8 - THE ONE WITH OREO'S LOOKALIKE 1.0
8 – THE ONE WITH OREO'S LOOKALIKE 1.0
"Arggh! It's five o'clock, Sky! It's five o'clock! Activate your brain
"Why are you acting like that? Are you crazy?!" I asked myself as I couldn't stop pacing back and forth in the room.
It's five in the afternoon and it's Friday. My class with the twins is over. Usually, at this time, I'm packing up and getting ready to go home.
I was allowed to go home on Friday night. But today! The situation is different because I don't know if I should get ready to go home or go down to the kitchen.
Because I was already dizzy from walking back and forth, I sat on the edge of the bed with my arms crossed over my chest.
Friday, this should be my day of rest and I shouldn't be thinking about anything other than going home to my mom. But...
'See me after your class. Cook Buttered Shrimp for me and take it to my room, with rice. That's an order. Disobey and I'll block your check.'
"Argghhh! Sooooo!" I screamed as I threw myself on the bed and tightly covered my face with the pillow.
I can't get the letter Thera left earlier, along with the envelope with my salary, out of my mind. I can't figure out for myself whether she was serious about that letter or not.
And if she's serious, I can't imagine why she would want me to come to her after what happened yesterday. After she strangled me and made me cry again in front of her siblings.
It's so tiring. It's tiring to read. It's like the trend on Tiktok that 'Don't let them know about your next move! She's living that trend too much!
I've been thinking for a while now, is that why she's making me cook buttered shrimp because she's making me feel like I owe her shrimp? Because I cooked so many the day I visited the precinct?!
Has she still not been able to move on?
This is the shame that covers my body again every time I remember how she criticized me for taking shrimp from the stock in the kitchen.
Then that shame, suddenly replaced by resentment when I think about how she strangled me yesterday. The wound she left on my neck is still there. It still hurts! Okay?! What kind of person is that? I feel like even the most expert therapist wouldn't understand her.
Maybe if you go to therapy, the therapist will walk out and say I give up! Talk to yourself. You have a worse headache than inflation in the Philippines!
I shouldn't be struggling right now in my room, wondering what to do. I should be texting my mom right now, requesting food for dinner tomorrow. But I can't do anything! I feel like I'm so stressed out, that I can't even turn on my cellphone.
What does she need from me?!
"Lord! I just want to work well. I'm a good person, right? Why did you give me such a boss? It's terrible!" I asked Lord while my face was still covered with a pillow.
You know that feeling like you're walking through a dark room with no lights? It's so dark and it's hard to breathe? That's the feeling I get whenever I know I'm going to interact with Thera.
When you have no clue what's going to happen next? You should control all your actions and then you'll say something because you might do something she doesn't like and then suddenly she explodes again like a timebomb.
I quickly removed the pillow from my face when I heard my phone ring from someone chatting on messenger. When I looked at the notification, I immediately saw mom's name.
That's it, I'm looking for this.
I opened her message and read it.
'Sister, you haven't given me any indication yet. What time is it? Riley will come first, then Luna. They said they'll sleep here and then they'll bring the food.'
Because of mom's chat, I quickly checked all my messages. That's when I read that the two of them were constantly chatting with me and asking what I wanted for dinner and what time I would be home. You see! I'm already looking for people who truly care about me, and then here I am, stressed out about the person who strangled me yesterday.
Speaking of strangulation...
I'm holding my neck again. I've been wearing it for a while now.
The turtle neck with long sleeves is still there. If Riley and Luna were there and they would sleep there because those two felt like they were my mother's children too...
How can I hide this wound on my neck? If they see it, what will I say? Should I say that I almost fell down the stairs and Dahlia saved me from falling, but instead of holding my hand, she grabbed me by the neck?
Okay, Sky, who would be stupid enough to believe that! You even blamed Dahlia for being unconscious.
My messenger notification rang again and when I read it, it was mom chatting again.
'Okay, just see me. I won't open the gate for you when you go home'
It sounds like a childish threat, but there's a skull emoji at the end. What's the skull for?!
'Wow? Even though I have a 200k check?'
I replied to her chat which she immediately saw.
"Where are you, my beautiful daughter?! Why did it take you so long to get home? Do you want me to pick you up on a tricycle there? Then let's go straight to the mall. Leave your two friends alone. No one invited them to sleep here. You're making a decision on your own, you thought this was their house," she quickly replied, which made me laugh.
I was about to reply 'It's almost here. Just going to take a bath, but I suddenly remembered the last line of the letter Thera left.
Disobey and I'll block your check.
Because of that, I deleted what I was typing and put the phone down on the side of the bed. I just stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. I heard the messenger notification sound one after another, but I stayed in my position.
Disobey and I'll block your check.
It was as if my body had spontaneously risen from its lying position and I was sitting on the edge of the bed again, dazed.
"Disobey and I'll block your check." I repeated what she wrote in a tone mixed with mockery.
I inhaled deeply then exhaled. I did the same about three times. After that, I covered my face with my two hands.
After a few minutes in that position...
"Arggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"
I shouted while covering my face.
FXck that! I didn't have a choice in the first place.