Aurora

With the help of James' parents, I was able to enroll my siblings into after school activities. I would rather them be at school for hours than be at that place. With today being Tuesday, Kane and Drew are in basketball practice, while Sydney is in cheer practice. Meanwhile, I have to go to work. I currently work at this fast food restaurant called . It's a little run down and the pay is kind of shit but it's close to the house. I've been working here on and off for three years now. The owner is sixty five year old Sally Wilkerson.

Besides James' family and Joseph, Sally is the other person in town that's nice to us. Truth be told, this is my first job. I'm just the cashier but sometimes I do to-go orders. There's not many people working here, it's only six of us but we make it work. It's imperative that if we can't show up for work, we call in because most of us need the money. I'm thinking about quitting and looking for a new job, but I just couldn't bare to leave Sally all alone.

She's the first person to give me a chance but it doesn't help that male customers constantly give me rude ass comments. I usually just ignore them but I'm close to my breaking point if you ask me. Since today is Tuesday, my shift starts at 4:30 pm and ends at 11:00 pm. It's only seven and an half hours but it does good for me. My siblings are also at practice but will be going to James' house until I get off. Then his mom, Jackie, will drive us to that house. Hopefully she'll let us stay the night completely but if not, at least she let my siblings stay over for a while.

What's confusing to me is the fact that Sally's not here. She's never missed a day of work for as long as I've been here and I've never heard of her missing work even before that. She could've just been tired and wanted to take an off day. She is a sixty five year old woman so it's no surprise. I thought about asking someone if she's ok but I decided against it.

The bell hanging on the side of the door took me out of my thoughts as a customer walked in. I grabbed a scrunchie off my wrist and pulled my burgundy box braids into a high bun. Walking over towards the cash register, I put on a smile. "Hello, welcome to Sally's Diner. How may I help you today?" I don't remember how many times I've repeated that but it's become a mantra while working here.

"Can I place a to go order? I would like a large black coffee with two cups of sugar and creamer. Then I would like an omelette with hash browns on the side." The young lady requested. I typed the codes of the food into the cash register as I've memorized how much everything costs.

"Can I have a name for the order please?"

"Desiree." She responded.

"That'll be $16.78." I watched as she dug into her wallet and pulled out a card. She swiped her card on the machine and then typed in her four digit code. She waited for her transaction to get approved as she put her card back into her wallet. I approved the transaction as her receipt was printed out.

"Here's your receipt. It should be about ten to fifteen minutes." She nodded her head as she sat down at the nearest table. Many people that come here aren't in a rush to sit down and eat. So many of them want their food to go which is no problem with me. The only people working the afternoon and overnight shift are me, this guy name Manny who's the cook, a girl name Bella, another guy name Ramon who's the one that does to go orders, and a black girl name Tanya.

With this diner being strictly black, we mostly get black customers. Desiree, the lady who just ordered seems to work in an office as to her attire. She's dressed in a tight, black long skirt, a white button up, and black heels with the blazer to match. I don't know how many corporate offices there are in town but I think the closest is about twenty five minutes away. Before I knew it, fifteen minutes had already passed, and Manny rang the bell to alert me that the to-go order is ready.

Grabbing the bag from out the window, I call out Desiree's name. She stands up and grabs the bag, but not before saying thank you. I don't know why but my curiosity became peeked.

"Excuse me? Where do you work at?" I hope she doesn't mind me cause I know that I might sound like a creep for asking.

"At Davis Enterprise." She responded as she walked out the door. Time went on as we finally began to get more customers. When it was finally time for me to get off, I couldn't be more happier. I practically ran outside as my house is fifteen minutes away. It's dark outside but I couldn't let that stop me as I have to reach James' house that's only five minutes away from my own.

I wanted to pull my phone out but I know that I have to pay attention to my surroundings. The last thing I would need is to get kidnapped or murdered. As I continued walking, I noticed that the street lights began to get low. One of the street lights began to flick off and on which made my heart jump. The cold wind almost blew me away as I wrapped my arms around my body.

As I crossed the roads, I made a mental note to look at each car that's parked on the side. Just wanting to make sure that no one is watching or following me. I sound paranoid as hell but having a lot her like I do, everything will make you paranoid. With every breath that I take, I know that I'm getting closer to James' house. This route is very familiar to me so I know when something sticks out of the ordinary. What caught my attention was the sound of a car pulling up on the side of me.

"What's a pretty lady like you doing out here all alone?"