Chapter 2 2

ONE MONTH AGO...

"You do not know anybody there, and you don't even have any money" Ana's mother screams on top of her voice.

Ana had always wanted to move to the city side of the country, away from her mother. She wanted to move so that she could make more earnings, and take better care of herself.

When her father left, her mother became very uncontrollable-bringing home different strangers to their house every night. Ana suddenly found herself hating everything, including her mother. And sometimes some of the men would want to assault her.

But as always, she managed just fine to escape them.

And since then, even when she was still very young, she was the one who paid most of their bills-because her mother would spend all her cash on weed and cocaine. Just last night, Ana discovered her savings had been tampered with by no other person than her mom.

No matter how hard Ana had tried to help her mother to at least take responsibility, her efforts failed every time. Right now, Ana is tired, enduring everything for years. It is for this reason that she wants to move out to the city side and struggle with life from there; so she won't have to deal with her mother anymore.

"Staying here with you, watching you bring home all these men every night, feels like I'm living in a shit hole ...it feels like I'm suffocating and, like I'm all alone" Ana yells back at her mother who is trying to grab Ana's hand.

"I don't even know you anymore Mom. I feel like I've never known you" Ana says as her eyes start becoming full of tears, but she sniffs and wipes them off immediately. She doesn't want to cry in front of her mother, she doesn't want the woman to know how much she's been affected. Not after all these years of endurance.

"I'm tired of your life. I'm tired of this life we are living. You stopped caring about your child. I guess this was why my father left. Because of your irresponsibility", Ana continues her lamentation and storms out of the room into her room to pack her bag.

Her mother's tears won't stop her from leaving, nobody can. Her mother follows her behind.

"I am your mother, and don't you dare talk to me like that. Okay?" The woman responded by pulling Ana by her hand. Because of respect and God, Ana won't push her mother to the fucking ground just as she's feeling right now.

"What do you want from me, huh? Do you think I don't care about you? Do you fucking know how I managed to keep us alive after your father left? Do you? Do you know exactly why your father left? Do you think it was because of me? And you stand there and talk to me about being tired. Do you know who's more tired?" Her mother says with a cracked voice as tears fall from her eyes...

"You know nothing about being tired," the woman says immediately and wipes off her eyes and nostrils.

Ana feels this temptation to sit down and hear why her father left, but she won't because she didn't plan to fall for her mother's prank "I don't care about all of that anymore," Ana says, pushing her mother's hand off hers. "Just look at yourself and how fast you are aging. Very soon, gray and white hair will take over your head. And it's all because of those drugs you are taking".

Her mother outrageously raises her hand to slap Ana, but she blocks it with her two hands.

"I'm no longer a child, mom. I'm a grown woman, and I'm leaving now because I say so. Okay?" she said, grabbing the cheap black leather bag in her drawer. She starts to put a few clothes she had inside the bag as quickly as she can. Her mother is just standing at the entrance with folded hands looking at her daughter packing up her belongings.

When Ana finishes up, she takes her purse from the bed, and turns around to leave.

"Are you just going to leave me like this?" the woman asks with a teary voice. But Ana is convinced that her mother is only trying to guilt-trip her into staying back. She ignores the woman and walks past her and towards the door not minding the woman's tone.

"Like father, like daughter," the woman screams out sarcastically. But, Ana is already out of the door.

"Yes, leave like your father" the woman still screams out even when Ana is already out of the house. Ana hears her mother but she ignores her voice.

Ana doesn't exactly have any plans. She doesn't know anyone in the city. She's just convinced that life will be better as long as she's out of her mother's grip. She has been waiting for so long to get the courage to stand up to her mother and now that she has, she's happy to have left.

Even as she boards the train, and till she gets off the train, she has absolutely no idea where exactly she wants to go. Her mom and father are the only people she knows in New York City.

She stops a taxi when she gets off the train.

"Please take me to the nearest cheap hotel" she tells the taxi driver.

"You don't look like you can afford hotels on this side of the state. Are you from around here?" The driver asks, observing her. Ana shakes her head.

"I'll take you to a motel" the driver offers and takes Ana to a motel where she pays to stay for two nights at least.

One day, Ana meets this lady at the mall who offers to pay for what she bought because she couldn't pay for the complete goods.

