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CHAPTER ONE

It was one of those days I dumped more sanitizer in the toilet and scrubbed harder than necessary It was already clean; I had been scrubbing and cleaning for the past half hour, but I couldn’t stop Not now Not yet Because it was one of those days, when I believed them I believed that I orthless, lazy, stupid, and that hy I was cleaning toilets It wasn’t thatlady to clean the diner every evening Of course they had But she was in charge of the tables, the chairs, the bar, and the front s The kitchen and the toilets were my job because, apparently, I was supposed to learn responsibility To get somewhere in life, you had to start from the bottom The low, rock bottom

Yeah, it was one of those days, but at least I wasn’t at home, in my own bathroom, where the temptation would’ve been too , I’d had to clean someone’s vomit off the toilet bowl, but there were no sharp objects in sight, and that made it easier for hts at bay Easier

I told Mo off puke, but she’ll have to deal with the health inspectors That was, if anyone actually reported us Lena’s Diner was a rundown place in an old building on the wrong side of the tracks Fa business that my dad didn’t even want to put his name on it That hy it was called Lena’s And if you ate at Lena’s, you ate at your own risk Orto clean the shit and the vo lady too s one could only find in Lena’s kitchen or toilet That, or they were afraid Mrs Flores would ask for more money

I flushed the toilet, pulled myself to my feet, and pushed the bucket out of the stall This had been the last one I threw the gloves into the trash, washedsupplies in the small, dark room across the hall I’d cleaned the kitchen earlier, and now all I had to do was lock up and head ho the lastas I walked out of the back, jiggling the keys I was always the last one here, and even though I kind of liked her, I didn’t appreciate that she always seemed to take forever with the most menial tasks, and make me wait even more It wasn’t like it was almost 2 AM and I was dead tired

One o back to school That had been my mantra the whole suust And even though school wasn’t much better than home, at least I wouldn’t have to scrub toilets and then listen to ot to pay them back for food, a room under their roof, clothes, and all they’d invested so I could get an education One e Maybe If not college, then somewhere Anywhere

“Pues ya esta, mija,” Mrs Flores smiled at me as she put away her supplies

I nodded and waited for her to change Ten ht air I closed my eyes and stayed like that for a minute, in the ht The fullthe streetlights obsolete It was a ht chill crept under my old, battered hoodie and made me shiver, I rubbed my arms to warm them and hopped on my bike Home was a 10-minute bike ride away I couldn’t wait to take a hot shower and catch four hours of sleep before I had to be at the diner again

The shrill sound of the alarm made me juroaned and pulled6 AM Shit Fuck I went into the bathroom and came out fifteen minutes later, fully dressed Yesterday’s clothes would have to do, and I didn’t care my faded blue hair was in dire need of a wash The blond roots were showing I’d have to take care of that before the first day of school

Yawning, I stumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen My father was drinking his coffee – which he liked black, as black as his soul, – feet perched up on the kitchen table as he browsed on his tablet

“Morning,” I said, stifling another yawn