Chapter 20: Chapter 20

I managed to sleep enough to feel rested the next day. It was such a deep sleep that I didn’t even remember thinking about anything that happened the night before, which I didn’t recall until I saw the daylight filtering through the window of my room. The pain in my face returned, as well as in my ankle, which I checked superficially. It was a miracle that, after how much I had strained and even mistreated it, it wasn’t more swollen but, on the contrary, seemed to be healing.

Anyway, I had already decided that I would leave the town next Friday. I had considerable savings, still not enough to sustain me for a lifetime, but at least they would allow me to leave for another city, rent something, and get a job. I would eventually earn my degree with the GED exam.

During that week, I would finalize the details of the trip.

I sneaked into the bathroom and, after hearing Dub’s snores coming from the room where he slept with Lia, whom I heard in the kitchen preparing something to eat. My stomach growled. I was hungry, and whatever Lia was cooking smelled delicious. I needed to eat more and better; I couldn’t keep depending on apples, cereal bars, and whatever I managed to take home from the restaurant where I worked.

After washing up and changing clothes, I saw the message Aly had sent me on my cell phone. She was about to arrive. My appearance hadn’t improved much from the night before, and the bruises around my injured eye kept it shut. The other eye had opened a little more; my lips were no longer bleeding, and I managed to conceal the swellings on my cheeks with some makeup, but I still looked like the victim of a severe car accident who had narrowly escaped death.

Resigned to attending to clients with that appearance, I headed to the front door, but before I reached it, I met Lia, who was waiting for me with a glass of water in her hand and two pills.

“These are for the pain,” she said.

I took them. I really needed them.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?”

I shrugged as I swallowed the pills.

“What happened?”

“Last night you went out with a girl, who picked you up in her car, and you came back a few hours later with the same appearance you have now.”

I finished swallowing. I was surprised that Lia was now assuming her motherly role, but I shouldn’t get my hopes up. I knew she was only doing it because the consignment she would receive that Friday was still pending, the same day I had planned to leave once and for all.

“Will telling you really change anything?”

Lia crossed her arms over her chest and stared at me, something she rarely did.

“It might not happen again. Whoever hurt you won’t do it again.”

“I know you’re not being serious. We both know that simply telling you won’t instantly make us mother and daughter. Nothing will change here until I’m gone.”

I think I was too harsh because I saw the change in Lia’s expression, and it wasn’t pleasant. I don’t know what I stirred or unsettled within her, but I know it caused her pain.

At that moment, Aly arrived, and I turned when I heard her car. From the hallway of the house, just a few meters from the entrance, I could see her, and I knew that there, inside the car, another interrogation awaited me. I didn’t know what would be worse.

“They’ve come for me. I’m leaving,” I said, turning my back to Lia, as she had done to me so many times.

I thought I would hear her protest behind me, but it didn’t happen, and I left.

Perhaps Lia already assumed she would receive the deposit on Friday and that it wasn’t worth trying too hard with me because, in the end, she didn’t really need to know what had happened to me because, as I would have told her, knowing wouldn’t change anything.

I got into Aly’s car and saw the expression in her eyes when she looked at me. It wasn’t pleasant. The second round of the interrogation marathon that awaited me in the coming days was about to begin.

“What happened?” Aly asked before starting the car, her calm voice anticipating the start of a storm despite her appearance.

“I don’t want to talk about it right now,” I said, knowing that my response was provoking her.

Aly hit the steering wheel hard, surprising me. I hadn’t imagined she could react like that.

“That’s not fair! Don’t you realize that I worry about you too?”

“We’re going to be late.”

“To hell with how late we can be! Screw it all! Haven’t you seen your face? What happened to you?”

“I really don’t want to talk about it,” I said, determined not to give in despite Aly’s anger.

“Something really serious happened at that party, right? Ethan and Liam came back saying they saw you in a terrible state and that you rejected them, that you acted crazy with them, but I hesitated to believe them.”

“What really matters is not what happened, but the fact that it won’t happen again,” I said, with the sole intention of avoiding the question.

“At least tell me who.”

“Who?”

“Yes. Who did that to you?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“I already told you, actually, that doesn’t matter. The most important thing is that it won’t happen again.”

With contained anger, Aly started the car and set off, but I already knew that didn’t mean the interrogation was over. I needed to give her something to make her give up.

“Look, I’ll tell you later, alright?”

Aly sighed and agreed, but that didn’t mean she was satisfied.

We continued the journey in silence, which I appreciated despite how uncomfortable it was.

When we arrived at the restaurant, she became the target of a barrage of glances, just as I expected, but the terror of my appearance at least deterred anyone from asking, including Angelo, who only looked at me as if he wasn’t sure whether I should work that day or not. He decided not to pay me for another day to stay at home.

I thought I would cause some kind of repulsion in the customers, but it was the opposite. For some reason, it gave the impression that I was going through a tough time and needed all the help possible, so the tips improved significantly.

Towards the end of the afternoon, I saw the twins enter, undoubtedly looking for me, and without wasting a second, I went to hide in the kitchen.

Jennifer, the waitress who had been annoyed with me before because of the attention I received from the twins, looked at me strangely.

“Aren’t you going to serve them?” she asked.

I gestured for her to be quiet, but Jennifer seemed determined that I should go attend to the twins.

“I already told you, I’m not going out,” I said, determined not to do it, even if it cost me my life. I think the strength of my words and the fact that tears welled up in my eyes were enough to convince Jennifer, who then changed her attitude.

“Come on. Follow me,” she said, extending her hand to me.

I took it, albeit hesitantly.

Jennifer grabbed her purse before entering the employees’ bathroom with me.

“You need to fix your makeup,” she said while rummaging through her bag. “You look the worst I’ve ever seen someone, and I don’t care what the story behind it is. I won’t ask because I’m not interested. But I know you need some time.”

I thanked her for her words. Jennifer could be tough and sometimes too blunt, without filters, but now I could see that she was also a good person or, at least, acted guided by frank and honest principles.

“I’ll take care of your section in the dining area, don’t worry.”

I watched her leave as I touched up the makeup that had smudged from the tears that managed to escape.