Chapter Two

Buzz! Buzz!

I jumped out of my bed with so much force that I hit my head on the night lamp. I ran downstairs to check what had made that sound and I found a repairman fixing the doorbell.

"Honey you're awake." Ma said arranging some of our kitchen wares in the cupboard. We arrived in California last night. It was a long flight though I slept through.

"I wouldn't have woken up now if it hadn't been for the loud noise I supposedly heard in my sleep." I said opening the fridge to get something to drink. To my outmost surprise it wasn't empty.

I grabbed a small bottle of water and took it in within a few gulps.

"So, what's really happening here...I mean the loud noise."

"The doorbell had a little problem so I had to call in a repairman to fix it."

"Oh...I see...Okay." I said turning towards the staircase.

" That reminds me hun...I'm going to the office today. I've got an important meeting to attend by ten."

" No problem Ma."

I ran up the stairs and into my room. I fell flat on my bed and closed my eyes to get some more sleep.

~~~••••~~~

I woke up with so much energy that I felt like I could jump really high.

"That was nice." I said to myself. I stood up and opened the windows to allow the sun's light and breeze enter freely into my room. I sat on my futon and just stared at the ceiling. 

My room was really wide. My bed was in the middle. It was an ornate. Beside it was a drawer which had a dark-blue night lamp on top of it. My futon was near the smaller window. I had another window-a bigger one like a door which led to my balcony. My room was decorated in dark blue wallpapers. 

Ma did a pretty good job with the decor. My room here is better than the one in Florida. I was about to go downstairs to meet Ma when I saw a sticky note on my night lamp. I removed it and read it. 

"Oh great. What am I going to do." I threw the note in the bin and went into the bathroom to shower. I was done in the next fifteen minutes and I put on a blue tank top and camo short and wore my black slipper. I tied my hair in a messy bun, took my purse and went downstairs. I was feeling a bit hungry so I microwaved a small pack of casserole and ate it within few minutes. I took a bottle of orange juice from the fridge and went out of the house. I called Ma to tell her where I was going. Her phone wasn't reachable so I just left a text telling her that I was going to the mall.

I ordered a taxi and told him my destination.

~~~••••~~~

"That would be ten dollars." the women at the cash stand said to me. She looked so sad, like she's been through a lot in a life. Her eyes had bags under it and her eyes balls were swollen and sunken in her socket. She was so skinny. I reached into my purse and gave her money and collected my new headsets.

Yeah! Headsets. 

That's what I actually went to the mall to get. My old one had a problem so I had to change it. I checked my phone and saw a text from Ma

"I'll be back late dear. Take care." 

I was kind of used to Ma coming late. She owns one of the best businesses in the United States-Dallas group of companies. Her empire was massive so to say. She had lots of hotels scattered around in Florida, California and Colorado. Her company was also into textile and interior decor. I really pity her, going through all this stress alone. I remember when Dad was alive. He handled the hotel business and she handled the textile and interior decorations. But now that he's gone she has to do everything alone and here I am always giving her stress.

"No problem Ma. I'll be okay"

I texted back. I went into the nearby grocery store to get a pancake mix. Guess Ma forgot to add those to her list. Funny how I couldn't get them in the Mall. I paid for the mix and called for a taxi to pick me up.

It was ten in the night and Ma wasn't back home. I had tried making pancakes but I almost burnt the house so I just ordered pizza. I didn't want to burn my house like Aunt Juleka. The thought of that made me snicker. I didn't know I was that hungry because when I finished the first box of pizza, my tummy wasn't satisfied so I ate the other one immediately. I was watching a movie in the living room and decided to watch it in my room because I was feeling sleepy and didn't want to fall asleep on the couch. I went upstairs and turned on the TV in my room. Few minutes later, I fell asleep.