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Noel
December 23rd
I pull into the parking lot of my current employment. I gaze at the sign and shake my head at the name…Dirty Hoes Plants & Décor. The universehasto be poking fun at me. Then again, beggars can’t be choosers so maybe the fun is just at my expense.
The town’s Christmas cheer and displays make the joke of my life even more of a punchline.
What is there to be cheerful about?
People walk by sipping hot cocoa and sucking on candy canes just twist my tinsel into a tighter knot. I don’t have half the happiness they have.
Not a third. Heck, one-tenth.
The plan is to sleep through Christmas day this year and pray that a reset button will activate, and my life will straighten out in the new year. No more mistakes for me.
But one mistake is all it takes to change a life, and my life is no different. Unfortunately, for me, it hasn’t been just one mistake this year.
There were several of them, but then there is always the catalyst. The original mistake. The big one. I left the cash register open at my last job. My eyes were off of the money for a couple of seconds… brief moments… and when I turned back… $657… poof, was gone. It was one sliver in time that changed the course of my life.
I understand why they let me go, but the only place hiring had to be a place with a questionable name. One that sounds quite…adult exotic dance related. And hey, I’m not judging! That’s probably my next step if this doesn’t work out.
I just know that my mother would be mortified to tell her friends, “My daughter works atDirty… Hoes.” I can hear Jan whispering the news, as if it’s a secret. The real secret is I screwed up and didn’t tell my parents. What they don’t know can’t hurt them… or me with their judgment.
Though I will sayDirty Hoesis one of the most pleasant workplaces I’ve ever worked in. My bosses, Cali and Mari, have been extra kind, especially during one of their busiest seasons next to spring, apparently.
But the mess I call my life apparently can get even worse.
Falling for the wrong guy is always a major slap in the face and I’ve been bruised over and over—emotionally, not physically. Thank goodness. Only this time, not only was he the wrong guy, but he was an asshat tool of a jerk.
We were on a trip to see my parents. A trip I was dying to take for a while. I’ve been missing them like crazy. For as much as they judge, they equally care and I know that. Excitement also filled me because I was bringing home a boyfriend. The one thing I hadn’t done since my teenage years.
I had a new job and a steady boyfriend meeting my parents. Life’s mistakes seemed cleared up, and I was on the way to things evening out in the Universe… until they didn’t.
Two thousand miles away from our town Everville, North Carolina, in his fancy SUV with heated seats that really made early morning starts less tortuous, on a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, to meet my parents, he declares that he can’t be with “just a delivery driver.” He has an “image to maintain,” and “standards to uphold.” I didn’t fit the lifestyle he was curating, so he dropped me off at my parents and headed out to the casinos.
His social media was nothing but women and booze. I might have dodged a bullet, but still it was hard to see.
I lean my head back against the headrest of my car. “Ugh.”
What a sick joke!
It didn’t help that I had to borrow money from my parents to fly back to Everville. Luckily my parents were happy to do it, but I hated having to ask. My twin brother Nolan never needs to ask for things like this. He’s got his shit together, a new job and moving to be near me, both things that mean a lot to me.
Mostly because he sofa surfs at my place and helps pay the rent. Couldn’t do it on my own with this part-time gig.
I returned home to Everville from Charlotte after and ran to my brother Nolan inside our apartment.
The safest place I have always felt is with my brother. He hugged me tight. “That guy is a douche, and you deserve better.”
I sighed, working hard to stop crying as it wouldn’t do me any favors. “I hate that Mom and Dad witnessed the whole thing.”
Nolan leaned back and bucked up my chin. “Hey, they were grateful to be there for you. You know that.”
I did know that. Though it didn’t make it easy.
Wasn’t there an age when things got easier… better… not so jumbled?
Cocking my head, I took in my brother. Something was different with him. He seemed brighter. Happier. Almost…cheerful and it was disturbing.
