Chapter 7 Mrs Whitehead

" You'll have to put on something shorter than that. " I stared at myself in the mirror as Mrs Whitehead said that. " It's an advert, sweetheart, it needs something catchy. "

I changed to a shorter white sleeveless gown, with a long V cut which exposed the middle of my breasts and two openings at both sides.

" Now, that's catchy. " She gave me a thumbs up.

We always had photoshoots within the company but this time, Mrs Whitehead decided for a change of position.

I had my bracelet on, it was wide enough to hide the mark but this time, Mrs Whitehead insisted I take it off.

This is an open photoshoot. What am I going to do?

The mark is still the same as twelve years ago. I've tried every cream possible to hide the mark but yet, it's all in vain.

I really don't know what to do now, I mean... I'm fucking hopeless right now.

I almost had it off when the directors requested a more fancied one.

I sighed in relief, God knows how he does his work. I quickly changed to a new one, but I made sure no one saw it.

Why am I so scared about this mark? Because it's a secret and it needs to remain a secret.

The photoshoots went well and we were able to round it off in the evening.

I changed into my normal clothes and drove back home.

I had my hot shower and a brief rest which didn't last up to thirty minutes.

Aunty Ranita was cooking dinner and uncle Sylvester wasn't back yet, but I could hear Quincy's voice from my room.

I went downstairs, waiting for dinner to be served. Damon and Ruby were in their room playing video games and Quincy was coming from her room with her tablet.

Just the usual...

" Hi, Quin. " I waved a smile at her but she looked at me and took it off. " How was school today? "

" You should ask the headmaster about that. "

I smiled, trying not to look offended by her response. " Okay. So, how are Christabel and Dexter? You know, it's been awhile since you talked about them. "

" What do you care about them? You never asked of them for a long time. Why now? To show how concerned you've suddenly become? If you desperately wanna know how fine they are, then you should come over to my school. "

I know she's still angry about earlier, and it's not my fault. She would have considered the fact that I was late for work. I didn't mean to do what I did.

" Look, Quincy, I'm very sorry about earlier and... I didn't mean to act so rude to you. I was only trying to keep up with my time and... "

" You know what, I'm not interested in your stories. As you can see, I'm busy. Look, I know you aren't my sister and you were brought up in a poor, helpless village because your parents couldn't afford your school fees. "

" Quincy, that's enough. "

" And that doesn't give you the right to act like we're related in life. So, if you're looking for someone to play your poor lifestyle games, I'm in no position for that. "

" Quincy, I know we might not be blood, but that doesn't mean you have to talk to me that way. "

" What, isn't it the truth? You were picked from a wretched family, because my father decided to help your pathetic life. "

" Shut up, Quincy. "

" You managed to drive a car because of my father. What has your father done for you, huh, that I have to tell you to drive me to school before you do. "

" I'm not your driver, so you don't expect me to drive you to school like one. "

" Of course, you're not my driver because having a driver is a lot better than having you!! You're so annoying. "

Aunty Ranita walked out of the kitchen, dusting her hands on her apron. " What's going on here? I can hear you two voices from the kitchen. "

" It's nothing serious. " I said, but Quincy had to spit the whole thing out.

" Is it? " She rolled her eyes at me, scoffing. " Mom, she's lying. "

" Quincy, mind your mouth, will you? " Aunty Ranita warned.

" I'm saying the truth, mom. You were able to hear our voices because she was abusing me. " She lied.

I stared surprised at her, she was twisting the whole thing. I looked at aunty Ranita, who threw a confused face at me.

" Zamsii abused you? " She asked.

" Yes, "

" Aunty Ranita, that's a lie. I never abused her. I've never done that before. " I defended myself.

" Stop lying! "

" Quincy, Zamsii can never abuse you. You two have been friends since she came here. Why would she do that now? " She defended.

" Are you siding with her now? "

" No, sweetheart, I'm not siding with anyone. I just wanna know what happened. "

She stood up, picking her tablet from where she had kept it. " You wanna know what happened? Then you and dad shouldn't have brought her here in the first place. " She left her room.

I stood up too, about to leave my room when she stopped me. " What's going on between you two? " She asked.

" It's nothing. "

"It doesn't look like it's anything. "

" She doesn't want me anymore, she doesn't want me here, that's the problem. " I told her.

" I don't understand. What really brought about all this? "

I sighed, " I was running late for work and she told me uncle Sylvester asked me to drive her to school. When we got there, she didn't want to go to school, she was playing games. I pleaded for her to go to school so that I could go to work, but she ignored me and made me look like a fool. "

" I decided to drive out of school when she started screaming that I should let her go. I don't see anything annoying about this that she... " I sniffed, " that she could insult my parents for being too wretched to take care of me. That I was born poor and.. and if it wasn't for uncle Sylvester, I wouldn't be what I am today because I have parents who can't afford my school fees. "

I wiped my rolling tears, sniffing hard. " Maybe she's right. Maybe I don't belong here. " I left my room, and I didn't mind if she believed me or not. "

Uncle Sylvester returned not quite long, and aunty Ranita called us all for dinner.

The atmosphere was quiet and silence took over. I held my spoon but I didn't touch my food.

Quincy rested her head in her left hand while the others slowly chewed on their food.

Aunty Ranita would look at us, then back to her food. Damon and Ruby did the same thing too but decided not to talk about it.

Uncle Sylvester seemed not to have noticed it but when he did, he stared his gaze at everyone of us. " Why is everyone so calm? " He asked.

Damon and Ruby shrugged while aunty Ranita rubbed the back of her head.

" Quincy, why aren't you eating? And you, Zamsii, you haven't even touched your food yet. What's going on here? "

No one said a thing to him, he directed his gaze at his wife. " What's going on here? " He asked again.

" Uhmm... Zamsii and Quincy had a little misunderstanding. " She replied.

" What misunderstanding? " He asked. " What really happened? "

" Quincy yelled at her. " She wasn't trying to hit to the point and it was getting uncle Sylvester curious.

He looked at Quincy, who didn't realize that her name was being mentioned as her head still rested on her hand.

" What did she say? "

" She said Zamsii's parents were wretched people and that you had only picked her from her pathetic life to come over to New York to live with her. " She didn't want to go further than that but he insisted she continues.

" And... "

" Zamsii is what she is because of your help. "

His face turned red. Dropping his spoon on his plate, he focused his gaze on the less concerned Quincy.

" Is that true? " He asked angrily. She said nothing, this got him more annoyed than he was. " I'm gonna ask you for the last time, is that true? "

She reluctantly looked at him, " Isn't it true? Midnight Clan is a pathetic village which accommodates pathetic people. "

" We've been living happily since she came here. Why does she have to be so pathetic to you now? "

" Because that's what she is. "

He grabbed her hand, dragging her to her room. " You're done eating for the night. " We heard him say.

" But I haven't eaten anything yet. "

" You decided not to eat. Who's fault is it? "

" I'm hungry. " She cried.

" I don't care how long you cry, but I'm gonna promise you this, no more birthday parties for two years. Unfortunately, your birthday is next month and you'll have to celebrate it like an ordinary day. I'll forgive you when I see that you've really learnt how to position your mouth while talking to your elders. "

~`~~~