Chapter 25

October 28th, 2016.

Every day, Arabella bought different flavours of ice cream during lunch time, they were so good Ginevra threatened to break into the shop at night and take everything. I just wanted the recipe for their cakes, maybe I would join Ginevra to break in and steal their recipe.

The treat was as addictive as cocaine. The girls traded almost half of their jewelries to Arabella so they could eat her tub.

This same addiction was the reason I was walking towards the shop at 4:11 pm to get myself a large tub of vanilla ice cream with almond nuts.

The house was very busy today Grace, Ginevra, Rose and Arabella were working, so no one had the chance for ice cream today. I had to go and get it by myself.

I walked into the shop and was hit by the smell of mouthwatering pastries. The ice cream shop was beautiful, white walls with different colour booths. It was fairly large and almost occupied to the brim as well. For a shop that opened up a few weeks ago they were doing well.

I made my way to the counter to order.

"Come on Anna, just give me a cup." A little girl talked to the person behind the counter.

"No." A familiar voice replied.

"Anna, please! I promise I'll be good."

"No, Aubrey."

Someone walked up to the counter and placed an order. In a couple of seconds, she scooped out different flavours into a bowl, added nuts and sprinkled some toppings on it. He paid and took his ice cream away.

"Anna! You gave him, why can't you give me a cup? Anna, please?"

She was crying now.

"Aubrey, you have to pay. You give me money, and I'll give you a cup."

The little girl put her hand into her pocket and came out with nothing. She cried harder. Another girl, a bit older, tried to comfort the crying girl but she would have none of it as she howled into the crook of her elbow. This scene was attracting a lot of attention from customers. An old man I figured was the owner came out to see the cause of the racket. The girl behind the counter was helpless. In a matter of seconds, they'd throw the two girls out.

Time to intervene.

"Hey sweetie, which one do you want?" I got down to the girl's level.

"That one." She pointed at the ice cream with sprinkles through the showcase.

"Okay." I got to my full height, "Give me two cups, I'll pay." I talked to the girl behind the counter.

"Thank you...Ophelia?" She looked surprised to see me.

"Hello, Anabelle."

"You know her, Anna?" The little girl asked.

"Yes, Aubrey."

I could never forget the incident that caused me to meet Anabelle for the first time. Well, it was a number of incidents.

--------------------------

May 31st, 2016.

"Oh my God!"

"It’s so beautiful!"

"Yeah, it's really pretty!"

Ginevra, Rose and Grace were gathered around me, cooing at my bracelet. They had come back from their excursion yesterday.

Right now, we were in the kitchen about to make breakfast.

Arabella attempted to touch the pearls but Ginevra slapped her hand away. "Don't! They're delicate!"

Arabella rolled her eyes. She picked up my arm and passed it around so they could have a better view. They were oohed and ahhed.

"Does anybody have an idea where this came from?" Arabella asked the group.

They shook their heads.

"Want to know?" She added.

They bobbed their heads like bubble necks.

"Okay, I'll tell. Ophelia here got this as a gift from that sexy, mouthwatering underboss of hers." She said in an absolute dream state.

It was my turn to roll my eyes. What kind of spell had Luke cast on these girls?

They giggled, nudged each other and raised their brows up and down at me suggestively.

"What did you do?" Ginevra nudged me in the ribs

"Yeah, tell us." Rose insisted, nudging me at the other side.

I didn't do anything. I opened my mouth to answer when Arabella cut me off.

"Apparently, some people are born with honeypots made out of pearls." She laughed, sharing the quiet joke with me. "Am I right, Ophelia?"

I blushed.

But Arabella hadn’t made that statement to embarrass me, no, not at all. She had said it to spite Carlotta who was sitting across us, observing our conversation.

I looked at Carlotta and couldn’t help evil smile that crawled up my face. 'Not only would he never tire of me, he would keep on buying me more expensive gifts.'

"Yes Arabella, you're right. Unlike some people who have theirs made out of rubbish, the difference will always be clear."

