Chapter 5

However, there was definitely a way for a pretty, broke, under-educated girl to earn twenty thousand dollars in a month.

☃︎⋆꙳•̩̩͙❅.ೃ*̩̩͙❆ ͙͛.ೃ࿔‧͙ ‧͙❆ ͙͛ ˚₊⋆.ೃ࿔‧͙❆ ͙͛⋆꙳•̩̩͙☃︎ 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓕𝓲𝓿𝓮 ☃︎⋆꙳•̩̩͙❅.ೃ*̩̩͙❆ ͙͛.ೃ࿔‧͙ ‧͙❆ ͙͛ ˚₊⋆.ೃ࿔‧͙❆ ͙͛⋆꙳•̩̩͙☃︎

"Thank you so much for everything, Ravon," Rajani told her boyfriend after planting a wet kiss on his neck, "Call me when you get home."

"You know I will. Alright, say hi to your father for me," Ravon replied. He hugged his girlfriend before kissing her lips and walking to his car.

Rajani exhaled with happiness and opened the front door of her house.

"Hello, Dad, I'm home!" she smiled.

Mr. Archarya was sitting on the living room couch smoking a cigarette when Rajani burst through the door. As soon as he heard the creak of the front door, he tried his best to hide the very thing that was killing him but unfortunately for him, the smoke floating around in the air refused to cooperate. 

Rajani's nostrils instantly wrinkled at the bitter scent of the smoke that had been dancing around the room for what seemed like a long time. Her heart sank into her feet when she realized that her father probably agreed for her and Ravon to go out together not because he cared about all the fun she would have, but because he cared about all the fun he would have smoking a cigarette. It was simply amazing how quickly she went from so happy and lovestruck to furious and frustrated.

Rajani's face turned red and her eyebrows furrowed. Her angry nostrils, furious that they had been stung by the sharp scent of smoke started to flare. Rajani knew that her father had been smoking while she was gone, and she was livid.

"Dad, what is wrong with you?" Rajani bellowed indignantly. "I thought that you were going to stay home and control yourself while I was gone but look at you!"

Mr. Archarya felt a tremendous amount of shame as he looked at his angrily screaming daughter. Even though he felt guilty, he never admitted to his faults. That was just how the Archarya's were, ashamed, but not enough to even whisper the tiniest words of contrition.

"Ooh, just look at your face! Your skin is paler than your damn eye whites but you have circles darker than a black hole under your eyes! When will you put that shit down?! Stop smoking!"

This was the first time Rajani had ever yelled a curse word to her father and she didn't like the feeling of it. It made her look like she was an angry mother disciplining her young son when in reality, the angry mother was the child and the son the father. Rajani hated yelling at her father and of course, her father hated it too, so he yelled right back at her.

"Who do you think you are yelling at me like that? God? How dare you even think about spewing cuss words from your mouth like a volcano?"

"Ugh! Just shut up!" Rajani shouted.

She stomped her foot on the ground, making a beautiful, polished plate on the living room table jump in fear. It was her father's favorite plate that he and his wife had purchased when the small family traveled to Japan during a happier time. Tears started to fall like heavy rain from her eye sockets as she experienced a painful thunderclap headache. She really looked under the weather (hah).

"I wouldn't be cussing you out if you didn't look like a crackhead!"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh yeah, keep saying 'excuse me,' but when will you give a valid excuse to me?"

Mr. Archarya stood up from his couch and glared at his daughter, wanting to throttle her. "Firstly, that comparison was terrible! Second, don't make me come over there and slap you into oblivion!"

"Why do you want to inflict pain on me? Will that make your pitiful situation any better? Are you sadistic or something? What-"

"I will give you a sadistic slap!"

"Touch me! If you try to do anything just be sure that I'll have my last laughs when you drop the soap in JAIL."

"God forbid! Why are you always thinking so negatively? And what does dropping the soap even mean?"

"You say that I'm always thinking negatively but who wouldn't with a father like you? You look like you have six missed calls from the Grim Reaper! You look old even though you're only-"

"Enough!" 

Mr. Archarya stomped his foot on the ground. The anger Rajani felt in her blood flared up like wildfire, spreading evenly like creamy peanut butter on bread at exponential rates throughout her entire body. Even her feet were furious. They so badly wanted to kick Mr. Archarya at sonic speed as if he were a soccer ball at the World Cup.

Rajani swiftly grabbed her father's favorite ceramic plate from the table and smashed it on the ground. It shattered into several pieces which made Rajani feel satisfied for ruining what seemed like just a plate, but it was only when Rajani saw the devastated look on her father's pale face that she realized she shattered a good memory, an amazing item to look at and reminisce better times. She had broken something that Mr. Archarya very well could've loved more than his cigarettes, she had broken his heart.

"Dad, wait! I'm so sorry!" Rajani cried after her father burst into tears. She ran to hug her father, who was tempted to push her away but just embraced her hug instead.

"Why would you do that? You know that plate reminds me of when your mother was still here!" he wept. "You know I can't help but to smoke! You yelling at me won't do anything about my situation! You've just made me want to smoke even more."

Rajani decided to shock her father by saying something unexpected. "Dad, I'm terribly sorry for everything I've said, and there is absolutely no excuse for my behavior. I was just... a little mad because you were smoking and that's what's ruining your life."

"A little mad?" Mr. Archarya replied, trying to get her to admit the entirety of her faults.

"Okay, really mad. I'm so sorry for everything I said."

Mr. Archarya pulled out of his daughter's tight hug. "It's okay, Rajani, just... leave me alone for now."

Rajani nodded and went to her room. She flopped on her bed and sighed deeply. Rajani was keenly aware that her father would start smoking again but there was nothing she could do about it. There was nothing she wanted to do about it. She had already tried her hardest to get him to put down his cigarettes but to no avail.

Now, she was tired of yelling and nothing was occupying her mind except raising enough money for her father's treatment, something that she would try her hardest to do.