"I don't give a fuck" I shouted back before Ace's fist collided with my face. To be fair, I probably deserved that one. I stumbled to the ground, blinking a couple of times. It caught me off guard, but he did warn me. I stood up and wiped the blood from my lip before throwing a punch. He caught my arm and tucked it behind my back. I groaned in pain as he pushed me against the wall. "Fucking stop. I'll kill you Ice" He hissed, almost as a warning.
When my mother departed, I was nine years old.
One of my earliest memories is being at home and pleading with my younger brother to stop sobbing. Unfortunately, there was nothing in the fridge for him to eat. We were hopeless, young, and stupid enough to believe that she would eventually return. There was never a time when she did.
It took me approximately four days to make up my mind to do something about it. I got my younger brother, who was seven at the time, ready and off to school we went. I went to the only school I knew how to go to, so I guess that's why I picked it.
Avery stated, "Alex, I'm very hungry," while gripping his stomach and seeming uncomfortable.
I assured him, "I'll get you food now, just give me a few minutes" as I dragged him by the hand down the road.
We ask, "Are we going to die, Alex?" Avery inquired, worriedly.
The honest truth is that I had no idea. When I was nine, I was worried about what would happen to my brother and me. Perhaps I even feared for our lives. A child's imagination may be both terrifying and enchanting.
We'll be fine, I murmured under my breath, annoyed by his barrage of inquiries.
After Avery began, "But what about-" I cut him off.
"Would you guys please be quiet?" I pleaded, exhausted, hungry, and irritated. I saw the tears start to fill up in his eyes as he dropped his head in defeat.
After patting his head and saying, "I'm sorry Avery, we're almost there ok," I tried to soothe him. I took it as a consoling gesture at the time. Avery's stomach was growling, and he continued to cry out in anguish.
When I saw a convenience store along our route, I dreaded the inevitable but knew I had no choice. While Avery distracted the shopkeeper, I stuffed as many candies as I could into my pockets. The shop's proprietor came back in and gave me the once-over. I pretended like I was searching for something and it worked.
Greeting: "Can I be of assistance?" Already suspicious, he inquired. He saw that I was malnourished from my thinness, my dirtiness, and my youth.
A fast "No, I'm okay" was my hasty response as I tried to cover up my guilt, but I failed. Unless my bulging pockets gave it away, the guy could tell I was stealing.
He groaned, grabbed me by the neck, and threw me out of the store, saying, "You little shit." After striking my head and falling to the ground, I was dazed and confused for a while. My head hurt so badly that I started to cry. I held back my tears because I needed to be a role model of strength for Avery. Avery was standing there, looking concerned. Tears were already streaming down his cheeks. He had a kind disposition.
With a sneer, he told the kids, "Keep the candy you little thieves" and then retreated inside his store. I put my hands on the floor and dragged my sluggish self up. Avery, shocked at the wound on my temple, covered his lips. The scrapes and scratches on my knees didn't hurt quite as much. When I was younger, climbing trees was my favorite activity, so the occasional scratch or bruise wasn't a big deal.
As I cradled Avery in my arms, I said, "I'm okay."
Often heard: "Why are people so mean?" Tears were falling from his eyes as he asked.
The words "I'll never let anyone be mean to you, not like that" left my mouth. Even when I was very small, he was the only thing on my mind.
Avery was becoming hungry, so we sat on a low wall while we waited for me to return with some food. When I reached beneath my shirt and produced a bottle of water, I saw a smile spread over his face. He snatched it from my hands and opened it at once, drinking from it in great gulps. I took out some cookies as he did that. When my mother performed these kinds of things for me, I always felt better.
For the first time in days, Avery and I sat contentedly on a little wall, with our feet still dangling over the floor, munching on cookies and sipping water.
I couldn't compare to Avery. His hair was black, not white, and his eyes were emerald. My hair and eyes were white and blue. Even though I suspect his biological father was different from mine, I always simply considered him my younger sibling.
I said, "Okay, time to go," and he returned my grin with one of his own. It took us around 10 minutes to cover the distance to our school on foot.
Asking, "Why are we going to Ms.Jane?" Avery, trailing after me in bewilderment, asked. His feet obviously pained, as did mine.
I'm stumped. There is no one else we can turn to. My voice was soft as I let the truth sink in. When I was nine years old, I had to accept the fact that my sole family member besides my brother didn't care about me.
With a mournful "Oh," his demeanor changed.
We walked some further, but eventually arrived at our school. There was no way for me to tell whether it was still school hours or not. The massive gates we were approaching were locked as we got closer.
To ask, "Do you know what day it is today?" I gave him a puzzled look and inquired. In a firm nay, Avery shook his head. Someone was passing the school, so I dashed over to greet them.
"I'm sorry, but can you tell me what day it is?" I replied timidly, although I was aware that keeping track of time was essential.
