Chapter 2

Genesis's POV

The numbers seem to be increasing instead of reducing. I've been sitting at this table making calculations and deductions from my salary to gradually offset my student loans as well as my mother's gambling debt. I watch as my entire salary goes into settling bills and it doesn't even cause a dent to the outstanding bills. I don't even have much left for groceries this week and we're out of it already. I facepalm myself as I sense a brewing headache. I know I can't continue this way. I need a job with good pay. I graduated last year from the University and it's been difficult securing a good job. Most companies are downsizing and can barely afford to pay their current employees, let alone hire new ones.

I'm currently working three jobs but the pay is way too small. It barely sustains me for a week after I have made the necessary monthly deductions. I have sent out my résumé to various companies. Some have returned in the negative while others are yet to give a response. I close the book and place it in the drawer. I walk into the small kitchen of our trailer to grab water and find some Advil for my throbbing headache. My mum walks in that same minute. Drunk as usual. I open the first cabinet and luckily, I find some Advil in there. I grab it and pop the pills into my mouth, washing it down with water.

“You weren't home last night” I turn to my mother. She looks tired and worn out but she wouldn't stop drinking and gambling.

“I spent the night at a friend's place” she manages to say, leaning against the wall.

“The gambling parlour you mean” I give her a look of disdain. She avoids my eyes and I stroll past her into the small bedroom. I really do not have the energy to deal with my mother today. Not when I'm thinking of ways to offset our bills and secure a well paying job. I plop down on the bed and place my phone beside me. I rest my head on the pillow. My eyes are half way closed when my mum walks into the room. I sigh inwardly thinking of ways to get rid of her already. I don't want to deal with her right now. I just want to sleep.

“I need fifty dollars, Genesis. I need to pay up my debt. This is the last time I promise” her voice comes out and I subtly roll my eyes. I pretend like I can't hear her, hoping she would leave but she doesn't.

“Genesis. I know you can hear me clearly. I need the money urgently” she persists. I groan and sit up.

“Where do you expect me to get the money from? I don't have any money to spare” I say in a firm voice.

“Oh c’mon, Genesis. I know this is salary week and you must've been paid already” she says, taking a step closer to me. I almost laugh. That's probably the only thing she remembers pertaining to me because it has to do with money. She doesn't even remember my birthday anymore. I think the last time she wished me a happy birthday was when I was four or five. I practically groomed myself from that age. My mum was never around. She was always off somewhere with one of her multiple boyfriends or with her shameless friends in a gambling parlour. I was left all by myself for the most part of my life despite having a mum.

I never knew my dad. She says he could be one of her many lovers from way back. She wasn't even certain. I had to grow up fast and did things kids my age weren't allowed to do. I cooked, cleaned and looked after myself. I survived on the profits from the menial jobs I secured. I graduated high school a year late because I had to drop off at some point to work and earn money. I eventually graduated and got accepted into the University. Knowing where I come from, I was determined to make something better out of my life and never become my mother.

So, I scaled through uni with student loans and part-time jobs. All I need right now is to secure a good job, offset my debt, then save and invest towards my future. My mum on the other hand makes everything worse. With her daily accumulating gambling debts which I have to pay up from my meager salary, there's little to no way we can keep surviving this way. I have been angry at my mother for a long time now but there's no point to that. It doesn't pay the bills so I try as much as I can to avoid her.

“Of course you know it's salary week. And yes, I’ve been paid. But guess where all the money went? Paying off my student loans and Your series of gambling debts you keep heaping on my head” I almost yell.

“Like I said, this is the last time. I'm gonna get a job and pay you back every cent you've spent on me. I just need fifty dollars. You don't want them harassing me, do you?” she says cautiously.

“Well, you should have thought about that before going into debt you can't pay for” I state.

“That's enough, Genesis. It's only fifty dollars I'm asking for. Stop acting like I asked for a million bucks. Go out there and see what girls your age are doing for their mothers. I have one here and all she does is complain and vent” she says angrily.

I stare at her without saying a word. I expected nothing less. My mum is one to milk you dry just to sort herself out. “I really don't have time for this” I say, lying back down.

“You're one sorry excuse of a daughter. I wonder why I chose to keep you in the first place. I would have flushed you out like I did the ones before you” she says and storms out angrily.

I close my eyes for a second. This is not the first time she has said words like that to me. They don't get to me anymore. I've heard them more times than I could count over the years. Before, I would bawl my eyes out whenever she would say those words to me. But now, they're just empty words. I pick up my phone to refresh my email to see if there's any response from any of the agencies I applied to. I click on the first mail that pops up and it turns out to be a job offer for the position of a live-in nanny. I immediately accept it without even thinking.

The interview is scheduled to take place tomorrow. The address of the house is stated there as well. I'm grateful for the opportunity and can only hope that the interview would go well. I can't wait to start working and earning better. It's a nanny job and even though it might not be much, it'll certainly be way more than my current pay from my three jobs combined. I'll take anything with extra cash at this point. I quickly stand up, headache forgotten, and begin surfing through the cloth rack by the wall in search of an outfit for the interview tomorrow.