Chapter 5

The truth

Leticia hummed happily as she walked to her shabby apartment. Her plan had gone perfectly well. All she had to do was stalk the man she knew could solve her problems and study his schedule. She knew from her research that today was his wife's death anniversary. Surely, he would have gone to the cemetery. So she had waited for him behind the trees as early as possible that morning. She didn't even eat but her determination and sacrifice had paid off.

As soon as she saw him pass, she waited for him to get back, and thankfully, he was walking with his eyes faced down. So, as she positioned herself on the path that led to the parking lot, he had no idea. They had bumped into each other and she was excited at the outcome. It was just too perfect.

"Why are you smiling?" Her roommate Brenda scoffed from above the bunk bed in the low-budget apartment they lived in. "Have you found a way out of this shit hole without me?" She smirked.

Leticia tried to wipe away the smile on her face as she looked up at her. "It's nothing."

"Really? Nothing, yet you can't get that smug look off your face?" Brenda asked raising her brows.

"It's nothing important, really," Leticia said as she quickly dropped her bag and ran to the small bathroom in the room. As she pulled the door open, it came right off its hinge.

"Brenda!" She called throwing a dirty look at her roommate who fell into a fit of laughter.

"I am sorry but there was nothing I could do about it!" Brenda managed to say amidst laughter as she returned to doing whatever it was she did all day on her old laptop.

This was one of the reasons why Leticia had to form a sort of relationship with Rowan. She had to get on a higher status in life and Rowan was her foothold. She couldn't stay in this shabby place that kept falling apart forever. Unlike Brenda, she had bigger dreams and she wouldn't rest until she achieved them.

She took a quick shower, with the door dangling open. She had no choice. And besides, it was just her and Brenda in the house she had no one to worry about. She stepped out of the shower and her phone started ringing like it had been waiting for her to get out the shower.

"Great timing!" She said under her breath as she quickened her steps to the phone. As she saw the caller ID, her heart fell.

It was her younger brother.

She knew what he wanted and she still hadn't come up with anything good. If she refused to pick up his calls. He wouldn't stop. He would keep calling till he got through to her.

"Hello," she started taking the call outside. The last thing she needed was for Brenda to hear her private conversations. They have been sharing the apartment for six months now but Leticia didn't see her as a friend she could confide in. She was too strange.

"Ava, why haven't you been picking up my calls?" He snapped.

"Kelvin relax okay, I have been busy plus you only just called me now, so what's the fuss about?" She retorted.

Her brother was too impatient and this always got on her nerve. Did he think she was playing back here?

"Ava, father's condition is getting worst! Haven't you gotten the money yet?"

Leticia felt her heart squeeze like an arrow was launched deep into it. Her fist started shaking as tears welled up in her eyes. "What did the doctor say?" She asked him as she sniffed away her tears. This was no time to cry,  she had to be strong for her family. She was all they had.

"He has about two months to live if we don't do the operation but even at that, we need to get him his medication regularly."

Leticia clenched her teeth and pulled her hair back with her free hand while the other clutched the phone. "Why are you just telling me about this?"

She heard her brother click his tongue and she could imagine him pulling his blond curls back as well. It was an action they had both inherited from their dead mother.

"Didn't I just say I have been calling you a while back?" Kelvin blurted out in frustration. "I know it's hard but please Ava do something. If I could I would have done more jobs to get money for my father's operation but no one wants to employ an underage for a job above five hundred bucks! I am tired, Ava!" She could hear his voice start to shake and a large lump sat in her throat as she knew he was about to cry. She had to be the strong big sister.

"Kelvin, do not worry about that! Okay, I will send you some money now and you can use that to get more drugs for daddy. And don't worry about the operation. I will get the money very soon. You will go back to school and everything will be fine, okay?" She choked out. Hot tears were already streaming down her face but she refused to let her sobs tell in her voice. She didn't want Kelvin to know she was crying too.

"Okay, I'll be waiting for it," Kelvin managed to say amidst his sobs.

The poor boy was only sixteen yet he was already facing troubles that boys his age shouldn't even have been enduring.

"Take care of yourself and make sure you send me a message when you get the drugs and if you need any other thing, okay?"

"Okay."

Leticia quickly ended the call and leaned on the door frame of her apartment door trying to get a hold of herself. She sniffed away her tears and pulled herself together.

She would have to hasten her plans with the widower. She needed money and he was the only one who could give it to her in the shortest time position. She took one more deep breath and dialed his line.

Everything she had told him about herself was a lie, but all that didn't matter. What dmatmatter to err family?