The Office Worker and The Tramp

Chapter 7

Nashira reluctantly had to say goodbye to Ellie because the crazy old woman wanted to talk to her face-to-face at home, immediately. Despite everything, she was still her mother, and she owed her basic courtesy. As soon as Nashira rang her doorbell, her mother greeted her with a tight hug and small sobs; a routine that she knew so well every time her mother 'regretted' kicking her out of the house. Then she would kick her out again a couple of weeks later.

"I missed you a lot," her mother told her with teary eyes.

Her daughter did not answer her. She couldn't reply with "I missed you too" because it wouldn't be true. Instead, little by little Nashira moved away from her mother and looked for a seat on the sofa in the living room. Taking care of her friend had left her immensely tired.

Mrs. Vélez soon sat next to Nashira and was listening to her when she told her about Ellie's situation.

"But girl, don't torture yourself so much about that," her mother told her "She is already a responsible adult capable of taking care of herself. You don't have to mistreat yourself...".

"Mom, she's my sister," Nashira bluntly replied, frowning at her mother.

"No, thank God she's not. She is only a friend".

Mrs. Vélez has made clear her contempt towards Ellie throughout the years. She partially blamed this 'little friend' for carrying away Nashira from a good future so, if she died, it was almost worth it celebrating it.

"Just because we don't share the same blood doesn't mean she's not my sister. She has supported me much more than my 'supposed' family: you, or Maia.

At the mere mention of "Maia," her mother's face hardened, and her jaw clenched in rage. Maia was Nashira's older sister, her other daughter, and her favorite during her younger years. But hey, the world takes many unexpected turns, and the once favored daughter was currently even more hated than the druggie one.

Maia wasn't her daughter anymore.

"I told you not to mention that miserable wh*re's name again" Nashira's mother seethingly warned her "she abandoned us".

That day had been already harsh and listening to her mother dismissing her (Nashira's) concerns made her not want to humour her anymore.

"With a mother like you, I'm not surprised," Nashira replied resentfully.

A quick slap on Nashira's forehead from her mother was enough to silence her. Normally she wouldn't have talked back to her mother, and she would have just stayed still like a good lapdog, but with Angel, and especially with Ellie's situation, she felt too tired of everyone and everything.

"You have to respect me, I'm your mother," the crazy old woman told her in a chastising tone.

Her mother had always been terrible. When she didn't treat Nashira like a service dog, she simply ignored her existence; and then there was Maia, her favorite daughter, of whom she talked about nicely and treated even better. While Nashira was frustrated because she didn't learn in school as easily as other kids and was left behind in Math, Maia won scholarships one after another, which allowed her to go to a university of her choice and graduate with a degree in Engineering.

However, her mother's happiness ended when her prodigy child went on a school exchange to Germany, leaving her family behind and without contacting them after. Her mother's insistence on communicating with her ended up forcing Maia to call her and tell her that she no longer wanted to have anything to do with a "useless, foul-mouthed old woman" and to stop "harassing" her.

Although Nashira detested Maia because she ignored her when she needed her, and publicly denied that they were sisters, she (Nashira) secretly envied that it was so easy for her to abandon her horrible mother. Unfortunately, or fortunately (who knows), Nashira did not have the heart to do the same as her sister and now she had to serve as a consolation prize to her mother.