The Hard Life (Working Title), Ashley Beth [books that read to you .TXT] 📗

arm away. “No. This isn’t a joke, Skylar. I’m serious.”

“I know you are. Just be safe, okay?”

She nods and says she’s tired. I leave her in her room and walk down the hallway to mine. Cherry’s in the living room watching TV. I can hear her snorting laughter and I roll my eyes. There are only three girls living at the house right now. It’s nice. I think Alex is working on a new girl. He’s never here, but I’m not complaining. He’s spending all his time with the girl. Soon, she’ll move in with us and I’ll probably have to share a room with Candy. I don’t mind. We shared a room when the last girl was here. She disappeared after the first week. I want to ask what happened, but Candy won’t let me. She says questions aren’t allowed. I take her word for it. She knows the unspoken rules better than me.

I like the house. It’s pretty big for a four bedroom two bath. The living room is on the small side, but the bedrooms are huge. Each one has a queen sized bed. We’re not allowed to have decorations, which makes sense because we move rooms so much. Alex bought our sheets and a few generic things to make the house look better. The house basically looks like an IKEA ad. The chores get traded between me, Candy, and Cherry. Cleaning, dishes, laundry. As much as possible, Candy and I stick Cherry with the chores. She’ll fight one of us on our own, but not when we ban together.

I go into my room and shut the door behind me. I don’t really like my room, it’s lonely. I wish I could stay in Candy’s room, but she likes her privacy. Whatever, when the new girl comes Candy will be stuck with me. The Advil really knocks me out. Without even pulling down the blankets, I fall into bed and pass out, fully clothed.

**********************************************

I open my eyes and groan. I’ve only been asleep for a few hours. A sound startles me and I sit up quickly to see Jeremiah step into my room and close the door. I groan again internally, but don’t dare say anything. Jeremiah is Alex’s friend. He’s the one that stays at the house with us. Keeps a ‘close eye’ on everything we do. This translates into screwing us for free. No one says anything to Alex because, come on, who’s he gonna believe? Exactly.

Jeremiah is huge. Not fat, but built like the hulk. He’s gotta be at least six foot five; he’s almost two of me in width. His arms are like tree trunks. He’s got this coffee skin and pretty brown eyes, but don’t let it fool you. He’s a monster just like Alex.
Jeremiah joins me on my bed and I do whatever he wants. It’s not like I’m not used to him or his demands. The first time he came into my room, I was shocked. I wanted to tell Alex, but Candy stopped me. Said the last girl who tried disappeared. Either Jeremiah framed her or just got rid of her himself. He’s the only other person I’m scared of.

When he leaves, I curl back into a ball. Don’t even bother cleaning up; I’ll just have to do it again later. My stomach growls and I rub it. I want to get up and eat, but I’m not allowed. Eating is a privilege, one that I always screw up. Coming up short or getting caught are obviously against the unspoken rules. Sometimes, Candy will sneak me some food, but she’s gotta avoid Jeremiah and Cherry. I think Cherry’s got a thing for Jeremiah. She’s always ratting us out to him. Stupid snitch, half my bruises are from her running her mouth. I ignore the hunger and shut my eyes. I fall back asleep immediately.

***********************************************

Candy wakes me up this time. Pulls the covers off my face.

“Hey, girl…” She whispers, “Time to get up.”

I yawn and give her a small smile. She’s really great. I don’t know what I’d do without her. From my open door, I hear Cherry banging around in the bathroom. She’s loud and singing. I roll my eyes and sit up. Candy says,

“So, tonight, I was thinking you should walk with me. You can’t afford to come up short again. I’ve been doing good, I could help.”

This is what I love about Candy. She’s got my back. The big sister I never had.

“Thanks, girl.”

Jeremiah sticks his head in the door and I freeze. Candy feels me tense beside her. She rubs my back reassuringly and Jeremiah smiles.

“Get ready. You’ve got an hour.”

We both nod and he leaves. I let out a sigh of relief when I hear him walk out the front door. Candy frowns at me.

“You okay?”

I nod. She’s the only one who knows how bad Jeremiah scares me. I don’t dare let Cherry or Alex see. Candy’s had a few bad experiences with him, but nothing like me. After he first started coming in my room, he got mean. Like, worse than Alex, mean. For no reason. On any given day, it’s a toss up between who I hate more, Alex or Jeremiah. Even if I get a good day with Alex, it’s not a guaranteed good day with Jeremiah.

We get up and drive Cherry out of the bathroom. Candy does my makeup and I do her hair. Cherry stands in the hallway, arms crossed, glaring. We take our time to piss her off. Candy pops a few pills and we go outside to start the night.

