Chapter 7

Kharis pov

I stepped out of the grocery store feeling embarrassed and sorry for myself. How the hell could I even be emotionally weak in a grocery store, to a stranger!! I guess sometimes, my feelings get the best of me. Since I quickly rushed to the grocery store, I still had 10 more minutes to get back to the torture den. I decided to take a walk back home…

I still couldn't believe I no longer worked at the restaurant. I may have always gone late on some days but it was either because of Mrs. Clinton's inability to stay stable or my parent's wicked nature. I was too angry, disappointed, sad, still embarrassed, and lonely. I tried to process all of these emotions at once.

I walked faster to avoid incurring the wrath of my mother. As she said, "Be back in 30 minutes or else you'll live to regret this morning". I regretted being born already. What was left to regret? Nevertheless, I still hurried back home because my back was still hurting from last night's torture. There was no way I wanted to go through another episode…

I was almost close to the house. The house was close to the grocery store but far away from the restaurant. I checked the time and there was a minute left before my 30 minutes expired.

I increased my pace and even started running into the house till I got to my stepmother. I met her smoking, yeah, it is one of her favorite things to do!, Filling the entire room with smoke and I hated it. I couldn't wait for Monday to come so she could resume work.

I'm back home ma. I had to announce since she was ignoring my presence.

Kharis, do you know you are ten minutes late? She asked.

No, I answered. As a matter of fact, I am quite on time!!

She turned to look at me with an angry expression. "Did you just talk back at me, in that tone?"

As I was about to explain myself, a banging slap landed on my face. The slap was really forced and felt like she used all of her energy to give it to me.

It was really obvious this woman was intentionally torturing me. I tried as much as possible to not fall into her trap but she found a way to get me in it by all means. I wasn't ten minutes late but she said I was. She enjoyed torturing and wounding my soul.

My dad walked in from his bedroom and just stared at me. I returned the stare!

What are you still doing here, he screamed… And I ran away to my room. Every day produced a different kind of pain and it kept getting intense. Would it be this way forever!

I had a piggy bank at home where I kept all the money I made for my escape plan. I always kept it hidden in an attic filled with my late mother's stuff. I searched for it because I wanted to know how much I had saved already. The only thing on my mind was to leave the place where misery was my second identity.

I got to the attic and began the search for my little bank. For a while, I felt happy. I must have made enough to run away by tomorrow, immediately they left for work. I kept searching, maybe it was deep down in the attic. I took out most things from the attic till I finally saw the piggy bank.

The piggy bank was a gift from my mother just before she died. I was really happy till I opened it and found it empty. My heart skipped for a beat and began racing. I then proceeded to check the attic. I took out all of the items and yet still, my money was gone…

I sat on the floor crying! I was devastated. At first, I was crying because the money was missing. Then, I started shedding more tears for all my hard work and endurance. Who knew about my piggy bank? I had never talked about it to anyone. The only person that knew about my bank was Tiara and she was far away in Germany with her parents.

She couldn't have possibly come to New York, then my room, then the attic, and then run away with my bank. Thinking about it was extremely absurd.

Hold up!!! It is very possible that my stepmother or father must have stolen all of my money! I didn't even know how to approach them to ask for all of it back. I was back to square one and the only job that had me going was babysitting Evans.

I was still crying, feeling very weak and rejected. I didn't know what to do anymore or who to run off to. But I was very certain I didn't want to be bait. I didn't want to be a tool for pouring all of life's frustration. I didn't want to be the one taking any bull shit influenced by alcohol and cigarettes. Most of the time my parents laid even a finger on me, either because they felt frustrated or were under the influence of alcohol or smoke.

It was really painful. I got up and took everything back into the attic. Seeing some of my mother's items in the attic made me cry the most. As I finished, I stood up and decided to take a warm bath.

I fixed my eyes on the mirror and stared at my scars. I knew the old scars like I knew my name. I could trace them and explain what led to them. My back was like a work of terrible art. I took off all my clothes and stepped into the bathtub. As I felt the water on my back, the pain of the recent wounds intensified. I lay inside the bathtub and closed my eyes.

I didn't want to cry or think about anything. I just wanted to lay inside and calm my mind. "I'll be fine", I whispered to myself…

I laid inside the bathtub for almost two hours, I guess. This was because I slept off. It felt peaceful and calm. When I woke up, I stepped out and put on my clothes. I picked up my phone and saw four missed calls from a strange number. I ignored it and went down to the kitchen to fix lunch.

I noticed the house was rather quiet. Maybe they had gone out, I thought!! I decided to put on the radio and listen to music while I cooked. I was expecting to listen to rap but what was playing was a song by James Arthur. The song was titled "let me love the lonely out of you". I know I'm supposed to dislike songs like this because they are a constant reminder of the pain I go through. But, I enjoyed them because it seemed like the artist could relate to exactly how I felt.

I ran to my room, picked up my phone, and began to shazam the song. Well, that's how I knew the song title and name of the artist. I downloaded the song immediately and decided to turn off the radio so I could play the song on repeat.

The part of the song that got to me was the chorus:

Let me love the lonely out of you...

Let me love the pain you're going through...

I think I'll save myself by saving you...

Let me love the lonely out of you...

I know it was insane to think a man would love a woman like me. I was pretty, smart, and happy. But, I was a broken woman...there was so much pain in my life. How can another human deal with me? But like James Arthur sang, maybe just maybe, there's someone who can love the lonely out of me!! Someone who can love the pain I'm going through and save me… I sincerely wished for it.

I didn't want anyone to play with my feelings anymore. I had already gotten so much from my family. Family is meant to love and protect you but, my family was totally different. They were the cause of my pain…

Immediately after I finished making lunch, something interrupted the music playing on my phone. I went to check what it was and it was a call from that strange number. I picked it up and heard the voice of a woman.

Hello beautiful Kharis. I have been trying to reach out to you. Hope I wasn't much of a disturbance? Those were the words I heard…

Good evening, please who is on the line, I asked.

Oh, I'm really sorry dear. It is Cleopatra. We met earlier today at the grocery store. Hope it is okay to talk to you right now? She responded, sounding very calm...

Yes, Ma Cleopatra, I'm quite free right now. Hope everything is okay, I answered.

Everything is okay dear. I am so much interested in getting to know you. Can I meet up with you somewhere? She responded.

I became very scared and reluctant to talk.

Okay, ma Cleopatra, let us meet up tomorrow by noon and she dropped the call.