Eleven Years

CHAPTER 1

SADIE

"YOU didn't touch the cake", I heard my aunt standing in front of me. Her eyes were red but I acted like nothing was going on.

"I bought that one for you", she added. I looked at her and held her hand. She was about to cry again but I stopped her.

"It's okay aunt", I said, "thank you so much"

She smiled at me, but there was pain in her eyes I could see. She let go of my hand and headed to the living room but she gave me one more hug, as far I was concerned...my thoughts kept with her.

Earlier this evening, my aunt, her name was Molly, thirty-five, she had a fight with her husband...the most arrogant person I had ever known, his name was Daniel. An overweening individual who didn't care about his family but only with his so-called little fortune. I couldn't look at him even a greet would be a stubborn for me to do. Their fight wasn't rare for me anymore, but sometimes I wondered if there was any way I could stop it. They didn't have kids, maybe that was one of the reasons why Daniel hated my aunt so bad. I told my aunt to divorce him but she said "he's the only one I have"... I took a deep breath and couldn't realize what she really meant by that.

I looked through the gifts on the floor. A tiny red box from one of my old classmates, a letter from the librarian with a romance novel book and some random postcards from the antique shop downtown. I imagined some stuffs, brand new sandals, jewelry, flowers, confetti and champagne. I went back to reality and opened the tiny red box...it was a necklace, a handmade which something I liked.

I wanted to grab the cake on the table but I assumed that Daniel was outside, watching the television. I went to the window instead. I watched the stars in the night sky and the wonderful city outside.
I sang with my weakest and lowest voice.

"Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday dear Sadie...
Happy birthday to me ..."

I expected for my tears to run, I expected for the pain to feel but I never dreamed of this... celebrating the exact date which supposed to be the special day of an individual. If only my mom and dad was here, maybe this day would be exciting.

I went to bed and wiped my tears.

"Happy 19th birthday self", I whispered to the air.

*

There was an empty pan on the table. I looked inside the fridge...still there wasn't anything to eat. I pressed my lips and began to eat the biscuits near the kettle.

"I had to go to the next town for some meetings maybe two days or more, tell your aunt about it"

Daniel was about to close the door but I spoke for a second.
"Call her, you should be the one to do that"
"Sadie, you're a pain in the ass in this house. Just tell her...tell Molly that I'll be back in two days"
I was there standing... watching Daniel closed the door with his suitcase. What an imperious man, I thought.

A bright sunny day, there was no excuse for me not to enjoy this day. The city of Philadelphia looked amazing...I didn't know what to say anymore but this was just a city of revolutionary history. No wonder why there were so much emotions for me while being here. I wore a simple shirt and a fitted blue-jeans… hoping this outfit would bring me a better luck.

There were just a few bucks left on my wallet. Been looking for a job since the morning but hadn't find any. A job in a cafe or restaurant would be fine for me, good enough to earn some money for my college next year. Oh, here I was again, talking about college, like everything would go so smooth. Oh God ... If I were in college, maybe I wouldn't be searching for a stupid job this time.