by Hope Paris
I climb out the window and make my way up to the roof. The fire escape is a little wobbly and rusting in several places. I hate heights.
Claire is on the roof, lying on her belly on a towel, wearing short shorts and a bikini top. She is smoking while reading a book, sunglasses on over her eyes. There are two beer cans next to her, one of them opened. I clamber onto the roof, biting back a groan at the sight. Claire just doesn’t care.
I walk over to her.
“Claire, would you stop leaving your room via the fire escape?”
“Why not?” Claire doesn’t look up. “Who’s going to punish me?”
“Well, you’re going to be punished now.” I crouch beside her. “But you will be able to make it right.”
Claire snorts rudely.
“How can I make it right when I’m being charged? What’s the point of that when it’s too late?”
“You’re facing jail time. Now that you’re eighteen, it’s a distinct possibility. But it will just take a few words from Mr. Ford, and you don’t have to spend any time inside. You’ll have to repay him though.”
“As long as I get to repay Mr. Ford personally, I’ll happily do it.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Well, he is pretty hot.” Claire rolls onto her side, taking a huge drag of her spliff as she smirks at me. “From the way you are with him, I’d say you think the same thing.”
“I beg your pardon?” I stare at her. “You’ve never seen me with him.”
“Oh, I have.” Claire smirks. “I saw you two leaving the coffee shop across the street. From the back door. Your hair is still in a mess now.” She sniggers. “I could tell even from up here.”
Shit. Claire is very nosy. I never thought she would be able to see anything. I grit my teeth.
“He’s my boss. And I was incredibly lucky that he didn’t fire me for what you did.”
“He certainly did something to you.”
I ignore this and fold my arms.
“That man is willing to give us a second chance, give us a place to live and a stable income for all of us. Even after what you did. You screw this up and we’ll be homeless and jobless. Do you want that?”
Claire rolls her eyes.
“I’ll still be serving something for those theft charges. How is that benefitting me?”
She still isn’t getting it. I glare at her.
“We were planning on throwing you out when we move to our new place next week. It would be just Mom and me. You’ve been disrespectful to both of us for so long and Mom’s fed up with it.”
Claire stares at me. She jumps to her feet.
“You can’t do that!” she cries. “Where would I go? I’m just a kid!”
“You’re eighteen. You’re an adult. You keep telling us that you can take care of yourself.” I try not to take a step back as Claire steps towards me. “As for where you go, I’m sure you would be able to figure it out.”
“You bitch!”
I hold up a hand.
“Hear what I said, Claire. We were planning. Past tense. You’re lucky that you got a reprieve. You want to have a roof over your head? You do as you’re told. I don’t care how old you are or how entitled you think you are, you keep in line or we lose everything.”
Claire is advancing on me and I find myself backing up. The edge of the roof is right behind me, and I know I’m getting close to the parapet. Claire bares her teeth at me, waving the foul-smelling spliff in my face.
“You’re such a high and mighty bitch, do you know that?”
“I know what my options are. You haven’t grown up enough to do that.”
“At least I know how to deal with a man.” Claire sniggers. “Once I get my hands on Mr. Ford, I’ll be showing him how a woman does things. I’ll wipe you out of existence.”
The thought of Claire getting intimate with Jason makes me feel sick. I swallow and square my shoulders.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t know what you think Mr. Ford and I have done, but he won’t let you anywhere near him.”
Claire smirks. She looks very smug.
“Well, you’re fucking him for things, aren’t you? You become his personal bitch and you get whatever you want. It’s what I would do.”
“Don’t be disgusting.”
“He could have done better than you.” Claire steps towards me again, and I back up. “I mean, who would find you attractive? He must have to summon up a lot of memories of hot women to get it up.”
I can feel the tears building. Claire knows my insecurities and she loves to be mean to others. Especially me. She knows how to push my buttons.
I know how close I am to the edge. Taking a deep breath, I fix a stare on my sister. She looks like the cat that got the cream.
“You will be lucky not to see the inside of a prison cell, Claire. Mr. Ford will not stand for anything regarding you. It was discussed. You mess up one more time and you’re out.”
“I mess up?” Claire rolls her eyes. “You’ll mess up long before I do. If you can’t keep his interest, this will all go very rapidly. Don’t expect it to last any longer than a month.”
She takes another drag of her spliff, blowing the smoke at me. It makes my eyes water and the foul smell goes up my nose, making me cough. Claire smirks.
“Be careful going back down, Melanie. That fire escape is rather... unstable.”
I’m happy to get off the roof. I’ve said what I needed to say to Claire. I turn to find the fire escape directly behind me. Relieved, I reach for the ladder.
And then I feel someone shove me from behind. Hard. And I start to fall.
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