CHAPTER THREE: A HARD KNOCK LIFE

CHAPTER THREE: A HARD KNOCK LIFE

I could hear music coming from the apartment as I stood before the door inserting the keys. I smiled and looked down for that smile to turn into a frown when I say three white envelopes tucked under the welcome mat.

With a sigh, I bent over to gather up the bills, water bill, phone bill, light bill, and a reminder that rent was due. Sighing once more, I tucked them into my handbag and unlocked the door.

"I'm home" I announced as I removed my coat, gloves, and shoes. There sitting in the living room was my grandmother, she looked up and smiled at me and for some reason seeing her warm face, all my troubles melted away.

I moved to the kitchen to put unpack the grocery bags and put away the items that I purchased, all the while examining the apartment to take note of anything out of the ordinary.

When my parents died, my grandmother was given custody of us since she was our closest relative and our parents made her our legal guardian. My parents left a small sum of money that my grandmother used to take care of us while she did minor jobs here and there.

However, the house we lived in was still owned by the bank since my parents took out a loan to be able to purchase the house and hadn't finished paying for it. My grandmother had to pay a mortgage in addition to the bills and ensuring that we had food to eat. Additionally, she had to pay my sister and I's medical bills and provide us with the necessary medication to aid in our recovery.

It took me over a year to fully recover, I was lucky that my body was able to return its full function. Other than the occasional headaches and some scars, I received no permanent injuries, my sister, on the other hand, was not as lucky.

The accident took from my sister her vision and left her with constant seizures.

The money that my parents left ran out eventually and we began to struggle. I got my first job at the age of eighteen, a fresh face and inexperienced teen fresh out of high school.

It wasn't long before we lost the house and had to move into this one-bedroom apartment all the way across town, in a completely different environment from which we grew up.

"How was your day grandma?" I asked as I made to heat up the dinner she left for me.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" she replied, I heard a paper shuffle and I knew that she must have put down the magazine that she was reading. "You look exhausted"

I felt exhausted, the cold had seeped into my bones and now my joints ached. My back ached from bending down all during the day and my feet hurt from running around in the diner. For some reason, today seemed to be much busier than usual and customers seemed much ruder than usual. To top it all off, I had four bills that I needed to check and much calculation to make to ensure that I budgeted appropriately. However, I dare not say this to her and have her worry.

"I am a little tired, Mr. Smart had us doing double time at the diner today" I grabbed my plate and moved to the living room and sank into the old but comfortable couch. Immediately I could feel the tension leave my body and I sighed. "Did you or Val give Mrs. Fanti a hard time today?"

"I never give Mrs. Fanti a hard time" She replied and I could hear the stubbornness in her voice. Grandma insisted that I didn't need to pay a nurse to look at her during the day and that she was capable of looking after Valeria while Franz and I were away at work.

Scoffing, I replied "Of course you don't" I grabbed my bottle of water and took a sip "What time did Franz say that he would be back from work?"

"Around 12:00" Looking at the time I saw that it was 11:30 and nodded before finishing up my meal. It was time for my grandmother to take her nighttime medication and to prepare for bed.

I moved to the kitchen and cleaned up after myself before I went to help her up. About three years ago she suffered a stroke that paralyzed the right side of her body. It was difficult for her to walk or climb stairs and it required that someone bathe and change her.

When I had her in the bed and had given her, her medication, I went to check on my sister who was sound asleep on the bed across the room. The bedroom was very large and could be split into three. I allowed them to sleep in there, Val and grandmother had single beds that I was able to save and buy from a flea market while Franz slept on a mattress on the floor.

When I was satisfied that they were well, I grabbed some clothing from the cupboard and took a bath. Because of our irregular schedules, we never ran out of hot water which was a blessing during the winter season.

By 12:30 I was seated on the couch and my makeshift bed with the bills and the little exercise book that Franz and I used to do our budgeting with spread out in front of me.

The light bill came up to two hundred dollars, the phone bill was only fifty dollars while the water bill ran up to three hundred dollars. The rent for the month was fifteen hundred dollars. I calculated Valeria and grandma's medical bills for the month and almost cried when they amounted to thirty-five hundred dollars.

The restaurant pays me seven hundred dollars a week, the people whose house I clean pays me seven hundred at the end of the week. The diner pays me two hundred and fifty dollars for the two days and the nightclub pays me only two hundred for the two nights.

Franz only got a merger four hundred dollars from his part-time job and he couldn't afford to worry about these bills. This was my responsibility; I wanted him to complete college so that he could have a better life.

I sunk to the chair, my head resting on the back, I closed my eyes and a sole tear slid down my cheek.

This was a hard knock life that I lived in.