It's Sunday night, honey, and you need to hurry home before it's too late. Where has your brain gone? When she received no reaction to her soothing tone and kind smile, the lady walked away.
I cast an anxious look at the ground. I was on the verge of crying my eyes out. We had come all this way just to be told to come back tomorrow. It was too risky for Avery to walk home in the dark, and it would take over an hour. In addition, he has a severe phobia of the dark. I was at a loss for action and direction. We needed a somewhere to sleep, but all I could do was wait here until the following day, when classes began.
One of the raindrops struck the back of my neck, causing me to snap out of my reverie. As I looked up, I saw that black clouds were gradually covering the sky. As they came closer, I could see Avery was becoming nervous. The raindrops gradually accelerated their rate of descent.
Then, a thought occurred to me. At school, my buddies and I constructed a stronghold to protect ourselves from tyrants. It was deep in the woods. We needed to pass past these gates before we could find a place to sleep.
As I made my way around the campus, I called out to Avery, "Come on!" One of my buddies used to use this route to go in and out of school undetected.
I told him to "climb under here," but he didn't move.
He said, "Alex, it looks dangerous" as tears welled in his eyes.
I pleaded, "Oh come on, don't cry, I'm here, and you'll be alright," hoping without hope that he would hear me and believe me. I had run out of choices. As I squeezed through the fence, Avery wriggled through it. The chasm was narrowing as I passed across it.
I went beyond our school, where there were a forest of trees. No matter how much pressure there is to chop them down for "clean" environmental reasons, they refuse to do so. I wasn't complaining because I believed we were having a better time than they were.
When it rained, my buddy and I could sit in the base under a tarp he had brought from home.
So that Avery could go under it, I grabbed the edge of the blue tarp and yanked it up. When Avery spotted all of our comics scattered over the floor, he let out a loud squeal of delight.
That's awesome! As he looked around, he chuckled.
For this outpost, we scrounged stolen bedding, playthings, and pillows. I took a flashlight from the principal's office, although he seldom used it anyhow, so it was plenty for our needs. For what seemed like hours, Avery and I sat and read comics. As the night closed in on us, Avery's anxiety levels rose. When I turned on the light, he was grinning from ear to ear. While reading, we shared a single blanket.
His eyes widened as he stared at the comic book in disbelief.
I stared at Avery, who was engrossed in the narrative, and nodded, "Yeah, they killed the good guy." He leaned his head on my shoulder after some time. I was about to brush him off when I saw that Avery was sound sleeping. I gave a satisfied nod, relieved that one of us would be able to catch some shut-eye.
"Baby, always wear your face mask, is that okay?" I talked to my six-year-old son. "Okay, Mom!" He answered enthusiastically while looking at the high gate of the house where we were standing. "Are you going to work here?" He asked. I nodded and squeezed her cute hand. I hope we won't be evicted if I can work here. I also hope my son won't steal chocolates at night, my old boss mistook me for a ghost so I was fired! I couldn't help but laugh, my mother and I have been through so much and my son is strangely gaining weight and not losing weight. "Come in now." The guard caught my attention. I nodded and walked in with Alexandria. The butler of the mansion greeted us and escorted us to the maid's quarters, they were so happy with my daughter that you would think she would be working with them. But even so, I'm thankful because it seems like it's really okay that I work with him even though it's very unprofessional. Judy and Roxan didn't hold Alexander until he went to sleep, so it's bad if they scolded him until he was left to sleep.
He smiled then took my hand and put the book in there. I quickly took the book and walked out. I might punch him in no time. Fuck you my first kiss is gone. That's a damn president. She really is ready for me.
We just followed him with our eyes. Not far from the abandoned university, Ellice's car was parked and we were hanging out. It only takes a few steps to reach the gate, so we see Ella's every move as she slowly opens the gate. "Girls, it's open. Come on, let's take a look inside" Ella yelled at us. We got out of the car one by one and went to see Ella. When we arrived at the gate we found that it was indeed open. After all, no one is surprised by an abandoned person. "What are we going to do? Don't tell me we're going in there?" Mitch asked cleverly. He just followed us and kept his hand on his mosquito-bitten leg. "Let's go inside. Let's find a place to sleep. We can't just spend the night in the car," I told them. Maybe some bad person passed by where we parked the car, and we might be tripped up, we're still girls. We have nothing against you. "France is right. We have to get inside to find a place to rest" Ellice agreed with what I was saying and went inside first. "But guys-"
I was just walking around the premises of my new school. Our class just ended and the teachers announced that it was 'club hours' and that we could join the club we wanted. The case... I don't want anything. There is nothing like that for me. I can't go to the sports club because I have asthma. I will drown if I join the Swimming Club because I can't even do a simple dog swim. It's also not possible in Math or Science Club because my brain will definitely explode there. I can't do Cheerdance because I don't know how to dance and my bones will break because of the hardness of my body. I'm not an artist by blood and I'm not a book lover. I then thought of hanging myself from a tree. I have no talent. I'm having a hard time choosing a club. So I just chose to walk around. I'm also new to this school. I was educated when my uncle was abroad so I was able to move to the classy St. Mikhailov's Academy. As I walked I reached the part of Nevada's Square that was quite wooded. There are many trees and big ones. I sat down in the shade and rested while looking around. Then suddenly....
