Sierra
Chapter two
Iknow Mrs. Butler can sense something is off with me when we return. I run her coffee and creamer upstairs while Sam puts our food on plates and pours us some Cherry Pepsi. Yep, I splurged a little. Hell, I deserve it.
Before I leave, I ask if I can use her phone to call Rico to see if I can work on Sunday.
I originally told him I needed it off since school starts on Monday, but with the extra spending I did, I need to work.
Mrs. Butler frowns the whole time I’m talking to him.
She hates me working there, but it’s the only job that will pay all my bills as a high school student and work with my school schedule.
Rico is a sleaze, but he has a heart of gold.
At least, to me, he does, and sometimes I think his kindness to me infuriates the other dancers.
He’s the only one at the club who knows my age and my story.
We have a deal. I don’t serve liquor, and I don’t tell anyone how old I actually am.
All Rico or I need is some jealous stripper leaking it to the wrong person.
He handles the rest and pays me under the table.
Because I need the job, I don’t ask any further questions.
I turn eighteen in just a couple of months, and I plan to seek custody of Sam as soon as I do.
When I’m telling him bye, I know she can’t wait for me to hang up to start in on me. “Sierra, you’re going to be exhausted on Monday. What happened to taking some time off, hun?”
Inhaling deeply and blowing it out to calm down, I fight back the tears.
“I know, but she wanted those shoes and then pizza. I just didn’t have the heart to tell her no.
She has so little, and I wanted to give her one thing she truly wanted.
She already stands out from the other kids at school, and I just wanted to give her something that would make her look like the rest of them. ”
“I told you I could help with anything you needed.” And I knew she would. She’s an angel that would give her last morsel of food to us and starve herself.
“But you struggle to survive on your fixed income, and you already do so much to help us. I could’ve used some of what I’ve saved, but I plan every dollar to make sure I can cut back on my hours.
Besides, it’s just the first day. Nothing big or exciting happens then.
” I plaster on a brave face just for her.
“Sierra, stop. You and Samantha are the most important things to me, and it wouldn’t be a hardship to help you.
If there's one thing I know how to do, it’s how to live on a fixed income.
Now I’m going to let it slide this time, but if I see you sinking back into working your ass off, I’m going to tan your hide.
Now to help you out some, bring her clothes with her Sunday night, and she can spend the night and get ready for school here.
That way you can go straight to bed and she won’t be bothered,” she says, scolding me, and tears well in my eyes.
How I wish she could’ve been my aunt, my grandparent, anyone besides the person we have.
Wrapping my arms around her, I soak in her sweet smell, and I feel all my anxiety from the encounter at the shoe store slip away.
“Thank you, Mrs. Butler. I better head back downstairs. Sam’s probably wondering what happened to me.
” Letting go of her, I give her a smile and turn to leave, shutting the door behind me.
Taking the stairs one at a time, I give myself time to get it together before seeing Sam.
I make sure when I walk in, I have a smile on my face.
Not even an hour later, she’s knocking on our door with an array of homemade cookies that Sam and I devour in one sitting.
I’m going to blame it on hormones since I’m currently PMS-ing.
My emotions have been all over the place and with school starting, it’s only making it worse.
I really hope my period waits until next week to make an appearance.
Nothing worse than having to cut a tampon string, so it doesn’t hang out of your g-string.
Been there, done that, never want to do it again.
When the day finally ends, I’m so ready for bed.
But I toss and turn all night. Visions of Braxton push some of the ones I carry for Wesley to the side.
He’s attractive, but I know it won’t be long before he’s like all the others at school and that dimpled smile will be one of cruelty, not kindness.
I feel like a fool pining over Wesley, a boy who’s no longer my friend and treats me like shit you find on the bottom of a shoe.
Dragging myself out of bed, I take a quick shower, making sure I leave hot water for Sam in case she wakes up soon.
Once I’m done, I slide on a pair of tattered shorts and a holey tank top, pull my hair up into a ponytail and make my rounds quietly through the apartment, gathering all the dirty clothes, so we can head down to the laundry room in the basement once she wakes up.
