1
Samantha
“WHERE IS IT, WHERE is it?” I mutter under my breath, moving aside towels, rolls of toilet paper, and all the other accumulated junk in the cabinet underneath the bathroom sink. I tuck my curly, blonde hair behind my ears when it falls in front of my face, obscuring my vision.
“Yeah, girlie. I found your stash. Can’t believe you’ve been holding back on us.”
I whip around from my spot on the floor to find my mom’s boyfriend standing in the doorway, his face spread wide in a smug smile.
My heartbeat picks up. He discovered my savings? Okay, act calm. Don’t buy into his game. “Rob, this door was closed. You can’t just barge in on me.”
“Now I know why this is the first place you go every time you come home from work. You’re not going to the bathroom. You’re hiding your money.”
His missing front tooth taunts me from his smarmy grin and I can’t help the panic that rises within me. I dive into the small cabinet underneath the sink, finding the box of tampons in the very back I use as a cover, opening it up to find it empty. I toss it aside, reaching in again to wedge my hand down into the hole at the bottom of the cabinet, meeting nothing but air.
I straighten from my crouched position, rising above Rob, my five foot, eleven inch stature looking down by inches onto him. From here, I can see the balding spot on the top of his head along with his bloodshot eyes.
“You can’t take that,” I hiss. “It’s mine. I earned it.” I’m normally an easy-going person, but something about him sets me on edge and makes my skin crawl.
He doesn’t appear at all intimidated by me, scratching his chin idly. “Seems to me you owe me some back rent. You been living in my house close to a year. I’m owed some compensation.”
“Living in your house?” Is he serious with this right now? “You mean sleeping on the couch in your trailer? I don’t even eat your food.”
“Water, electricity,” he ticks off on his fingers, “plus interest. Yeah, I think this chunk of change should cover it nicely.”
I have almost two thousand dollars saved. That money will help me pay for a security deposit on the new apartment I’m moving to in two months. Any furniture or essentials I need. The portion of my college tuition that’s not covered by my scholarship. It’s the start of my new life.
“I’ll call the police. Tell them you stole it.”
“Girl, the way I see it, it’s your word against mine. I think I’ll say that my tenant here hasn’t been paying her rent, so I took what was owed me.”
The urge to cry is strong, my head throbbing from the effort it takes to hold the tears back. I push the pain aside, unable to believe this is happening. My hiding spot’s been foolproof so far. Why would he be messing around with a box of tampons? Probably for some pervy reason I don’t want to know.
I catch movement out of the corner of my eye, my mother hovering behind him.
“Mom, are you just going to let him do this to me?”
Rob shifts, giving me a better view of her. Her stringy blonde hair hangs limply around her face, her clothes hanging off her painfully thin build. She stares at me with dead eyes, likely high on something. God, she used to be so beautiful, but it’s just sad looking at her now.
“Baby, it’s true you’ve been living here rent-free.” She gives me a loopy smile, so doped up I know my chances of getting through are slim, but I have to try anyway.
“No one’s asked me for rent. If it was an issue, why didn’t you say something? Besides, I’ve been in high school. I’ve already had to pay for everything else. My food, my clothes, all my stuff for school. I haven’t even been to a doctor or dentist in years.”
Some form of recognition flashes behind her eyes, but she wraps her arms around Rob’s thick waist instead.
He smirks up at me. “Not really liking your attitude too much. How about you pack your things and leave? For good this time. Now that you’ve graduated, there’s no reason for you to be here anymore.”
I stare at him, blindsided. I just graduated last week. “I- I don’t have a place to go. I’m not supposed to move out for another two months.”
“Should’ve thought about that before you opened that big trap of yours, back talking to me.”
I turn to my mom, begging her with my eyes. Pleading. I have no shame.
“You can’t give me this one thing? Somewhere to sleep at night? Just for a little while?”
“It’s Rob’s house. He makes the rules,” she says flatly.
I take a brief moment for self-pity then set it aside, pinching my lips together, jaw set. “Got it. You won’t have to worry about me anymore.”
I grab the few meager things I own, stuffing them into my worn duffel bag tucked under the couch. Anything else I can say is truly mine is already in my car.
Maybe it’s worth the money just to finally be free of all this mess. At least they didn’t get the tips in my purse from my shifts at the diner last week. Or the money Aunt Kathy gave me for graduation. I haven’t had time to stash it away yet.
I haul the bag out the front door of the rotting trailer, pausing in the doorway. “Any last words?” My tone reeks of sarcasm, but it completely flies over my mother’s head.
“You’ll be fine, Sam,” she waves. “You’ve always been a fighter.”
Yeah, I have, but that’s not the fucking point. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that she’s taking a guy’s side over mine. It’s been happening all my life. Why would this time be any different? It’s a shame she doesn’t know who my father is, or she could’ve pawned me off on him by now.
I drag my stuff to my beat-up Corolla and get in, the engine catching a few times before it sputters to life. I back out of the grooved dirt path leading up to the trailer, neither Rob nor my mom bothering to watch me go.
I call my Aunt Kathy, the only other parental figure I’ve ever had in my life, who lives about an hour west of us in the Florida Panhandle. She doesn’t pick up her cell so I try her landline. Yes, she still actually has one of those. It rings and rings until the answering machine picks up.
Hi, you’ve reached the Richards house. If you need us, you’ll have to wait a week because we are sailing in the Caribbean!
I press the red phone icon savagely, ending the call. I forgot they were going on vacation once my younger cousins’ school term ended. I love my aunt, but how stupid is it to broadcast that you’ll be out of town? You’re practically asking people to rob your house.
Okay, calm down. Stop being mean. Where else can I go?
I drive aimlessly for a few minutes, mulling over my options. I don’t have any close friends, never have. No one’s wanted to be friends with Smelly Sam. Once that nickname was given to me in second grade, it stuck and I’ve never been able to shake it.
I’ll be living further south when I start at Suncoast University for the Fall semester, but that’s not for another two months from now. The girl I’m moving in with, Lindsay, will have a room in her apartment available in August. What am I supposed to do till then?
I head toward the interstate, knowing my best option is to crash with my older cousin Luke until I can figure out a living situation. I stayed at his place a few months ago when I went to a weekend music festival Aunt Kathy bought me tickets for. He said then that if I ever needed anything from him to just ask.