3 ~ Tattle. ~

Knock!

Knock!

Knock!

Hearing the sudden rapping on the plywood door, Jordan was jolted out of her recollection. She immediately stilled, not moving a muscle. Then she turned her head, glancing at her room door which was already slightly ajar.

'Crap. I won't be able to act like I'm not here or like I'm sleeping with the door like that. Might as well answer.'

"Jordan", the rapping on the door resumed.

'The voice sounded like Patricia... What does she want?'

"Jordan? You sleeping?" the voice asked.

"Gimme a sec", Jordan got up from the bed and took a quick glance at the mirror hanging on the wall at the foot of the bed.

'Hmm looks tired but still cute.'

She gave her hair a quick pat before walking to the door and pulling it open. Sure enough, it was Patricia.

"The light bill is here, do you wanna take a look at it now?" she inquired taking a slip of paper from her pocket.

Jordan nodded, "WhatsApp me a screenshot as usual."

"Hmm, all right. You'll tell Shani--..?"

"WhatsApp it to her", Jordan interrupted firmly staring into Patricia's eyes as she did so. Jordan knew that Patricia is aware of the tension between Shanique and herself but it seems like she refuses to acknowledge it. Willfully sticking her head in the sand.

"Anything else?" Jordan asked, she leaned against the door frame and looked at Patricia, an eyebrow quirked.

"No, that's it," Patricia replied, smiling slightly. She placed the slip of paper back into her pocket and made to leave.

"All right, thanks", Jordan straighten up. She returned the strained smile, backed into her room, and closed the door, firmly this time.

'Sighs ...'

'Shit.'

Jordan swiped a hand on her hair. Now that she had been rejected, again, she needed to start scouting more available jobs and she may need to lower her standards. Working a stable job sounded great in conversation but she was going to have to start looking at contract, part-time, anything that pays.

'These companies say the same shit. No choice but to send out my resume a couple more times and try again.'

Jordan was down but not disheartened, after all, this was not her first rodeo in the job-hunting arena and it definitely will not be her last.

She reached over to the small bedside table and grabbed her phone. It was currently 5 PM. She needed to be at work at 7 o'clock for the night shift. Shanique will also be home soon and she at least wanted to shower and change before then. Her bit of privacy will be non-existent upon their arrival. She will likely bring her girlfriends to sleep over again and she needed to do something about that.

She had thought about putting cockroaches in the bed but decided against it. Dead roaches do not scare anyone, least of all a girl used to doing her own thing and getting her own way. Jordan knew she needed to be strategic about making her roommate uncomfortable.

Ever since their first confrontation that Thursday night, silent battle lines had been drawn between the two girls. Jordan had tried to speak with her again in an attempt to get her point across regarding the lack of privacy that was further reduced by the presence of Shanique's girlfriends coupled with just how small the room was to accommodate three people but the other girl insisted on doing her own thing. The way she viewed it, she was also paying her rent just as Jordan was so she should be able to bring her friends and have them sleepover if need be.

That conversation ended in a stalemate and since then, they both began acting as though the other did not exist. Jordan in particular increased her hours at work and redoubled her efforts to find a job. She called up former colleagues, even her aunt who actually worked on the university campus. She comforted herself with the knowledge that her housemates were just starting out, they were all significantly younger than her. The house is student housing, not her final destination. Instead of wasting time on petty squabbles and fights, it was best to stay on code with her goals and ignore the noise.

After that, the girls were a constant fixture in the house. Patricia, Janelle, and Jared also brought their friends or significant others over at times which became quite chaotic as there is still one kitchen and one bathroom for a houseful of people. Though the house was made from concrete, the rooms were separated by thin sheets of plyboard. If a pin dropped, it did not go unnoticed. In addition, the utility bills increased but to Jordan's chagrin, they were still evenly split between the original occupants. The visitors did not contribute one dime, making her increasingly frustrated with the entire situation.

To make matters worse, one evening she arrived home early and walked into the room to see Shanique cuddled up on the bed with a guy, giggling coquettishly. She had never felt so disregarded, disrespected, and alone in her life. She vaguely remember him greeting her with, "Hi" before she quickly backed out of the room to sit in the living area. The emotions bubbled and seethed within and it took all she had to not run in and cussed her out. The added resentment and hatred she felt from that time, only grew as the days went by.

Heaving another sigh, Jordan took a quick shower and picked out a pair of dark jeans and a black tank top from the chest of drawers. Standing in front of the floor-length mirror, she dressed and

reached for her favorite anime hoodie, smiling to herself, toes curling into the mat at her bedside

as she saw the familiar words, "IT'S AN ANIME THING, YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND."

'People really wouldn't understand.'

She hummed as she smoothed down her waist-length box braids down on either side of her oval face, her large brown eyes smiling back at her in the mirror. She decided to leave the hair down, framing her face.

'Ugh! So cute.'

Daily affirmations of herself by herself afforded Jordan some confidence to tackle her present situation.

She then proceeded to fill in her brows with a brown eye pencil and added her nose ring. It was the night shift, she did not need to look or dress professionally, just needed to be covered. She surveyed her reflection in the mirror one last time before sitting on the bed to pull on her worn, chunky heel, ankle boots. Another favorite besides the hoodie.

Ding!

She glanced over to see a preview of a new message from Miss Jackie, the rent money was due in a few days. Not the reminder she needed.

Jordan pursed her lips. Jackie was all the way in Portmore and still managed to be an eyesore.

She picked up the phone and was about to write the usual response that she will transfer the funds when an idea came to her. It was time to regain some peace and quiet. She smirked as she calmly composed a text to her landlady. If there was one thing Jackie cared about, it was her money. She could be understanding if the rent was late because Jordan was a student but she would not pass up getting more money and Jordan had been there long enough to know that but that's a story for another time.

"Since they wanna shack up, they damn sure better pay rent!" Jordan laughed out loud. She then grabbed her backpack and headed out, locking the door behind her.

"Crap, my laptop is still on the table."

Realizing she almost forgot her device, she quickly reopened the door, walked to the bed, and grabbed the device.

She checked her phone, it was 6:30 PM. Time to go. ================================================================

Text to landlady:

"Hey, Ms. Jackie

I hope you doing good, I will transfer the money early on the due date.

By the way, to my knowledge, I'm supposed to have one roommate but I have three.

My roommate and her friends.

The light bill has also increased and I'm not sure that I can pay it in full this month.

This is just a reminder to collect your rent from them too and if they insist on staying, the bills need to be split."