Making Ends Meet

Chapter 1

I'd like to start off by saying, this is the first time I've ever tried writing in 3rd person and past tense instead of present.. Thought I'd give it a try. Tell me what you think. so... yeah.. I wouldn't be surprised if wattpad made my chapters private so you might have to follow me before reading anymore of this!! This chapter is dedicated to @JuicyPeach1 because I said so lol

Xita walked up the stairs that reeked of feces making her way down the horrid smelling hallway, the walls covered in graffiti, floors scattered with all kinds of litter; tattered clothes, broken electronics, used condoms and anything else that was considered useless. 

Her brothers, Micah and Tobiance followed close behind, carefully stepping over all of the trash, as they texted away on the phones they received as gifts. Xita was eighteen while her brothers were sixteen and fifteen all in high school.

Xita was a senior, though she should have graduated last year, she flunked eighth grade when she didn't feel school was all that important. Tobiance, who was sixteen, was a junior, and Micah was a sophomore. Tobiance has a summer birthday so he started school at a younger age, preparing to graduate at seventeen. 

Walking into the already opened wooden door frame, passed the door  that contained no key for the lock, the three walked into the plainly decorated living room. There sat a couch that was never used and a TV that sat on the floor. 

Closing the door behind her, the first thing she saw was her mother, Kandy, sitting on the floor. No need to sit on the couch or stand for very long, because stray bullets sometimes find their way into the apartment complex. That's why they never fixed that shattered window. They didn't have anything worth stealing anyways so there was no point in having a lock on the door, or a fixed window, so why bother.

"Hey mommy," she looked into her mothers glazed eyes.

"Happy birthday sweetie," her mother smiled up at her. Yes, Xita was turning eighteen today. She didn't expect much anyways, seeing as they barely had money to pay rent or buy food.

"Thanks. Where's Oliver?" Xita asks, throwing her bag in the corner and taking a seat, criss-crossed, next to her mother who smelled like weed, obviously high, but it didn't smell too strong, so she couldn't have been too high. Her brothers went into the room that they all shared to do whatever it was they wanted. 

"He should be here pretty soon," she explained, her head lolling back as she leaned into the couch. 

Oliver was her boyfriend. He was a nice guy actually. He didn't support Kandy's drug habit, but he loved her like no other. Loved her kids too. He had some money, but for some reason, Kandy refused to take his money. She was trying to be independent. 

Before she passed, her grandmother always told her to never turn down anything that was free. Accept it and be grateful, but when she said something to her mother, she said when it comes to money, it's different. You don't never take no money, specially not from no man, cause they gone want something in return and they gone feel like you owe them, her mother had told her. 

"How was school?" Kandy asked her daughter. 

"Same old, same old," Xita said, leaning her head onto her mom's shoulder. Her mother was always caring and concerned for her kids, always asking about school and their friends. 

"That's good sweetie," she whispered out, running a frail hand through her daughter's hair. "I got fired today," Kandy announced, making Xita snap off of her shoulder and look at her. 

"You don't seem to care?" Xita said as more of a question. 

"I knew it was coming. That man never liked me," she said, talking of her arrogant self centered jerk of a boss down at the laundry mat. Now they'll actually have to start paying to wash their clothes. "I showed up only five minutes late, and I swear he was waiting for me. Soon as I walked in, he handed me my check and told me he didn't need me anymore," she told her story.