"Throw everything out! Don't leave a single thing inside, I don't care what it is just throw them all out!"
Anne-Marie hurried as fast as she could to the house. She could hear the crashing sounds followed by the loud yells coming from her house. She didn't need to take a second guess to know what was going on. It was Agatha lashing out again, her landlady but this time, she wasn't just yelling or throwing a fit like she usually did, she was evacuating her from her house.
She had totally forgotten, forgotten that her rent was long overdue and her landlady had let her off with a warning one time too many. Agatha wasn't exactly a patient lady neither was she nice enough or considerate. She was stern and when she needed her money, she made sure she always got it. She'd have if Keisha had not robbed Anne-Marie in broad daylight.
It had been a long morning for Anne-Marie and also a long night before since she had spend the entire night searching for Keisha. All she needed was to get her money back, for Abel's treatment and her rent. According to Keisha's mum, she didn't come home that night and she wasn't in any of the famous places she went to with her friends, she wasn't home or in school that morning too. Anne-Marie had searched everywhere she could think of. It was like she didn't exist anymore.
Reporting to the police was not even an option. She knew better than to do that. Keisha's father was in the force. He was a senior lieutenant and would never do anything to indict his daughter especially when her reputation and his was at stake.
The law against stealing was a tough one in Breton. Thieves were exposed to public shame and embarrassment and had their faces all over the local news. Things like that could mean a lot for a lot of people, especially Keisha. It could mean she could have issues getting a job or getting into any college in Breton. In a world where those in power didn't step on the masses, in a world where people like her had the full protection of the law, where the law wasn't discriminatory to people like her, the really low class, maybe, just maybe she would have gone to the police for help. Anne-Marie knew she was on her own at this point. Finding Keisha was something she had to do on her own but first, first she needed to stop all those men from throwing all her and Abel's belongings outside, including their clothes.
Thank God Mickey had gotten the news on time and told her about it. She wasn't exactly on time seeing that half of all she and Abel owned were all over the place, in front of the door and even the stairs. They were causing a big scene and had a lot of neighbors out of their houses watching them as they emptied the house. From the cooking pots to the pans, to the old stove and the huge old blanket. The old, flat mattress and the really old medium sized box that contained all Anne-Marie and Abel's clothes and then the books, every single thing including Abel's small medicine cabinet and bedside table. The bedside lamps too.
Anne-Marie bent over quickly to close her box which had already ripped open thanks to the careless manhandling. All her clothes were almost touching the ground now. It was hard for her to even fix anything when they kept throwing more things on the box.
"Throw them all out! Hurry!"
The old lady's voice was really hoarse and sounded like loud frog croaks.
Anne-Marie managed to stand up on her feet, she hurried to the woman.
"Madam Agatha," now it was time for her to be diplomatic. Maybe, just maybe if she begged the woman, if she begged with all of her heart for more time and explained the situation like before, she was going to have pity on her and be kind enough to let her stay.
"I don't want to hear it." The lady kept all of her attention on the men as they kept throwing whatever that was left out of the house.
"Madam Agatha, I know you've given me enough time but please, please just one more month, I promise, all I need is one more month and I'd get your rent money ready."
The lady let out a scoff and went ahead to fold her hands behind her.
"I need this house empty and clean, we could have new tenants moving in any minute."
New tenants? Was she really giving the house out to someone else? But she couldn't. She couldn't just kick them out like that, that house was their home, it was the only house she could afford in that area. Abel loved the house and so did she. She couldn't let it happen. What was she ever going to do if she got kicked out like that?
Anne-Marie went on her knees immediately right beside the woman and held on to one of her legs.
"Have mercy on me Madam Agatha." She begged. "Don't kick me and my brother out please, just give us more time and I promise, I would pay your money, please."
The men had stopped working as they watched the scene. They were moved with pity especially with the way Anne-Marie was begging.
"Why did you stop?" The wrinkled old lady glared at them. "Did I ask you to stop? Get back to work immediately. Get rid of all her things right now!"
