Hello,
Sorry about the late posting I have been busy with other aspects of my life these past few weeks. So here's the chapter, better late than never as they say. I trust all you readers are doing well and if not I hope things get better for you all real soon.
Also don't worry this won't throw off my posting of the next chapter as I am less busy these next few days. Anyway, I hope you all find this chapter as engaging as the last few and if any of you have any interest in this or my other works please feel free to follow me on twitter and Instagram.
I haven't posted much yet due to a lack of followers, that and I'm generally occupied by my family duties most days. (Having several children can be very chaotic :P.)
Now with all that info out of the way please proceed as you wish. (Though I really don't even know how many of you guys even read this part honestly.)
Chapter 5: Independence
At the beginning of the next semester Pamela practically tackled Harleen when they ran into each other. "How was your break?" She asked Harleen as the younger girl extricated herself from the woman's arms.
"It was good, how bout yours?" Harleen asked as the two began to walk along.
"Good, good, got some great new plants for my greenhouse," Pamela told Harleen as they headed for the library.
Neither of them had class for another hour but Harleen always arrived early and Pamela was there to start a new Eco campaign.
As they headed towards the library Harleen looked over at Pamela and said, "Oh by the way I'm starting my apartment hunt this weekend."
Pamela looked startled at this news, Harleen had mentioned a bit about this to her just before break but hadn't confirmed anything. After confirming that her clients from last semester were still going to need her help as well as one of her professors guaranteeing her a summer job the girl knew she could maintain a place herself.
"That was quick," Pamela stated as they passed a few other students heading in the opposite direction.
"Well I just have to find apartments CAS will approve for me to live in on my own," Harleen explained as they reached the entrance to the library.
"Do you need any help?" Pamela asked as Harleen lead them into the university library.
"Unfortunately only CAS representatives are allowed to come with me to see the apartments," Harleen replied as Pamela looked crestfallen.
"Can I at least throw a housewarming party for you?" Pamela questioned sounding hopeful as they walked over to a free table.
"Alright," Harleen answered knowing Pamela would not back down till she agreed.
"Awesome, just let me know when it's convenient for you," Pamela said as she began to sit down and rummage through her bag.
It didn't take long to find a place but there was a two month waiting list. So Harleen spent the time till her move in date on her studies as well as hanging out with Pamela who insisted on taking her to every shop she knew that sold household goods.
"What's your budget for all the different things you need?" Pamela questioned as they headed out in her small car.
"I plan on buying most of this stuff second hand. Some things I know I'll have to buy new. Luckily my foster family has enough room in their basement to store most of the stuff I need to buy," Harleen put forward as the turned onto a major street.
"What are you planning to buy new?" Pamela questioned as she headed towards the business district of town.
"All my bigger furniture, anything electronic and cleaning supplies," Harleen answered as she glanced at the passing businesses.
"That's all. What about towels and dishes?" Pamela questioned in a perplexed tone.
"I can just buy those things second hand and wash them. Saves me money and effort as I'd rather go to as few places as possible and thrift stores often have multiple departments," Harleen pointed out as they stopped outside the first place which was a large scale furniture store.
"I see your point as you'd still need to wash it even if you buy it new," Pamela brought forward as the began to get out of the car.
"Exactly, and I just don't see the point in buying new when the used ones still work just as well and are a lot cheaper," Harleen stated as she closed the car door.
"I wonder if they'll have anything you'll like in here," Pamela mused as they began to walk towards the entrance.
"Only one way to find out. At the very least I can get a mattress and box spring," Harleen stated as they passed some other shoppers in the parking lot.
Inside the store were many different kinds of furniture. Harleen looked at everything that caught her eye but bought nothing. The girl did the same thing at all of the stores they went to for the first time. Once the girl had finished this she went back to the stores that had the stuff she wanted.
There were only a few thrift stores in the city and Harleen went to all of them as well.
By the time the move in date came Harleen had managed to accumulate almost everything she needed for her apartment.
John had also asked Harleen if she needed any help with moving in or unpacking. "I could pop by for a bit to help you arrange furniture," he suggested as the three of them sat around a table in the cafeteria.
"Thanks John, but I'm fine. CAS is providing helpers and I already know where I want everything to go," Harleen told John for the umpteenth time.
"Well the offers there if you need it," John stated as he pulled out his lunch.
The move in day went well until Harleen got back from grocery shopping, she couldn't find her box with the scrapbooks and journals in it. She searched her apartment frantically for it well into the evening. She then got a call on the cell phone CAS had helped her purchase just a month earlier.
