Sweetest Revenge

Ch.1

Chapter 1

I Want More

2 Years Later...

- Monica –

Life has a way of turning sharply and going in a different direction than where you were steering it. And no matter how hard you slam on the brakes and try to turn the wheel back the other way, your life continues down a road in which you never wanted it to go. I could say that I'm bitter. I could say that I'm kicking myself over and over for the mistakes I've made. But the truth is, I don't have time to dwell on the past because my present day is very demanding and very needy. And it's my responsibility to feed her.

"Bye, baby. You be good for Nana," I said, taking my two-year-old daughter, Eve, into my arms and hugging her tightly.

She began to get herself worked up. "I come too!"

 Exhaling, I put her down on her feet. I hated working so much! I was a horrible mother! My baby missed me so much. It broke my heart each day I had to pry her little arms from around my legs.

"Not this time, baby. Mama got to go to work. When I come home I will bring you a freeze-pop back." She pressed herself up against my legs. She wasn't having it.

"Nooooo!" she started to whine in her little toddler voice. I held back tears. I was under so much pressure I thought that throwing a tantrum sounded good right about now.

"Baby, please! Mama going to bring you the red one like you like," I told her, my voice quivering slightly.

How had I come to this? I had so many dreams. I wanted to do so many things. I never imagined I would be flipping burgers for a living, and when I wasn't doing that I was frying chicken down at Chucky's Chicken Shack. I worked at The Burger Joint every day from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Then, I came home to have lunch with my baby and Nana before I caught the bus to work at Chucky's from 6:00 PM to midnight.

This was my daily routine except on Wednesdays. That's when I get a break and could do what I love. I picked up teaching Nana's dance class down at the center since she hasn't been feeling up to leaving the house these days.

Oh God! What did I do to deserve this?

"Pease, Mama! Net me go wit you." I squeezed my eyes shut.

You can't give up! You can't give up!

Your Nana and your baby girl are depending on you.

Nana walked slowly through the kitchen door.

"Come on now, Eve!"

It pained me to see her like this. All those years of dancing had taken a toll on her body. She once walked with the grace of a swan. For as long as I can remember, she instilled in me to glide instead of walk. Now she walked hunchbacked with a cane—arthritis being her constant tormentor.

Thank God for Stormy. She had gotten one of her friends to make a liniment for Nana and it worked like magic. But my Nana was too proud to keep asking for refills. She hated bugging Stormy more than anything because she had already done so much for us and the center. If not for her, both the Boarding House and the Center would have been long gone by now.

Nana hated feeling like a burden. And so did I, which is why I worked the way I did. I had to make sure our bills were paid and that we could afford the little food we had.