Chapter 28

I felt electricity run down my spine and I turned around to see the faces of my four pissed friends.

"Hey guys..." I beamed with a bright smile, trying to lighten the mood.

When that didn't work, my smile died down and I tried to play dumb.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, looking from face to face.

"Wrong? Is something wrong?!" Ginevra asked angrily and made for me before Grace pulled her back.

"Where have you been, Ophelia?" Grace asked, calmly.

Not wanting to put Anabelle in trouble, I replied dumbly. "Out." I smiled.

It was Arabella's turn to lose her cool.

"You think this is funny, don't you?" She stomped up to me, her expression livid. "Do you have any idea what would happen if it was Desmonda that saw you coming in this late, Do you?!"

I honestly had no idea, neither did I want to.

"How could you do something so stupid?" Arabella raised her arm to strike me but Rose held her hand.

I was grateful until I heard her say, "Let me." Then she whacked me painfully on my arm. I rubbed it to ease the stinging sensation.

"We have rules here!" Rose said.

"Forget the rules Rose, she had us worried sick. We thought something bad must have happened to you." Arabella said.

"At least leave a message or a note before you disappear for eight fucking hours!" Ginevra yelled, but her face softened.

I understood their anger, they were worried about me.

"Were you trying to run away?" Arabella was the first to pull me into her arms.

"No." I mumbled, my faced pressed into her shoulder.

"Then what happened?" Rose hugged me from behind.

"I lost track of time." I managed to say as they hugged the life out of me.

"Doing what exactly?" Ginevra chipped in.

Grace giggled. "We'll pound the information out of her tomorrow, she must be exhausted."

We were having a group hug and I hoped they realised I was blue in the face.

They led me up the stairs and into my room. They left after tucking me in comfortably, like four mothers who bore only one child.

I was so exhausted that I was in Dreamland before you could say Jack Robinson.

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October 29th, 2016.

I looked over my shoulder for the hundredth time to make sure no one was watching me. I would know if someone came down the stairs but still, I had to look over my shoulder to reassure myself.

Sure, there was freedom to eat whatever we wanted in the Piacere house but I didn't know of any rule that restricted people from taking food outside the house.

If such a rule existed, I wasn't going to get caught to find out the consequences.

Never leave leads at a crime scene, I remembered telling Luke. I wasn't about to do that now. I washed the pan and every other utensil I had used. Once I was done, I packed the containers inside brown bags and made for the front door before I remembered something important....Syrup.

I got an almost empty bottle down and prayed no one would notice, then I dashed out the front door.

I woke up this morning with nothing on my mind except Anabelle and her sisters. Their story touched my core and I made it my responsibility to help them live a comfortable life from now on. So, I showered, dressed in a tank top, running shorts and my sneakers. I slipped a note under Arabella's door, telling her I was going out for a morning run, then I went into the kitchen to borrow some ingredients I used to prepare food for the kids.

Okay, borrow was clearly not the right word, maybe poach or steal.

With my ear buds plugged into my ears, jamming some vibes, I looked like an early morning jogger except for the brown bags I clutched to my chest to hide them from the cameras.

I arrived at the row of flats and got to the second floor where I banged repeatedly on Anabelle's door.

No answer.

I checked the time on my phone, 7:11am. Those kids were supposed to be out of the house by now. I banged on the door some more and when I didn't get any answer, I began ringing the doorbell like a manic, drawing curious glances from passersby.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." I heard someone say behind the door.

Locks clicked and the door opened to reveal a sleep filled and disheveled hair Anabelle.

"Ophelia?" She tried to rub the sleep away from her eyes. "Why are you here so early?" She yawned wide and stretched. "What are those?" She asked, pointing to the bags I clutched to my chest.

"Food." I said, deciding to answer her last question.

"Food? You brought food?" She asked, a little alert now.

I sighed deeply. "Can I come in Anabelle?"

"Sorry." She moved out of the way.

I walked into the kitchen. Thankfully, it was still clean. I dropped the bags on the worktop and brought out the containers of food inside, they were still warm.

She stood beside me, staring at the things on the worktop.

"Anabelle?" I said calmly. "Its 7:15 and I believe your sisters aren't up yet. You don't want them to go late to school, do you?"

"No. I'll go wake them up." She left the kitchen.

Jessie walked into the kitchen a minute later, half asleep.

"Good morning, Ophelia." She pulled her glasses off to rub her heavy eyelids.

"Morning sweetheart, sleep well?"

She nodded.

"Alright, why don't you take a quick shower, get dressed and come back here for breakfast? I made pancakes."

"Really?" She beamed.

"Yes."

She scurried off in the direction of her room.

From the kitchen, I could hear muffled movements in the kids’ room. I heard Anabelle calling Aubrey but I couldn't hear any reply. I heard something that sounded like a book drop to the floor, then I heard Aubrey's piercing scream.

I got to the room and saw Aubrey curled on the bed, crying. Just one look at Anabelle and I knew that it wasn't a book I heard hitting the floor, it was Anabelle hitting Aubrey.

I sat on the bed and gathered Aubrey into my arms, cradling her.

"You shouldn't have done that Anabelle, you have to remember she's still a baby." I tried to keep my voice under control.

"Baby? She's not a baby, Ophelia!" She clutched her fist at her side.

I sighed. "Try to be gentle with her." Aubrey had calmed down a bit, she was sobbing and I rubbed her back soothingly.

"If you continue like this, you're to spoil her."

"You're right Anabelle but she needs a little pampering at least. Just think, if your mum were still alive how would she wake her?"

The silence was enough answer.

She stormed out of the room.

