Chapter 2

The dangerous rumbling of her stomach woke Jamie. She groaned in annoyance when her eyes popped open, and she was still at the exact place she had fallen asleep. Her neck felt stiff, and overall, she felt like shit.

She looked around as if expecting anyone besides her to be present, but with a disappointing frown, she realized she was still alone. She thought by now she would get used to being lonely, but deep down, she always prayed for some miracle that would finally pluck her out of this island she was sworn to.

Mumbling to herself, she dragged her feet to the rusty fridge that had just served as a food cabinet since it suddenly stopped working, and she didn't have the financial means to replace it. She opened it and once again was disappointed by its emptiness.

"What were you expecting to find when you didn't even put anything in there?" She whispered mockingly to herself. Her stomach churned again, and she physically hit it to stop it from embarrassing itself.

"That should do" she rolled her eyes and proceeded to her bedroom. As she walked into it, she caught sight of her appearance on the broken mirror, which served as the only furniture asides from her bed in the room.

She shuddered in disgust as she plucked out a dried crumb of cereal from the side of her mouth. She went closer to the mirror and sighed in sheer horror. She didn't think it was possible to look even poorer than she was, but somehow she managed to. She fought the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes as she took a long look at herself.

"What did I do to deserve all this?" She questioned herself pitifully. She looked around the room and noticed that, finally, her foster parent's mark had been erased from it.

Jamie didn't want to, but she couldn't stop herself from remembering what life was like before now. When she had been adopted from the orphanage at eighteen, she was so happy she was finally getting a family. She remembered how much she had vowed to be the very best daughter she could be.

At first, all was fine, but things became horrible when her foster mother took her in. While she was excited to get a younger sibling, her parents thought differently. One day, she woke to find the house empty.

They had upped and left her behind. She wandered around aimlessly for days after looking for them. Then finally came back home to wait. She couldn't accept that they had just left. It wasn't possible that they could do something so cruel to her, so she waited and waited, but as time went by, she finally realized it was over.

They were never coming back for her. Once again, she was left alone. The realization plunged her into the arms of depression. She had celebrated her twentieth birthday battling for her life.

Two years later, here she was, still not able to stand on her two feet and fend for herself. It wasn't like she hadn't tried, but every job she managed to get always ended up letting her off for ridiculous reasons. However, she was determined not to give up.

Waking up from her self-pity-inspired trip down memory lane, she decided to go out again and search for a job. She is damn tired of searching, but for future purposes, she has to get a job to earn a living.

She was halfway into the bathroom when she remembered her water supply had been cut off long ago since she couldn't afford the water bill. She closed her eyes tight and fought the rush of shame threatening to devour her.

With renewed determination, she fetched a bucket and ran to her neighbor's house. She knew the older woman would heap insults at her, but one thing she never did was turn her down. She braced herself once more and knocked on the door.

"Who is that threatening the peace of my home this early morning?" The older woman said, finally opening the door.

"Of course, it's you, silly child," she grumbled when she saw Jamie.

"Good morning, madam Beauchamp," Jamie said with the most comprehensive and brightest smile she could muster. The older woman was going to respond when she sighted the bucket in Jamie's arms.

"Not again!"

"Please, I promise this is the last time," Jamie begged.

"You've been saying that for over a year now. When is the last time?" She said stubbornly.

"I'm going out to look for a job today, and I have a feeling it is my lucky day" Jamie tried the positive approach, but the disapproving look on the older woman's face told her it wasn't going to work.

"Can't you just do this for me one last time?"

"Fine, but I won't be doing it for free," she said, snatching the bucket from Jamie's arms.

The smell of freshly baked apple tarts hit Jamie as the older woman opened her door wilder to fetch the water. This only caused her stomach to grumble violently.

"Now I have to feed you too?" She heard the older woman scream from inside. She immediately bit her lips in embarrassment. She couldn't believe her stomach's foolery had been heard from that distance.

"Well, don't just stand there. Come in and take your water," the older woman yelled again, and Jamie ran to her.

"I'm here," she announced with a smile that wasn't returned.

"Get your water, and take a piece of the tart as you leave. I hope you finally get a stable job so you can stop looking homeless," she added, never the one to be generous without some insult attached.

"You're the best, Madam Beauchamp!" Jamie threw herself into the arms of the mean woman.

"Get yourself off me. You stink," she said, wrestling herself away from Jamie's hold.

Jamie returned from the older woman's house with a bucket of water, some soap, and food. She smiled victoriously at herself.

Madam Beauchamp may be a mean old lady with a sharp tongue, but she was the sole reason she was still alive, and for that, she was eternally grateful for the woman.