Mrs. Butler had given me her basket of clothes last night, so I didn’t need to disturb her this morning to get hers.
Opening the window, I place the fan in it to help draw in some cool air and circulate the stagnant air in the room. It won’t be as cool as if the AC was working, but it’s better than nothing. The only working window unit is now in Sam’s room, so she can stay cool.
I read an article from a stray magazine on the bus one day about heat-induced seizures and immediately came home and moved the AC unit from the living room to her bedroom.
She fussed about it the whole time, but hell, there was no way I was taking a chance on her having a seizure.
Mrs. Butler had tried to give me one of hers, but I refused.
Grabbing the broom, I get busy cleaning the house, so I don’t have to do it later before it becomes so stifling with heat that I won’t want to move.
I have to be at the club at six tonight, and I want to at least get in an hour’s nap before having to leave.
I cut costs by taking a bus to work, then ordering an Uber or a cab for the ride home.
It’s an expense that cuts into my savings, but there's no way I want to make that trek on foot alone at anywhere between three and four am. Rico offered me rides, but I didn’t want to cross that boundary or be alone in tight quarters with him.
Not that I think he would do anything malicious, but I don't want to leave anything to chance, so I choose to err on the side of caution.
Once I’ve got all the cleaning done, I sit down at the table and start pouring a bowl of cereal when I hear tiny feet pitter-pattering down the hallway.
“Morning, Ci Ci,” Sam says, yawning loudly. Other people probably wouldn’t have understood what she said, but I did; call it sister powers.
“Want some cereal?”
“Yeah,” she says softly, dropping into a chair beside me. I had grabbed two bowls from the cabinet when I got mine, so I slid the one I just poured over to her and picked up the empty one for myself.
“What are we doing today?” Her voice is still groggy with sleep and her hair is a mess. I watch her lift the spoon to her lips, shoving a huge bite of food into her mouth before I answer.
“Once we’re done eating, and you get dressed, we need to head to the basement to do laundry. Then we have no plans until I need to leave for work and drop you off at Mrs. Butler’s.”
She glances back and forth between me and her food, and I know there’s something she wants to ask but doesn’t know how to.
“Spit it out.”
“Huh?” She looks confused for a second. Oh, I love how she’s trying to play dumb. I give her a look and she sighs.
“Promise not to get mad?” she finally asks, and I know it’s something serious. I hope to fucking hell she didn’t let something accidentally slip about our home situation.
“I promise. Now, what is it?” I’m trying to stay calm, but my stomach is churning.
“When I was at Destiny’s last week when you let me go play with her, she said she was having a sleepover next weekend to celebrate her birthday and wanted to know if I could come.
Her mom wanted to talk to my aunt, so I asked Mrs. Butler if she could say it was her over the phone and that my sister will be picking me up and dropping me off,” she says quietly, keeping her gaze on the bowl of cereal sitting in front of her.
I hate how she so easily asked Mrs. Butler to lie for her, but then again, that's all we’ve been doing, just so we can stay together. “What did she say when you asked her?” I needed to know her answer first before I proceeded.
“She said she would, but I had to ask you first. She said she would even say she was my grandmother, just in case her mom wants to meet her.” God, I hate this, but the look on Sam’s face tells me how much she really wants to go to this sleepover.
She wouldn’t have asked Mrs. Butler to lie if it wasn’t important to her.
“Fine. I’ll talk to Mrs. Butler tonight and you two can call her mom and say yes.
” Sam’s attitude immediately changes, her face glowing with excitement as she bounces around in her seat.
Now the part that may dampen her mood. “But next time, don’t be sneaky like this.
You should have asked me first, and we could’ve come up with a plan that didn’t involve bringing Mrs. Butler deeper into our lies. ”
“I’m sorry, Ci Ci. I was just so excited about it. But I promise I won't let anything slip while I’m there. I don’t want to be taken away from you.”
“I know. Now eat your cereal, so we can get downstairs and get this laundry done.” I sigh and pick up my spoon to finish eating.
Braxton