Rage and Pain

I walk into my room and pull the check from my bag. Estrella has already seen it, and any day now they'll be out of here. I'll stay in the house, and with all the money I've saved, I can pay for college — I already finished high school. Maybe I'll find a part-time job to cover the upkeep on this enormous house, but I can live comfortably without worrying for a couple of years. With that in mind, I take a bath and go to sleep.

Dawn barely breaks and I'm already getting ready to go to the bank and pick up a few things I need. I head downstairs, and Estrella is laughing, surrounded by her friends. I avoid her and walk toward the front door.

"Look, the freeloader's up," one of them remarks, and I see her giggling.

"Says the girl who had to get an abortion because she didn't know who the father was," I fire back. She glares at me with pure hatred, and nobody says a word.

"Ignore her. She's just mad because a rich, handsome man like Fernando is courting me, and she can't even get a stray dog to look her way. But look on the bright side: Limber's still available — though I've heard rumors his parents want to marry him off to a society woman. Being honest, they'd never let him marry someone like you," Estrella says with a haughty toss of her head, and her friends cackle.

"But Fernando will marry a useless parasite like you, because I actually know how to work without depending on anyone," I reply.

"That's what people like you have to do — people who have nothing. No parents, no boyfriend, nothing. Luna, you're a nobody who doesn't matter to anyone. If you died, no one would even notice," she screams at me.

I don't stop. The moment I reach her, I slap her hard enough to shut her up.

"Estrella, you know perfectly well you don't even have real friends. These girls are vipers who only get a kick out of watching you suffer. Your own father didn't care about any of you when he walked out, and now I understand why. What a lucky escape he made!" I tell her.

She stares at me with hatred. What she says next makes me lose all control, and I throw myself at her, fists flying.

"You should've died with your mother!" she screams. They try to pull me off, but I'm hitting her without caring about the consequences — until someone grabs me by the hair and drags me away from her. Estrella is screaming and sobbing without stopping.

"Damn you!" her mother shouts, rushing to her daughter's side. She's so furious she chases the friends out of the house.

"You're a goddamn curse," she tells me.

"She had it coming for a long time," I reply.

She stands and walks toward me. I get to my feet, determined not to back down.

"Get out of my house," she says through clenched teeth.

"You're the ones leaving. I'm going to hire a lawyer and throw you out of here the same way you came in — with nothing."

"You pathetic fool, with what money?"

"That's none of your business, Auntie," I say, spitting the last word with contempt. She stares at me, stunned — I've never spoken to her like this before.

I grab my bag and walk out. I fix my hair on the way and I've made up my mind. I'll use that money to pay a lawyer. Something can be done. Maybe I can force them to move somewhere else — who knows.

I wait for the bus and get off in front of the bank. I sit down, wait for my turn, and finally it comes.

"I'm here to cash this check and deposit it into my account. I want access to all my funds as soon as possible. I put the money in a savings plan, so it should have doubled. That's what they explained to me, at least."

"That's correct, miss. However, our records show you already made a large withdrawal. In fact, the only amount in your account is what you've just deposited. To be precise, the only money you have is this check."

The words hit me like a bucket of ice water.

"There must be a mistake. I haven't withdrawn anything. Please check again," I beg, praying it's some kind of mix-up.

He shakes his head, looking at me. The room starts to spin.

"Miss, your funds were indeed withdrawn."

"No — how is that even possible? That can't be! When was it? What time?" I ask.

He lets out a breath and types on his keyboard.

"It was two days ago," he says, handing me a printout with my signature on it. I don't understand any of this. I check the time on the slip — at that hour, I was at school. I want to cry, and my hands are shaking.

"I wasn't even there. At that time, I was at school."

"Miss, I'm sorry, but whoever did it had your information down perfectly."

He stands up. I wipe my tears. He comes back with a glass of water and offers it to me.

"Actually, now I remember. She came in with her mother."

"With her mother?" I ask. He nods and describes the woman who supposedly was my mother. That's all I need to know exactly who did this.

I walk out of the cubicle and the world fractures into flashes of color. I can't hear anything — I just walk on autopilot, not stopping. My feet ache; I've been walking for hours by the time I reach the cemetery where my parents are buried.

"They ruined me! They ruined me!" I scream at my father's grave, sobbing.

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