"Aubrey?"

"I don't want to go to school, Ophelia." She said but her words were muffled.

Jessie came out of the bathroom. "What's the matter? I heard Aubrey crying."

"It’s nothing, dear." I said. "Could you go get your clothes from Anabelle?"

She left the room and I whisked Aubrey to the bathroom in my arms, explaining the importance of school as I performed her daily routine.

We came out to see Jessie fully dressed, struggling to pass a comb through her hair. I dressed Aubrey up and made her sit in front of the vanity mirror so I could tend to her hair.

Just one look at the hair and I knew it lacked care and attention.

"Your sister has hair products, right?" I asked Jessie.

"Yes."

"Good. Now, I want you to go to her room and bring me everything you can find. I need a hair straightener, a curler and a can of hairspray."

She left the room and came back a few minutes later with the little hair products Anabelle had. I was already done with combing all the knots out of Aubrey's hair.

With the speed of a professional hairdresser, I had Aubrey's hair in a bun with a few curls framing her face in less than 10minutes.

"Wow!" She said touching her shiny hair. "Thank you, Ophelia." She hugged me.

She got off the chair.

I turned to Jessie. "Your turn."

"Me?" She asked unsure. "You want to do my hair?"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and smiled warmly. "Yes, I do."

She got on the chair and took off her glasses, so I wouldn't damage them. I styled her hair similar to Aubrey's but I trimmed her overgrown fringe and curled it to perfection, using tongs.

I helped them pack and carry their school bags to the kitchen.

I served the pancakes. While they ate, I packed the cold sandwiches I made into their bags.

"Where did you get the pancakes from?" Aubrey asked.

"I made them at my house and brought them over."

"Oh. I thought we were going to eat oats for breakfast. Will you bring pancakes over every day for breakfast?" She asked.

I swallowed, thinking of the consequences if I got caught. "I'll try." I said with a faltering smile.

My answer seemed to satisfy Aubrey.

"Can I have some more?" Aubrey held out her plate. "Please?"

I looked at what was left in the plate.

"Aubrey, what's left belongs to your sister and I'm not sure you want to get in her bad books by eating her breakfast after what happened this morning."

"No." She said, her features dropping and kept her plate back on the table.

"Don't worry, I'll make more next time."

"Okay."

Anabelle entered the kitchen, freshly showered.

"Alright girls, it's time for school." I said.

Jessie got off her chair and pulled her school bag on. When she was done, she helped Aubrey with hers and they headed out the door. Anabelle made no move to follow them.

"Won't you walk your sisters to school?" I asked, concerned.

She waved my question away. "They'll catch the bus; the bus stop is close by."

I felt for the girls. "Be careful!" I called out before they left the door."

Jessie gave me a small nod.

I gave Anabelle her share of pancakes and watched her eat. "What time do you resume work?"

"9 O’clock."

"Great! So, we have a couple of minutes to do some cleaning."

She didn't protest.

When she was done, I washed the plates while she brought out some cleaning products and equipment.

"Where do you want us to start?" She asked.

"Considering the fact that we don't have much time, I'll say your sisters' room because we've cleared some stuff."

We went into the room and got to work immediately.

"The room or the bathroom, which do you prefer?" I asked Anabelle.

"Scrubbing the walls and tub is better than moving stuff around to clean dust hidden in corners."

She said.

"Okay? So, I've got the room."

I opened the windows to air the room and let dust out as I vacuumed, or else I would choke in it.

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45 minutes later.

I clapped my hands as I stared at my work. After moving the beds back to their original position, the room was spotless, sparkling clean and everything was in order.

Anabelle opened the bathroom door. "Wow!" She said as she looked around the room then did a double take as she looked at me.

"What?" I asked confused.

"Nothing... It's just... You're covered in dust."

I looked at my reflection in the mirror and shrieked. My hair, my face, my clothes, talk about getting your hands dirty.

"I'm sorry." Anabelle said.

"Don't worry about it, I'll take a shower when I get back to the Piacere house."

"I just have 15 minutes to get to work."

"Alright, then."

We locked up and walked down to the street.

I stopped, when I got to the Piacere house. "When do your sisters come back from school."

"By 3:30 but they get to the ice cream shop by 4."

"Alright, I'll come over."

"Okay."

I waved her goodbye and walked into the house.

The house was very quiet when I got in. It was very odd because by this time, the girls were supposed to be in the kitchen making breakfast.

In the kitchen, only a few girls were moving about and I recognized Emilia at the cooker, chewing gum.

"Emilia? Where's Arabella and the others?" Emilia was the only one I could talk to apart from my friends because she wasn't exactly bitchty like the others.

"She went out with Ginevra, Rose and Grace. A client needed a few girls to play with. She would have picked you up too if you were at home, it’s just not your lucky day, he's a big spender." She said, stirring a pot of pasta. "Desmonda gave the rest of us the day off, so most of the girls went shopping."

I sighed deeply. Thank God I went out.

"Do you have any idea when they'll be back?" I asked.

"It depends on when he's ready to release them."

I gave her a brisk nod.

"What happened to you? You look like you just crawled out of a hundred-year-old cave."

"It's nothing, I just got a little dirty."

"If you say so." She said, implying that I wasn't telling the truth.

My daily activities were none of her business.

I grabbed a breakfast bar, left the kitchen and walked into my room.

I took a long, hot shower, washing all the dirt off my body.

After the shower, I looked for what to do in order to pass time till my friends came back, or till it was to go to the ice cream shop.

I did my dirty laundry and tidied my room, then I climbed my bed for a quick nap because I was exhausted.

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