"Thank you very much" Ana says to the lady.

"You are welcome. Do you live around here?" The young lady asks and Ana shakes her head. The lady looks just about the same age as Ana.

"I'm actually new here," Ana replied.

"Oh! I'm Sloane, by the way," the lady says, stretching out her hand to Ana.

"Ana," she replies, taking the lady's hand.

"I live over there. What about you? We can be friends"

Ana is, of course, ashamed to say that she doesn't have a place to call home yet but she's happy to have someone treat her nicely.

**********

TO THE PRESENT....



Ana is sitting still on the desk with her right hand supporting her chin. She is exhausted from working because she has been working all morning since she is working more hours than usual today and also because Mr Green won't let her rest a bit.

She sighs to herself as she stretches her arms and her neck. One can hear the kram-kram sound of her bones.

"Young lady, what are you doing there sitting all pretty?" the short, healthy-looking mid-forty man asks with his pipe in his mouth. Ana is startled as she stumbles to her feet, trying to keep herself from falling.

"Nothing sir," she saunters.

"I thought so too. We have customers, woman" he says to her and lowers his eyes.

"Go on and attend to them fast. Come on, young lady" the man instructs.

Ana stands and follows him behind as he walks into the shop's counter. "See that table?" he asks, pointing ahead of them. Ana stretches her neck to see the table, then nods her head after a second of observation.

"Yes sir" she replies.

"Okay, go serve them," he tells her. Ana turns and leaves. "And behave your very best" he adds to her hearing and she nods her head repeatedly.

Ana wipes her face with her face towel before taking her jotter and pen and walks towards the table. She wonders who the men at the table are that Mr. Green has asked her to behave herself in front of them. After all, she's almost new in the cafe shop.

Are they regulars here? She asks herself on her way to get their orders.

"Good day sirs," Ana says to the men in her nicest of voice as she dips one hand into her apron front pocket.

"Why do you like this place so much?" One of the men, the one with brown hair, is asking the other man with him-the one with black hair. They don't respond to her greeting immediately, making Ana think they were rude.

Maybe because they are actually rude, she thinks to herself.

"Good day sirs, what would you like?" Ana asks again and waits for their response.

"Because they make the best coffee, or don't you think so? '' the black-haired man replies, still ignoring Ana.

Ana is getting impatient but she's trying to be cool.

"Sir, please let me take your order" she says, waving a hand in between the men.

"Oh, sorry. Get me the usual" the one with black hair says.

Ana is a bit confused, it's her first time serving them.

"Sorry sir, but what is the usual?" she asks politely.

"Are you new here? Do you not know us?" The black-haired man ask, looking up at her. The brown-haired man is silent throughout.

"Not exactly. I started working not too long ago, and I'm new to serving you guys," she replies.

"Obviously," the black-haired man says. "Americano," he adds and licks his lips.

"Flat white," the brown-haired man answers with a smile.

Ana looks at him, his smile is the most beautiful she has ever seen in her entire life and it makes her unknowingly smile too. She notices how very handsome the young men are as she scribbles their order in her note before walking away.

She admires how tailored-up the men are. Their cologne smells expensive, she could tell they are very rich.

'They must have a lot of money' she thinks to herself as she walks away to get their orders.

"She has a great ass," one of them says, and Ana hears him.

Normally, she would have gone back and punch the pervert in his face, as she doesn't like any man complimenting her in any way called sexy. She hates it so much.

And she hates this job too-having to walk around and attend to people you don't know and having to deal with rude customers sometimes. But this time, weirdly, she smiled at those words. She doesn't feel like she wants to punch the man who said that.

She walks into the counter and to the coffee-making machine. When the cups of coffee are ready, she takes them one after the other and puts them on a tray and goes back to the table.

On her way, she turns to see a little girl running inside the shop and hugging her mother. The woman kisses her daughter softly on the forehead.

Ana's heart aches in pain as she stops to watch the mother and daughter. She didn't mean to leave her mother or run away from her. If only the woman didn't turn out the way she did.

Ana still misses the days when they were happy, and her mother would come to school and pick her up. She misses her mother, the one who raised her...

"What is wrong with you?" someone's shout interrupts Ana's thoughts.