Alpha’s Virgin Stripper

Jojo:

After a week of living in the beach house in Ten, Mrs. Smith, Mel, and I had finally set up the restaurant. It was a one-hour drive from home, and closer to the main city. The restaurant was situated away from the beach because Mrs. Smith said she did not want the restaurant to be visited only seasonally. Summer was a very interesting period for businesses on the beach, but she wanted an area she could make sales all year round, just like how we did in Rush pack.

The restaurant had almost the same building style as the restaurant in Rush. Mel and I liked to joke around, we concluded that Mrs. Smith had a thing for glass doors and walls. I mean, the restaurant in Rush had glass doors and walls, the beach house had glass doors and now, the restaurant had glass doors too! One day, when she overheard us talking, she laughed and said; “You girls are not wrong, you know? I mean, I did not expect you to spot it this easily, but I do have a thing for glass doors.”

She had employed an additional three staff, comprising a cook, a cleaner, and a security guard.

The restaurant was not the only good thing that had happened. Mel and I found a good and affordable private school in the city. The school was a fifteen minutes’ drive from the restaurant and a twenty minutes’ drive from my mother’s hospital.

St Vincent and the Ten grenadines was the city’s public hospital with free healthcare. We took her there for both physiotherapy and psychotherapy. She had become a bit more receptive I’m the past days, and the key to getting her to eat was to promise to show her the sunset. I had also relayed this information to the nurses, in case she proved stubborn – which, mind you, was a very common thing for her to do.

And Mel? While she was still reeling from Shawn’s heartbreak, she finally decided she wanted to open a beauty and fashion store. It was only natural, I mean, Mel was one of the most adventurous people I knew when it came to clothes and fashion. She had dreams to own a salon in the city, where she would work with her makeup artistry and hairstyling. She had refused to speak about Shawn anymore, she had refused to grieve. It was only on several occasions that I caught her staring into space, as though she were watching the breakup scene play in front of her time and time again.

“He called me purposeless. Said I was a cheap whore.” She said, one night I found her staring at the moon from the terrace.

She turned to me with dry and empty eyes.

“Do you think I have no purpose?” She asked.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Of course not! She was one of the strongest people I knew! One of the reasons for my strength. I owed more than half of my life to her. Mel believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself, she was there for me when I was not even there for myself.

“I don’t ever want you to think about it, Mel. You are filled with purpose, you are strong, and you are goal driven. It is only a pity that Shawn didn’t get to see the part of you that works late nights to take care of Valerie, the part that took me in as not even a sister, but a daughter. He would have eaten his words, I’m sure of it.”

That night, she rested her head on my shoulder.

“You were right, Jojo. Love does nothing but destroys us. The men always get the upper hand while we are left to rot with nothing. They take everything from us and toss us like dirt the moment they’ve had their fill. I wish I had listened to you, Jo. But not anymore. I would not make the mistake of falling in love, never.”

For some reason, I was scared of that statement. Maybe because I knew she was not only blabbing from the hurt. Something in her voice told me that she meant it.

Still, I was happy, really happy that she had finally figured out the next big path she wanted her life to take. I mean, it was just as Ashley had said, we could not be waitresses forever.

I knew I did not have such a luxury to remaining stagnant. With my baby coming, I had to make sure that I had very good plans set in place. It was why I decided to take a big step towards achieving my GED degree. I submitted my application to the community college for admission into a part-time program.

There were other colleges in Ten, but the community college was close to home. And I needed to be close to home, Mel, my mother, and the restaurant where I would be working part-time.

All in all, everything was starting to make a bit more sense. It was safe to say I was not frightened out of my mind anymore, and Mrs. Smith now knew there would soon be an addition to our… well, family.

Ever since I told her I was pregnant, she had insisted on giving me more breaks than usual.

“You should not stress yourself at all, it’s never good for the baby. You should eat more protein. You know, milk, eggs, meat. It’s good for the baby’s growth. And calcium too! Just enough for strong bones and teeth. Not too much sugar or junk now, we do not want to have problems before we get far. In fact, what do you think about antenatal? Have you started with any OB-GYN yet?” She spoke to me that morning, while I was lifting a pack of can drinks to take to the fridge.

She took the pack from my hands and placed it on the ground. I had thought it was a rhetorical question, but I realized it wasn’t when she arched a brow at me.

I found myself stuttering.

“I haven’t really… I don’t know. It’s never really…”

She waved her hand, dismissing the rest of my sentence.

“Never mind. Mel would take care of the restaurant while we are gone. Take your apron off and fix your hair. We’re going to see a doctor.”