Anna and I keep cleaning and honestly, I would never have gotten this done in time on my own.
Thank goodness, we'd be done before aunty gets back.
I spoke too soon because right that moment, my aunty walked in. Her eyes land on Anna first, then the cleaning supplies in her hands, then me. I'm so dead.
"Anna, sweetie why are you on the ground and why do you have cleaning supplies?" Her sweet voice sickening because I know what's coming.
"I'm helping char, mum. Brody and his friends made a huge mess and she was running out of time and I offered to help. It's not her fault mum" I smile inwardly, at least there's someone in this house who cares enough to stick up for me. But I know it's futile as my aunt has already planned out a hundred ways to kill me in her head.
"Go to your room, sweetie" my aunt said sweetly.
"But mum-"
"To your room, now" my aunt said, this time firmer.
Anna gives me an apologetic look before turning and heading upstairs. Alone with my aunt, I gulp awaiting my fate.
"I give you over job, ONE, not only did you not get the job done, you now turn my child into a slave like you!?"
"No, m-madam, I already had the place cleaned up but Brody had his friends over and they made a mess".
"Brody!!" She yelled. Oh God, things were going South fast. Involving Brody isn't gonna make anything better, if anything, it's going to be worse.
"You called?" Brody said as he descended the stairs.
"Charmaine here tells me you had friends over and you messed up the place"
"What!? How dare you snitch on me!?? You whore. You think I didn't notice you flirting with my friends?" Brody yelled.
My eyes widen and my aunt's head snaps towards me.
"You what??!" She yelled.
"N-no madam, he's lying. I didn't even-"
Smack! She slaps me, pushes me down and begins to kick my tummy with her pointed shoes while yelling insults.
Kick. "Whore"
Kick. "Slut"
Kick "Bastard"
Her voice started sounding distant, replaced with a high pitched ringing as black dots covered my vision.
I slip into unconsciousness.
I'm currently in my bed, sore from my aunt's assaults. I can't really recall what happened but I know that at some point, Brody joined in. I probably had an asthma attack and passed out.
I woke up to find myself still sprawled on the kitchen floor. It brought tears to my eyes knowing that they didn't even think to take me to a doctor or to my room at least, knowing my condition. They probably left me there hoping I'd die.
I managed to drag my sore self to bed to get a few minutes of rest before I head down to make dinner for the house.
Sighing, I get out of bed and down to the kitchen to make dinner. I'm pretty sure the only reason my aunt still let's me live under her roof is because I am an excellent cook. Not like I have a choice though, I mean being forced to cook for the family and getting beaten anytime something tastes wrong does that to you.
Anyways, I decided to make something really nice, hopefully it'll soothe my aunt for a few days and give me time to heal. After scrolling through my phone for a few minutes, I finally settled on making lemon chicken piccata with arugula salad as a starter and s side of buttered noodles.
It takes me about an hour to finish cooking and setting the table. Just in time too because my uncle just got back from work meaning they'd all be down for dinner in a few minutes.
I run upstairs to change into a sweater and sweat pants cuz I don't want my uncle seeing the bruises on my body and asking what happened. I shiver at the memory of the last time that happened and what my aunt did to me afterwards.
I quickly change and run back downstairs to put the finishing touches on the dining. I'm actually really proud of myself and how it came out.I whip out my phone and take a picture of the setting and the food and set it as my wallpaper so I can look at it and tell myself that I'm actually not completely useless, I'm a good cook and I hope to open my very own restaurant someday.
I hear them descending the stairs and I quickly hide my phone in my sweater pocket for fear of my aunt taking it away.
"woah, something smells goooood" I hear Brody say
I quickly fix myself, and take a look at the table one last time. Satisfied with how it looks, I relax bit and wait for their final descent.
"Oh wow Char, you really went all out" My uncle says
"Yeah Char, this looks amazing" Anna concurs
"I guess the wench isn't all that useless after all" Linda says
"Tell me about it, at least being a good cook somewhat makes up for her dificiancy in other areas" Brody says
My aunt simply grunted but I could tell she was impressed and her mouth was already watering.
"It's deficiency, Brody, not dificiancy" Anna said with a giggle
"Yeah, that's what I said" Brody said, his face already stuffed with food
"No it isn't" Anna retorted
Just as Brody was about to say something back, my uncle interfered
"Now now, let's all just have dinner without any bickering like the lovely family we are" I almost laughed at that statement but I decided against it and bit my tongue for fear of what may happen.
"How long do you plan on standing there Char? come join us" My uncle said
"U-Uh n-no thanks, I'll just eat in my room" I stuttered.
I picked my food and scurried off to my room before he could try and convince me further.
I was almost at the top when I heard my aunt's voice
"This is really good. This girl can really cook, why don't you try learning a few things from her instead of dressing like a barbie doll and whoring around all the time"
I knew she was talking to Linda. I hear Brody and Anna laugh then suppress it with a cough, probably cuz Linda glared at them.
As I turn to go to my room, I realize there's an actual smile on my face. My aunt actually said something nice about me and even told her daughter to learn from me!
I sprint the rest of the way up the stairs and eat my food with content. For the first time in a long time, I went to bed with a smile on my face.
