Little White Lie

Chapter 15

|15|

•Charlotte•

"You've been skipping work, haven't you?" Mary asked as she walked into my room.

"No." I shook my head as I pulled my shoes on and laced them up.

"I've noticed it, Charlotte." She sighed, sitting on my bed. "You've been struggling with school, work and being at home."

I sat down besides her, and picked up her hand and held it. She smiled at me, as I grinned at her. She was stunning, for her age. Being 50 usually made most people tired. Not Mary.

Mary had come in this morning, wearing a beautiful white jumpsuit and her hair was in braids. She had complained saying that looking after her afro was literal pain. I told her she looked stunning, even dad had complimented her.

"I'm okay." I said, without looking at her. "Yes it has been a struggle, but I think I'm working on it. I'm going to work now, they need me there."

Lying to Mary was one of the worst things I could do. She had been helping me for years, always assuming a council worker was helping me. I would tell her that just so she wouldn't question where I was getting so much money from. The house was stashed with bags of money in every corner.

I couldn't tell her what was happening with Logan and the others. She would want me to call the police but nothing would happen with that. Logan had connections everywhere.

She patted my hand with a smile on her face. "Don't be late to work. Will you be eating out or coming home for dinner?" She asked as she stood up.

"I think I'll be eating at work. I might be a little late, if that's okay with you?" I asked and she smiled and nodded.

"That's fine. I'm going to be facetiming Drew today." She said and I nodded as she walked out of the room.

Drew was Mary's son and was about to come home soon from the army. She never truly went out, either her neighbours visited her outside the door if I wasn't home or she would go to her house to talk to them. Dad wasn't comfortable around new people and Mary never tried to change that.

I picked up my gym bag and put my phone in my pocket, before heading downstairs. I waved goodbye at Mary and Dad as I walked out of the house.

Lizzie had dropped me off at home today, since it was raining all day. I pulled up the hood of my coat and walked down the streets, heading towards work.

The school part of my day had breezed by. Lizzie and I spent lunch inside since it was raining outside. I had felt Tiffany's constant glare in the back of my head but I ignored it. Ramon and the others hadn't come to school today. Calvin hadn't even texted Lizzie why he wasn't coming so instead we had worked on our home ecs work together. She helped me with my essay and I corrected hers.

I walked into the diner, the bell chiming above me. It was going to be freezing tonight. Fall was already here and the leaves were scattered all over the ground.

"Hey girl." Mandy waved at me as she served a few customers their food. "Didn't you bring an umbrella?" She asked, shaking her head at me as I followed her towards the front counter.