Dreams

Chapter One

Chapter One

Brittany sighed and flipped through the pages of her texbook. She grabbed her bag and cleaned out the supplies that were in it. Even though she was not of wealth, she was neat. "Hey mom." Her mother passed by with a plastic bag. In it were foods from Chinatown, those two dollar delicious meals. They were healthy and very conservative. "Dad said he'll be working halftime today." Her mom smiled and nodded.

"Where's your brother?" She asks placing the bag on top of the dinner table where Brittany sat with her school books.

"He's still sleeping." Her mom nodded and placed crocheted placemats on the small dining table. "Mom?" Brittany was fiddling with her pen while staring at her mom prepare the dishes.

"Yes?"

"Do you think dad will ever get a better job? You know, the one where he's safe." She asked quite concerned and very aware about the harm her father could get into.

Reassuringly, her mom smiles. "We all know that he isn't in the best, but he isn't in the worst either. Your father can take care of himself."

"I know, but I'm just worried."

Her mom walked to her and held her hands, not tight, but tight enough to comfort her. "Did I ever tell you the story of how your dad and I met." Brittany shook her head, no. "I lived downtown, a lot better than here, but more secluded. It wasn't peaceful there, then again, nowhere is ever peaceful. I was walking home from school, I knew my parents were fighting so I decided to stay out for a little bit. That wasn't such a good idea since thieves strolled around exactly during sunset. A couple of drunk men approached me." She felt her daughter's hand tense, especially since she knows her father's history with alcohol. "Your father sat on the bench of a small window shop. Now the two men were about to grab me when he ran up to them and stood up for me. Brittany, everything that your father has done for this family is not for him, but for us. Even if he's in danger right now, we both know that he'll be coming home."

"I don't think I can fit all my clothes in here dad. My room is bigger than this." Anna unlocks the door of her dorm room. Her dad follows behind her.

"Yeah, I think you'll be able to fit everything here." He says leaning on the door frame.

"You have seen my clothes, and shoes, and pants, and purses, right, dad?" Her dad pulls out a small luggage from behind him, good enough to last for two weeks until washed. "Where's the other nine tenths of my clothes?"

"I donated them."

"You WHAT?!!? Y-you donated m-my clothes?! My dresses?! What about my Louis Vuitton purses, you still have them, right?" She asks with complete stutters.

"No, and I also dropped your allowance to sixteen percent, so that's about seventy-five dollars every two weeks."

"Dad!" She whined. "You know I love you." Anna pouts.

Her dad grins and lightly chuckles. "I love you, too, sweetie." He kisses her cheek and leaves the room. He comes back a little later and drops two pairs of shoes, flats and boots. "Here are what's left of your shoes...and of course what you're wearing now." He points at the Toms she is wearing now. Her father retreats before he gets into another yelling match.

"That bastard." Anna whispers.

"Woah, language." A thin woman walks in. She was a brunette like her, a little taller and a lighter skin.

"Who are you?" Anna asks rudely. She grabs her luggage and furiously opes it. She groans since the clothes that were in it were five times more simpler than the other clothes she wore which contained sequins, glitters, or sparkles. In her bag were either stripes or plain.