"Hello," she said trying to keep the panic out of her voice.
"Hello, Harleen, it's Mrs. Memmecks, your CAS worker," the women on the other end of the phone answered.
"Oh hi, how are you?" Harleen asked trying to sound polite but feeling agitated at this interruption. She didn't know what the women could want as they had just seen each other that afternoon.
"I just got a call from the movers saying that they still have one of your boxes. Apparently, it was accidentally put in the cab and forgotten during the move," Mrs. Memmecks explained as Harleen felt her heart skip a beat at this news. "They have told me they will be dropping it off to you in the next hour, they said they will come to the porch door as you are on the first floor," she finished as Harleen sighed inwardly with relief.
A part of her was worried though, so Harleen asked, "they didn't open the box did they?"
"As far as I know they did not, make sure to call me back though to confirm it has been dropped off," Mrs. Memmecks told her as Harleen sat back on the sofa.
"Will do. Is there anything else?" Harleen inquired as she felt relief wash over her.
"No, that is all," Mrs. Memmecks answered simply.
"Well bye then," Harleen stated then hung up without waiting for the woman's reply.
An older man came up to Harleen's porch door carrying the box in his arms about thirty minutes later. She took the box from him with a quick, "thanks." The girl then locked the door after he left just in case.
Back in her bedroom Harleen opened it and to her delight it was the box she had been searching for. She now had ten scrapbooks and five journals, each one was well looked after.
One thing Harleen had bought without Pamela's help was a large vault. She had told her workers she was going to use it to safeguard her valuables as well as her research just to be safe as she was a young girl living alone on a first floor apartment. They had agreed wholeheartedly and even helped her pick out one that fit in her apartment without looking like a vault. Instead it just looked like a decorative coffee table. She stuck all of her incriminating items in it then called her worker to confirm the box had been delivered.
Harleen got up shortly after this once she realized it was almost seven and she had not eaten yet.
The next few days Harleen spent unpacking and setting up her apartment. The only other thing she did during this time was call Pamela and John to tell them her address and inform them that it may be awhile till they could do a housewarming party.
It was nearing exam time and Harleen explained how she would be to busy studying for the exams. Harleen knew this tactic would not work for very long but that it would at least give her some time to plan things out beforehand.
Getting to the university the following Monday was even easier now as Harleen's apartment was just up the street. She had chosen this building not only cause it was close to the university but because it was a very strict apartment complex. They only let in single woman and older couples with no children.
"How was your move?" John asked Harleen as he sat beside her in the library.
"It went fine. Nothing got lost or left behind and all my furniture was delivered by yesterday afternoon," Harleen answered as she typed away on her laptop.
"Good to hear. What you working on anyway?" John questioned as he leaned over to read the screen.
"Just finishing the final essay for my advanced internal medicines class," Harleen responded as she clicked open a web page.
"Any word about them letting you do the field work part?" John inquired as he knew part of why Harleen had moved was so she could do these things sooner.
"I'm waiting till I can be emancipated. Once I have that under my belt, they should be more willing to grant an exemption," Harleen brought forward as she scanned through the article in front of her.
"How long till they grant you that?" John queried as he pulled out one of his textbooks.
"Depends on how I manage myself over the next few months. The shortest amount of time apparently was four months but it can take as long as two years from what I've been able to find out," Harleen explained as she clicked back over to her paper.
"I'm guessing you're aiming for the shorter amount of time," John stated as he scanned the index for the page he wanted.
"You know it. I'm going to be hiring a good lawyer and I've already got the letters started," Harleen told John as she leaned back in her chair.
"When do you think they'll let you start if you do manage it?" John inquired in an interested tone.
"I'm planning on wording it so I can start sometime next year. I have that summer job lined up to help with everything and I'm keeping a record of all my bills and such to prove I can pay everything on time," Harleen answered then let out a worn-out sigh.
"That's a lot of work, but I know you have your own reasons for doing all this," John stated with an encouraging smile as he looked at Harleen.
"Let's just hope my efforts don't go to waste," Harleen responded as she resumed typing.
"I'll be rooting for you anyway," John replied then grabbed a notepad from his bag.
It did not take long before Harleen found the perfect lawyer for her case. While the girl knew her situation would not end up in a large scale courtroom she still wanted the best representation possible in order to move things along quickly.
Harleen also spent the first two weeks at her new place exploring several nearby forests and ravines. The girl wanted to properly scout out her new territory as well as see what kind of creatures she might be able to capture.