Everyone in the room knew who that statement was directed to. The girls burst out laughing and Arabella smiled.

Carlotta turned to stare daggers at me. She gripped her nail file so hard, she broke it and I had the distinct feeling that it would make her day to stab me in the eye with it.

"Carlotta, don't you have a gift this week?" Arabella asked with mock innocence.

She's evil! I laughed internally.

"I do, but I'm not going to flaunt it like some spoilt brat who has been given a new toy." Carlotta didn't take her eyes off me as she responded in her thick accent.

"But if you don't flaunt what you have like a spoilt kid, how do you show you have anything at all?" I responded. Though I didn't mention her name or look in her direction, she knew very well I was talking to her.

She reached out to claw at my face, I didn't blink as her first hand came just mere inches away from face. She set the second in motion when someone caught it and pulled her back.

"Break it up! What's wrong with you Carlotta? Why do you want to cause a fight?" The caretaker, a huge, bulky woman, said.

"Me?! She started it first!" Carlotta screamed.

The huge, nameless woman looked at me who was sitting calmly on the dinning table, then looked back at Carlotta. "Really?"

"She-I-" Carlotta tried to explain herself but it was all in vain.

"I don't want to hear it! Try something like this again, and you'll be assigned to toilet duty for a week, am I clear?" She cracked her knuckles for emphasis.

"Yes." She stood up from the table and looked at me with so much hatred, that I would melt if I was made out of plastic. "This. Isn't. Over!" She whispered through her teeth, when she walked past me to go upstairs.

What was the worst she could do?

The girls doubled over in laughter and each gave me a hi-five.

"I've never seen her so rattled up before." Rose commented.

"Yeah. Normally, she's the one that bullies other people. Always behaving like the Queen Bee of the house." Ginevra chipped in.

"You're the only one that has been able to stand up to her." Grace remarked.

"Alright, it’s time for breakfast!" Arabella pulled me off my chair and pushed me to the worktop.

"I'm in the mood to cerebrate, how 'bout we have flapjacks." I said, bringing out ingredients from the cupboards.

"Yay! Flapjacks! Flapjacks!" They chanted.

They were crazy but they're the closest things to friends in this dreary.

_________________

June 12th, 2016.

It was two weeks after the dining table incident, and none of the plans Carlotta plotted against me had worked.

First, she tried bleaching my clothes:

On that faithful day, I got the clothes I wanted to wash and put them in the machine. Then, I sat down and played criminal case on my phone.

Carlotta came into the laundry room, opened the machine to looked inside.

I was so engrossed in my game, I failed to notice she had emptied an entire bottle of bleach into the machine.

Ten minutes later, Arabella walked in with more clothes on her arm.

"Thank you so much for helping me wash my clothes today."

"No problem, Arabella." I said without looking at her, my eyes fixated on my phone screen.

"Where did you put them?"

I pointed to the lone washer at the far end of the wall.

She got to the washer, dropped her clothes on the floor, opened the lid...and screamed.

Half of the girls in the house came down to see what the commotion was about. I jumped up from my chair in fear and reached her in seconds.

If I had opened that machine instead of Arabella, I would have screamed too. It was horrible, all her expensive clothes were ruined, unredeemable.

"Who did this?" She asked me with tears in her eyes.

I was grateful she didn't pin it on me.

"Only Carlotta got close to that washer." Somebody whispered.

That was the next thing I was grateful for, that somebody had seen her open the washing machine. So, I had witnesses.

When the case got to the caretaker, Carlotta admitted her crime.

"Yeah, I poured the bleach. Only because I thought her clothes were inside." She pointed at me "It was simply a prank that went wrong. I'm sorry, Arabella." She said with mock sadness on her face.

"Sorry? You're sorry? How about you tell that to my clothes? I don't need your pathetic story concerning the incident, you're going to pay for them, every single one. I don't want substitutes, I want the same things, from the same designers."

Carlotta didn't argue. She agreed to pay the enormous sum Arabella asked for.

