Bad Day

Plot:When Krystals mother came home she told her that they had lost the house, making them now homeless. Krystal didn't even know her mother was having financial troubles, and they had to be out in ten days or face prosecution.


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I don't want your pity. People lose their homes, every day. Some - such as the victims of Hurricane Katrina - have no say in the matter; their houses were lost by a hurricane. Others - like my mother - bring that shit upon themselves.


A gambler is not worthy of sympathy.


So I gave my mother none.


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“Honey.” There was a soft knock at my bedroom door. “Can I come in?”


“No.”


“Krystal-”


“You should have told me!” I spat venomously. “I could’ve helped.”


Three months. That’s how long it had been since Mama was made redundant. Three fucking months and she didn’t say a word. Didn’t ask if I could help pay the bills, and lord knows I would have. Instead she spent her ‘working’ days inside a crooked casino, trying to ‘snatch the big one’. Now, after losing more money than she gained, we’d lost the house.


Mama used to gamble. A lot. Poker was her forte. Or so she thought. It wasn’t until she’d bet her car (and lost) that she admitted she had a gambling problem.


That’s why Dad left. I hate him for it. A grown man and he ‘couldn’t handle the stress’. He left me behind so I guess he thought I could handle it.


I was six, bitch!


While Mama was away in rehab I stayed with my Grandma. Then Mama came back a changed woman and we were happy again.


For a while.


“You know what, do what you want.” I said flatly and sighed, unlocking the door. “Not like this is my room anymore.”


“It is for ten more days.” She reasoned and I rolled my eyes. Did she expect me to jump for joy?


When Mama told me we were being evicted, I felt annoyed more than anything else. I knew I was supposed to be sad, or angry, or whatever - But I’d been having a great day Goddammit! I was $200 richer, courtesy of my part-time job at Star Bucks. My grades had just come back. ‘A-’ average. No high-school drama had been circulating today; everyone was in a good mood. And I’d just made the basketball team.


It all seemed so insignificant now.


Way to spoil my day, Mama.


The door opened and Mama surveyed my room. A suitcase lay open on the bed. Half full. I’d already dumped my clothes in. Now it was a matter of squashing in my shoes and other sentimental shit that I couldn’t part with. Mama frowned in confused. “We don’t have to leave yet.”


“I want to.” I snapped, knowing it was the last thing I wanted to do.


Mama leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. “Well I don’t.”


“I never said you had to. I’m leaving by myself.”


“Really.” Mama scoffed, totally unconvinced. “Where will you go?”


“Jarell’s.” I stopped packing and stared at her defiantly to let her know I wasn’t playing. “I already called him.”


Mama hated Jarell. We met while she was in rehab and had become fast friends. No, we weren’t together. Eww, no. We’d fucked a couple times but it was cool. Neither of us expected a relationship out of the other. No, we weren’t cut buddies. That was my homie and we were friends. Best friends. Mama said he was no good; that he was a hoodlum with a violent attitude.


Don’t judge a book by its cover. Sure, Jarell appeared menacing and, yes, would beat a person down just for eyeing him the wrong way; but he would never hit [i]me[/i]. Even when I talked back… which I did on the regular. I wasn’t afraid of him.


He told me he would never hit the people he loved.


Mama didn’t like him because he hustled for a living. Personally, I don’t know what her problem was. At least he had a job.


“He has a house?” Mama asked in pure disbelief.


“An apartment, actually. A nice one.” A fucking nice one, is what I wanted to say. Even though it only had one bedroom, it was modern, spacious and had a balcony on the tenth floor overlooking the city. Beautiful.


And I was going there.


*Beep Beep*


Right, now.


“That’s him,” I told Mama, snapping my suitcase shut and lugging it to the door. She was yelling something but I blocked her out.


When I got outside Jarell, wearing a black wifebeater and jeans, had already opened the trunk. He nodded at me and kissed my cheek, taking the suitcase out of my hands. “What’s good, baby girl. You got everything?”


I nodded and jumped in the passenger seat as he hopped behind the wheel. Mama’s last words were lost in the air as I cranked Jarell’s radio up. ‘Felonies’ by Boyz N Da Hood blasted out of the speakers as Jarell pulled away from the curb.


I didn’t look back.


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