Chapter 7 Money can't buy you everything

The next morning , the girls had to get ready and assemble in the main hall atleast ten minutes before their appointed time. Their uniforms were to be spotless and neat under all circumstances. They were to report to their respective heads and get their roster for the week. Their duties were subject to change if and when necessary.

Teresa stood in the frontline along with the other new comers. They were briefed by their head matrons before Dusty came.

Teresa's eyes kept wandering here and there as the lectures went on. She never was a good listener and lacked attention span. It must have been because she had taught herself to ignore things. She would even purposely forget incidents that would bear too heavy on her heart. That was the only way she was able to maintain her sanity throughout her short but turbulent life.

"Where do you think you are looking? " Dusty tapped her shoulders gently with his stick .

" Sorry, my mistake, " Teresa immediately bowed to show her sincerity.

" Do you think that would be enough to get away? " Peter had entered the room just then.

Everybody welcomed him with warm greetings.

" You come over here. Did you forget what you owe me today? " Peter looked at her with eyes as sharp as a hawk.

" Oh! The punishment. Yes, yes. Thank you for not sending me to jail. I will come right away. " Teresa hopped as she crossed the obstacles infront to reach the finishing line leading to him.

Peter patiently waited till she was standing right at his shoulder, looking at his with puppy eyes.

Peter silently marched inside as she trailed behind.

" Do you know who I am? " Peter asked.

"Ummm, this is your house? " Teresa tried to guess.

" My father's to be precise. We are three brothers. I am the youngest. " He continued.

Teresa nodded intelligently. These were straight forward information , unlike Dusty's rhetorical speech.

" Do you have any idea who the woman was who you were reading to yesterday? " Peter asked, suddenly turning towards her, stopping her on her track.

"Oh! That. How did you know ? I wasn't reading to her, she was reading to me. I just helped her relax a bit. She was one poor woman. All stuck on the bed. Do you think Dusty did that to her? I heard he hits very bad. " Teresa asked almost in a whisper making Peter laugh at that. " You are afraid of Dusty but you are not afraid of me? "

That question made Teresa retreat, giving her a little time to think. She then smiled and came forward and said, " No. You seem like a kind person. You even gave me this. "

She pointed at the jacket Peter had wrapped around her still tied at her hips.

"This.This was because your... " He paused to rephrase, " because your dress was so short your underwear could be seen. Where would our reputation go if people gossiped about it. I will be taking it back now. Dusty gave you a nice piece. " He bent down at her level and untied the knotted sleeves with both his hands . Teresa found those butterflies fluttering back inside her tummy. Even her eyes couldn't stop blinking.

"Done.Now back to my question. Do you know who you helped yesterday? " Peter repeated.

As Teresa shook her head vigorously, both answering him and shaking her flutters off, Peter announced all of a sudden, " She is my mother. "

"What? Your mother? I thought you guys were rich. " Teresa seemed shocked to her core to find someone could still be so miserable with so much money around.

"What does wealth have to do with this? " Peter too was taken off guard with her question.

" Doesn't money have the power to buy everything? Then why didn't you buy her strength. Why didn't you take her to the best doctors in the best place. Why? " Teresa demanded as Peter moved a few spaces back.

"What are you talking about. She is paralyzed throat down. Even the best of the best, said they weren't able to find a cure for that. " He said.

Teresa turned around and held the wall closest to her as if digesting something very bad. Her smile was gone. So was her zeal. The only thing she managed to get out was, "Oh! I see. "

"From today you are going to give my mother all your time and tend to her every need! "

Peter's words rang in her head as she paddled down the ally. She had taught herself to ride , stealing the delivery boy's cycle whenever he came. It was her first time riding in the open, without a crime.

She diligently crossed the road and collected her first item. Then she rode again to the next store. Very soon her box was full of the items she was asked to bring except the last one.

Teresa went to the shop at the far end.

" There it is. " Her eyes shone up as she spotted the last piece of musk melon on a vendors counter. She paddled hard to reach the place and then parked her bike on the side. The moment she placed her hands on top of it to grab it, another pair of hand grabbed it's other side.

" Hey I got this first, " Teresa yelled.

"Says who? I got it too. " Protested a handsome young man. Almost Teresa's age and height. He stood tall like a wall refusing to budge to give Teresa side.

"Let me go. I need it delivered quick, " Teresa tried pushing her way through. But he was too well built for her.

"You are not going anywhere with that. It's mine. Keep that back and you are free to go. " The boy sounded no less than the bullies back at the orphanage. Teresa gave him a sharp look and then proceeded to do what life had so passionately taught her. She pushed him hard at the rib cage with her elbow and then stamped him on his feet before darting right past him inside to pay the shopkeeper's bill.

" Ouch! What in the... Just wait you little piece of garbage... " The boy went on and on but Teresa laughed her way out. She even dared to boo him as she mounted her bike. It must have been too much and she instantly regretted as the boy started chasing her at full speed.

Teresa paddled as fast as she could and kept checking at every bend but no matter which lane she took, it was impossible to dodge the boy.

"Shit, this one's running like an ostrich, " Teresa said as she tried increasing her speed. But the groceries kept weighing her down. After taking a few turns on the footpath, Teresa decided she could no longer just keep to the bike bay. She changed her direction and took straight on the main road.

She kept looking back, checking if she had lost him, but every time she was disappointed.

At this time she was paddling like crazy but shit! the chain in her cycle gave way.

"Crap! It had to happen right. Now. What am I going to do? " Teresa panicked as she towed her cycles along the road.

Just then a car came at her,with full speed from another direction but she was unable to stop with so much load and speed.

The wheels of the vehicle screeched as the hood almost touched Teresa in the face.

"Are you crazy or do you have a death wish? Who pulls a cycle along in a busy main street. Can't you see the bay... Oh! It's you again, " The speaker changed the topic mid speech as he reprimanded Teresa. It was none other than Peter.

This time Teresa was relived to have him in the scene. She smiled wide as he scolded him.

" Good, good that it's you. That crazy guy was after my musk melon, " Teresa tried to explain clutching it to her chest.

"Your musk melon? " Peter's eye travelled from her face downwards and stopped at her chest. He coughed and looked away in another direction finally getting what she said.

" Where? What guy? Who is chasing you? " Peter asked trying to get way from the topic.

" That... " Teresa looked around but he was already gone. She looked back at Peter and said, " I think he left after I fell. "

" Never mind. What are these you are carrying in the bike? " Peter asked.

"It's groceries for the kitchen. But how do I go. I don't know how to put the chain back on, " Teresa said looking down with shame. She had never had access to a bike except when she stole. She never had the opportunity to lean how to put a chain on. Peter looked at her and shook his head with disappointment.

" Here. I will do it for you. Take a good look. I won't be helping you again. " He folded his sleeves and bent over to fix the thing.

Teresa looked on at his perfectly sinewy arms at work. Her chest went up and down with the rhythm of the blood flowing in his vien. His muscles going up and down as he worked, looked like a perfect play. Teresa looked on till Peter suddenly stood up and said, " There. It's done. Get going then. "

Teresa nodded vigorously before boarding her vehicle and setting off on her way.