SILENT LOVE , MILEVEN AU

3.

"doing okay?" mike asked as el turned and gave a smile from the cashier.

with ilana at school and only having yvonne, it was a bit quiet around here.

normally the two girls played and chatted and el knew that yvonne was getting a bit bored.. even if it was just a few hours into her shift.

"hi, i just got my car fixed. the toyota and i'll like these," a women said, placing some stuff on the counter and el nodded and began to scan her items.

el began to think. what's the price of getting a toyota fixed?

she couldn't yell for mike. ilana wasn't here and yvonne was still too small to translate.

"something wrong?" the women asked and el just smiled and shook her head.

she peeked around, trying to find him and when she was about to walk away to find him the women stopped her.

"where do you think you're going? hey, i'm in a rush, 'kay? just ring me up."

el signed, trying to tell her what she was doing but she stopped halfway when she realised she couldn't understand.

"are you deaf? mute? look it ain't that fucking hard to just ring me up." she scoffed.

el just wanted to yell at her and tell her she was trying and it was her first week here.

"fucking say something!"

"don't yell at my mama!" yvonne yelled as el turned and placed a finger to her lips. 'it's okay, she's just confused.'

yvonne hopped off her chair and ran off as el tried to call after her, but she couldn't.

"so?" the women asked, "i have places to be,"

el took a deep breath, feeling her heart race as the woman's voice raised more.

"what's going on?" mike came in as el turned to him.

"she can't ring me up." the women scoffed as el looked down in embarrassment.

mike turned to el. "what happened?"

she looked around, trying to find something to write on and mike handed her a small whiteboard.

she smiled and wrote. she got her toyota fixed but i didn't know the price. i was about to go and ask you but she yelled at me to stop.

he nodded and read through the whiteboard just as the women rushed again. "i have places to be!"

mike turned. "give her fucking time." he gritted through her teeth. "she's trying her fucking best here so shut your mouth or i'll rip your car apart piece by piece."

he then dropped his voice into a soft tone, "the prince is a hundred. you know how to put it in?"

she nodded slowly then signed. 'thank you,' she stopped, realising he couldn't understand but yvonne spoke up. "mama says thank you,"

el smiled and blew her a kiss as yvonne hopped back onto her chair, knowing her job was now done and done well.

•••

"mommy," yvonne whispered and shook her awake once they found her sleeping in the kitchen on the floor still with cleaning gloves on and a small broom in one hand.

"mama, wake up," ilana whispered as el stirred awake and blinked.

she forces a small smile. 'what are you guys doing up?'

"we tired to find you in your room for cuddles but you were gone." ilana explained and el looked around then to her hands.

'sorry, i was cleaning. i must've fell asleep when i was cleaning the floors.'