Anne-Marie knelt straight and started to rub her palms together, raising her head to look at the woman, hoping she just looked back at her at least, looked down on her. Anne-Marie was doing so much holding back all those tears in her eyes. Her eyes were so glossy with them.
"Please madam Agatha. I'd do anything you want, I can work for you to earn my keep, Abel is in the hospital right now, he's sick again and I can't even afford to pay for his treatment, he could be discharged in a moment. if you kick us out right now, we'd have nowhere to go. This is our only home please,"
The lady turned to her slowly.
"So what?" She asked her. "Why should your problems have anything to do with me?"
Anne-Marie let out a really small sigh.
"I'm not saying it should, I'm just begging you for more time-"
"Am I the reason?" The woman went on. "Am I the reason you suffer so much? Am I the reason for your bad luck and misfortune?"
"Madam Agatha-"
"If you're looking for someone to blame, blame your parents for abandoning you and making everything so hard. They should never have died and let you take responsibility for everything. They shouldn't have birthed a sick child and then leave you, another child, to be responsible for his life."
"Madam Agatha please."
"Do you think I run a charity organization?" The woman went on. "If I keep showing mercy to every one of my tenants, how do you think I'd be able to live or survive or feed my grandchildren? Everyone has it tough so why do I have to feel sorry for you when you're not my responsibility?"
Anne-Marie sniffed. It was not working, the woman wasn't listening.
"We are done throwing everything out."
One of the men called for their attention. "What else would you have us do Madam?"
"Are you sure that's all of it?" The woman asked them. "You're sure there's nothing left?"
"Positive."
"Very well then, you changed the locks properly didn't you? And you have the keys, you know what to do, lock my door."
What?
Anne-Marie grabbed on to her leg again.
"Madam Agatha," her voice grew even louder. "Please, have mercy, don't do this to us please."
Click, click!
The door locked and one of the men walked to the woman with the keys. He gave them to her. The woman turned to walk away when Anne-Marie grabbed on even tighter to her.
"Madam Agatha please, don't kick us out, I beg you. Just give us one more chance, one more month, that's all I ask. We have no one, we have no where else to go. This house is all we have left, please."
"Let go of me!" The woman kicked her away causing Anne-Marie to fall on her small heap of belongings. The woman pointed at her. "I want you off my property before I get back or I will involve the police."
The woman turned and scurried away as Anne-Marie slowly managed to pull herself together. She could see how there were a lot of eyes watching her with so much pity. She was super embarrassed but embarrassment was something she was used to. She sniffed and turned to her box as fast as she could, taking in the pain on her arm and sides. At this point, If she got kicked one more time, she was going to break every bone in her body, that was if she hadn't already. Anne-Marie sniffed as she managed to throw all her clothes back into the box.
Agatha's instructions were clear. She had to leave before she got back. There was no use begging at that point because it looked like Agatha already had her mind made up. There was nothing left for her, there was nothing she could do now. She had to hold it in. She knew better than to break in front of all those people, to let out all of those emotions that were dying to be let out. She had to stay in control of them, she had to be strong.
She had lost everything and was at the verge of losing her only family too. She kept throwing her clothes in as fast as she could and with so much force that you'd have been scared her arms would pull off and then she stopped.
This was just too much, this was just too much for even someone with great perseverance like her. She threw herself back on the ground. It was hard, holding everything in was so hard. She couldn't anymore. She couldn't pretend to be strong enough because she wasn't. She wasn't as strong for all the hard situations that life was putting her through. She was tired, tired of all of it, tired of living like that. She was tired of suffering like that.
Why did it have to be so hard? Why did living have to be so hard? She was just a child, she was just a child and she had been through so much, she had lost so much and sacrificed so much. When was it going to end? When was she finally going to get to live like the other kids her age? Go to school and just live without having to work her ass off? without suffering so hard?
She raised her knees up where she could see them and then buried her head on them.
She started to cry as loudly as she could.
She was tired.