that it might be the reason I don’t listen to you?”
I kept my voice barely over a whisper because the last thing I wanted was for people to hear us. The bar wasn’t as filled as it usually was but there were still a handful of customers.
“Is it a bad thing when I own you?”
“You don’t own me,” I seethed the words out slowly so he would hear each syllable. “You might own this town but you do not own me.”
He leaned forward until our noses were almost brushing. “We will see about that.”