Chapter 8 Sleepy Day

"Mom! I'm back. Did you eat your lunch I left for you?" I lock the door and take off my shoes. "Why are you always sitting in the dark?"

I see a piece of paper next to her. I pick it up and read it.

"A notice to leave this place?!" Apparently people complain that they feel insecure with a mentally ill woman living near them. I roll my eyes and look up.

Mrs Eilin must've complained to our landlord.

I sigh. She's still clinging onto that incident. She should let go of it already.

I tear the paper into shreds and crouch closer to mom who's sitting at a corner.

"Mom. You know I received my first ever salary today! I bought you some shortcakes as well. Let's go and enjoy them together."

Mom looks at me and starts to scream. I hug her and press her head closer to my chest. "Shh. Shh. I understand. She shouldn't have done it.."

I can feel her snots sticking on my uniform. She was crying!

"We still don't have enough money to rent another house right away. I know it's traumatising, right?" I pat her head. "There. There."

I stop patting her head upon hearing knocks on our door.

"Who it might be at this hour?" I stand up and trudge towards the door with my mom following after me.

"Yes?" I slightly open the door.

"Eeer. I hope I'm at the correct address. Does someone named Rosalyn live here?"

I glare, "What do you need her for?" I recognise his face.

He strokes the back of his head and hesitantly chuckles. "Ahaha. My name is Worock. I work in a restaurant nearby. You might not remember but I was the one responsible for your table then." He tries to glance at mom behind my back. "The lady appears to have left her purse behind. I'm here to return it." He shows me the purse. I snatch it from his hand.

"Thank you for safely returning it to me."

"Yo.. your welcome."

"Its dusk already." I push the door. "I think you should return to where you came from."

"Yes. Sorry for intruding for so long."

I close the door on his face and walk inside. "I'm glad he stole nothing from it. You should stay away from him, mom. He looks terribly suspicious."

She says nothing and trudges back inside the room.

Oh no! I'm late today!

I run with all my might and arrive late to my school.

"I'm sorry I'm late!" Crap! How embarrassing. My sleep tone hasn't gone yet. My uniform is also dishevelled and my hair is puffier. I'm in a complete mess!

I notice Ms Yana giving me that suspicious look. The rest of the class keeps staring at me. Oh no! I'm standing out a lot!

"Ye.. yes. Get in." Whatsoever she allows me to attend the class. We are only 4 days away from midterms after all.

Eclise at times glances at me swaying.

"Sain!" He whispers. "Don't fall asleep again. Stop swaying."

I don't understand what he's saying. I'm so sleepy.

I'm barely getting any sleep these days. My exams are coming closer and I still have a lot to catch up on. I need to go to my part time job and do all the housework.

"Don't sleep on counter Sain." Burn comes and smacks my back.

It startled me and now I'm wide awake. "I'm sorry."

"Why don't you go and take a break?"

I, with my eyes closed, smile at him. "Oh no. Its not necessary. My shift ends in a few anyway." I open my eyes. "And look I'm wide awake!"

"Yeah. You say that with bloodshot eyes. Good luck."

I lean against the counter. No. Seriously. After that smack I surely don't feel sleepy anymore.

"Yes. Please take those products to that counter ma'am."

The lady picks up the packets and walks from the pharmacy counter towards me.

"Sain?"

I glance up from the products. "Mrs Eilin?"

"Your eyebags have gotten rounder. Are you not getting enough sleep?"

"Thank you for worrying about me."

She looks down in regret. "Look. I'm sorry for what I did. I was genuinely worried about you.."

I continue to scan her products.

"And.. I got scared. So I'm sorry for asking to send that notice too. I was inconsiderate about you and your mother." She looks away. "Please forgive me."

I smile. "Don't worry. I understand your situation."

She smiles. "You really are a mature and decent boy despite your looks."

"Thank you."

She gives me the cash and picks up the packets. "I'll see you around then."

"Yes. Have a good day."

She leaves the store. Soon after I notice…

"I forgot to give her changes!"

Chaste smirks from the other counter. "You probably were sleeping again, weren't you?"

"Hang on I'll give it back to her." I stride outside the store. She hasn't gone very far and I bump into her. We both end up falling opposite to each other.

"Oww!"

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"What is it Sain?!"

I help her stand up. "please forgive my rudeness. I forgot to give you your changes back. I'm so sorry. Sorry. I'll pick them up for you."

She dusts her clothes. "Its alright. Stop panicking already."

I slouch to pick up her groceries and notice a familiar bottle. "Mrs Eilin takes calcium supplements?"

"Yes. I'm getting old after all. And my bones are killing me."

I pick up her bag and hand it to her. "Here's your groceries and your changes."

"Thanks. And be careful."

I smile. "Yes."

Tonight as usual, I lull my mom to sleep and lay out cushions and a mattress on the floor.

"She should be tight asleep by now." I lie down. I'm so much sleepy today. I might sleep a ton. I stretch my arm out of my blanket.

Ohh right. I can't get late tomorrow as well. I need to put on the alarm even earlier.

I set it on 5 am and black out.

The night is very comfortable.

[At around 3 in the midnight.

Rosalyn slides out of her blanket and tip toes. She quietly and sneakily pulls the keys underneath Sain's pillow. She tip toes to the entrance and grabs the keychains to prevent it from making jiggling noises. She inserts the keys and opens the door.

The moon shines brightly on her back as she stands in front of Eilin's house.

She glares at the door for a while and proceeds to knock.]