Arabella had the biggest smile on her face when I went shopping with her to replace the destroyed clothes. When I asked what was so funny, she replied saying it was serendipity. "The clothes were old anyway, and this is just a chance for me to get totally new things and change my wardrobe."

Oh.

She also bought me a leather purse. "If not for your little feud with that devil, I wouldn't have gotten these clothes."

But Carlotta didn't stop there, instead of bleaching my clothes again, this time she tried colouring them.

I had washed and dried my clothes the previous day, but I was too tired to iron them, so I packed up and decided to do it the next day.

When I got down to the laundry room, I was shocked. Surprise, surprise, today coincidentally, was the day all the other girls want to straighten out their clothes.

I looked around but I couldn't find any free clothes iron, except one but it was a little bit faulty. That's why no one used it unless it was an emergency. I sighed deeply, it would have to do.

I walked over, dropped my clothes on the ironing board and picked the iron, the same time another person grabbed it.

I looked up and found it was the caretaker.

I looked her up down, she was huge, then I looked at the iron.

I saw it first, I gripped it first, so I was entitled to use it first, right?

I could take her down in combat but I wouldn't escape with just scratches, I might injure a vital organ.

Was that really worth it? Losing an organ over a faulty iron?

Common sense kicked in. Besides, she was the caretaker, I didn't want to have any run ins with her that might lead to unnecessary consequences in the future.

I stepped aside and picked up my clothes. "You can use it, I'll wait until someone else is done."

She smiled. Not a kind or adorable one, no, it was one that clearly said, 'yeah, you better back Off or I'll crush your bones.'

Did she think I was scared of her? I only restrained myself because Luke told me not to make any trouble.

She plugged in the iron, spread her white cotton blouse and proceeded to use steam to iron it out. When she pressed the steam button, red smoke came out.

Red smoke?

She looked just as puzzled as I was. She lifted the iron and behold, her pretty white blouse was covered in red spots. I sniffed the air, it smelt like food colouring.

She turned the same shade as the spots on her dress.

"Who did this?!" She barked.

Everyone abandoned what they were doing and came to see what made the caretaker so angry. A few of them gasped when they saw the blouse, others whispered in low tones aware of who the culprit was.

"I SAID WHO DID THIS?!" She brought a fist down on the board and it broke into two. Some gasped, some screamed, others started shedding silent tears. I hardly moved a muscle.

"Carlotta." Someone whispered faintly. Even though the voice was so small, the caretaker heard it.

She sent someone to call her down.

"Let me guess, another prank gone wrong? You were expecting her to use the iron?" The caretaker pointed at me.

Everything made sense to me now. Carlotta had placed all the girls down here so I would have no other choice than to use the faulty clothes iron, which she had filled with food colouring. The plan had gone wrong when I stepped aside and let the caretaker use it.

In the end, Carlotta paid for the blouse and was assigned to toilet duty for a week. She washed everybody's bathroom but I didn't let her come into my room, who knew what she would do then?

After these failed attempts, one would have imagined that she would stop tormenting my life, she didn't.

Three days after the food colouring event, Arabella decided to cook breakfast for us, for a change. She had picked up a recipe from a cooking show or something.

Three hours and four failed attempts later, Arabella conceded defeat, admitting that cooking was not her thing. Leaving us to eat cereal, which we would have done THREE HOURS AGO!

She brought down lucky charms for Ginevra, Cocoa pops for Grace, fruit 'n' fiber for me.

"I'm sorry Rose, it seems we're out of your cereal." She took out the empty box and put it in the bin.

"Urgh...what's that smell?" Ginevra complained, waving away the foul-smelling air with her hand.

"I don’t know, but it smells like something died." Grace commented, covering her nose with her palm.

"Are you sure it’s not the aftermath of Arabella's cooking?" Rose asked, earning her a glare from Arabella and giggles from us.

I picked my box of cereal.

"Can I have yours? It’s the only one I can stomach." Rose asked, politely.

"Sure." I passed the box.

