During the summer break, I found myself a part–time job to earn some extra cash to pay for my living expenses. I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it, but I constantly felt like someone was watching me. Yet every time I looked back, no one was there, so I dismissed it as nothing.
My salary was paid to me on a bi–monthly basis, and I realized that I had received a thousand dollars more than what was promised. A thousand dollars was a large sum of money during those days.
My boss, Jerry Little, explained, “Business has been going great recently. It’s your bonus.”
I happily accepted the extra cash upon hearing his words.
When I finished my shift, I further rewarded myself by purchasing a fried chicken drumstick. When I stopped by the shop, I noticed that they were running a promotion where if one purchased one drumstick, the buyer would receive another three for free.
Lady Luck must have been smiling down on me that day.
However, the thought had barely finished forming in my mind when I realized that the customer who was behind me had only received one drumstick from the owner of the fried chicken shop.
The customer was bewildered and asked, “Why did you give me only one drumstick when you gave her four? Isn’t there a promotion?”
The owner looked oddly at me before saying, “The promotion ended.”
The customer muttered unhappily under his breath as he left with his single drumstick.
10:
I finally realized that something was amiss. I retraced my footsteps but didn’t detect even a hint of Joseph’s shadow. I pulled out the one thousand dollars from my bag and carelessly threw it on the ground before preparing to take my leave.
Finally, Joseph showed himself. He called out to me as he bent over and scooped up the discarded wad of cash.
I glared at him and said coldly, “Didn’t I tell you to disappear from my life?”
Joseph started crying. “I can work to take care of you. I just want you to have an easier life.”
I retrieved the drumstick that I had paid for before tossing the other three in Joseph’s face. “You disgust me! I told you to stay away from me!”
His face turned pale. “I never went to university. Now, I’m just like you were in your previous life.”
I scoffed inwardly. I recalled how he had spent his university days. He had enjoyed the benefits of being a university student to the fullest while watching me fall to the bottom rung of society.
I could have lived a comfortable life despite not being a university graduate. But Joseph had spun a lie that he was in debt. He had intentionally forced me into a corner where I would never succeed in life.
“So what?” I sneered.
I shot him one last disgruntled look before I turned on my heel and left. I resigned from my part–time job and found another job involving more manual labor. The pay wasn’t as good, but it was enough to keep me afloat. After all, my goal was to lessen the financial pressure on my family.
I let out a sigh of relief once Joseph vanished from my life. Just seeing him had always reminded me of how pathetic I’d been in my past life.
A month later, the new semester began. Mom and Dad applied for leave so they could send me off. They wore bright smiles throughout the entire day.