Once Harleen had done enough forays into the green spaces and had enough tools she set out to begin killing once again.
It started small again, with small mice she got in traps and the occasional chipmunk. Harleen liked to stick with wild animals as their corpses would be less suspicious if found, though they were often hard to catch.
By the time Harleen's exams were finished the girl had only managed to kill five animals. Though some might find this impressive it only served to annoy her as even when she killed them she still felt a little edgy afterwards.
Harleen had been living on her own for almost six weeks when she got an unexpected phone call. "Hello, Harleen?" The voice at the other end of the phone questioned sounding uncertain.
Harleen did not immediately recognize the voice as she had not heard it in years and it sounded a lot more strained than usual. "Yes, this is Harleen," she answered as she sat down on the couch.
"Hi, it's me, mom," she said sounding a little relieved.
Harleen was more than a little startled at this information but realized that her parents were probably divorced now and CAS had given her mom the number. "Hi mom," she said trying to sound cheery.
"How have you been?" her mother asked Harleen.
"I've been good," Harleen answered hoping to keep the conversation to a minimum. "How about you?" Harleen asked feigning politeness.
"Good, good, just moved to a new part of the city," she replied simply.
"Oh well, that sounds good," Harleen answered as she tried to think of some way to end the conversation.
"Ya it's nice here, just got a nice little place all to myself. It's right by my studio to which is really convenient," her mother explained as Harleen only half listened.
"That seems like it would be nice, listen mom I'm sorry but I have to go. You caught me at a bad time as I'm really caught up with work right now," Harleen told her mother sounding apologetic.
"Oh, I'm sorry I interrupted you. I was just hoping maybe we could get together for a coffee sometime or something," Harleen's mother admitted sounding hopeful.
Harleen ran her hands through her hair before answering, "I don't know mom, my schedule is pretty demanding right now." She did not want to see any members of her family if she could avoid it. At this point she had no interest in maintaining a relationship with any of them.
"Well that isn't right. You're just a child and should be allowed free time to do what you want," Harleen's mother told her sounding worried and slightly angry.
"I may be a child in body mother but unfortunately in order to keep myself maintained properly I have to work and think like an adult," Harleen retorted unable to keep the annoyance out of her voice.
"That's the problem and why I want to see you. I have a few things I want us to discuss and it feels very callous to do it over the phone," the older woman stated beginning to sound annoyed herself.
Harleen held in a sigh as she thought her mother was wasting her time. "Like I said I'm to busy at the moment. When I can find the time I'll phone you and arrange things. Now if you'll excuse me I have work to do," she retorted finally losing her patient, she then hung up the phone before her mom could reply.
It had been two weeks since that conversation and Harleen's mother had been calling her nonstop. Harleen had left her phone on silent after the second day so she would not be bothered while she worked. Finally she called her CAS worker to inform her of the issue.
"She just won't stop calling, I know my father and her have been divorced now but I'm just not ready to see her yet," Harleen lied as her worker listened patiently.
Mrs. Memmecks sighed a little before answering, "I'm sorry to hear that. We had hoped since it was your father who was presenting with the issues maybe you would still want contact with your mother once he was no longer a factor."
"I understand that but it's not like she tried to help me while I was still there. I just want her to stop calling me, it's interfering with my work and I'm afraid she might try and find out where I live or show up at the school at this rate," Harleen explained sounding worried.
"I understand your concern and we'll get this sorted out as soon as we can," Mrs. Memmecks told Harleen in a reassuring voice.
"Thank you very much," Harleen replied sounding relieved.
"You're welcome, good bye," Mrs. Memmecks said before hanging up the phone.
It took almost another week for the phone calls from her mother to stop. It did not help that Harleen was now waiting for calls from her lawyer about when her case would appear in court.
"I finally got a date for ya," Harleen's lawyer said to her after they greeted each other.
"When is it?" Harleen asked as she grabbed a pen and a piece of paper.
"It's June 10th at 9am," the woman told Harleen as the girl wrote down the date.
"Alright, got it," Harleen answered as she set down the pen. "That's a lot sooner then I thought it would be," the girl noticed sounding relieved. "And thanks again Mrs. Capobver," she thanked the woman in a grateful tone.
"You're quite welcome. Also, that wasn't the case originally, originally it was going to be set for late August. A friend of mine though had to cancel her spot for the day so I put in as wanting to take the slot. I beat the competition by showing them all the payment logs you sent me as evidence," Mrs. Capobver informed Harleen in a happy sounding voice.
