VALENTINE'S DAY

  Valentina’s P.O.V

“Who took my money?!” I heard Ron, my stepfather’s voice from downstairs, I was in front of the vanity table, brushing my dark hair, my morning just barely started and it was already terrible. “I had four hundred in this wallet last night and I can’t find it, who the hell stole my money?”

“I didn’t do it, Dad,” I heard Norah, my half-sister deny and I rolled my eyes, as the word “not again” echoed in my mind.

“Me neither.” Nathan, her twin brother added and the next thing I heard was Ron’s thunderous footsteps running up the stairs, I gasped as I ran across the room to turn the locks on my door.

Since both of his children had denied taking his money, that makes me the culprit, I heard a loud bang on the door and I jolted in fear almost falling.

“Valentina!” He barked as he continued to bang on the door. “Open this door, right this instant!”

My heavy feet dragged themselves towards my piggy bank, the one on the right corner of my room, I needed to hide my money else I would be accused of stealing again. 

“Valentina! If you don’t open this door, I’m going to break it down.” There comes the threat, I need to hide the bank, but it’s too big to fit in anywhere, so I broke it and picked out the folded money notes as fast as I could. I heard a loud smash, followed by a thud and the cracking of wood pieces; the door fell off the frame and I screamed in surprise.

Even though Ron had threatened to break down the door, I didn’t think he would do it, my mouth fell open when he stalked towards me, lifted me, and swung me across the room like I weighed nothing.

I was practically weighing nothing; I was thin and malnourished.

“Where is my money?” The question or threat whizzed past my ears as I slammed the back of my head against the closet and it hurts like a bitch. Unintentionally, the money in my hands fell out of my grasp, and Ron’s grey eyes followed them before they trailed back to my face, in response he fisted my hair. “So, you were trying to hide the money you stole?”

“I didn’t steal them,” I choked trying to focus on Ron in front of me. “It’s mine.”

He chuckled, throwing my head against the closet one more time, he bent slightly and picked up the money.

“Where did you get three hundred dollars?” He mocked as he counted the notes with a wolfish grin. “If you weren’t stealing my money, how did you get this much?”

Is he asking me because he didn’t know?

“I work Ron,” I answered back, obviously fed up and tired of his bullshit. “I go to my part-time job every day after school and you know this, you also know that I am not the one who stole your money.”

“Then who?” Ron asked his eyes narrowing at me. “Who else is as unfortunate to steal?”

“Norah!” I snapped back at him. “It was Norah, it isn’t just from you, she had been stealing my money too.”

 His eyes darkened with fury just at the mention of Norah’s name, shit! I had gone ahead of myself and blurted it out.

“My daughter would never steal anything.” He said kicking me in the guts and I felt air knocked out of my lungs, I crouched painfully. “You steal from me and now you have the guts to lie against my daughter? Is this how you pay me back for letting you stay in my house, you good for nothing little brat.” 

I shield my face away from the heavy boots that stomped on me, it would be bad if I took another direct hit to the head, and I might pass out from the pain. “I should probably kick you out of this house one day and watch how good you’ll survive on the streets.”  He threatened again before he stopped pounding me in with his heavy boots. “I am taking the money, and you still owe me a hundred dollars, make sure to return it by the time I get back from work.”

He sent another stiff blow to my back before he left and a small whimper escaped from my lips.

“Fuck,” I groaned in the pain, as I gathered my pathetic self from the cold hard floor, I wiped the blood at the end of my lips. A blinding pain emerged from my head, one that I was going to ignore.

I exited the room, and getting to the bottom of the stairs, Norah smirked at me, chewing gum provocatively.

This wasn’t the first time she would steal from him, and I would be punished for it, and now she purposely waited for me here, so she could mock me. I simply ignored her before Ron comes back to break my skull.

 As I got out of the house, my phone buzzed with an incoming call, displaying the name “Vena” I knew only one person by that name in my contact list, and she was the recruiter from the travel agency, I applied to get a job in that agency about three days ago, mainly because I needed more money and my part-time job at the coffee shop isn’t as helpful as I thought it would be.

I needed additional income to buy some textbooks at school so I could prepare for my final examination and graduate by fall.

“Hello!” I immediately answered the phone and transferred her to a loudspeaker so I could hear her clearer. “Hello!”

 “Hello, am I unto Ms. Valentina Chandler?” Vena asked curiously and I nodded forgetting the fact that she couldn’t see me.

“Y-Yes, you are,” I was trembling from both excitement and anticipation, the only reason why Vena would call me was because I passed the test, right? “Is there any problem?”