The New Bride

Thirty Four

"Tell me," I demand, eyes glaring daggers straight towards the one person who has started chaos in my life. "What is your excuse for this time?"

I can still remember exactly what I put on the letter I gave him with his last warning. The threat of reporting him to police was backed up with a photo taken by our apartment security cameras, his face and another man's plastered on it. Apparently, they must have caught on that telling the police could ruin Jae's job. They striked one last time.

Jeffery had not changed. His turned up lips only further irritated me, and he knew that. "What do you-"

I couldn't help myself. My hand reached up quicker then I could register and was sliding over his warm cheek. It stung slightly as I retracted from the hit, but I tried to ignore it. "This is no longer a game. You have gone too far. Spit out what you have to say before I take you to the police."

He was also surprised by my sudden action. "Who do you think you are?!" He bellowed in the empty hall way. As if trying to reach for me, he took a step closer. But I backed up and raised my other hand that held a cellphone. Jeffery glanced at it. "What is this?!"

"9-11 on speed dial," I deadpan, keeping a finger near the phone. "Don't try me, kid. You have pushed my last buttons." The adrenaline in me was kicking high and hard. I was so nervous and anxious I almost clicked the dial. "Tell me why you did it."

Jeffery, just like any kid under pressure, blurted it out. "Because! Your stupid husband put my family on the streets!" His hand will still over the mark left by my palm. "My family has to suffer because of him."

I gritted my teeth, not liking the words coming from his disgusting mouth. "That was years ago. Probably before you were born. Why don't you find a new job?"

He narrowed his eyes. "We can't! It has left a scar mark on my father's record. We can't ever make it back to a home," he explains with anger, a storm forming within his eyes. "It is his fault."

I grew tired of this. Jeffery did not seem to realize his parents must be hiding something from him. "Then why spend the money to follow him to America?" I retort, taking another step back. "You came all they way here we you already struggled? This school is not for people who can't even afford bread sometimes. It's for the well-stable students who can afford to buy a few supplies without worrying it might be their next food pay. Do you know how much you'd have to spend to be here?!"

The kid seemed a bit confused, but still quite enraged. "No! We followed him to make his wife suffer. To make him feel the pain we felt." His darted around me to look for any other students. "We have been poor for years."

"That's absurd," I spat, finding no sympathy inside me. "Your money was spent on coming here. On buying cameras to have pictures of us. On school supplies to stalk me, and on a vehicle to crash into my mother." My words were tight within my throat as I forced them out. "You aren't poor, you're worthless. I'm taking you to court."

Jeffery was a bit more worried now. "Wait! If your do that, your husband can loose his job!"

I took a deep breath to control my emotions, knowing being the calm and collected person in the conversation was quite difficult. "There is not much left of school days anyway," I comment under my breath. "He's got himself a pretty well-done up business. Being short of a side job is not a loss."

"It's his fault! We are homeless because he fired my father! That's why my dad hit your mom!" He blurted in a sudden anxiety attack.

I realized he was getting closer and louder, so I pushed his chest so he was further back. I didn't want others to hear and come take a look. "Stop it! You know your dad didn't do anything right!" I semi-yell, trying to keep it down. "He is the one who betrayed the company. He sold ideas solely made by the workers to other companies to make a profit. If you don't even know this, then you must not know why your dad truly hates my husband. Its because he doesn't want the blame on himself.

We're fifteen, Jeffery. Not adults. Not children. Teens. Your dad is a grown man, and Jae was seven years old when he was let go. How can he supposedly make you poor for life, fifteen years later after your father was fired? Think logically. It can't happen."

He looked confused and lost, as if was unsure whether to believe me or his father, who has a burning rage for someone he shouldn't. Jeffery took a moment to collect himself, but I had walked towards my classroom before he said anything else, phone sliding into my pocket.

The rest of the day zipped by with my words in my head. When it was time for everyone to leave, I stayed behind to talk to the teacher. He shuffled things around before finally speaking to me.

"Lilla, what's wrong?"

I looked to the floor, unsure of how to word it. "Jae, I think we should go to police."

He was surprised. "What for?" He asks, placing some books onto a shelf while listening. "What happened?"

I bit my lip. "I talk to Jeffery, and he confessed. I believe we should turn them in now before things get too out of hand," I suggested, still not looking at him. I was afraid he would be mad or offended that I wanted to do that to someone from his childhood.

For a brief moment, there was silence. But then, he sighs. "I do too. We can go once school closes for the day."

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