She Screamed!

Chapter 2

Knock knock, who's there?
That's poverty knocking right at your door
Painfully, they'll come in with no fear
They'll now make money and happiness your foe.

Mlanwin was sent home from school as warned. She walked her way home crying, she hated this life more than anything. What hurts more was that she was the only one sent home.
Now all her friends might think she's so poor and her mother is incapable of paying her fees.

Mlanwin cried until she was reaching near the market. Mama sells at the community market.
She never had stable goods to sell, so she sells according to seasons of fruits and other vegetables. This season, mama had decided to sell oranges, potatoe grains and other grains.

She and her family lives on hand to mouth routine. Mama always takes Titus and Roseline at the market with her. There was no one in the community who would help mama with them and she never really trust anybody.

Before reaching at the market, Mlanwin had already wiped her tears and changed her uniform. Mama kept an extra key at home for her. She pretended as if everything was fine so people won't suspect.

As soon as mama saw Mlanwin, she knew exactly what happened. She pretentiously hugged Mlanwin so that the other marketers won't know what's going on.

“Why aren't you in school today?” Ma Vero, a woman two tables away from mama asked. “She isn't feeling...,” “There was no good school today aunty,” Mlanwin said, interrupting mama sentence.
Ma Vero was still persistent in her questions but mama had to do something fast before Ma Vero found out the truth. She don't want her fellow women knowing her problems before they start gossiping her to the entire community.

Before Ma Vero could ask anymore questions, mama interrupted and said to Mlanwin “Take those oranges my dear and sell them. There are thirty pieces of oranges in there, sell them fifty each. The total is one thousand five hundred dollars liberty.”
“Okay mama. Bye bye,” Mlanwin waved back at her little siblings and mama with a big smile on her face and placed the big silver plate of oranges on her head.

Ma Vero frown angrily, pushed her mouth upwards, rolled her eyes up and down and kissed her teeth at both Mama and Mlanwin. “Be safe and don't come home very late, you hear?” Mama yelled as Mlanwin took off.

“What's with the face?” a woman right next to Ma Vero asked. “Why do Tracy act as if all is well? I mean we all know she doesn't have anything,” Ma Vero said with a fixed frown.
The woman tapped her right shoulder and said “Tell me about it. She's always full if herself, women's meeting, she doesn't attend. Market's meeting, she doesn't attend. Just wait until we tell the chair-lady and kick her out of this market.”

“I thought I was the only one noticing this, I was...” “How much for the meat?” a customer who wanted to buy interrupted Ma Vero. “One fifty for the ones at front and two hundred for the ones at the back. But you can bring one twenty and one eighty. You're my customer, so I'll help you,” Ma Vero said with a huge smile.
“Okay, give me the one eighty meat,” the girl said. “Okay, here you go,” Ma Vero handed over the plastic of meat and collect the money. “You should always come to buy my meat, it's very fresh and sweet. You know I can give you extra,” she added smiling.

“As we were talking my dear, she needs to really get kicked out of this market. I hate the sight of the poor thing. She's acting rich when she knows very well she doesn't have anything for herself.” Ma Vero turned back to the woman next to her. They chattered for few minutes.

“Mama, I'm thirsty,” Titus cried frustratingly. “Rose, can you help me buy water for your little brother? Please my dear, before this boy kill me this hot sun,” Mama said to Roseline giving her five Liberian dollars. Mama sat there selling her goods and minding her business as usual.