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A nearly healed broken rib, a still healing broken shin, faded bruises, and nearly healed cuts. Not to mention a bunch of stitches in my head, and a concussion. But at least I'm alive.
And that was the last time I had to face my dad. I think I should be celebrating right now by drinking a milkshake, but sadly I'm stuck at Mr. Rodriguez's home until my foot is all better.
According to him, I can't work with a broken leg and a concussion. Does that really matter though? I think I'm perfectly capable of working. And you know what? I am going to work.
To get myself in shape and to not turn into a lazy potato. I crawl out of my bed, wincing at the wounds on my knee. I begin to limp towards the front door, and grab my crutches. These things are the worst, I'm telling you.
I'm only using them because I don't want to increase my healing time. Imagine being babied by Mr and Mrs. Rodriguez for more than a few weeks. I could never. When I successfully clamber down their front staircase, I turn towards Mr. Rodriguez's store and hobble my way as fast as possible.
All I need to do is cross the street to get to his store. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Right? It is still daytime, which means that the worst that could happen is getting jumped. But I have these crutches. I can beat them up like a badass grandmother!
I begin to cross the street, maintaining caution. When I reach the other side, I push open the door to his little store and barge in. "I know what you're thinking, Mr. Rodriguez, and no! I do not want to be stuck in bed all day, waiting for my foot to heal and my brain to feel okay again. I want to work! Let me do some hard physical labor so that I don't grow out of shape with all the food you are feeding me! I want work!"
"You can run the register."
"I knew you would say that, but I refuse to leave until..." I blink. "You said that I can work?"
"You're not doing hard physical labor, but I'll let you run the register. I'm not paying you though."
"I don't want money. And yay! I get to work!" I grin at him from ear to ear, ignoring the fading pain in my jaw. Let's just assume that whenever I move, some part of me hurts. Because it does.
I stand behind the register, twirling my blonde hair as a pastime. Every now and then someone would stop by, asking for a vape or a bottle of alcohol. Rarely, someone would come and buy something decent like a bag of chips or something.
It's just about closing time when a few last minute customers walk in. Oh shit. I quickly hide my crutches from their sight, and pull my hair over the right side of my face to hide a still healing cut.
Their eyes are bloodshot red, as if they've been doing a shit load of drugs. "Bailey! You missed almost an entire month of school. Must have been because you were too drunk to even think."
My face turns red in embarrassment. I was hoping I'd forget about that soon... "What do you want?" I ask, my voice quiet and soft. It's best if I don't aggravate them like last time.
"Can you get us some lighters? And a pack of cigarettes."
"The lighters are right there," I point to a shelf nearby. "And I need to see your ID for cigarettes."
"Oh, they're not for us. They're for my brother, who's twenty two."
"Then I'll need to see him here." Dammit, why is doing everything the legal way so hard? I could have just handed them the cigarettes and called it a day, but then I'd have to hear Mr. Rodriguez get into some legal trouble for that and then he goes off yelling at me.
"Trust me, you wouldn't want to see him right now. He had eight shots just an hour ago."
Damn. I could just hand them the pack of cigarettes... No. What if she's lying? "I need to see him and his ID."
"Suit yourself. I'll just text him to come inside." She pulls out her phone and rapidly texts something into it. I start billing the lighter, just to save time when someone barges into the store.
I lift my head up, to see a man around twenty six or thirty. Or maybe twenty two, he just looks older than he's supposed to look. He slams something down on the table, causing me to flinch and my heart to start racing.
"Here's my fucking ID!" He shouts. I quickly pull out a pack of cigarettes and hand it to him.
I have half a mind to ask 'Cash or Card' but he sounds way too angry... If he don't pay that's not my problem, I can just pay Mr. Rodriguez from my savings. But if something bad happens again, then that'll be a bigger problem.
Maybe the concussion really did make me wiser. Wait till Mr. Rodriguez hears about this! In his gray bearded face! He takes the lighter and cigarette, and lights one instantly. When he's finally had a drag, he takes the time to look at me.
Bitch, just leave. No wants you here. Especially me. "You're hot, let's see that full face of yours..." His hands reach out for my face tucking the hair that I purposefully let hang in front of my face behind my ears. "Goddamn, bitch, the other half of your face is fucked up."
Hey! It's not that bad. It's just a really big cut... That's all. It's not like my plastic surgery got botched up. And at least I don't look older than I'm supposed to, unlike this man! He shrugs and walks out of the store, leaving just the few girls.
