No more lessons
"Get up! Why the hell are you still asleep by this time of the day?"Arianna felt a painful whack on her bum as she opened her eyes. She looked around the unfamiliar room, trying to remember the incidents of last night.
"Ouch my head" she sat up, her head pounded hard with an ache and her belly grumbled almost immediately.
She had fainted from exhaustion and hunger the night before. So, Vanessa hadn't listened to her pleas after all.
Why would a mother be so wicked?
"Mommy calls for you in the kitchen. Get up and go cook breakfast for us! I'm so hungry" Sophia, her rude cousin, glared at her as she commanded her.
"Are you blind or something? Can't you see my body full of sores all over? Don't you have hands to cook? Why should I cook for you? If you have nothing better to say, get the hell out!" Anger took over her.
It wasn't enough that she was almost raped last night and no one was ready to hear her story but now they wanted her to cook breakfast for them!
If that man hadn't come to her rescue what would have been her fate? They had all slept so well on their well-cushioned beds while she had to sleep on the cold granite floor in the attic! Only if her parents were alive, all these could never have happened.
The tears she tried so much to keep away the night before gathered in her sunken eyes as she choked on her words. "Are you even hu…man? Ta…ke a good lo..ok at your…self. So…phia ho…w can you.. li…ve with tor…ment…ting me every ti…me?" She struggled to get up.
Holding the way, she stood up face to face with Sophia. Her hair was disheveled, she had cracked lips and her face was a whole mess. Sophia sniffed around the room like she was perceiving a foul odour, then she sniffed Arianna's body
"Oh, it's you. Yuck! You reek of a putrid odour. I can barely stand the sight of you. I'll suggest you have your bath before coming to cook breakfast. You can't cook for me smelling like rotten egg. Eeeeew?" Sophia looked irritated.
"You had better hurry up for your sake before Mummy does what she's best at doing with you"She winked at her as a wicked smile grazed her face. Then she turned around to leave the room.
"Mama, Papa, please help your baby. I'm tired of all these" The tears rolled off her puffy cheeks uncontrollably. She immediately wiped them away and proceeded to go have her bath before she went to make breakfast.
Her jeans pants barely sized her anymore. She had to use a safety pin to hold it by the side. She had lost so much weight in the past one year and five months. She wondered how she would get them back. Arianna looked so skinny and her body was full of red marks.
Arianna hurried down the stairs as she heard Vanessa bellow her name for the umpteenth time. "Good morning" she greeted her uncle who sat at the dining table. The smell of fresh bread, eggs, and sausages made her stomach grumble in pain.
"Morning," her uncle replied without acknowledging her. Arianna walked into the kitchen with unsmiling eyes.
"Have you lost your manners or something? Can't you greet me?" Vanessa yelled at her as she entered the room without greeting her.
Arianna was still angry about the night before. "Good morning" she willed herself to say it despite the anger brewing in her.
"You have to clean this place up before you have breakfast. When you are done, go arrange Sophia's bedroom" Vanessa commanded. Arianna nodded, she didn't have the strength to speak.
"I am going to my classes. It is almost 3:30 pm" Arianna said by 3 pm after she had finished most of her chores. Vanessa acted like she didn't hear her speak.
So Arianna repeated it once more. "I said I am going to my class, please. I can't be late" Arianna said in a frustrating mellow tone. If Vanessa missed that, she surely wouldn't miss this.
Then Vanessa cleared her throat and turned fully to Arianna. She had been watching a movie on the tv screen.
"You didn't explain where you went yesterday, why you came back home late and who the man that dropped you was. Did you really think I would let it go just like that? What would that say of our family?"
Vanessa had thought hard about it. The car was an expensive one. She wondered if Arianna had found a rich boyfriend but she knew that there was no way she would get that out of the girl.
They both hated each other so much. So she resorted to doing something else. "But I tried to explain when…" Arianna argued. She didn't understand what Vanessa was trying to do.
"Shhhhh… I've been thinking about it" Vanessa smirked. Arianna knew that whatever was going to come out of her wouldn't be good at all. Vanessa prided herself in bullying her.
"You aren't going for those classes anymore until I see signs of remorse in you. After all, all you do is sleep around with boys. I can't afford to waste my money on your transport bills again. It's over. Go drop your bags and find something doing" Vanessa said as she stood up to go to her room.
"What!?" Arianna hadn't expected this bad turn of events. No! Vanessa couldn't take away her only sanity. What would she do in this house all day!? Her classes were the only few times she got to escape this house. Outside, she was free. Vanessa was doing this on purpose though. She knew.
"You heard me right my girl. You can go if you have money on you though. I really don't mind but you will get not even a dime from me" Vanessa released a wicked peal of laughter as she climbed up the stairs.
They had cut down her expenses to the barest minimum. The only way Arianna could have any money on her was if she stole it. Arianna's hateful words echoed after her.
"I hate you all! You all disgust me! Someday I will make you pay!" Arianna vowed with tears springing up to her eyes.