Chapter 10

"What happened?" Skylar asked Melanie who smelled smoky and was covered in black dust. "I tried making fries" Melanie said. "Well you fried the house! Get it" Havana said but no one was in the mood for jokes. "No!" Skylar and Melanie said.

"Ma'am next time please don't leave a kid at home all by herself" One of the fire fighters said

"I understand sir" Havana responded, she was the oldest and was to be considered more responsible

"And um…why wasn't she in school" The fire fighter continued

"She…..was….sick. Yeah that's it sick!" Havana came up with an excuse

"I'll just let this one slide but if it repeats itself I'll contact the social services" The man said as he took notes

"No problem sir, she'll be in school once she gets better" Havana continued and Melanie gave her a side eye.

"I'll come to confirm it next week" The man continued.

"Ah! Oh, well…Okay!" Havana smiled at the man to avoid blowing her cover. The man gave her a suspicious glance and walked back to the fire truck. Havana could hear him say "A sick girl nearly burnt a kitchen to ashes…Pftt"

Once they were in Skylar and Havana confronted Melanie on the incident.

"I've told you, I was hungry and there was no cooked food so I tried making fries. It was very nice until I left the last batch on fire for too long" Melanie said.

"Now you've got to go to school before next week!" Havana said angrily

"I never made such promises to do so" Melanie replied.

"Do you want to live with someone else?" Skylar asked Melanie

"Well, no" Melanie said

"That settles it. We'll have to go school hunting tomorrow. Skylar you'll have only morning classes…can you take her?" Havana pleaded with her eyes, she just got a job and couldn't just take a leave on her second day.

"I don't know if I'll come back on time" Skylar shivered. Yes, she'll have only morning classes but if she probably runs into Taylor it is a 'Stay and be my maid' situation or a 'Run and be a bigger laughing stock' situation. Skylar remembered the time she stood up to Taylor and ran away from campus, when she came to college the next day a video was posted in the department's group that she raped Taylor. Skylar could easily tell that the person in the video was wearing a wig and the voice sounded nothing like hers. Due to that incident she repeated a semester and was suspended for a month although they didn't stop her scholarship.

"Is someone bullying you?" Melanie asked when she saw how Skylar reacted when Havana mentioned morning classes and figured she was getting bullied. Skylar broke down into tears at Melanie's words. Her hands and eyes still hurt from the level of research she did for Taylor but she couldn't afford to say no as her scholarship may be dissolved. Skylar explained to Havana and Melanie that she was being bullied by Taylor and told them all the scenarios that Taylor bullied her and what happened when she tried to stand up to her.

"Well I believe in karma and it'll repay her back" Havana said.

"Don't worry Skylar cause I know everything is going to be alright and we ARE going school hunting tomorrow" Melanie said confidently. Did she have an Idea? Of course!

**********

Early the next morning

"Since you were bored yesterday I've got something to keep your mind occupied. You are smart right?"

"I won't call myself the best but are you expecting me to say no?" Melanie stated matter-of-factly.

"Well since you're smart I'm sure you'll enjoy hacking…."

"You can hack! Cool!" Melanie said.

"I haven't gone that far in Hacking but I can teach you the basics" Havana explained. It was at this moment Skylar proceeded to leave for college and said goodbye to everyone.

"Can you teach me how to hack for an address?" Melanie asked.

"Yeah it's part of the basics but Melanie you can't use hacking to spy on someone. If you get caught you could be sent to jail!" Havana instructed.

"Oh I'm not spying on someone" Melanie said. "Let's begin"

************

Before Havana could teach Melanie finish and head to work it was very late.

"Could you drive any faster?" Havana asked the taxi driver.

"I'm driving my fastest ma'am. We'll be there in five minutes" The taxi driver said.

 "You're late!" Sheila, the sales manager said immediately Havana walked into the company building.

"I'm very sorry I was busy at home and lost track of time" Havana apologized as they walked to their office.

"Drop your bags and head to the conference room. Meeting starts in five minutes" Sheila said and proceeded to leave.

"Please hold on. I just joined this company yesterday. What am I going to say in a meeting?"

"I don't know but I know that if you don't come this company could be closed because according to the supposed government policy a sales manager must be present in a manufacturing company alongside his/her assistant. Now hurry the clients are waiting" Sheila said and left.

Havana sat in the conference room oblivious of what the topic of discussion was about. She had the record of yesterday with her alongside her phone. In case a question was directed to her and she doesn't know what to say she could chat up with the Sheila since Sheila was sitting on the other side of the table.

"Good day" Nolan started, "Everyone, Mr. Kent here wants to invest in the company…"

"I'll have to cut you off right there. I haven't agreed yet. I can see you have gotten an assistant sales manager (The position tags were placed in front of their seats). It's good to know that you're not violating the law again. Now, I want to know why I should invest in such a company. What is your plan if I invest? How do I gain from all this?" Mr. Kent said.

"But Sir I've already told you and showed you everything. You said I should call a meeting so you can confirm the legitimacy of my company with the number of staff" Nolan said.

"I know...but they won't just sit there doing nothing. I want to hear from your staff" Mr. Kent said

"The staff is the bedrock of all companies and just like you earlier stated they should know" One of Mr. Kent accomplices added.

One of the ... started talking and it was when Havana zoned out.

***************

Melanie practiced much on what Havana taught her and finally learnt how to track someone's address with the person's phone. She found her way to Skylar's college and went on to find Taylor. She got a little kid from the nearby street to help her accomplish her plan and paid the girl with some foodstuffs. "And….sent" Melanie said as she typed on the laptop Havana gave her. She then rushed home before the security guards would catch her.

*************

The meeting soon ended and Mr. Kent refused to sign the contract. "This is bad, our stocks are reducing, we need to add new products to the market and we have no resources. It's only a matter of time before it crashes!" Nolan spoke to the staff as Mr. Kent and his accomplice left. Havana had good persuasion skills so she volunteered to convince Mr. Kent and get the contract signed.

"What are you going to tell him you're just a newbie" The annoying lady that 'warned' her on her first day of work said.

"Are you planning on seducing him?" The lady continued

"Enough Angela! Havana this company is counting on you I'll send you his address. This meeting is dismissed" Nolan said and everyone dispersed.

"Whatever your plan is it better work. If it works you might be promoted" Sheila said to Havana. Havana nodded, she needed to get that man to sign the contract, her salary was counting on it.

************

Skylar skipped home happily, of course what happened to Taylor was bad but Boy karma can blow one's mind.

"Welcome back Aunt Skylar are we going school hunting now?"

"Yes we are Melanie" Skylar smiled and replied.

"You look very happy did anything happen in class today?"

"Oh Melanie, Karma happened! A video got leaked to the school officials that Taylor raped a minor. Not only that but drugs were found in Taylor's bag pack. Not just any drug but hard drugs. She was arrested and expelled. I'm sure her father can't rescue her from this one. Oh I love you Karma!" Skylar explained and walked away.

*************

Taylor sat in a cell as she stared at the wall. Her hair was all scattered, her eyes were red from crying and her wrists had red marks around them which were formed from her struggling free herself from the hand cuffs. Taylor's father knocked on the cell gate to get her attention.

"Dad you have to believe me I don't do drugs and I'm not gay to rape a girl of 6 years" Taylor cried as she talked to her dad.

"I believe you. The test we did shows that there's no drug in your blood but Priston College said they won't accept you back and you can't be released until after a week. There's nothing I can do about it" Taylor's dad said.

"Dad please try…"

"I can't lose my job because of you!" Taylor's father said and left.

"SKLAR!!!!!!!!!" Taylor screamed.