A FRAGILE PEACE

It was another morning, and I woke up jobless once again.

I sat at the dining table, staring through the window. For once, I felt like I could finally breathe.

The morning air drifted through the slightly open window, carrying the soft sound of birds singing in the trees. I smiled without even realizing it. For a few seconds, I forgot about the bills, the arguments, the interviews, and the terrible feeling that I was constantly disappointing everyone.

The view outside was so peaceful…

Almost too peaceful for a house like mine.

I pulled the sleeves of my hoodie over my hands and smiled to myself.

It had been a long time since I had felt this calm.

I had spent most of my adult life working tirelessly, jumping from one job to another, always trying to prove that I wasn't useless. Yet somehow, no matter how hard I tried, I always ended up back where I started.

Jobless.

Again.

And the worst part?

I knew exactly why finding a decent job was so difficult for me.

I never finished school.

It wasn't because I was stupid. It wasn't because I didn't want an education.

I was bullied.

Badly.

Back then, I had been the girl everyone thought they could push around. The insults started as jokes, then became a daily routine. They laughed at the way I dressed, the way I spoke, even the way I walked. I tried ignoring them, but it only got worse.

Eventually, I stopped going to school.

I told myself it was only temporary.

It wasn't.

I never went back and finished what I had started.

Years later, that decision followed me everywhere.

Every job application seemed to ask for qualifications I didn't have. Every interview ended with the same polite smile and the same rejection.

So I took whatever work I could find.

And because I had fewer options, I was always desperate to keep whatever job I managed to get.

Until, somehow, I lost it again.

I'm Jane Carlos. I'm twenty-four years old, my parents' first child.

I used to be smart, playful, and full of dreams.

Then life happened.

Again.

And again.

I had always blamed the people who bullied me for ruining that part of my life.

But I blamed one person more than all the others.

If I ever crossed paths with that monster again, I swore I would make him regret ever laying his eyes on me.

If I ever met that beast again, I would destroy him.

At least, that was what I told myself.

The sound of the refrigerator opening pulled me from my thoughts.

Maya, my younger sister, walked into the kitchen wearing her school uniform. She didn't even look at me before reaching for a bottle of juice.

“Sis, are you jobless again?” she asked casually.

I slowly turned in my chair.

“Ooh, I guess you know the pattern now.”

She poured herself a glass of juice and took a sip.

“What was your offense this time?” she asked, trying not to laugh.

“Hey, you better mind your business.”

I turned back toward the window.

“Mom has promised to disown you if you go jobless again, so—”

“Wait, what?”

I spun around.

“When did she say that?”

Maya shrugged.

“I don't know. She said it yesterday.”

I stared at her.

“I mean, it's not my fault I keep getting fired. I guess I have to disown her first before she disowns me.”

Maya burst out laughing.

“Wait… are you actually serious?”

“Serious about what?”

“Being fired?”

“Of course!” I said, throwing my hands into the air. “It's August, and I've already been fired five times this year. Why do you still look surprised?”

Maya shook her head.

“Hey, sis, you'd better not go broke. I'll need enough snack money from next week.”

I stared at her in disbelief.

“Wait. Is that all you care about?”

Before I could say anything else, she grabbed her school bag and ran toward the door, laughing as if she had just won the lottery.

“Come back here, you silly girl! I need to deal with you!”

She ran outside the gate without looking back.

I followed her to the entrance, but she was already halfway down the street.

I stood there watching her run to school, shaking my head.

Despite everything, I smiled.

My siblings were the sweetest people in the world.

They teased me constantly. They joked about my problems. Sometimes, they even made fun of my failures.

But somehow, they always knew how to make me smile when I needed it most.

I turned back toward the house and closed the gate.

“Sister, good morning.”

My younger brother walked into the compound, fully dressed for his internship.

“Don't tell me you're jobless again,” he said, dusting his shoes. “Mom won't let it slide this time.”

I frowned.

“Why do I feel like everyone is threatening me this morning?”

He smiled and slipped on his shoes.

“I'm not always the problem, you know?”

I waited for him to disagree.

He didn't.

Instead, he laughed.

“But you beat up your boss the last time.”

My mouth dropped open.

“He crossed a boundary!”

He quickly walked away as though he was afraid I might actually hit him too.

“Easy for you to say!” I shouted after him.

He turned around, grinned, and blew me a kiss before running toward the road.

I shook my head, laughing quietly.

For a few seconds, everything felt normal.

Almost peaceful.

Then I heard my name.

“Jane.”

My smile disappeared.

Oh, God.

My mother.

She had slowly become one of my enemies.

Ever since I messed up during high school, something between us had changed. The warm mother I remembered seemed to disappear, replaced by a woman who looked at me as though I had become a burden she regretted carrying.

She had been the one who stopped my schooling after the bullying became unbearable.

At first, I thought she was protecting me.

But as the years passed, I started wondering if she blamed me for what happened.

Maybe she saw me as the daughter who couldn't fight back.

The daughter who never finished school.

The daughter who couldn't seem to keep a job.

The daughter who was always one mistake away from becoming another problem she had to solve.

I still didn't understand why she had become so cold.

I only knew that whatever had happened back then, my mother had never truly forgiven me for it.

I took a breath and walked inside.

“Mom, you called me?”

“Yes, I did.”

She looked at me from across the room.

“Why are you still at home?”

I swallowed.

“I was fired. I—”

“You couldn't keep a little job?”

She cut me off before I could explain.

“Can't you see what your mates are doing out there? Why have you chosen to be useless? Why do you keep disgracing me?”

Her words hit harder than I wanted to admit.

“Wait, Mom…”

My voice shook.

“Am I a disgrace?”

She didn't hesitate.

“Yes, you are.”

I stared at her.

“Since I gave birth to you, nothing good has come out of you.”

There it was again.

The same sentence.

The sentence she had used so many times that I had almost started believing it myself.

“Mom, how could you say that to me?”

Tears filled my eyes.

“I work hard. I bring food into this house. I pay Maya's school fees. I pay Dad's hospital bills. I literally pay for almost everything here.

“What exactly do you want from me?”

My voice rose as the tears finally spilled over.

“What else am I supposed to do?”

She stared at me without saying anything.

I laughed bitterly through my tears.

“Should I sleep with my boss just to keep a job?”

I expected her to yell at me.

I expected her to tell me never to say something like that again.

Instead, she looked straight into my eyes.

“If that will make you useful to me, then do it.”

For a moment, I couldn't breathe.

I stared at her, waiting for a smile.

There wasn't one.

Maybe she had made a mistake.

Maybe she was angry.

Maybe she didn't mean it.

But her expression remained cold.

She meant every word.

Something inside me cracked.

I picked up my phone, slipped on my slippers, and walked toward the door.

I didn't know where I was going.

I only knew I couldn't stay there another second.

“You dare not walk out on me, Jane!”

I kept walking.

“Jane!”

I reached the gate.

“Don't you dare cross that gate!” she shouted angrily.

I stopped.

Slowly, I turned around.

My hands were trembling, but I wasn't afraid anymore.

For the first time in a long time, I was tired of being afraid of my own mother.

And somewhere in the back of my mind, a different thought surfaced.

Maybe losing this job wasn't the worst thing that could happen to me.

Maybe walking away was.

I looked directly into her eyes and shouted,

“Or else what?”

The words hung between us.

My mother stared at me in disbelief.

And for the first time, I wondered if walking out of that gate would change everything.