Behind The Mask

SCOOTER ON A SIDEWALK

You know how you meet a certain person in a very awkward setting, in a weird way and that encounter turns your world three sixty?

We all have that person in which their presence in our lives makes it better or completely destroys it.

Hers was the latter.

Adrenaline rush, she was no stranger to it.

Taking what wasn't hers, favorite hobby.

She has dedicated her life to taking and running and does she have any regrets? No.

The cold breeze of Washington Street danced with her brown hair in the air as her steps quickened, when she noticed she was being followed.

Her hazelnut eyes swiftly turn to look at her chasers. They were dressed in black and armed with pistols.

“Holy shit!” Her pink lips cursed, as she stopped to look around.

Her eyes quickly caught her scooter, parked on the other side of the road.

Dashing to the other side, she started the scooter and attempted to reverse but bumped into a car from behind.

It was a dark blue Mercedes.

“Damn!” She angrily got down but noticed the men following her got close. “Really?! You couldn't just watch where you were going!?” She threw her hands in the air but nobody got down from the car.

She angrily dropped her helmet and walked to the back window. “Open up!” She impatiently banged the tinted glass.

“Ma'am, you can't do that." The driver finally got down.

" What did you just call me? Do I look like your step aunt?” She hissed.

" You broke my light and sat in there like you didn't know what you did." She tried to look through the glass to see who it was but it was too dark.

The driver went back into the car and came out shortly. “Here, it will take care of the damage.” He gave her a bundle of new notes which she collected happily.

“Fuck this.” She climbed her scooter and sped away, using the sidewalk instead.

She collected a good amount of curses and names from the angry pedestrians but she couldn't care less, her life was more important than any name they threw at her.

Kimberlee Smith, only child and orphaned at the age of nine. Thirteen different foster homes with a bitter family history.

Cynic, stubborn, trouble maker and recently turned feminist.

Seven years ago, she moved out of her last foster home to start her own life after she turned into an adult. She knew she had a greater future ahead of her and couldn't achieve it under other people's supervision.

Although she really didn't have a footing, she took a leap of faith. Her savings were enough to get her a cheap apartment and she worked three jobs to sustain herself.

Her two foster sisters slash best friends thankfully joined in on the exciting adventure a year after she left them and everything became better.

The trio had different dreams.

Kimberlee always wanted to be a journalist, Pamela wanted to go to medical school while Zita loved fashion.

But life always throws at you what you don't want and in their case, they really didn't have options other than to take it and shape it into the world they desired.

Kimberlee became a low budget journalist that was always behind the scenes but she was grateful for the pay.

Zita works per time in a boutique and that was the closest she got to fashion while Pamela volunteers at different shelters and elderly homes as an assistant nurse.

“She's here!” Pamela gasped from their bedroom window.

Kim chained her scooter to a pole and climbed the stairs. She preferred to use the stairs at the back of the apartment building whenever she comes in late so as not to wake the kids.

After climbing four floors, she let out a breath of relief and pulled out her key from the old crossbody bag.

“What took you so long?” Zita helped with the grocery bags. “Girl, you got us all worried!”

Pamela poured a glass of water for Kim.

“Are they kids asleep?” Kind gulped it down and cleaned her mouth with the back of her palm.

Pamela let out a long yawn. “Yes, not until we read them a bedtime story. They wanted to wait up for you.”

“This came in for you.” Pamela gave her seven envelopes.

Kim calmly went through them with a sigh. “I made some money today but I don't think it will be able to pay their class dues.” She dropped five of the envelopes and opened the next.

“Eviction notice.” Zita said before Kim could say anything. “We opened it earlier. I'll take care of it tomorrow, I'm expecting my pay.”

Kim wasn't curious to know what was in the last envelope but opened it anyway.

“My foundation has been approved!” She finally smiled.

Zita and Pamela exclaimed in joy!

“Shh,” Pamela whispered.

“Mama?” A boy of five called from a bedroom door.

“Pedro!” Kim quickly went to him with a smile and knelt to hug him. She picked him into her arms and he instantly went back to sleep.

Gently putting him in his bed, she planted kisses on all the children's forehead before walking out.

Kim took a hot bath and couldn't stop thinking about the approval of her foundation. She has been waiting a year for this great news and finally, her dream will come true.

She crawled into the bed in-between her two friends with a smile.

With the success of the foundation, she will give herself, her friends and her kids the life they deserve.

Kimberlee walked out of a public school after using most of her savings to pay the children's fees.

She looked down at the receipts with a smile and put them in her worn out crossbody bag, proud of what she was doing with her life.

A huge frown fell on her face when she saw her scooter was chained in the back of a truck while a flashy car slowly rolled into the spot she parked her scooter initially.

“Hey, hey, hey!” She angrily exclaimed with her hands in the air as she ran towards the officer.

“You're not allowed to park here, you know that Kim.” He said to her with a very serious face.

“C’mon, officer. Just give me a ticket or something.” She pleaded.

“No, not this time.” He shook his head. “But you're still getting one.” He clicked his pen and started writing something down.

“I took direct orders.” He pointed at the flashy car with his pen without looking up.

Kimberlee angrily turned to look at the black BMW behind her when the door opened. “Who's that?” She asked and without waiting for an answer, matched to the car.

“Kim!” The officer called.

Kimberlee angrily walked to the man. “You know my problem with you rich folks? You think you can do absolutely anything you want because of the size of your pockets.”

The man was tall, tanned with a beard and a neat haircut.

He wasn't wearing expensive clothes, tailor-made suit or unnecessary, obviously expensive branded accessories that screamed his worth or the kind of lifestyle he has.

His lips were full and pink and his face looked like it was carefully crafted for a god, maybe from one of those mythical stories.

He wore a simple black t-shirt and black shorts with white sneakers and no accessory whatsoever.

He took off the shades he was wearing to look down at her and his dark brown eyes bore in hers.

That was when she noticed how tall he really was and her eyes moved to his physically built body.

The shirt stretched around his muscles and his pecs and biceps didn't fail to proudly showcase themselves either.

He looked like a fitness model.

He wasn't American, she quickly noticed.

“It's not fair to generalize." His left brow slightly lifted. But he didn't have any accent either.

Kimberlee was knocked out of her thoughts.

Not fair? When has life ever been fair?

“ And who are you to tell me what's fair and what's not?" She scoffed. " You think you can just do whatever you want as long as you have money and power. I parked my scooter for just five minutes and since your car looks better than my vehicle, you removed it to park yours..”

" What are you talking about?" He slightly frowned. " The spot was empty when I got here…"

“Oh shut the fuck up!! What y'all rich people do is trample on others, take what doesn't belong to you regardless of what the person might be going through which to you, it's none of your business! Look around you! Shelter homes are turned into malls, elderly homes are destroyed so you could construct a spa. Can you get any more shameless than this?”

He paused and briefly looked around and back to her.

“I don't want to hear it. Defending yourself will do you no good because you know I'm right and I can see right through all of you heartless socialites! Always taking advantage of the weak and inflicting an unmeasurable amount of pain and you just don't care! All you care about is what only profits you and whoever gets hurt because of your actions, you don't give a fuck." Kimberlee breathed and adjusted her bag.

She unknowingly released the cynic in her.

Kim glared at him one last time before walking away but spotted an old police officer behind the car on his bike.

“Officer Dean!" She exclaimed and quickly turned to the other officer that seized her scooter but he only shrugged.

“You have to come to the office to take your scooter back. I asked him to seize it." Officer Dean said.

Kimberlee turned to look at the stranger but he simply got back into his car and drove away.

Shit.