Chapter 2
1076 Words
The walk home was as long as I've always known it to be, but it was fine by me, as long as I had my energy pump. I had the option of taking the bus, but it had to be the last thing I'd ever do. If school was a hellhole, then the bus was just as bad. I always sat alone. It wasn't like they hit me or did anything violent to me. It was the angry look they'd wear whenever they saw me, and the sneers they sent my way every damn day that made me always feel self-conscious. No one liked Radiants so it made no sense for me to even take the bus.
My parents always thought I took the bus but it's so much better if they didn't know. They constantly worked really hard and their hearts couldn't handle the things I went through each day as a Radiant.
I pushed the mahogany door open when I got home and met my eleven-year-old siblings already at home. I wasn't surprised. They always took the bus. Toni and Tobi were sitting down, sprawled on the floor, and watching television.
Toni and Tobi were born in the same year, eleven months apart but always acted like twins. It didn't help that they both looked so alike and were even in the same class. They had my similar medium tone skin, paired with warm dark eyes. Even though Toni was a female and the older one, they both shared the same height and bubbly personalities.
Toni turned her head to look at me. "Hey, Tamar. Mom's home and she's pissed."
Tobi chimed in. "She got fired at work and she's looking for you."
Oh s**t, I ran to her room and found her sitting dangerously still and staring into space. "Mom."
Mom turned her head towards me. Her curly brown hair looked more frazzled than usual and her matching brown eyes had fury hidden in them. "Why weren't you home early with Toni and Tobi?"
"I went to the bookstore to get a novel. Sorry I took so long."
"What a funny thing to say. Your siblings said you were at the market buying grapefruits. I wonder who's lying?" Annoyance twisted her words.
My eyes widened. I didn't need to be caught in this lie. "Oh yeah. They're right. I also went to the market. Two places today."
Mom stood up from the bed. Her face went still. "Stop lying to me, Tamar. Why aren't you taking the bus? Please don't tell me that you've been walking from school. Do you know how much-converted energy it would cost? Your dad and I can't be wasting that kind of money."
I gave her a dejected look. I wanted to say something. Anything. But the distraught look in her eyes, made me rethink telling her. "I'm sorry, ma. I just can't take the bus."
"Just tell me what's wrong. I can do something. I can help you. You just have to talk to me."
I wanted to tell her. I really did. I just couldn't afford to break her heart more than it already was. "I can't. Please promise me that you won't tell dad. He can't afford to have this kind of stress. It'll crush him."
Her eyes were transfixed on mine. "Just tell me what's going on. I can help."
Looking away from her for a split second, I decided to say instead. "I heard you lost your job. What happened?"
It seemed to distract her for a while and her previous rage began to show on her face. "They're just a bunch of selfish monsters. All of them. They fired ME. ME of all people. I've been working my ass there for eleven years and they treat me like this. The Government's a piece of trash."
"What's their excuse?" The recently appointed Nigerian leader, Kree Badmus, who presently served as a dictator, always seemed to have an excuse up his sleeves. His not-so-subtle opinions about Radiants seemed to rub off on other people.
"There's always an excuse. Something to justify their awful actions. But it's not good enough. They blame the economy. They say it's bad. So they need to get rid of people so they can afford to pay the people that are left. I understand their point. What I don't understand is why they aren't suffering from this too. Their salaries are fattening up while the rest of us get laid off. Is it fair?"
"It never is, mom."
Then she shot me a firm look. "Don't think I've forgotten about your little stunt. But I'll let it slide for now. Your father can't handle any more bad news at this moment. I've got to tell him that I've lost my job. Yours is going to wait for another day."
A sigh of relief escaped my lips. "Thanks, mom."
"Don't thank me. I'm just doing what's best for our family. Now go get changed out of your school uniform so you can have proper lunch. You must be as tired as hell from the long journey you took back home."
★★★
Changing out of my uniform, I took out my contact lens and fixed my gaze on the full-length mirror in my room. My natural orange colored eyes stared back at me, as I looked at my features slowly. Frizzly dark hair pulled up to a bun, piled on top of my oval face. My pixie-like nose and full lips helped to complement my high cheekbones. I let my gaze flicker back to the reflection of my eyes. Don't be too surprised. I have orange eyes. It's not completely weird. It was how people knew we were Radiants. The eyes.
It was one of the defects that affected us from radiation poisoning. Orange eyes. Lean limbs and the constant need for an energy pump. That was how we could be identified. But I wanted to be seen as someone. A normal person. I wanted to be treated differently. I wore contact lens so that I could have dark brown eyes just like everybody else. But it wasn't enough. I had to survive on energy pumps and people saw me for who I really was. A Radiant.
The fact that people knew what I was, didn't stop me from wearing contacts each day. It made me yearn for something I'd always wanted to be. Being normal. I craved for that, each moment of my life so I kept on wearing it. Holding onto something I wasn't, but it was a form of comfort that held me in place.
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