She bent the box to pour the contents and two big, dead, rotting rats fell out of the box, into Rose's bowl.

Now we knew where the smell was coming from.

Rose gagged, then threw up, so did the others. I just stared at the rats, still in shock.

It was absolutely clear who the culprit was.

Why would Carlotta go to such extreme lengths to make my life a living hell?

It was the same thought on my mind as I climbed up the stairs to get to my room.

I had unlocked my door and stepped inside when a sound caught my attention. I could hear Carlotta screaming at someone down the hall and I could hear banging on the wall.

Nothing she did was my business but I had put one foot inside when someone's broken cries for help caught my attention again.

I walked down the hall towards Carlotta's room.

"I told you to clean my room before I get back, didn't I? How long will it take you to do it? I've got a client coming in 15 minutes, do you expect me to entertain him in a dirty room? Do you?!"

Bang.

She had a maid by the hair and was repeatedly smashing the girl's head on the door, the wall, anything solid she could find.

When I got a glimpse of the girl's face, I was touched. She looked like she was sixteen, she had blood oozing out of her nose and the small cuts and scratches all over her face.

She collapsed on the floor, begging. But that didn't stop Carlotta from beating her to pulp with her fists.

Other girls opened their doors to see what the commotion was about. When they saw Carlotta beating up the young girl, they went back into their rooms like it was none of their business.

"You should be grateful, grateful you were employed here and allowed to clean my room you poor, dirty piece of trash."

"Trust me, she's not the trash." I spoke up.

"What did you say?" She looked up and narrowed her eyes when she saw it was me.

"I said she's not the trash, at least she doesn't go as low as selling her body to men to get a roof over her head and food to eat. She works for clean money honorably, unlike you."

She turned back to the girl. "You see that? I'm getting insulted by this tramp because of you." She banged the girl’s head on the wall again.

The girl cried out in pain, it broke my heart. And that's all it took for me to lash out at Carlotta.

"Let go of her!" I threw her off the girl.

"Why don't you mind your business?" She hissed.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" I spat.

She laughed bitterly. "You and I aren't on the same page, bitch. Never. Compare. Yourself. To. Me."

"Trust me whore, I. Wasn't. Comparing."

She set her hand in motion to slap me. I caught her wrist, bent her arm in an uncomfortable position behind her back and rammed her into the nearest the wall. "Don't think yourself better than anyone else. You're actually worse than them." I whispered in her ear, then I released her with so much force she fell on her face.

I went to the girl on the floor, she had passed out and needed medical attention fast.

Carlotta wasn't through with me yet, from the corner of my eyes I saw her rushing towards me, talons out.

In one swift move, I grabbed her by the throat and pressed her against the wall, it would make my day to just squeeze the life out of her, but I remembered the girl on the floor. I tossed her aside, she landed on her butt.

"You belong on the floor with the dirt, why don't you just stay there?!" I screamed.

Arabella was out of her room in a flash. "What's going on here?" She surveyed the situation and was surprised to see Carlotta on the floor, not me. Did I honestly look that fragile?

"Help me lift her, let's get her to my room." I picked the young girl under her arms, so Arabella could lift her legs.

"I promise you something, you'll regret the day you ever crossed my path! You'll pay for this! I'll make you suffer in the worst way I can!" Carlotta screamed after me.

"I'd love to see you try!" I shouted back, recalling her failed attempts.

"Ophelia!" Arabella called out, disapprovingly.

Carlotta lay on the floor cursing at me in Italian.

She could scream and wail all she wanted, she didn't have any proof we were in a scuffle. I was careful not to leave marks or break anything no matter how much I wanted to.

We got to my room. Arabella helped me lay the girl on my bed. I got to work immediately, I checked her cuts and opened her eyelids.

"Ophelia, are you crazy? Do you know what you did out there? You just declared war!"

"She has a concussion, I pray to God she doesn’t have a hemorrhage in her brain. Pass me the first aid box."