"Well I'm glad my hard work payed off," Harleen replied as she leaned back on her couch.
"Mhmm, just keep this up and we'll get this no later then the second trial," Mrs. Capobver reassured Harleen as she shifted the papers on her desk.
"I'm aiming for that first date thanks," Harleen replied with a bit of a chuckle.
"Take it from me kiddo, nobody ever gets it the first shot," Mrs. Capobver warned Harleen in a practical tone.
"Then all I can say to you Mrs. Capobver is sit back and watch me prove you wrong," Harleen put forward in a confident manner.
"Ha, I look forward to it. Unfortunately, I gotta get back to things here," Mrs. Capobver told Harleen as she picked up her pen.
"Kay, I'll let you go then, bye," Harleen responded then took the phone away from her ear.
"Bye," Mrs. Capobver stated then hung up the phone.
Harleen set her phone down on the couch beside her then leaned her head back and let out a long sigh.
Now that Harleen knew the date she would begin sending along the other items she had to strengthen her case. The girl knew to do this little by little over the next few weeks so that she would not overwhelm her lawyer.
The Monday after her last exam was the start of her summer job. It was a huge job being done not only by her but fifty other students, they said it would take up the whole summer and may even lead into the fall semester.
Harleen was one of the few students who were contracted to work till late October. She had requested this just to be safe as she wasn't sure exactly when her clients would need her services again. She was already the top requested tutor on campus though.
Now Harleen had another issue to attend to, she still had not arranged things for the housewarming party. She decided to have it on her birthday just so Pamela would not come up with another excuse to come visit.
When she told Pamela the plan the women groaned and replied, "but that's so far away."
"Well I told you I was busy, plus this way we can celebrate both and you don't have to spend so much money on presents," she replied trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice.
"You have to be the most frugal person I know," Pamela told her sounding exasperated.
"Kinda have to be considering I'm supporting myself and going to University," she answered as she rolled her eyes.
"I know, it's just, it takes the fun out of everything," she stated sounding slightly whiney.
"Well sorry I'm not fun. There are more important things in life," she informed her friend pretending to sound hurt.
"I-I'm sorry, I just," she began sounding apologetic at Harleen's sudden change in tone.
"Wasn't thinking," Harleen stated finishing Pamela's sentence with a sigh.
"Yes well, I'm sorry. I forget how much you have to do in order to live on your own. It's just it's been so long since we've done anything together," she explained with disappointment.
"What about all that shopping we did together," Harleen answered as she opened her laptop.
"That was over a two ago and we haven't seen each other since," Pamela replied as she shifted the phone to her other ear.
"Well like I said I'm really busy right now. The cataloging is taking a lot more time than they originally estimated. They predict now it may cause issues come next semester as we haven't even finished a quarter of it yet," she explained to her friend as she nestled her head in her hand which was resting upon her knee.
"Can't they just hire more staff" Pamela asked sounding worried.
"They are, the problem is a lot of the students have gone elsewhere for the summer and any one from an outside source is a higher theft risk. The other problem is ten people have either left or been fired. There are still also a lot of people who aren't bothering to do the job right or are slacking off as well. The only ones interested in getting this job done aside from myself is about a dozen, which isn't nearly enough to meet the deadlines," she stated all this quickly as she leaned back on the couch.
"I would help but I'm going on that trip soon," Pamela said sounding regretful.
"You mentioned you were going to Brazil for your research right?" Harleen asked pretending to sound interested.
"Ya I'm hoping to learn about the new plants they've been discovering in the deeper parts of the rainforest," Pamela replied as the tone in her voice brightened.
As Pamela chatted on about her plans for her three-week long trip Harleen looked up new articles on Him. She had just picked up a new scrapbook for her work. The articles she found mostly stated that no one knew who he was. By now there was a lot of speculation but no actual information was known except for his aliases and the crimes he had committed since that first bank robbery that she had been a part of.
All this speculation and probing into his past made Harleen glad that she was under CAS protection. No one could find her due to the fact that her identity and address were now both protected and with her family split up that would throw things off even more.
Harleen's looks had changed a lot since then as well. Her hair was waist length and she often wore it up in a bun to keep it out of the way. Her clothing choices were slightly less baggy and she often dressed professionally as she hated being treated like a child.
Harleen's body was also showing more of the effects of puberty, she thanked the gods that her skin didn't blemish easily and that she had gained several inches in height over the past few years. She was beginning to look like a woman, though she knew she still had a few more years before she was one.