"Shit, what the fuck did you do to your face?"
"Nothing."
"Did you run into a pole in that drunken stupor of yours? Shit, did a car run you over?" With every new suggestion, her face gets brighter and brighter. The girl next to her whispers something in her ear, and her face gets as bright as ever. "Aw, your poor little thing. Did we make you drink the beer your dad wanted? Must have really ticked him off, huh?"
Stay quiet. Stay quiet. Don't say anything. Do. Not. Say. Anything.
"I just thought it was the school that hated you, but turns out your family feels the same way."
I wince at her comment, begging my eyes not to start sweating. I forbid you to start crying!
"You should just die."
There's the final straw. I grab her collar, pulling her towards me despite my broken ribs. "At least I'm not a low life who has nothing better to do than ruin people's lives."
"You fucking whore!" She shrieks, grabbing my hair, forcing me to crash into the counter. Do we have to go over the fact that every part of my hurts and she just agitated my ribs? Is that blood I taste in my mouth?
Damn them ribs! Just as I'm about to slap her, someone walks in. Great job, Bailey Willow! You are holding up such a professional demeanor that Mr. Rodriguez's business is going to boom.
No, literally. I might just burn it to ashes. I let go of her collar, snatching my hair out of her hands and handing this new customer a friendly smile.
Oh mama, this man's H. A. W. T. Now let's just hope he's decent. Because he's cute.
He's got a tan skin tone, with mesmerizing green eyes. Did I mention the tattoos all over him? He also looks like he's too proud to talk to people. Damn, that's a horrible personality, but also incredibly sexy.
Please be decent. Please be decent. Please be decent. Please be decent. Please be decent. Please be decent.
"Get me two packs of cigarettes and that bottle of Johnnie Walker. Here's my ID."
Never mind.
The girls that were just all fired up, quiet down and start smoothening their hair. Too bad he's not decent enough to return my smile. And he smokes, so that means his breath smells bad which means that he's a bad kisser which then means that it's not going to work out... Wait, Bailey, what the fuck?
I take a glance at his ID. "Adrian Black. That's a badass last name, dude." When I say his name, I hear one of the girls gasp. It's not that badass!
"Anyway, here's your cigarette and your alcohol. Now get the fuck out of my store and take those creatures with you."
He simply rolls his eyes and swaggers out of the store. Like a chick magnet, he does end up dragging those girls out of the store without even trying. Good riddance.
Well, at least it's closing time. I close the register, making sure everything is in order and walk over to Mr. Rodriguez's office to let him know I'm leaving. He usually calculates profits around this time and returns home an hour later afterward.
"Mr. Rodriguez, I'm going to go back to your home. Are you okay here alone?"
"You don't gotta worry about me. Be careful walking home, okay?"
"I will, thank you." I smile to myself at how kind Mr. Rodriguez is being to me. He's nicer to me than my own father, and that's saying something. He didn't let the loss of his son turn him into some cold monster. He's still facing everyday with a smile on his face, and that's very inspiring.
It inspires me to do the same. A reason to be sad is no reason to bring other people around you down.
I use my crutches, which are oh-so annoying to hobble out of the store, closing the door behind me. All I have to do is cross the street. Easy as fuck.
But my attention diverted somewhere else. There are about three black cars parked near the dumpster my dad found me around. I've never seen something like that around here before.
No, do not be tempted. Just walk across the street. It's as simple as that.
But that looks so interesting. They are black cars at night. What's the worst that could happen? Letting my temptation lead me, I approach the cars. But once I'm there I see the same person that came to the store for a smoke.
I can tell by his tattoos. There are two other people with him. One of them is a female, and the other one is a male.
"Just shoot the damn thing!" Adrian Black shouts. "Damn it, I'll do it myself," He mutters a few curses and returns to his car. When he reaches in he takes something in his hand, which is mostly likely a gun.
He storms back over to a hunched figure and shoots him with no regrets. Like the natural reaction most people have when they see someone being shot, I scream. "You shot him!"
And then he points the gun at me.
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a/n: well, there's that. mr. adrian black has made his entry while buying cigarettes and a drink. what a man.
that was sarcasm by the way.
anyway, did you like this chapter? it's 1877 words! #proud
and damn, i'm on fire! look at all these chicke- updates! do you like this new version of our baby, bailey? me too, me too.
but she's also slightly more stupid. who the fawk walks towards three black sus cars in the middle of the night, in the hood?
thank you for reading! make sure you vote and comment on this! love ya