The Newbies
And here we are, I dragged in my old luggage into the compound, the agent never really tells me anything about the house, except it's a good place to live. There is a running water, hot or cold depends on how you want your shower, twenty four hour electricity, if you are willing to pay your bills, hood walls, tiled floors and all that. What he fail to tell me is that I would be sharing a bathroom with eighteen other girls, a mini kitchen outside the house, and I have to pay the old woman who comes every week to clean the house as others. I stared at the whole place, neat, if we can call it that. Three girls sit on a mat under the three, they are in the middle of a conversation when I arrived, they stop to stare at me, immediately they kicked off again as if I was transparent. Very well, starting my day making enemies. I wavedat their back, even if no one waved back. I assume they are threatened by my looks. Any one will, especially if Bridget is not with me, else no one will take a second glance at me. Yeah, that's my sister Bridget, she cam make any girl feel insignificant. Her looks can dwarf most girl's presence. Her smile alone could make you think the sun was made out of her white shinning teeth. Well, it's good gene. We were told that our grandmother was a model in her days but that beautiful gene passed a generation, my mother, and we recieved it. No one believes it if we tell them Rita Rhodes is our mom. We are always ready to read the disbelief plastered on their faces. Sometimes Aunty Rita as we most fondly call her, finds the situation annoying, until she stopped caring totally. I am what you can call melanin, brown with clear chocolate skin, tall and fine, if you like the sharp edges in a woman. Countless times I have tried going for a modelling audition but I don't have the confidence to face a crowd not to talk of exposing my features to the probing hands of strangers. I drag my luggage up the creaking stairs, I check the number on the key matching it to the door. I insert the key inside the door, turning the lock to open it. The door creaks as it opens. I stepped in, a host of cobwebs covers my face. I pulled back, close the door and sat down on my box. I picked up my phone to call Bree on video call. She picks on the first ring. That's my sister, her phone always on her finger tips.
She squeals, "oh Annie the big toe"
Yeah, Bridget could knife you with her tongue, I smiled. Daggers or not, I am relieved to talk to my sister, it's the only familiar thing around here, even though she is miles away.
"How is your day going Annie?"
"Not bad, I guess this is how first times look around here".
"Oh, Annie, I hope you are not homesick already, if you are you know we could always need a hand around here, Aunty Rita would estactic to have you home".
She knows I wouldn't come back even if my life depended on it, and Aunty Rita is the reason.
"No, its fine really, I am just getting to meet new friends, build relationships and all, besides the whole moving in takes it toll on me".
Bridget, paints her little toe with the baby pink paint. She love the colour so much, and it's fits perfectly her well trimmed fingers. Everything about Bridget is actually well sculpted, it seems the dear Lord took the whole day to perfectly sculpt her features.
"Guess what?"
"What?" I'm really not interested, I have a war room to clean.
"You know Matt? Dr. Fash's son?
"Bree, darling, could you come upstairs a minute?
That's mom, her voice descending the stairs, I really don't want to talk to her, after the heated argument we had before I left.
"Bree, I gotta go"
Bree, "wait Annie, I need to tell you"
"Just go answer mom, okay, I've got to go, I'll talk to you some other time"
I cuts the call before she could say anything, before she refuses to go, that's what she'll do. Even though Bree knew I don't want to talk to mom, she'll express herself before anybody.
I sighed deeply. Now I open the door with determination, I'll rather face this, than face Aunty Rita. With renewed energy, I stepper into my new abode.