Chapter 20 Karma
Naomi
I knew working at the restaurant was not going to be an easy thing. My legs hurt like I was just from climbing a steep mountain on a sunny day.
A yawn left my mouth as I hung my bag across my shoulders and stepped out of the restaurant. I told Mandy that I was leaving, but she didn't even look in my direction, and I didn't care that much. I already finished my work here and got paid. She could stay quiet for all I cared about.
The lights in the dark path I passed the other day were replaced. I didn't have to worry about anyone following me.
I climbed the narrow steps that led to our house. I stopped at the veranda when I noticed the door was ajar. My hand pressed tightly against the straps of my bag as I looked around for any intruders.
Ma'a wouldn't be home at this time. She was still at work.
My hands got into my bag as quickly as they could. I tried to fish out my phone to call the police, yet, they stopped midway when I heard a familiar voice inside the living room. It sounded like the person was walking and talking.
.
"I'm sorry, you called when I was making dinner." I heard her voice. Why was she back so early? It wasn't 10:00 p.m. yet. I relaxed and made my way inside the house.
"I don't know what to do with Naomi. She wouldn't listen to me and insisted on working."
I hadn't closed the door behind me when I heard her.
Whom was she talking to? Was it someone I had no idea about? Or was it her friend at work? The only friend she had and the one she once told me about?
And why was she discussing me?
"Come on, you know I'm trying. But the girl wouldn't listen. If something happens, then we all would be..."
Crash!
My movement froze when my hand accidentally hit the oil lamp standing on a lampstand by the door. I had wanted to tiptoe inside and hear who she was talking to.
"Who's there?" She peeked her head from her bathroom door, with the phone pressed against her ear.
My eyes met hers, and her eyes widened in shock. Of course, she wasn't expecting it to be me.
"I will call you back." She said into the phone and ended the call.
She had just a loincloth wrapped around her body, her gray hair falling down her shoulders.
I hardly ever saw her with her hair down like that.
"You are back home?" She smiled at me, and I knew the smile was just concealing what was actually going on.
"I made dinner. You should go wash up and come down for dinner."
Oh. I knew what she was trying to do here, thinking I was stupid.
"Whom were you talking to? Why was I in your conversation?”
I just wanted to know. It could be something interesting.
"Oh... it's nothing. Just talking with some friends." She waved her hand like it was nothing. She moved to the table, pulled a chair back, and sat.
"Okay," I responded back and made my way to my room. Something was actually up, and she didn't want to tell me.
She was hiding something. And from the look of it, it could be something tied to what was going on with me, and she didn't want to let me know.
I didn't know if I should be doing what I was doing right now. Ma'a was probably talking to her friend; however, I needed to find anything that could give me a clue.
I took permission from Dean, telling him that I would be late for work today.
This was my only chance, and I needed to find out what Ma'a was up to, if she was hiding any information from me. She gave me access to her room. I opened the door, stood inside, and observed. Looking for where to stand. Documents, letters, just anything.
My eyes moved to the drawer beneath the table. I rushed and crouched down next to it. The drawers were on either side of the table. I started with the first. I checked the first, but there was nothing there. I reached the last and brought out a couple of crumpled-up documents, and it turned out to be papers from her workplace. I scratched my head, looking around. I tried the other drawer, but there was nothing connected to me. I checked her wardrobe, her box of clothes, which I made sure to keep everything the way I met it.
Exhausted with nowhere else to find anything, I decided to let it go to try again another day.
I took a quick bath, got dressed, and made my way to work. The atmosphere today looked odd. It was chilling outside like it was going to rain. There were not a lot of customers when I got to the restaurant. Even after an hour, only three customers showed up.
It was like this with such businesses. Some days were good, and other days were bad. And you had to take it the way it came, hoping that other days would be better.
Dean told us to close earlier, given the weather outside. The diner was close to my house, but the other people lived a bit far.
I didn't go home directly. I decided to go to Metrolex, a supermarket across the street. I wanted to get Ma'a something from my first salary. Though she was acting in a certain way, she deserved it for what she had been doing for me after my parents died. I didn't get a chance to see them. I didn't even know what they looked like. A sigh left my mouth. I continued my walk.
When I entered the supermarket, I looked around for what to buy. Ma'a was quite picky with her things and I wouldn't buy just anything for her. My eyes caught the sight of a brown winter jacket in the far end of the aisle I was checking. It was going to be a perfect gift, given how chilling the weather was.
My phone buzzed in my hand. I swiped it open to a message from Scourge. "We have patrolling tomorrow evening. It would be out of the school campus, so come prepared."
I was about to leave the thread when another message popped up from an anonymous number. "We need to talk, Naomi."
Who was this?
My eyes were glued to the phone when I bumped into someone.
"Watch your step." The person yelled, and I immediately recognized who it was. Damn my luck.
Did they have to be everywhere I go?
"Are you not going to say sorry?" Quinox stepped forward and yelled in my face, such that I could feel droplets of her spittle on my face, and it was disgusting.
"I'm sorry," I said and stepped to the side, giving them the space to pass. But Calix ignored that as she moved to stand right in my face.
She looked me up and down like I was disgusting to look at.
"You think you can run, right?" She picked up my hair and wrapped a strand around her finger.
"You are one of them, right?"
It was my turn to look at her like she was crazy. What was she talking about?
Like she had heard my inner thoughts, she went ahead to explain.
"I did a little research, and it turned out that only werewolves can heal that quickly."
I didn't know what happened, but a heavy laughter left my mouth. It was getting harder as I placed my hand on my chest and laughed even more.
"You must be an idiot for saying that."
Werewolf.
Crack!
"How dare you?" The slap was heavy such that my entire body landed on the floor, and I felt a small crack at the back of my head. I struggled to turn around, just to find my phone scattered across the floor.
Anger spewed within me. My fist tightened. I felt sharp fingers digging into my palms.
I think I had an idea of what was going on right now, and I couldn't let that happen.
"Look at her eyes. See what I was talking about?"
She pointed at me. I needed to calm down immediately. If not, it was not going to end well for me.
I willed myself to calm down. I slumped back to the floor as tears crowded my eyes.
She was not going to get away with this.