Prologue
*Dear Diary,
What started like a surprisingly good day turned into a nightmare without the warning of a change. As I sit under the floorboards once again, waiting for the nightmare to end, I think about all the times I had to spend in this little room. The junkie who occupied the apartment before us had made the room to hide his drug stash. Sometimes I can still smell the scent of chemicals that I assume were used to make his drugs. However, now, I have started to find serenity in this little room. I have made efforts to make it more comfortable for my little stays here.
On top of me, I can hear the voices of the men that have come to visit my mum. These men visit a lot. When they visit, I can hear my Mumma’s muffled screaming and moaning followed by shouting and arguments about payments.
Sometimes Mumma even has bruises and marks on her body. I don’t understand why Mumma never tells me about why these men visit. She tells me to hide in this little room until she calls out our safe word. It’s like hide and seek, but instead of me counting to 10 and finding her, I have to wait to hear “Choo choo” before I can go out and find her. Recently these men have been visiting a lot. She said because she’s been having more clients from work and business was booming, she had managed to save enough money for me to go to a boarding school in Mariners Bay. I knew she was lying because I had seen her take a bag full of cash from a guy in the car park outside our apartment. I don’t understand why she was lying to me or why she wanted me to leave, but she said I would be safe at boarding school and no one would be able to touch me there. She said she didn’t want me to have the same life as her.
I have never really known what kind of work Mumma does. She never leaves the house to go somewhere to work like the other parents at school. They all tease me about my Mumma’s job. The boys say my Mumma’s a whore, but when I asked Mumma what that meant, she said it means she’s a good person. I don’t want to believe her because, deep down, I know she isn’t a good person. I know she was trying to keep me away from that Sumo man that comes every Friday to do his collections. Mumma said he was her boss, and some nights he was the one that gave Mumma the bruisings on her body. Mumma had given me strict instructions to stay away from him. He was looking at me funny when Mumma told him I was going to be 13 this Friday. She wanted a free day to celebrate with me, but he said no. That’s why today, on my birthday, I’m hiding in this room while Mumma has her men visitors over.
I didn’t even get a chance to meet Brownie today. He must be waiting at the edge of the woods as he does every day. He is the only friend I have. I know I talk a lot about him in my diary, but he is just so amazing. His chocolate brown fur is the reason I’ve given him that name. It is so soft and fluffy. I can spend hours just running my hands through it. Mumma doesn’t know about Brownie, but maybe it was time I told her about him, so they could keep each other company while I was gone. Perhaps Brownie could protect Mumma from that Sumo man just like he had protected me from those drunk men that first day I met him. I wonder if I will get to see him once Mumma sends me to boarding school.
I don’t want to go. I don’t want to stay away from Mumma and Brownie. Mumma said it was more important for me to leave now than it ever was. She has been very worried about me. She says that one day I will understand why it is so important that I go away.
I think it’s the following Monday that I go away. Mumma has said she would visit me whenever she can. Hopefully, she can come and stay in Mariners Bay with me someday. I wonder if I can convince her to let me take Brownie with me. Would the boarding school allow me to have a huge pet wolf in my room? Even though he is big and scary, he is very friendly. Maybe after I tell Mumma about him, she can bring him to visit me too.
I will miss him the most…*
Chapter 1 – The Beginning
15 Years Later……
As I got off the bus just down the street from my apartment, the cold breeze wrapped around me and welcomed me into the chilly autumn nights. I took a breath in and let myself get engulfed by the cold air. The bus pulled away, and I walked the short distance to the building my apartment was on. Opening the building door, I recognized the familiar scent of concrete and paint. The building was relatively new, and in the Mariners Bay area, apartment buildings were a new era. My best friend, Taylor’s parents, had bought her this apartment as a graduation present. She decided she wanted to stay in Mariners Bay and work here instead of moving back to Greenwoods, where we lived initially. They gave her a new tenth-floor sea-facing apartment to make her life bearable. After eleven years of being roommates, she said she would not ditch me that easily. So I became her housemate and contributed to her bills and apartment expenses, which worked well for both of us.
Walking up to the lift, I thought about how lucky I was to have an awesome friend like Taylor. Without her, my life in Mariners Bay would have been worthless. Even though she knew what kind of life I came from, she helped me forget my sorrow of staying away from my Mumma. She helped me make new friends. She helped me to get a fashion sense. She, at this point, was not only my roommate; she was my sister. Her parents were fantastic as well. They were super humble for people that came from a lot of generational money. Every time Taylor’s parents asked about my life, Taylor swiftly changed the topic and made them forget all about it. Even though she knew, she didn’t think it was a good idea for other people to know. She always told me, “Rosy, what happened back in Greenwood’s is no one’s business. You just focus on the present”, and she was right.
