My Cup of Tea

Chapter Five

Something shook my shoulder for the tenth time. Grumbling angrily and moving away, I continued sleeping. The airplane seat was too comfortable; in my opinion, anyway. For some reason sleeping on planes has always been easy for me. 

"You have to get up, it's time to get off the plane," a voice said to me. The speaker was talking slow, as if talking to a baby. It must be that Debby...Debra...Deena...Denise! It must be that Denise lady, I thought to myself. Forcing my eyes open I managed to focus them on Denise.

"Where are we?" I asked, blinking away the last of my sleepiness.

"Santa Monica, silly," Denise answered in a loud voice. Her eyes were so wide I thought they were about to fall out of her head.

"Al-" A yawn escaped my mouth. "Already?"

She nodded at me, grabbing my arm and dragging me from my seat. It was hard to focus on anything, so I was stumbling blindly after Denise. 

Within twenty minutes I had gathered up my entire luggage, and navigated my way out of the airport. Within ten minutes I had gotten into a taxi and brought through the whole city.

Santa Monica is quite amazing. Even though I only took a crappy taxi through the city, there's obviously so much to experience. There were people playing music on the streets, people ready for the beach, tall buildings, and the best thing of all; lots of sunshine.

The surroundings captivated me so much; when the taxi finally stopped I slammed into the seat in front of me. "Ow," I muttered to myself while rubbing my head. You better pay attention more, I thought. The taxi driver gave me my fee, which I quickly paid.

Climbing out of the taxi, the sight in front of me looked...Atrocious, gross, ugly. The apartment I am supposed to live in is scary. There's no way it is safe for people to live in. Its siding was rotting off, the roof was chipping away, some of the windows were smashed, the front door was wide open, and worst of all; the garden looked like a jungle! Plants were all over the front yard, tall and wild. 

It looked like it could be a haunted house. Maybe it was used as one during Halloween...I thought. 

"What is this?" The question came out before I could stop myself. Being completely honest, I was disgusted and confused. This was not the beautiful apartment those fair people promised me. Pulling out the papers and checking the address again, it really hit me. People expected me to live here!

"Who are you?" A gruff voice asked, startling me. A man stepped from behind a tall plant. He was dressed in a ripped up white t-shirt and dirty jeans. His face had many scars on his face. They looked as though they came from some sort of animal attack. His beard was white due to old age.

"I'm supposed to live here," I said angrily, stomping my foot on the ground. "Well, I was told I would be staying here."

The man laughed, shaking his head at me. "Stupid girl, no one will be living here except me."

I narrowed my eyes. What did he mean by that? "Excuse me, but-"

"Why don't you excuse yourself?" He half yelled, waving his hand at me. "Good day!" He said, turning and going into the apartment. He slammed the door shut while I gaped at the door.

Finally picking up the last pieces of my dignity, I left. Without an idea as to where I was heading, my feet just moved me down the street. My feet must have hated that apartment, considering how far they were bringing me away. Once my feet reached their destination, my body flopped down onto a bench. I sat with my head in my hands...Thinking. Not crying or screaming or cursing at the world; just thinking.