"Did you hear what I just sai-" she looked at me with wide eyes. "What did you just say? How'd you know?"

"First aid box, Arabella! We don't have much time!" She ran into my bathroom and brought out the first aid box.

I opened it.

No fucking gloves! I had to use my hands but they weren’t sterile.

"I need a bowl filled with warm water, antiseptic, and a towel."

She hurriedly brought those.

While she went out, I checked the girl’s breathing and pulse.

When Arabella came back, I started work, cleaning the girl up and praying to God she didn't die in my hands, there was no way to tell how bad the trauma was. Her pulse was weak and she was shivering, a fever underway.

I wrapped her up as best as I could, with the limited materials in my possession.

She looked so young, so innocent, too vulnerable to be working in a place like this. At her age, I was still under the protective wing of my father and Luke.

------------------------

Arabella walked in with a tray. "I figured you must be hungry, it’s almost four in the evening." She put the tray in my hands.

"Thank you, Arabella." But I wasn't hungry, I had lost my appetite. My heart was bleeding out for the young girl on my bed.

"Ginevra made it." She said, after noting my reluctance to eat.

"I'll eat later." I dropped it on my bedside table.

She sat beside me. "The girls wanted to come up but I'm not sure you're in the mood to see anyone so I didn't let them."

"Thank you."

"Yeah.” She was quiet for a while. “How Ophelia?

She was asking about my knowledge of first aid.

"I’m a trained paramedic, Arabella." When my father sent me off to London to study, we came to an agreement that I would study what he wanted full-time in the university, if I took part-time courses in what I wanted to do. I was too young and the part-time course required five years to complete, he got me in and had me finish the course in two years, and made sure I was fully certified, all without a peep from anyone.

"Seriously?" She squealed.

"Shh......you're going to wake her up!" I hissed and pointed to the sleeping girl on my bed.

"Sorry..." She put both hands over her mouth.

We watched the girl for a while. I occasionally went to check her pulse, there was no improvement.

Arabella looked at her watch. "I'm sorry Ophelia, I'd really love to stay but I've got someone coming over in a few minutes, I've got work to do and I have to prepare." She winked at me and left the room.

An hour later, when I was almost drifting off to sleep, the girl cried out.

"Mum! Dad!" Her arms were stretched out like she wanted to reach out to someone.

I rushed to her side immediately and pulled her close. Shhh, it's just me. It’s alright, I won't hurt you."

She opened her eyes and looked at me in confusion. "Where am I? My head!" She screamed in alarm.

No! Don't panic. You'll only activate your body's shut down mode, you'll pass out.

I pulled away, anything to calm her down. "Please calm down, don't pressure yourself, you'll only pass out again." I raised my hands in surrender.

She was crying, she touched the bandage on her head. "What happened to me?"

Dear Lord no, I wasn’t equipped to handle memory loss.

"You had a nasty blow to your head, remember?"

She closed her eyes to think for a while, when she opened them, they were filled with horror. She scrambled away from me in fear, she got off the bed but couldn't stand on her feet. She collapsed.

I caught her in time, head first so she wouldn't damage anything. I laid her on the bed again. "You had a concussion. Your head probably hurts, right?"

She gave me a small nod.

"I don't have the proper medication I'm supposed to give you, painkillers will have to do for now. But you'll have to eat something before you take them."

I picked the tray and passed it to her, the food now cold.

She looked at the food suspiciously.

I picked the spoon and ate out of the bowl. "I assure you, it’s not poisoned."

She put the spoon in her mouth, cautiously and relaxed when she didn't drop dead.

Though she tried to control herself in the presence of a stranger, I could tell she was really hungry, she wolfed down the stew like she hadn't eaten a good meal in days.

"What's your name?" I asked

"Anabelle." She replied.

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen." She replied curtly, indirectly telling me she didn't want to give out any personal information.

I leaned back and observed her.

When she was through, I gave her a couple of pills and a glass of water.

She couldn't look me in the eye, she started fidgeting with her threadbare uniform.