As I was walking along the road, I noticed someone looking at me. So I looked around but I couldn't see him. So I just told myself that it was just my imagination. I just walked because I was in a hurry to get to the Jeep Terminal. But I stopped walking because someone suddenly grabbed my arm. So I got nervous and I suddenly looked at him. I can't see his face because he's wearing a mask. I wanted to talk to him but he turned me away and put a handkerchief over my mouth. I struggled but I couldn't because he was too strong. So with so much struggle and dizziness, I lost consciousness.
There are things in this world that we cannot see clearly. Sometimes they are just people's imaginations and you may only read about them in books. Hiding because they know people will not understand them when they see them. Evil but sometimes does inexplicable good. Things that... Things? They don't really matter, what am I saying?
To the public, she was the CEO's executive secretary. Behind closed doors, she was the wife he never officially acknowledged. Jenessa was elated when she learned that she was pregnant. But that joy was replaced with dread as her husband, Ryan, showered his affections on his first love. With a heavy heart, she chose to set him free and leave. When they met again, Ryan's attention was caught by Jenessa's protruding belly. "Whose child are you carrying?!" he demanded. But she only scoffed. "It's none of your business, my dear ex-husband!"
Dear readers, this book has resumed daily updates. It took Sabrina three whole years to realize that her husband, Tyrone didn't have a heart. He was the coldest and most indifferent man she had ever met. He never smiled at her, let alone treated her like his wife. To make matters worse, the return of the woman he had eyes for brought Sabrina nothing but divorce papers. Sabrina's heart broke. Hoping that there was still a chance for them to work on their marriage, she asked, "Quick question,Tyrone. Would you still divorce me if I told you that I was pregnant?" "Absolutely!" he responded. Realizing that she didn't mean shit to him, Sabrina decided to let go. She signed the divorce agreement while lying on her sickbed with a broken heart. Surprisingly, that wasn't the end for the couple. It was as if scales fell off Tyrone's eyes after she signed the divorce agreement. The once so heartless man groveled at her bedside and pleaded, "Sabrina, I made a big mistake. Please don't divorce me. I promise to change." Sabrina smiled weakly, not knowing what to do...
As a simple assistant, messaging the CEO in the dead of night to request shares of adult films was a bold move. Bethany, unsurprisingly, didn't receive any films. However, the CEO responded that, while he had no films to share, he could offer a live demonstration. After a night filled with passion, Bethany was certain she'd lose her job. But instead, her boss proposed, "Marry me. Please consider it." "Mr. Bates, you're kidding me, right?"
Madisyn was stunned to discover that she was not her parents' biological child. Due to the real daughter's scheming, she was kicked out and became a laughingstock. Thought to be born to peasants, Madisyn was shocked to find that her real father was the richest man in the city, and her brothers were renowned figures in their respective fields. They showered her with love, only to learn that Madisyn had a thriving business of her own. "Stop pestering me!" said her ex-boyfriend. "My heart only belongs to Jenna." "How dare you think that my woman has feelings for you?" claimed a mysterious bigwig.
Three years ago, Cecilia was left battered and alone by the man she loved most, Alston, yet she bravely completed the wedding ceremony while pregnant. Three years later, although they were married, they grew apart over time. Cecilia focused on her career, no longer foolishly believing in love. But her transformation instantly threw Alston into a panic... And what is the secret from 11 years ago that Cecilia has always been reluctant to reveal? *** "She went to a law firm, met with a lawyer..." A lawyer? Is Cecilia suing someone? Who? Is there any recent litigation against the company? Alston suddenly chuckled coldly, "Who could she sue? I'm the CEO of this company. How come such a matter doesn't come to me first?" The assistant swallowed nervously, speaking softly, "Sir, there's no litigation against the company. She met with... a divorce lawyer."
Two years ago, Ricky found himself coerced into marrying Emma to protect the woman he cherished. From Ricky's perspective, Emma was despicable, resorting to underhanded schemes to ensure their marriage. He maintained a distant and cold attitude toward her, reserving his warmth for another. Yet, Emma remained wholeheartedly dedicated to Ricky for more than ten years. As she grew weary and considered relinquishing her efforts, Ricky was seized by a sudden fear. Only when Emma's life teetered on the edge, pregnant with Ricky's child, did he recognize-the love of his life had always been Emma.