Chapter 三つ

Sighing, I get back on my scooter. Before I start it, I always check to make sure Lee is sitting properly. And if not, I put him in my bag. Yes, I know it sounds very weird and illogical, but believe me, my bag is pretty sturdy and it’s practically glued to my body. So it’s impossible for Lee to fly out, even though he weighs only 4 kilos. Yes, he’s just out of his kitten phase, but he is quite small and skinny, so that’s why. I start my scooter and then we ride back towards Chinatown, which is where I live in a small flat with my mother. As I mentioned before, my mother and I are not exactly well-off, to put it mildly. We can barely afford the rent for the flat. Under us lives an incredibly sociable lady (meant sarcastically) Mrs. Gill also lives with us, and she, let me put it this way, does not hesitate to make it clear that we have to pay her neatly and properly every month before the 1st of the month. By hesitate, I actually mean almost threatening, because oh my god, that woman is just scary. Every time around the end of the month, she practically smashes the door of our flat in half; that is how hard she knocks on our door. Mind you, she is quite sturdy and possesses kilos of muscle mass. She once told me (please don't ask me why) that she used to be in the Canadian Women's Army before she took this job as a landlord, and that she also did wrestling and shot put in her spare time. That doesn't surprise me at all! I drive onto the highway and before I know it, I am home. Yes, they were the last two pizzas I had to deliver, and since that woman didn't want the pizzas, I just took one for myself and my mother. Well, we have to eat something, after all, and since we eat pretty much the same thing every night (actually just soup) and I didn't feel like going to the supermarket right now, the choice seems pretty simple to me. I bring my scooter to a stop and then get off quietly. With my bag on my shoulder, with Lee inside, I walk to the entrance of the small apartment building where my mother and I live. Before I step inside, I take one very deep breath. I know that once I walk into the hallway, Mrs. Gill will speak to me immediately, because naturally she wants to know where her money is. That woman is so incredibly greedy for money that it is simply sickening. But anyway, I’m used to it. I quickly sneak past Mrs. Gill’s little room. In a flash, I see her sitting with her head bowed over her desk, so hopefully she hasn't noticed or heard me. But then I hear my shoe squeak just as it hits the wooden floor, and I see Mrs. Gill jerk her head away! Oh, no, I think to myself. “So, where do you think we’re going so fast?” Mrs. Gill asks icily and slowly. She looks at me with a very dirty and sly gaze. Her eyes are like hawk eyes, as if I am her prey and she could strike at any moment. Additionally, she licks her lips with pleasure. It almost makes me gag. That is how disgusting I find that woman. Not just the physical gestures she makes toward me, but especially the way she makes me feel. She simply enjoys, to the point of exhaustion, having complete power over me and my mother, purely because we happen to be poor and have nowhere else to go. “I-I uh was planning to go home. To my mother and uh help her clean the house,” I stammer. Yes, what else can I say?! “A house doesn’t clean itself, you know,” I quickly add to make it sound a bit lighter. But Mrs. Gill doesn’t give up so easily and seizes every opportunity she gets to drive me as crazy as possible. “What about the rent? You’re over a month behind! That’s not very nice, is it?” Mrs. Gill says slowly. She keeps staring at me coldly, but I can see in her eyes that she is enjoying every second of this. Her eyes are smiling. Yes, those kinds of things always strike me immediately. I am very good at seeing right through people and reading their body language. A short, painful silence falls, during which I try with all my might to come up with a good answer to her threatening attitude.

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