"You've given me food, water and medicine, what do you want in return? What do you want me to do for you?" She said, after a long time.

I raised an eyebrow. She looked young and innocent but something told me she had gone through a lot, and it had left her with a big bag of experience. What has she given up in return for something someone had provided her with?

I didn't waste my time telling her to believe in kindness because it didn't exist anymore. Everyone, no matter who they were, gave you something because they expected something from you in return. It was the simple logic of life.

"Nothing..." I replied.

She looked up hopefully.

"Just answers." I finished my statement.

She looked down again, fidgeting with her dress, biting her lip nervously.

"Why are you here, in a place like this?" I asked.

"The same reason as you, I came to work." She answered sharply.

Trying to be a smart ass, I smiled. two could play this game.

"You're too young to be working. What about your parents, do they let you work in a place like this?"

She looked up sharply, then looked back down but it was too late, I had already seen the tears.

"My parents.... My parents are dead." She tried to sound brave, wiping her eyes to stop the tears from falling.

Me and my big mouth.

"I'm sorry, I had no idea." I got up and moved to sit on the bed, unsure whether to comfort her or not, since I had caused her to cry.

Those words were all it took to open the floodgates. She cried and cried for a long time. I felt sorry for her, I rubbed comforting circles on her back.

"They died six months ago in a car accident while they were coming back from work. They got hit by a truck driver who had swerved into their lane after falling asleep on the wheel. They burned to death before the authorities could get to them.... Leaving us alone." She sobbed.

"Us?" I asked, puzzled.

"I have two sisters, Jessie and Aubrey is Jessie is 10, Aubrey is 6."

What the fuck?

"You shouldn't be working, you're not equipped to take care of two kids on your own, you're underaged, you and your sisters should be in the orphanage or in foster care at least."

"I know but I can't do it. If I let the authorities take them to an orphanage, we're going to get separated. I don't want to lose my sisters too, they're the only things I have left in this world and I'm the only one they look up to. I can't let them down. So, I'm paying the price now, I dropped out of school and I do anything to make sure we're able to survive. I am their legal guardian."

And to survive, she means to live from hand to mouth.

I didn't say anything, a sign I wanted her to continue.

"The owner of the place where we live, sympathized with us after our parent's death, he didn't turn us out and allowed us to live two months rent free. We passed our limit four months ago, he is threatening to throw us out if we don't pay up. If he does that, we have nowhere else to go." She cried into her hands.

"Restaurants, coffeeshops won't hire me. This is the only place I've managed to get employment and on my first day work, I mess up. I mess up really bad. I'm going to get fired."

No, you didn't mess up, you just fell into the wrong hands and you should have died if I hadn’t intervened.

"Its okay, don't cry. Its not your fault."

She didn't stop crying, I was touched. I knew that the maids were paid on a daily basis and Anabelle wouldn’t get today's wages, Carlotta would make sure. This probably meant that she and her sisters wouldn’t have anything to eat for today, or to save up to pay their rent. What about her head injury? She needed immediate medical attention.

I got up and opened my wardrobe, unzipped my box and rummaged through my things until I found what I was looking for. The bundles of money Luke had inconspicuously left for me, they were in the highest denominations of Euros.

I pulled half out of one bundle and added it to the other bundle.

"Here." I gave it to her when I got back to the bed.

Her eyes widened when she saw the cash, she was probably expecting a handkerchief or a box tissues.

"I- I can't take this." She pushed the cash forward, a sign she wanted me to take it back.

I raised an eyebrow. "Seriously, you don't need it?"

"I- I do.... but...."

I closed her palms on the bills. "Then don't return it. I don't want anything from you. I'm giving you out of kindness and maybe pity too. I don't know what it means to lose a loved one, especially a parent and I don't know what it takes to take care of younger ones, to have them look up to you, because I don't have siblings. Besides you’ve had a nasty blow to the head, countless times and you might be bleeding in your skull. I want you to go to the hospital and get your head checked. You don't want your sisters living on their own because you played with something you could prevent, do you?"

