Oh, God! It’s morning already, Kelly thought to herself, groaning inwardly. It seemed as if she had just laid her head down to rest five minutes ago instead of two hours ago. Her whole body ached and protested against the idea of getting up, but Kelly knew she had no other option. The phone beside her resumed its chiming signalling it was five minutes past five AM.
“Kelly, baby wake up” she heard her mother, Laura, say from the bedroom in a wheezing voice.
Her mother's voice was enough to get her up from the sofa.
“Good morning, mama, how are you feeling today?” Kelly asked brightly as she walked into the bedroom.
“I’m fine, baby, did you sleep well?” her mother asked.
“I would sacrifice your last born child for a few more hours of sleep” Kelly whined. Her mother looked at the still sleeping form of Marge on the bedroom floor, legs, and hands scattered in different directions and snoring loudly. Laura began laughing and soon enough, began coughing.
Kelly walked to the kitchen to get her a glass of water, wondering when the cough would subside. Her mother used to work as a cleaner in a manufacturing company to take care of Kelly and her sister Marge, and years of hard work and stress had finally taken its toll on her health. Kelly was just grateful that she’d completed high school before the illnesses began.
Now Kelly worked four jobs and did whatever she could to support her family. There was no time to further her education, that would have to wait until Marge graduated from High School and her mother got better.
“Wake Marge up in fifteen minutes Mum, I'm going to freshen up” Kelly said.
She headed to the kitchen to make a large mug of tea before taking a bath. Their home was not huge, but it was a cozy one-bedroom flat and at least it was theirs. A parting gift from their runaway father to their mother, who had no idea that he was planning to abandon her with two little girls. Ever since he'd disappeared, they hadn't seen or heard from him or about him.
Thirty minutes later, Kelly was ready for work and Marge was ready for school. They made small talk with their mother, who had moved to the living room to be with them. After a breakfast of cereal which Marge had refused to eat because she wanted pancakes and muffins, they headed to the door.
“Marge, wait outside for your sister” their mother said, signalling for Kelly to sit down. They went over the bills and Kelly nearly burst into tears at the total sum.
“Okay mum, I'll sort it out” she said sighing.
“Just do the important ones and leave the rest for later. I see how hard you work, and I’m proud of you and grateful for your efforts. Don't worry tomorrow…”
“Tomorrow will be better” Kelly finished the sentence with a smile.
It was her mother's mantra and if her mother believed in it, then who was she not to?
She rushed back outside to walk her sister to school, and Marge gave her the latest school gossip. Marge was a pretty social butterfly, she also wanted things that Kelly and her mother couldn't afford. Kelly was scared at the look she saw in her eyes sometimes when she caught her staring longingly at other girls' possessions.
They parted with a hug at the school gate and Kelly ran the remaining blocks to her first job. Her day was always the same from Mondays to Fridays.
- coffee shop morning shift : 6am to 12pm
- Typist job: 12pm to 2pm
- Nanny : 2pm to 6pm
- waitress at bar : 7pm until closing time.
Saturdays were spent doing other jobs like dog walking and cleaning to earn extra income, while Sundays were for house chores. She barely rested or had time for herself.
“Hello gorgeous” her coworker Tom greeted her.
“I know I'm late, sorry. I'll make it up to you” Kelly said.
“You can make it up by going on that date with me” Tom said looking ravishing as he smiled.
“Nice try, but nope” Kelly said, waving him aside to attend to a customer. Tom shook his head and went back to work with a smile. This was their usual routine for 3 years now and Tom hoped someday she’d say yes because he really liked Kelly.
Three months later...
Kelly was ecstatic as she walked home, she hummed to herself and practically danced her way home. She couldn't wait to share her news with her family. The better tomorrow her mum always talked about seemed to have finally come. Her mother seemed to be getting better, work tip was increasing, and now this fantastic news!
“Mum! Guess what?” Kelly said as she ran into the house. She found her mum sitting on the couch, wringing her hands and sniffing.
“Welcome, my darling girl. How was your day?” her mother asked, trying to look cheerful.
“Mum, are you okay? Is it your health? Why didn't anyone call me? Marge! Why didn't you call me?” Kelly asked worriedly, kneeling beside her mother.
“Kelly don't be dramatic, I'm fine” her mother replied.
“Thank goodness, so I have news for you. Where's Marge?” Kelly said, going into the bedroom to look for her sister.
“Umm, I’m afraid your sister has got herself into a bit of a mess” her mother said sadly.
“Mum, where is Marge?” Kelly asked patiently.
“Your sister was picked by the police for shoplifting with her friends. I got the call this evening, but I didn’t want to disturb you and I did not want to go there” her mother replied angrily.
Kelly stared open-mouthed in disbelief. Marge, shoplifting, police… God, her fears had come to pass. She placed her head on her mother's lap with a sigh.
“Mum, did you purposely not call me?” Kelly asked after a few minutes.
“Well, let's just say she needs to realize the consequences of her action” her mother replied.
Early the next morning, Kelly went to the police station to fetch her younger sister. Luckily for them, the owner of the store forgave Marge and her friends even after they confessed to stealing from the shop multiple times. Unsurprisingly, Marge's friends had pinned the whole thing on her as the mastermind, which was false, of course just to avoid getting in trouble with their parents.
“Kelly…” Marge said as they walked home.
“Don't say a word until we get home. I'm so disappointed” Kelly fumed.
As soon as they got home, Marge was instructed to go take a shower while Kelly returned to work.
“Late as usual, you keep promising to make it up to me, Kelly” Tom said, feigning anger.
“Don’t be such a big baby. Let's go out tonight…” Kelly replied.
Tom looked shocked but quickly recovered and hugged her, asking “Don't you have to work tonight?”
“Not anymore I'll tell you all about it later”
After her babysitting job, she headed home and was greeted at the door by Marge, who broke down in tears and began apologizing profusely.
“It’s okay my love, it's alright, please don't ever do that again” Kelly pleaded, crying and laughing.
“You're back early, Kelly” her mother said, surprised.
“Yes, and I guess it's time to share my good news then. A week ago, the lady I babysit for was impressed with how much her son improved academically since I started helping him with his assignments and reading” Kelly said.
“My intelligent girl, I wish you could go to college” her mother said sadly.
“Let me finish mum. So she was curious and wanted to know everything about me, I told her my story and she was sad. Before I left yesterday, she offered me a mouthwatering sum to tutor her son after school, and it means I can stop my bar job and typing job!” Kelly said as her mother and sister jumped and screamed for joy.
“The best part is that she wants me to go back to school and has promised to help financially!” Kelly screamed.
“Better days are here!” her sister screamed excitedly.
Between the waterworks, laughter, and planning that came after the good news, Kelly forgot about her outing with Tom until her phone rang.
“Oh shoot and now ladies if you'll excuse me, I've got a boy to meet” she said, winking.
Her sister shook her head and covered her face, while her mother began telling her about the importance of chastity and asking when she could meet the boy.
