One

★★VALERIE★★

"Good morning Mom" I greeted as mom walked into the kitchen

"Good morning Val, the moment I heard plates and pots, I knew you were the one" she commented

I smiled

" What if it was Annie?" I asked

"Can never be her awake this early on a Sunday morning plus making breakfast...I know my daughters well" she replied

"How did you sleep?" I asked her

"Well enough" she replied

"With all the bags under your eyes? I beg to disagree"

"What would you have me do? We have just two weeks to pay your dad's debts or we will be homeless"

I sighed

" To think that we assumed we were finally free from all these"

"I want to thank you specially my daughter, for carrying my cross with me all along, I know we'll figure this out someday and finally be free" Mom assured me

"I pray we do" I replied as I served her breakfast

«quick introduction of myself»

I am Valerie James, I'm twenty four. I lost my dad some months ago to lungs illness

I have a sixteen years old sister, Annie and yes she has the same illness as my dad. Thankfully it was discovered quite early so we have been managing it with meds till we have enough cash for lungs transplant.

My mom is the best thing that happened to us, she is more of an ideal mom to two wonderful girls

And yes, I don't have a degree, I had to stop after high school.

Now I know you want to know if I miss my dad? I think I do but, I'm happy he is no more near us and can no longer hurt us although we are not close to recovering from the scars he left before he died but I guess he can't do more harm now he is no more.

I do two jobs, one at a restaurant and another at a hotel. At least to support my Mom with everything.

Now I'm not complaining, I just wish my dad's debts were out of the picture so we can face raising money for Annie's transplant and living a simple life.

***

I came downstairs to Annie eating

"Has mom already left for work?" I asked her

"Yes"

"Okay, I'm going to work now, I have a night shift at the hotel so I won't be coming back till tomorrow morning" I informed her

"Alright, my meds are almost finished " Annie told me

Yea, Annie has a lung disease, she needs surgery but we can't afford that yet.. something about a lung transplant or so..

"Okie, if Mom doesn't get it when she returns drop me a text, I'll drop by the hospital on my way back tomorrow" I told her

"Thanks Val"

"Remember to drop me a text Annie, take care of yourself"

"Bye"

******

I walked down the road thinking about the situation my family is in..

My dad was a gambler, I don't know why my Mom stayed. She could have left.

He would cheat and still gamble, as a result, he lost his job

Money that was put in his care to pay a client, just because the client couldn't make it to the office that day, my dad gambled it away.

We had to sell our home to pay that debt and bail him from prison; The company decided they didn't want this kind of staff so they laid him off.

He could not lay his hands on any good job so he started doing menial jobs still nope, he wasted his little income on gambling. He went into debt due to this, my Mom had to suffer for this, she did her best to pay his debts but I guess her best wasn't enough.

Whenever he had money instead of supporting the family, he'll gamble it away or hook up with the next available lady

Then the government decided to run an empowerment scheme for poor families to learn a trade which included a zero percent interest loan to start up businesses after the training

I guess the government's intentions were pure, to eradicate citizens from poverty but it put my own family in a huge debt

My Dad was among those that got high loan amount due to credit history or something, he got a loan of five million with three years to pay

He started a business but then old habits never die...

And that's how five million went down the drain, Dad fell sick, he had lungs something something and it wasn't discovered early, we watched him die slowly and there was nothing we could do about it.

I thought we were finally free from all these but the government came knocking.

Apparently my Mom was very much aware of this loan and signed for it too, we had to pay 1.5 million by the end of the year which was just two months away

"Mom what are you saying?" I asked

"I thought he changed, he promised me he had" she sat on the chair looking dejected

"And you believed him??"

She said nothing

"You believed someone who has gambled all his life, from when I was old enough to know what's wrong and right you both have argued and fought because of this same thing and he made a mere promise to you and you believed, mom?"

"He was my husband, I should believe in him, trust him, support him" she stated

I scoffed

" I don't think you should trust someone like that no matter what's happening between you guys" I stated

"Valerie James!!!"

"What?"

"It is not right to speak ill about the dead " she informed

"And it's not right for the dead to put their family they never supported in a debt of freaking five million"

"He is your father and he supported!" She argued

"I can't believe this mom, that man was no Dad to me and what did he support with?"

Mom was silent

"No tell me, was it doing the dishes when he ran out of cash and was hungry, or picking Annie from school when he wanted to borrow money for his gambling? Wait, are we even talking about this? A Man is supposed to be the head, the breadwinner of his home but what was your husband?? You were the breadwinner, the head and even the neck"

"Val"

" I watched you break your back daily to fend for your family even when he had a good job"

"Valerie it's enough"

*

I snapped out of thoughts as water splashed me

I turned. The car was not even trying to stop so I picked a stone and threw at the car.

The glass cracked and the car finally stopped.

I know it is one of these rich spoilt st*pid id*ots

I walked towards the car as the driver came down

" Why did you howl a stone at the car? Do you know how much it's worth?"

I ignored him and walked to the car

I banged on it and the window was wind down and I saw him

The famous Chase Banks

"Can you afford to pay for the glass you just shattered?" He asked

How dare the b*stard?

"Can you afford to pay for my clothes you just ruined or even my job I might loose as a result of this?" I fired back

"I should have known, looking for cash and attention "

" Are you mad?" I asked him

"Miss, I advice you be very careful with your choice of words, you don't want to land yourself in trouble" he stated not looking at me

"Guess who'll be in trouble once I publish a video of myself like this and your car with your nameplate on it driving away?" I asked him

I was furious

"Here"

He threw some cash at me

"I demand an apology not your damn money, do you think...

"Drive"

I watched the car drive away as I was still speaking

What the freaking f*ck!!!

To think that he thinks I need his stupid money?

I looked at the money littered on the ground

I sighed as I bent down to pick them up.

My pride is actually hurt right now but no one is watching and I need to get Annie's meds.

I put the money into my bag as I looked around for a thrift store

I think, no.. I know I hate him so much now

To think I had a crush on him!

I loved what he shared with Nicole Wilson. They were everyone's dream couple.

I could safely say that Chase loved Nicole more than he did himself.

And then a week to their wedding the worst happened

Nicole died, she was on her way to the airport to pick up Chase who had gone on a business trip

A trailer failed brakes and crushed her and her driver beyond recognition..

News had it that she was on a call with him when it happened

Now he has changed my perception of him with this act, he should just pray we never cross paths again