She shook her head from side to side furiously. She was definitely going to the hospital.

"Thank you."

"No need to thank me, Anabelle. If you need anything, don't hesitate to come to me, I'll help in any way I can."

"Thank you so much. May the good Lord bless you." She threw her hands around me.

I didn't expect that. I laughed. "You're welcome, Anabelle"

I looked out the window, it was already dark.

"Come on, you've got to go now. I don't want you walking on your own late at night, you still have to go to the hospital."

"Okay."

I held out a hand. She took it and we walked downstairs. A lot of girls were with their clients downstairs and it wasn't a pretty sight for a young girl to see. I saw her cast me a curious glance when we got to the lounge, probably wondering if I did the same thing, and if the money I had given to her was gotten from whorly acts.

I sighed deeply. There was nothing I could tell her to make her understand or believe me. So I kept quiet.

Suddenly, Anabelle whimpered and clung tightly to my arm.

I looked around to see the cause of her discomfort.

Carlotta was sitting on the lap of an old man, staring daggers at us. We would have to pass by her to get to the front door and it's very probable that she would try and attack Anabelle again because of the humiliation I gave to her.

I put Anabelle behind my back protectively, she would have to go through me first and I was more than ready to give her a piece of round two.

Either she got the message or she was just behaving properly in the presence of her client because she let us pass without any hassle.

"Do you need me to call a taxi?" I asked Anabelle when we were outside. "I'll pay."

"No, you've done enough. My house is just a couple of blocks down. I can walk, goodbye."

"Take good care of yourself and kid sisters." I waved.

"I will."

I turned to go back inside.

"Wait!"

"Yes, Anabelle?"

"I don't know your name."

"Ophelia."

"Ophelia...." She tested my name and gave me a big smile.

I watched her until she was out of my line of sight, then I walked back into the house.

Life was so cruel to innocent people.

I sighed deeply.

I didn't know if I was talking about Anabelle or if I was referring to myself.

----------------------

She gave Aubrey the cups, who stretched to take them and walked away.

"So that's your sister, Aubrey?"

"Yes. And that's Jessie." She pointed to the other girl with glasses seating with Aubrey eating my cup of ice cream!

My original plan was to buy only a cup for Aubrey, to save Anabelle from embarrassment. Now I had to buy another.

"Another cup, please." I told Anabelle.

I took the cup and paid.

I joined the girls in a pink booth, I sat beside Aubrey while Jessie sat opposite us.

Aubrey had the biggest smile on her face. "Thank you. I'm Aubrey and you are?" She held out a tiny hand pink hand.

"Ophelia." I shook her tiny hand.

She turned to her sister and talked about school. I was forgotten for most part of the conversation until Aubrey finished her cup of ice cream.

She looked at me with her big brown eyes, I couldn't say no. Now I know how Luke felt when I used the eyes on him. "Want another cup, sweetie?"

"Yes."

Her sister had finished her cup too. "What about you, sweetheart?"

"No, thank you." She said in a quiet voice.

Aubrey rolled her eyes at her sister. It was evident she wanted some more but she was just being courteous.

"Come on Jessie, you don't know the next time you'll get ice cream again." Her sister pushed.

"No Aubrey, I don't want another." She pushed her empty cup forward.

Aubrey turned to me expectantly. I gave her money for another cup.

While she went to get another cup, I kept busy with my phone, Jessie looked out the window.

Aubrey came back with another cup, strawberry flavour this time, with gummy bears.

It was 5:30pm now, Aubrey had finished her cup of ice cream and was interested in the game I was playing. Jessie was also interested so Aubrey made space for her. I gave the phone to Aubrey to play, occasionally assisting her when she made a wrong move or did not know which move to make. She and Jessie took turns playing.

Anabelle walked up to us. "Jessie, do your homework and help Aubrey with hers. I'll soon be done with my shift."

"What time does your shift end?" I asked.

"By Six."

I checked the time, not long now. I should stay, it’s not like I had anything to do in the Piacere house.

