The Maid In Neverland || Michael Jackson

Chapter 13

The driver helped me unload my things when I reached my destination. I stopped for a moment and stared at the old apartment building in front of me. I felt. . happy. I hadn't seen this place for two months and I couldn't express how I missed it. My sudden return wasn't planned but it really felt good to be back.

It was Sunday so I was sure that John, my brother, was home. I struggled to carry all my bags inside but I managed to bring all of them up the second floor of the building. Some of my neighbors greeted when they saw me, happy to see that I was back. I stopped in front of the white door numbered 77 and dropped everything that I was carrying on the floor. I took a deep breath and knocked my knuckles against the wooden door. When it creaked open, my brother's eyes immediately widened when he saw me standing in front of him.

"Jane!"

He jumped at me. I almost lost my balance but I hugged him back, my smile immeasurable. We shared a tight hug for a moment before he let go and asked me, "Why are you here? I thought you're working."

"Well," I shrugged my shoulders. "Surprise."

John helped me to take all my things inside. My eyes immediately roamed around the entire place and I sighed as I saw the familar look of the interior of our small apartment. It's been two months since the last time I've been here and it felt good to be finally back home. And it felt good to see John again. I missed this little dork.

It was about 11 am and I was starving since I didn't have my breakfast before I leave the ranch. There was an omelet on the table that John cooked earlier but it was only good for one person so my brother decided to cook another one for me. I didn't even bother to change my clothes and right after the food was cooked, both of us sat on the table facing each other and ate.

"How were you while I was away?" I asked, cutting the egg with my fork and shoved a piece in my mouth.

"You're brother is all grown up, of course I was fine." He chuckled. "You should've told me you're coming, I could've prepared, y'know."

I just sighed. "It wasn't planned."

"So how long will you be staying? When are you going back---"

"I am not going back."

He stopped. He looked at me, his brows pulled together. "What? Why?"

I didn't speak. I didn't know how I would tell him but it seemed he's getting it.

"Are you telling me that you just lost your job?"

I nodded but I forced a smile. "Don't worry, I would just find another one."

John didn't answer. He just looked at me, at my swollen eyes, and it seemed that he knew that there was something wrong. My brother knew me enough and he probably felt that I wasn't okay so he didn't ask any more questions.

"How did you spend the money that I sent you last month?" I asked, trying to change the topic of the conversation. I sent him my salary for the first month of working at the ranch.

"I paid the rent," he replied. "And I bought groceries."

I nodded and smiled. Good kid.

"But there was a. ." He paused. "Problem."

"Hmm?" I looked at him. "What is it?"

"Dad came home about a couple of weeks ago. He took the rest of the money."

I literally dropped the fork that I was holding and it fell in a clank on my plate. "What?!"

My brother looked down. "I'm sorry, Jane. I couldn't do any---"

"Did he hurt you?"

He shook his head. "No. But he told me he would if I didn't give him the money."

I clenched my fists. That man. Why did he have to do this?

I stood up and hugged my brother.

"I'm sorry, Jane."

"Don't be. It's not your fault," I said. Good thing he didn't hurt him. We really should need to find another place to live so that man could no longer find us.

I sighed. I thought he already left Santa Maria. When will he ever stop bothering our lives?

I had some money with me---my last salary from the ranch---but I knew that this would only last us for less than a month. I didn't wanna waste time doing nothing so the next day, I already decided to start looking for a new job. Right after John left for school, I went out looking and applying for any job vacancy that I could find.

It wasn't easy. There were some opportunities in one of the agencies that I inquired in but the jobs were outside Santa Maria so I didn't apply. I didn't wanna leave my brother again after he told me that father came here while I was away. I was worried for his safety and I couldn't risk it.

I ended up being hired in a local fast food just few blocks away from our apartment a week later. The payment wasn't that high but I thought it was better than nothing. John and I would come out of our apartment together every morning and while he was headed for school, I would proceed to my working place. That had become our routine and we would see each other again later at home after my shift was over. I was happy to see that my brother had improved a lot after two months of being alone here in our apartment. Before, I used to have a hard time waking him up every morning for school but now, I'd wake up only to see him already facing the stove, cooking breakfast. My day off was during Saturdays and I'd spend it accepting cleaning and babysitting jobs from our neighbors and my brother would help me. He would babysit the next-door neighbor's kid while I was doing the laundry, or sometimes we would wash the car of Mrs. Allen---the landlady---to gain some extra cash.

Two weeks after leaving the ranch, everything had started going fine. Though it was exhausting, I was doing good with my job. I was starting a new life and I thought I'd already moved on but everything suddenly came back to me one day when my brother went home from school bringing something in his hand.

"Hey Jane, look," he said, smiling. "I got this from my classmate. Watcha think?"

It was a Michael Jackson poster.

I was preparing the foods on the table and I stopped when I saw it. I suddenly felt something on my chest when I saw those printed eyes on the paper, staring back at me.

"I'll put this next to David Bowie's poster in my room---"

"Get rid of that."

John looked at me as if he couldn't believe what I just said. "What?"

"I said get rid of it," I repeated in a low, expressionless voice. I continued on fixing the dining table. My brother had no idea where I worked before so he simply didn't know that he was holding the picture of my former boss.

"Why? It's cool," he said. "Don't you like Michael Jackson?"

I dropped the spoon on the table forcefully. "Can you just listen?! You're not putting that damn poster anywhere inside this house or I'm gonna rip that myself!"

John's face displayed a surprised expression when I raised my voice. He looked at me and didn't speak, and I suddenly realized my mistake.

"Sorry," I said, sighing. My hands were shaking and I looked down, refusing my brother's gaze. Immediately walked to the bathroom and locked myself inside, leaving him alone in the kitchen.

I washed my face and stared at myself in the mirror. I couldn't believe I just acted like that over a simple poster. I couldn't believe I just raised my voice at my brother when he didn't even have an idea about everything. My eyes started watering and I blinked numerous times to fight back the tears that were threatening to fall.

I sighed.

It was just a simple poster, but I couldn't believe it had affected me this way.