To the Left

Chapter 5

The door opened, and a man and a woman stepped out. Even after all these years, I still recognized them. Dad, with his jet black hair and his constant state of drunkenness except for when he was at work, and Mom, dark brown hair and eyes that make you feel like you constantly disappoint her. Yep, nothing's really changed.

"Ruby?" My mom asks, stuttering a little bit, "I-I-I thought you were a l-left..."

"Yeah, Mom. Hello to you too. Thank you so much for calling me a left and kicking me out. Guess what? I WASN'T A LEFT!" Dr. Morris looks stunned. "Wait," he says, still trying to make sense of the situation,  unfortunately failing.  "Well, Dr. Morris, its kind of a funny story. My delightful parents abandoned me when I was younger because they thought I was a left. Unfortunately for them, I'm not. Now I'm back and where I rightfully belong. Now please give me that certificate!"

He jumps back, startled. Whoops. I may have scared him. Well, accidents happen. He should have been prepared. He hands me the certificate, which apparently he's had all this time. Idiot. I take it, nod at Eli signaling that it's time to leave, and get up out of my chair. As I go to leave the room, my mom steps forward. "Wait!"she says, "You are still my child. You will come with me to our home." I turn back and glare at her. "If you think for a second that I am going back there, with a mom who would rather let me die in a hole than live and my sweet, caring, pathetic drunk of a dad THEN YOU ARE KIDDING YOURSELF! I AM NEVER GOING BACK AGAIN!" Man. I started really yelling at the end, but it got the point across. Mom takes a step back, startled, and in that moment I grab Eli's arm and drag him out of the room.

"Wow." That's all Eli says. "What's so interesting about meeting my parents?" I snap at him even though he's done nothing wrong. I'm so mad at my parents, my parents who literally didn't care enough about me to let me live with them when I was younger, yet offer me a home just to show off to Dr. Morris. Idiots. They would have kicked me out the second I set foot in their house. Eli takes a step back, obviously surprised. Great. Now I've hurt the one person who actually cares about me. "Sorry, Eli. I'm still just surprised to see my parents. I didn't expect to see them." He replies with an "It's alright" but I can tell he's still upset. I decide to leave the room, seeing as he doesn't want me there. I'm not surprised. It turns out there are some secrets you keep from your best and only friend, but he didn't know that as well as I did.

I turn into my room and pull up a research tab on my Maylev computer. It still fascinates me. Back home in left land, our technology consisted of water purifiers, outdated computers, ancient Smart boards, and flashlights. Here, it means anything from sonic jets to touch screen mirrors. 

The first thing to focus on is getting a job. We actually had nice schools in left land, updated every year by the rights. I took several courses in science and computer engineering, so I should have a good chance at getting a nice job. My search yields a couple of results, but very good results. One wants me to be a scientist on a research lab, figuring out how technology can be improved, and the other job needs a basic computer technician to work in a primary school. After much thought, I decide to take the first one. The website advertising for it says that I should interview them in two days. It appears to be in the Kahal building, right across the street from Eli's apartment. 

***

I breathe in and out. It's time to start my life all over again. I walk into the Kahal building, ready to be interviewed. The building is tall and spacious, with a classic wooden look that is somehow complemented by the large clock hanging on the wall. Tick...tock....tick....tock. I am five minutes early, yet so unprepared it feels like I should have been late instead. It's okay, however. Arriving early makes me seem calm, cool, collected, and professional, even if I don't feel like any of the above. When the clock strikes nine, a door opens at the end of the hall. "Is anyone here ready to interview for the scientist job?" A voice sounds from the end of the hallway. It sounds crackly and dry, not like the crisp voice of a fellow scientist that I expected. I rise and stride towards the person holding the door open. He nods in greeting and ushers me into a cramped office room. In it is a faded wooden desk, three chairs, four paintings of various nature scenes, and a bookshelf. The man limps around the desk and sits down with the impression of a man who has not sat down for millennia. He stretches his hand across the desk with some difficulty, as the desk is wide and his arm is small and stubby. "Good morning. I am Mr. Fitzpatrick." I shake his hand, "Good morning. I am Ruby Chayla." We talk for a while about the science job, I mention that I know a lot about necessary technology improvements from my accidental placement in Left county (which I do), and I end up leaving the room feeling more than positive about my chances about getting the job. 

It's about a week after I was interviewed. I'm working on my computer when Eli comes up to me, smiling. "What's up?" I ask him, and take the letter he hands me. Immediately, my face lights up when I read the contents. "I got the job!" We dance around the room for a little bit, then remember what we're doing. "I mean-yay, I got the job!" Eli grins at me. "This means you can start working. This is your life now, Ruby. What will you do with it?"