Jessie passed my phone to me and brought out her books from her bag. She helped Aubrey bring hers out too.

They must have come straight from school without going to the house first. Which meant they had missed lunch, poor kids. I was right, Anabelle was not equipped to take care of two kids on her own. They must be starving.

Jessie went through her arithmetic like it was ABC. Aubrey on the other hand, was having problem with hers. Jessie knew what to do but had trouble explaining the technique to her little sister. When she finally found a way, Aubrey refused, I repeat, refused to understand. In the end, Jessie lost her patience, she took the book from Aubrey and wrote the answers down herself. Aubrey smiled sweetly at her sister, having accomplished her mission.

She picked the next book. "Jessie?" She called out to her sister for help.

Jessie gave her a look. She got the message and turned to me.

"Ophelia?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I need help."

I dropped my phone on the table and gave Aubrey my undivided attention. "What's the matter Aubrey."

She pushed her book closer to me. The question read: Draw your family tree.

"That's simple Aubrey, let's have a sketch first."

I took a piece of paper that Jessie had discarded. "Let's start from the bottom. We have your sisters, Anabelle and Jessie, then we have you." I drew three circles and wrote their name within. "Then your mum and your dad." I drew a circle and a box, linked both with a small dash. Then I linked the circles at the bottom to the box and circle at the top. I left both blank for Aubrey to fill her parent's name within. "The circles are females while the boxes are males, okay? Now how many uncles do you have?"

I looked up when I didn't get a reply. "Aubrey?"

She looked lost. She turned to her sister. "Jessie, how many uncles do we have?"

Jessie just shrugged.

"Okay? What about aunts?" I asked

She shrugged again.

"Cousins?"

Same reply.

"Don't you have any other family members?" I asked Anabelle when she was done with her shift.

"No." Anabelle replied. She was off her uniform. "Not that I know of."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

She looked at her hands folded in her lap. "I don't know the full story, Ophelia but our parents had to leave their families for a reason...I think they eloped so they could be together." Her voice broke and she wiped a stray tear away.

"Don't cry, Anna..." Aubrey tried to comfort her sister. "...remember you said mum and dad are in heaven watching us."

Those words alone opened the floodgates. Jessie hugged her older sister but not to comfort her. I think she hugged her to hide her own tears.

Anabelle was a strong girl. After the death of her parents, she took it as her responsibility to take care of her sisters without anyone's help. Her parents, wherever they were must be proud of her.

I looked down at the family tree in front of me, I looked at the box and the circle. A minimum of sixteen years and three kids later, these girls were really on their own. Somehow, that revelation seemed to awaken something inside of me. I also didn’t know any of my uncles, aunts or cousins from my mother’s side. I was alone.

"Jessie, help Aubrey pack up, it's time to go home." Anabelle picked up our discarded cups and took them away.

Jessie packed her things, while I helped Aubrey put her things together.

The night shift staff were already working as we left the shop.

Anabelle held her sisters. It was a cool evening, slightly windy. Aubrey clung to her sister like glue, while Jessie used her free hand to press a scarf to her nose.

I stopped in front of the piacere house. "Well girls, this is my stop."

Aubrey held my hand. "Come home with us Ophelia, I want to show you my-"

"No, Aubrey." Her sister cut her off.

"But Anna-"

"I said no, Aubrey." She turned to me. "Thank you for your help earlier." She was referring to the ice cream incident.

She walked away pulling Aubrey with her. Aubrey turned back, puckered her face. She was about to cry.

It tugged my heart strings.

"Wait!" I called out.

They stopped, Aubrey looked hopeful.

"I'll walk you guys home. I really don't have anything doing."

"Yay!" Aubrey left her sister and clung to me.

Their apartment was just a few blocks down, like Anabelle told me. The complex was a large building, Anabelle and her sisters lived on the second floor.

Anabelle unlocked the door, ushered her sisters in and locked the door after I walked in.

The house was the way it should be without the care of parents, terribly untidy.

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