The next day after school Vanessa informed Jalissa that she wasn't going back to Winton Terrace.
"Are you for real? Van, my mother is going to be pissed! You just got lucky the last time-"
"So," she replied without bothering to look at her cousin. "I'm not going back." That morning her mother had informed her that while she was staying with aunt Callista, she was no longer allowed to go outside. It angered her that she was expected to be a prisoner again—but this time with a woman who treated her badly. She decided that if her mother cared she would stop doing her second job. If she cared she would tell her that there was no amount of money more important than her.
Jalissa stood there indecisively watching her cousin begin the long walk up to Garden Hilltop. Eventually she huffed and just went home.