Chapter 1: A suprise visit

"Pick up the phone" I whispered as I held the phone close to my ear, my hands trembling in fear as I watched them tear down my dad's restaurant, our family's only source of income.

I stared at the phone, my eyes blurry from the tears and my head hurting as a result of my yelling and screams.

"Take that, and that" I heard the man yell and I turned to look at him. He was asking one of the men to pick up our Gas cooker and I couldn't do anything to stop him.

They had taken every valuable property in the restaurant and the gas cooker was the last. Of all days this had to happen, it was the day I decided to come to store alone.

"Hey" I yelled as one of the men dragged the phone from my ear. I turned to look at the bastard that had dared to and without a second thought, I landed a blow on his cheek.

"What the f!ck" he looked shocked and enraged.

'You shouldn't have done that' my subconscious whispered but it was too late already as I had already done it.

I took my gaze to the door, as it was my best option at this point. I had to leave. Seems like the man read my thoughts because as soon as I turned to the direction of the door, he grabbed me harshly by my hair.

"Let go of me" I screamed in pain as I held his hand with a death grip, trying to release my hair from his grip. Tears clouded my vision and I thought I was going to pass away. The rest of the men just kept on doing whatever they were doing, as if my life or death didn't really matter to them. Well, what was I expecting from loan sharks?

"You had the guts to hit me? How dare you?" He yelled, his bad breath occupying my nostrils.

"Let the female go Dean" I heard one of the men say and at that point, I felt like kissing whoever it was. I could already feel my hair coming off my scalp. He still had a stern expression on his face even after he let me go. I could see he was not happy with letting me go scot free, but from the look of things, the man who had spoken earlier was their superior and he had to obey.

I breathed out in relief when he let go.

"We're done here, pack up and let's leave" He said to the man whom I have come to know as Dean.

I watched them leave with everything valuable we had in the restaurant, sobs racked my throat as I fell down on my knees, my whole body shaking as my sobs got louder by the second. They had taken my phone and so, I couldn't even call my parents to inform them of what had happened.

"Kayla, what happened here" I heard someone call and I didn't even need anyone to tell me who that was. It was my best friend Lydia.

"Hey" She said as she ran to my side, she knelt beside me on the floor,drawing me into her arms.

"They took everything" I said amidst the loud sobs. I repeated my words severally, as I couldn't bring myself to say any other thing. I was weak and tired, my body posture screaming raw pains. I stayed that way until I dozed off.

**********

"Here, take" Lydia said as she handed a cup of tea to me. I just woke up to see that she had swept the place, arranging the stuff that had been scattered around earlier by the men. I was lying on the bench, which could only mean she carried me here.

I took the cup from her, downing the contents of it in one go, not minding the burning sensation. I felt the pain from my lips to my tongue, down to my throat. But the pains I felt in my throat was nothing compared to the one in my heart.

"What happened here?" Lydia asked as she came to sit with me on the bench. My throat felt sore as the event came back to my vision, as if it was happening all over again.

"Dad was not feeling too well, so I opted to come help him out as I wasn't having any tests today and mum had to take care of him at the hospital" I started, tears flowing slowly but steadily out of my eyes.

"I was just about to start making food when these set of men barged into the restaurant, claiming my dad was owing them money and before I could understand what was happening, they were already tearing the place down" I recalled again and this time, my sobs became louder and my sobs uncontrollable.

"Hey, it's okay" Lydia tried to console me, drawing me into her arms.

"They took everything Lydia, everything. This place is everything we have, my tuition, our rent, it all comes from here" My sobs got loud again as I buried my face in my palms.

"It's okay, I think we should inform your parents about what happened" She said and I agreed with her. It was only right that I did, Because I had no clue of what to do next.

We left the restaurant after locking it up, even though there was no reason to, it was as good as empty.