Calls at Dusk

Chapter 4

Thirteen years ago...
Ow, ow! Mum the band is too tight. You're literally pulling my hair outta my scalp. I scrunch my face, wincing at my mum who looked too engaged brushing my hair with passion into a sleek bun.

'Mia dear, can you hold still, mum takes those fancy pins and fancy clips to clip to hair as she takes a Bobby-pin in her mouth and jabs my scalp with it.

Ow! I scream, pulling myself from her while rubbing my temple. "Mum, are you trying to ruin my hair goal?"

"Your bun always looks messier than the rest of your mates in school. so you already ruined your hair goal. But I'm here to redeem it for you by trying to make it look better." She says, standing and coming towards my direction as she inserts a longer pin into the actual bun itself.

"I don't even care about this anymore. Can I just skip school today? Please?" I plead. In hopes of staying home. Why don't you like school sweetie? My mum ask as she bends to be able to make a proper contact as I'm much smaller.

"It's not that I don't like school mum. I just don't like the school I'm attending. The students there are all dumb and gross.

"No. You will not call your fellow mates dumb and gross, my mum says as she points her finger to me and gives me a warning glare. Fine I'm sorry, mum.

My dad walks in holding the home phone in his hand. "That was her school. they're cancelling class today cause of the storm.

"Yes!" I screech out. Letting myself off my mum's grip ripping the hair band out, waving my hair out like I'm in one of those shampoo commercials.

My mum shakes her head as she suspiciously opens the curtain to the window, watching as the rain pours down aggressively."it's always the storm isn't it?" She mumbles, "Alright,well, either way, we still have our appointment with the adoption agency, I'm going to get dressed and then we'll head out with Ria. Okay Andrew?"

No mum, let Ria stay home with me. I promise I'll keep an eye on her.

No. You haven't even kept an eye on yourself, we're taking your sister along with us.

Honey. Let them be together, they'll have to sometime anyway. And we can't keep Mia alone in the house. There's a home phone in the house for them to call in case of emergencies. So it's gonna be okay

Alright.. my mum says agreeing in defeat. With that my mum leaves us to get dressed.

Mia, my dad calls my attention. Yes dad?
What do you wanna do? I don't understand I say to him
I mean in future.
"Oooh. I wanna be a super hot model or a makeup artist

"Isn't that what you should do alongside a real job. I know dad. I have passion for acting but my class mates made fun of me anytime we talked about it. They said actors don't get paid well. So I decided to go for something that people admire and loves and gets money from.

"Hmmm, you see baby you have to go for what you truly want. Cause I'm always gonna be in support.

"What if what I want is something, that is hard to make a lot of money from?" I argue.

"He tells me, "sure, money is important but if we sacrifice our happiness and wellbeing just to only achieve it, we only become slaves to a piece of paper."