You Are My Sunshine - Short Stories

A Single Mom Who Works Two Jobs

Kai

Thirteen Years Before 70th Games

Somehow, no matter how hard you scrub against the wooden floors of the docks, the blood from fish guts don't wash away. I sat there for hours of the day attempting to scrub it away like a mad man because that's what I was being paid to do. Workers laughed at me and walked over me as if I didn't exist, tossing their fishing haul right where I had just cleaned. But there was no complaining.

   This wasn't what I signed up for. I was supposed to go on the boats. I was supposed to assist the fisherman until I could become one myself. Until I could be promoted and get a better pay. That's what my father told me I'd have to do when I got out of school.

Now I don't go to school at all.

Fifteen years old without an education.

   I worked all day, waking up at three in the morning and getting off of work at three in the afternoon just to pick up Reef from school. I made her dinner, made sure she did her homework, put her to bed, and then snuck out to work my night job. It didn't pay well but that's all I had. I never went to bed till at least one in the morning. Sometimes I didn't even sleep at all.

As I scrubbed as hard as I could against the wooden planks, I felt a sharp pain in my left hand so I let out a sharp cry. I looked up immediately to see a few of the well known fishermen of Four looking down at me like a dog, laughing as if they didn't just step on my hand.

"What the hell man?" I asked as I looked up to them from the dock. "I know you saw me there."

"Why are you still here kid?" One of them asked me with a scoff while I just glared at them.

"No one scrubs the docks kid, there's no point." Another one told me as if I didn't hear that shit everyday.

"I don't care." I told them, dipping my old ripped rag into the bucket of gross soapy water, slamming it down aggressively back on to the wooden dock. "As long as I get paid for it."

"How old are you kid?" He asked me and I looked up to meet his eyes, the other men gathered around me in a circle.

"Fifteen sir." I said in return which caused a fit of different reactions.

Some of the men laughed while others scoffed, probably wondering what the hell I was doing here scrubbing the docks. Some of them whistled in what I thought could have been either respect or amusement, but whatever it was, I was going to ignore it. I wasn't going to waste my time looking for their approval which I was never going to get.

"You should be at school right now, shouldn't you?" One of the other fishermen asked but was immediately shut up by one of his friends.

"No dumbass, his parents got themselves killed, remember?" Another guy reminded him, nudging his friend's arm with his elbow. "The kid got no money to send himself to school."

"That's none of you're business." I said in defense but some of the men scoffed loudly as if I was not there.

"So, what, you use all you're money to send you're retard of a sister to school?" One of them asked and immediately something in my brain switched, and all I could see was red.

"What did you just say?" I asked him, gripping on tightly to the rag in my hand.

"Look Barlowe, we're all just screwing with you." He tried to say, but the tone of his voice was not convincing me. "It ain't her fault she's not all right up there."

"Dude, she's five." One of the fishermen told his coworker, but everyone seemed to be in agreement about my sister even though she was just a damn kid.