“Ahhhh”

 There goes the yelling at one another again. Every morning it is the same 

routine. I get out of my bed, walk down stairs, make sure my brother is safe, 

then make us some food. During this time our so called parents are in 

another room arguing. Each time they act like us kids don’t even exist.

 Perhaps they would be better off if neither of us had been born. Letting out a

 sigh I feed my little brother. He was such a mess even though being five 

already. After breakfast it was time to get him cleaned up. Getting in the bath

 wasn’t the problem, it was getting him out. He would always cling to the side

 of the tub yelling at me.

 “Nooo...me stay in...me waterboy.”

 In the back of my mind it was cute but in the front I was annoyed. 

“Time to get ready for your class Abel. Remember your class is going to

 have art today. You told me that it was the most fun thing in the world.” 

I laughed when he jumped out of the water into my arms. Abel cuddled into

 my arms as I leaned over trying to grab another towel. It was almost 

impossible to reach while his small body wanted to be clung onto me like a 

little leech. Once we finally got him dry it was easy to get him dressed.

We walked down the stairs to see our mother sitting at the table with a bottle

 of wine. She had lit up another one of her nasty smelling cigarettes. I pulled 

Abel to my other side as we walked past her. Abel hid his face in my side as 

she threw the bottle at me. It was very normal on mornings like this that her 

temper flared.

 “You worthless piece of shit! How could I have given birth to something 

like you?”

 I glance up with blood dripping down my head to smile at her.

 “You had no choice in the matter.”

 My words made her start crying. That was my cue to leave the house. Once

 we were a few blocks away the pain finally reached my damn brain. I made 

Abel sit down as pulling the trash bag off my bag for work. Inside the bag was

 some clothes and medical supplies. 

Sadly she had hit me so many times this was a necessity. Abel watched 

closely as I got cleaned up then changed into my spare clothes. It shouldn’t 

be normal for him but this was our life. When we arrived at his school the 

teacher looked at my bandaged forehead.

 “Please don’t ask...Abel you make sure to have lots of fun today. Big sister

 wants to hear all about your fun day when I pick you up.” 

The teacher wanted so badly to ask, it could be seen in her eyes. I wave as 

Abel walks with his classmates next to their teacher. He always stopped at

 the door to blow me a goofy kiss. It was adorable but I hoped no one teased 

him for doing it.

Not being able to help it I do the same goofy kiss back at him. He acts like he

 was shot in the heart then smiles going into the building. Letting out a sigh I 

look to my cellphone to see the time. It was now 8:40 am which meant that 

there was only ten minutes to get to work, clock in, get everything set up,

 and make sure all the others weren’t being lazy assholes. It took about five 

minutes to run all the way to my workplace. As I walked into the door my 

mood soured seeing that no one had even started getting ready. Sometimes it

 felt like the owner just hired me to yell at these idiots.

 All of them were at least ten years older but their work ethic was horrible. 

Letting out a sigh I clock in then start getting my stuff put in their places.

 “I will only say this once. You have till I count to three to get your lazy

 asses up. Then get to work or else I will take this broom in my hand and

 shove it up your entitled little assholes.”

 They all looked blankly at me till I said one. They shot up running to get

 everything done quickly. It took one time for them to know this wasn’t a 

joke. When I started working here at sixteen someone thought it funny to 

push everything solely onto my shoulders. I was cleaning one of the empty 

wine bottles at the time. The owner takes them to recycle after work hours.

 The employee made me so mad that I smashed the bottle over his head then 

stood on his balls crushing them. The owner had just walked into the room 

but was watching it seemed.

After that day no one even dared not to listen when I got stern with them. 

The owner was weird to let me stay after that incident in my opinion. 

Although considering some of the scary looking people that have come in 

here...I was very mild. The owner was so friendly with these people even 

though their gang marks were in plain sight. Maybe he just didn’t want drama

 or maybe he was one of them in the past? Either way it didn’t matter since 

he allowed me to work since I had been a minor. To think I was turning 

nineteen today kind of sucked. I wouldn’t have enough money to even take 

Abel out to a good dinner. It was a special thing I did even on my birthday for

 him. Feeling a tap on my shoulder I jump slightly. It was the owner standing 

next to me with a big smile.

 “Happy birthday Katerina. I know that you hate me saying it but couldn’t

 resist.”

 He leans down kissing my forehead. 

“Your mother must have been a real bitch today huh? Here this is for you

 and no take backs little one.”

 I raised a brow at him for acting like a little kid. When I opened the card it

 made me lose the strength in my legs.

The owner helped me to a chair laughing some out loud.

 “Come now is it so shocking that I wanted to give a good present for the 

hardest worker to ever work in this place?”

 His joke was a little too much. He had put two thousand dollars in a birthday 

card.

 “This is not funny Sir...you can’t just give me this much money.”

 As I tried to give it back his hand stopped me. He pushed the card to my

 chest.

 “This is not nearly enough in my opinion but the wife hit me on the head 

telling me no more than this amount.” 

Wow...couldn’t she have said a smaller amount? It was super nice since I felt

 low not being able to take Abel out. He patted me on the head like a child 

then walked off. Getting myself back together there were other things to

 worry about at the moment. The customers would be starting to come any

 moment. When the bell chimes on the door everyone turns then bows to the

 guest. This time it looked to be an elderly couple. They looked so adorable 

together.

Our regular customers started to come through the door. Each one gave 

friendly smiles to us workers. During my break time one of the men that 

scared most people came. He was about six foot three. He had dark brown 

eyes, pitch black hair, light skin tone, and a very notable tattoo on his neck.

 The tattoo was a black phoenix. In all honesty I wanted to ask about it but

 kept my mouth shut. Just looking at him his muscles were enough to crush

 someone like me. He had one of those tough guy faces but damn was he 

good looking as well.

 “Katerina would you come with me?”

 The shop owner had me walk over to the man. Up close he was even more

 handsome which didn’t help my nerves. 

“So this is the girl you spoke about last time?”

 His voice was low but one of those you could listen to all day. 

“Yup this is my super worker Katerina. This is my friend Samuel. He would

 like to ask you a favor.”

 Um...should I just tell them no thanks I wondered? Seeing the look to my

 eyes Samuel patted my head some.

The owner patted my shoulder making me sit next to Samuel walking off. 

Great now I am left alone with a gangster. He kept looking me up and down 

like trying to figure me out.

 “The job I want you to do is be my date.”

 Wait...my brain couldn’t process that. He wanted me to be his date for real? 

“Um, why would you want me to be your date for starters? Second, what

 would the payment be for this job?”

 Samuel laughed while drinking some of his coffee. He seemed to like my 

attitude.

 “Well it is to a social gathering of sorts. You already know my profession. It

 is required that we bring someone this time. I’ve heard the stories of you

beating another employee when you were merely sixteen.”

 The owner really needed not to go telling that story to other people. It is a 

catch twenty-two in this sense. Placing my elbow on the counter I let out a 

sigh.

 “You still didn’t answer my question about the payment. I would also like 

to know the time, place, and requirements on the attire.”

 He leaned over brushing some hair from my face.

 “Well it will be tomorrow night. The pay will be thirty thousand dollars for 

the night. You will need to wear a formal dress. I will take you to buy it 

today if you agree.” 

Holy shit was he for real on that amount of cash? There had to be something

else going on for Samuel to pay me that amount.