Wearing Her Shoes

Laying the cards on the table

                In an hour, the pizza was done, and Samillia and I sat down on the table eating our delicious dinner. "Where's Adam and Natallie?" I asked taking my first bite.

"Natallie drove Adam to the hospital," she answered placing a slice in her plate, "He's spending the night with Mike."

"Doesn't he have a car?" I asked.

"We sold all the cars, but Samantha's car. We sort of share it," she answered.

"Would you mind if I ask why?" I said after chewing on a piece of chicken.

She took a deep breath and sighed. "We're going through financial troubles. I wanted to tell you that in the kitchen, but you didn't give me a chance to."

"What?! So, the debt the bully was talking about is real!" I said interrupting her.

"Yes," she answered, "We agreed not to tell you before the five months finish, but I personally think that's unfair. You have the right to know that we won't be able to give you a lot of money. We can only offer you a steady job, a place to live, and a second family, not only in those five months, but even after them." She paused trying to figure out my reaction, and then said, "I know we're not offering much, but whenever all our debts are payed, we'll pay you whatever you ask for."

Silence filled the room as Samillia waited for me to give her any reply. "Did that change your mind?" she asked trying to extract an answer from me.

"Yes, it did," I said a wide smile growing on my lips. When I saw a confused look on her face, I added, "When we were in the kitchen, I told you that I'll stay.  I said that because I felt awful for leaving and needed the money badly. There was one problem though. I felt uncomfortable. I felt that everyone was hiding a lot of things. To begin with, no one told me where Samantha is. You kept a lot of secrets when I had the right to know all about my task before I start it. Now that you started opening up, I no more care about the money. Let me be honest to you, like you were to me. I'm an orphan, and I think you know that about me. I needed the money because I wanted to leave my current job. The woman who I work for treats me like a slave, so having a steady job, and a place to live is all what I wanted the money for. I'm fed up with humiliation and taking this opportunity, even if the money isn't that much is important to me, but only in one condition. You have to swear to answer all my questions with nothing but the truth. In conclusion, I only ask for a steady job, a home, and most importantly, the truth."

She smiled and said, "As easy as it may seem, telling you the truth is a lot more complicated than you think. You might think that we've never had any troubles in our life, but I bet no one of those actors or actresses faced all what we've been through."

I was about to tell her that I know, and Natallie told me, but then remembered how I promised Natallie to keep all what she told me a secret.

Samillia sighed adding, "Sara, telling you the truth can risk the media knowing about Samantha's whereabouts. Please don't take this as an insult, but I can't tell you everything."

"It's because you don't trust me, do you?" I said challengingly.

"No, It's not that, but put yourself in my place, how can you tell a person you met a few days ago, your deepest secrets, especially when you are working so hard, just to hide them," she replied.

I smiled threateningly and said, "Then, I won't stay."

"I didn't say I can't tell you anything," she answered playing my game, "Ask, and I will try to answer all your questions."

"Okay, let me start with the easiest question. Where is Samantha?" I asked.

"You are Samantha," she smirked.