When we pass a diner, my stomach growls. I cross my arms and frown at no one. Candy hears my stomach and sighs.

“Tomorrow, you’ll eat. I swear, even if I have to sneak you food.”

I grin and bump her shoulder. A silver Volvo pulls over and Candy lets me go first. The night goes much better than the night before. I make enough and even some extra. Walking with Candy definitely helps. I’m finished before we have to go back home, a first for me. She takes me to the diner around the corner. We order huge breakfasts and dig in. God, you don’t really know how good food is until you haven’t had it in a while. I finish long before Candy and she laughs at me. She doesn’t say anything, though. She used to get in trouble as much as me. She knows what it’s like.

After breakfast, we go back home. Cherry beat us there, but from the sounds of it, she’s short. We wait outside and listen to Alex punishing her. It’s times like this that I feel bad for Cherry. She doesn’t have anyone to cry to when he gets mad at her. It’s her own fault, though. If she was nicer to us, we wouldn’t be mean to her.

When Alex is finished, he calls us inside. Cherry is gone and I listen for the sound of the shower. Hope that she’s okay enough to clean herself up. I hope he didn’t beat her too bad. Candy hands Alex her money first. He counts it fast, knows that she’s never short. She gives me a quick squeeze on the hand before disappearing down the hallway. I hand Alex my money and cross my arms. I know I’m good, but my stomach clenches by force of habit.

“This is what I expect from you every night. Make sure you don’t fuck up again.”

To the floor, I say, “Yes sir.”

He pats my cheek and then cups my chin. Pulls my face up to him. His eyes are soft, nice. It unnerves me. I prefer Angry Alex to this. He smiles; leans down to kiss me. I shut my eyes and kiss him back. I want to pull away. I don’t dare move, though. Finally, he releases my face. Walks out without a word.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see movement. I turn to see Candy frowning at me. I see the jealousy in her eyes. Guilt washes over me.

“Candy…”

She turns on her heel and storms to her room. I hear her door slam and sigh. Shit. The bathroom door opens and Cherry sticks her head out. Her eyes are swollen and red from crying. Her lip is busted and still bleeding. She looks terrified as she whispers,

“Is he gone?”

I nod and she sighs in relief. She shuts the door again and I go to change. I want to go make up with Candy, but I have no idea what to say. She’s still really in to Alex. I don’t get it. He’s a bastard, but she loves him. He was her first everything. A girl never forgets her first.

After I put on pajamas, I take a few Advil for my sore calves. I still hear crying from the bathroom and groan. So much for a shower. I could always go drive her out, but I know what it’s like to need a safe place. The bathroom is hers. Mine is Candy’s room.

I decide that I need to talk to her, especially after she saved me last night. I knock on her door and hear rustling.

“Candy, it’s me.”

“Go away, bitch!”

I ignore her and open her door. She swears and I dodge the pillow she hurls at my head. I shut the door behind me and say,

“Candy… Please don’t be mad at me? I hate it when you’re mad.”

She shoots me a glare and I cross my arms. I can see in her eyes she’s over it. She’s just putting up a front. I grin and join her on the bed.

“You know I hate him, Candy. I wish he would just leave me alone.”

She sighs. “Yeah, I know. But it sucks, because he never touches me anymore. It’s like I’m too old for him now or something. And I’m the one who loves him.”

“Oh, shut up. You’re not old.”

“But I am for him! I mean, think about it. I was fourteen when we started. You were fourteen. Cherry’s fifteen. But I’ll be nineteen next month. An old woman.”

I see tears in her eyes. Actual tears. I have no idea what to say. She’s never cried before. She’s the strong one. I’m not strong enough for her. I kind of pat her shoulder and she takes a deep breath. She forces a smile. There’s the Candy I know.

“Whatever. Fuck him, I don’t care.”

My stomach twists and I glance at the door.

“Candy,” I whisper, “Don’t say that! What if Jeremiah hears?”

She rolls her eyes. “Fuck him, too. Once I’ve got the cash, I’m gone.”

Sometimes her bravery is just stupidity. If Jeremiah hears her talk like that, she’s dead. I decide to change the subject before anything happens.

“So, Cherry’s still in the bathroom…”

Candy sighs. “Yeah. I could hear her. She needs to be more careful. If Alex comes back and hears her…”

“Yeah, well. I feel bad, like I should go make her feel better. I mean, she’s a bitch, I know. But if you think about it, she’s all alone. We’ve got each other, but she doesn’t have anyone.”

Candy rolls her eyes. “Then go, Mother Teresa.”

I punch her shoulder and she shoves me off the bed. We’re both laughing when the door opens. I freeze, holding Candy’s pillow up