Bastiana has a loving family, two amazing best friends, and a secret.
Over summer vacation, Bastiana and her besties do their best to focus on their bucket list in order to distract them from all the secrets they're keeping from one another. When a...
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"Hey, Abi!" I say cheerfully as I answer the phone while I move around my room getting ready for school. "What's up? How's college?"
"Hey, Tiana." She greets me, but her voice sounds off. "School is going well, but there's something I need to talk to you about."
"You sound serious. Is everything okay?" I stop what I'm doing and sit down on the edge of my bed. "Did something happen? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine, Tiana." She says quickly. "It's not about me, it's about you guys and the apartment."
"The apartment? What do you mean?" My eyebrows pinch together as a knot of worry grows in the pit of my stomach.
"Well - Are you alone right now? I don't want the kids to hear this." She sighs, referring to Dillon and Carter.
"Yeah, I already got them sent off to school for the day and mom's working at the motel until ten today." I tell her. "So tell me what's going on."
"Okay, but you can't tell the kids. They don't need to be worrying about this, but I think you deserve to know." She says carefully.
"I won't but you're freaking me out, Abi. What's going on?" Anxious energy washes over me and my leg starts bouncing rapidly.
"After the new year, the landlord raised the rent, and mom couldn't pay the full amount last month, and she's not sure if she'll be able to make it this month either." She says slowly. "The landlord is threatening to kick us out if she can't pay the full amount this month and what she owes from last month, too."
"Oh my god." I whisper as my chest clenches painfully. A wave of nausea crashes over me and I feel like I might throw up. "They can just throw us out like that?"
"If we can't make the rent, yeah. It sucks, but it is what it is." Abi sighs deeply and I can feel the worry rolling off her through the phone. "Mom needs our help, but she doesn't want to ask you because she knows how busy you are with helping the kids and your own classes, plus shifts at the diner."
"But I want to help." I interject quickly. "This is our home."
"I figured you'd feel that way, and that's why I'm telling you." Abi says gently.
"How much do we need to cover this month and the rest of last month?" I ask her, biting my nails as I try to process this new reality.
"The total is a little over $1,800." She says softly. "Mom's paychecks will cover about $1,200 of it, but that still leaves her $600 short. Now, I can send maybe 200, but that's it. I've burned through most of my savings already." She sighs.
"No, don't worry about it, Abi." I jump up from my bed and start pacing as I talk. "You're going to need that money for school. I can cover the 600."
