Mr.Cater's Maid

Pink Lilies

"You can't just leave whenever you feel like it!" my mother yelled as I flipped through the channels on our living room TV. "It's a job. You get paid. If you don't work, you don't get paid."

"Stop yelling. I told you I wasn't feeling good," I screamed back, not looking away from the TV.

My mom came home from work and started yelling at me. That was half an hour ago.

"Your lucky Adam didn't say anything! If I didnt see him carrying his own laundry, I would have never known you left early." Her olive-skinned face was mixing in with the pink her anger created, making her look like she had makeup on.

"God forbid the rich boy did his own laundry for a change." I stopped myself before I got too angry. It might make me say things that would only get me in trouble.

Thankfully before my mother could reply back, my father stepped in. He had just come into the house with 2 boxes of pizza.

"Let's all just calm down and eat dinner," he said.

"I am not eating pizza for the 10th time," I yelled.

"Me either!" My mother agreed.

We both scoffed at each other, angry now at the fact that we had both agreed. Finally, we both turned away from each other. I went up the stairs and straight into my bed.

This was the first time I laid down after being with Adam, and my body felt different. The bed now had more than one meaning to me, and I strangely didn't hate it. As a teen, I always viewed sex as something scary, but it didn't feel so bad as an adult. I mean, I still wished I had shared this moment with someone who meant something to me, but a part of me was glad I just got it done and over with. More than anything, however, I noticed for the first time in months, because my mind was so occupied with what just happened, I thought about nothing else. No worries for my future, no concern about how I would find my place in the world. This moment of odd euphoria but extreme hurt left me so confused that I had no room to think about anything else.

I fell asleep that night without dinner, without another word from my mother. A different tiredness plagued my body, lulling me into the deepest sleep and into forgotten dreams.

***

The following day was a mad rush. Unlike the first day, I did not work up on time. I had to text Natasha, who had given me her number the first day I was there, to let her know I was running late. Plus, the bus schedule during the weekend was, at best sporadic.

She was kind enough to text me, and I quote, "Chill, it's the weekend, come when you can!"

After waiting for more than 40 minutes (thankfully, the house the bus stop was in front of had a stone fence I could sit on top of), the bus arrived.

I walked into the church conference room 40 minutes late to find it empty. I sat and began adding to my excel sheet, and for an hour, I was alone, working. The sheet had grown another 100 records.

Then Natasha walked in with a blue coffee cup. She was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt today but still looked just as classy. I think it was because her curly blonde hair always flowed just right onto her shoulders. Lucky her. in contrast, my unruly black hair was either in a ponytail or bun on any given day.

"Oh good, you're here. Are you willing to run around with me today? I need someone to come with me to the flower shop. We are preparing for the dinner gala, and I want to order real flowers for the centerpieces. Can you help me pick?"

"Sure, I am down! What's the charity for?" I asked as I began to pack up.

"Carter Industries has a gala every year for the Access for all Fund. It was a charity April Carter started for education access around the world, and Adam had been keeping it going."