The lift pinged, and the doors opened. I was so deep in thought I had forgotten I was already on my floor. As I walked towards my apartment, I noticed the door opposite ours was open. It looked like someone was finally moving in. I opened my door and walked in. The sound of Frank Sinatra’s songs came rolling down the hallway into the lounge. Taylor was home and was either painting or cleaning.
“Tay Tay, I’m home,” I yelled out.
“Rosy posey, hi! Be out in a sec,” she yelled back.
I savaged through the fridge and pulled out the fried rice from last night’s dinner. I was starving since I hadn’t eaten all day. I had back-to-back meetings to finalize projects and reports before our CEO turned up on Monday. I sat on the bar stool with my now heated meal and a juice box. Taylor came out of her room in a pair of overalls covered in paint. She was an interior designer by profession but loved to paint. Both things worked in her favor. She tried to argue with me about dropping my profession and taking up my hobby. Unlike her, my sales and marketing manager profession had nothing in common with my baking hobby. I got paid a decent amount for getting work done and bringing sales up. I had staff that did about fifty percent of the work for me. Taking up baking as a profession would mean working for myself. I would be managing, operating, and delivering all by myself – not happening.
“Wow, Rosy, that smells good. Can I have some?” She asked.
“No, you may not because you said last night you didn’t like the fried rice. Plus, you’ve been home all day. So let the starving child eat will you” I scolded back.
She made a face and turned to the fridge.
“We have a new neighbor,” I said between my bites.
“Really?! It took them long enough to find someone that could afford that place.”
“Not everyone in Mariners Bay is rich like your parents to afford that apartment,” I snickered back.
She turned towards me and stuck her tongue out. I laughed and returned to my eating. Taylor grabbed a granola bar and sat next to me. She smelt of paint and lavender.
“So, how was your day?” She asked.
“Chaos! I’m drowning in sales reports, and Mr. Brady threw a massive tantrum because we had missing data from six years ago. So I’m like, dude, I’ve only been here five years; what do you want me to do?”
“The old fart needs to get laid. Why is the company so worried about data from six years ago?” Taylor asked.
Her interest in my work was the most incredible part about Taylor. She never really understood much of it, but she never let me feel she didn’t care. We could have chats about our jobs as if we worked together.
“Fuck knows. I’m just glad it’s the weekend. I don’t have to see his old ass till Monday.” I said and rolled my eyes.
It wasn’t long into our chat when there was a knock on the door.
“Huh, wonder who that can be? Are you expecting someone?” Taylor said while getting up and walking towards the door.
I couldn’t see who was at the door when she opened it, but I could hear clearly.
“Hi. Sorry to disturb you but I’ve just moved into that apartment opposite yours. You wouldn’t have a spare bucket, would you? We’ve opened up the place, and there’s a leak in the bathroom and might flood the apartment if I pop out to buy a bucket”.
His voice echoed through our apartment. I bent my head to see the face that went with the voice. I almost fell off the stool leaning myself. I heard Taylor introducing herself and inviting him in while she checked for a bucket. He declined the invitation and said some other time, and maybe she could bring the bucket over for him if she had one. I heard him leave, and Taylor closed the door.
“Oh my god! He is so hot. Ugh!”
“Keep your panties on and look for a bucket,” I cut her off.
The look of realization hit, and she went jogging toward our laundry.
“Yay!!!!” I heard her scream. Which meant she found a bucket.
She came running out with two buckets and headed for the main door. As she got to the door, her phone rang with the ringtone she had allocated for her Dad.
“Ugh, Dad, not right now,” she groaned, answering her phone. “Yeah, Daddy, what’s up?”. Her annoyed expression slowly changed and was replaced with a frown.
Taylor put the buckets on the floor and walked towards me, listening to whatever her Dad said. As she got closer, tears formed in her eyes, and she sunk back into the stool next to me.
“Taylor, what happened?”
“Daddy, I’ll see you soon. Bye”. That was all she said and hung up.
“Taylor, what’s going on? What’s wrong?”
“Grace is in the hospital. They don’t think she will make it,” she said, pulling me into a tight hug.