She did find it odd though that there did not seem to be any information on That Man prior to the bank robbery that day. It was as though he just popped into existence the moment he walked into the bank. Like he was born into the world exactly as she saw him that day, no growth, no transformation, just a manifestation of what she knew to be true of everyone. Harleen was rather pleased with this lack of insight; she did not need to know about his past.
All Harleen needed to know about was his present and that she would be part of his future. No matter what she had to be with him, to know everything about him from the moment he came into existence for her.
Just as Harleen was finishing printing off the new papers she realized Pamela was finally finished talking. "You know I just want to see what it's really like in all that nature,' she stated sounding excited.
"Well that does sound fun, but I really do need to get back to work. I'll see you on my birthday Pamela," Harleen told her bringing the conversation to a close.
"Right see you then," Pamela answered sounding thrown off by this abrupt statement as Harleen hung up the phone.
Harleen court date finally arrived and she even made sure to arrive a good hour early in order to ensure she had everything in order.
Mrs. Capobver met Harleen in a small meeting room thirty minutes before the trial.
"I almost needed two briefcases today thanks to you," Mrs. Capobver told Harleen in a slightly teasing manner.
"Sorry about that. I did tell you I wanted this done on the first shot though," Harleen reminded Mrs. Capobver in an apologetic tone.
Mrs. Capobver gave Harleen a dismissive wave. "It's not a big deal. Just thought it was funny is all. And besides there is the saying it never hurts to be prepared. I do hope you're able to get it on the first go though. Cause if there is a second trial I really will need two suitcases," the woman pointed out in a wise voice.
It took nearly two hours for the judge to go over all the information packages which Mrs. Capobver had neatly arranged. When she finished the judge looked over at Harleen with an appraising gaze.
"It seems to me young lady that you have shown great responsibility even from a young age. You manage your money well, have outstanding grades and a very noble dream. And as there is no opposition I see no reason to not grant you your request," The woman summarized as she peered down at Harleen.
Harleen felt held by the judges words but also hopeful as she had said nothing negative.
"So, by the power vested in me by the state of New Jersey I hear by grant you your adult hood with only three exceptions. The first is that you can not drive until you are sixteen and the second is you still can not buy or consume alcohol or tobacco until you are twenty-one. Lastly you can not own a gun until you are eighteen," the judge explained as Harleen held back a smile.
This was exactly the result Harleen had wanted. The girl could care less about smoking and drinking and as for the gun and car thing she had been expecting that.
Now though she could begin investing her money as well as putting her stock market knowledge to the test.
"Well I'll be damned," Mrs. Capobver said as they stepped out of the court house. "Way to beat the record there," the woman praised Harleen as the girl turned to face her.
"Mhmm, just like I said," Harleen replied in a cheerful tone.
"Well, I'm glad you got what you wanted. All the paperwork and such will be sent along in the next couple of weeks," Mrs. Capobver told Harleen as the girl resisted the urge to dance.
"That's good, and thanks again," Harleen answered as she crossed her arms behind her back.
"You're quite welcome. If I don't see you again I hope you have a good life from now on," Mrs. Capobver stated as she turned to go back into the courthouse.
"Same to you, bye," Harleen responded then gave Mrs. Capobver a little wave.
"Goodbye Harleen," Mrs. Capobver replied then walked back into the building.
Once home Harleen leaped for joy and tried to touch the ceiling. Even crouching down really far Harleen was still a good foot and a half from reaching it.
When the date of the party arrived Harleen made sure to clean her place as well as hide anything incriminating. She knew both of them would probably want to stay over as John had already insisted on a movie marathon and Pamela said she knew this great delivery place but it was only open after ten at night.
John brought over nothing but superhero movies, apparently a lot more had come out since the last ones she watched with him. They all sat in silence watching till Pamela suddenly realized it was almost eleven and urgently called the delivery place. Most of the menu items were either deep fried or stuff Harleen never heard of. After trusting Pamela to order the food Harleen went to the washroom.
It took almost forty five minutes for the delivery guy to get there, apparently the place was on the other side of the city. The food was good but seemed a little odd to Harleen, she had a realization though that this stuff was probably what they called drunk food. She didn't much care for being introduced to this stuff at fourteen.
"Oh ya I got something to tell you guys," Harleen brought up as she bit into another deep fried vegetable.
"Mmm, what's that?" Pamela inquired after swallowing a large mouthful.
"I am now officially an adult. My last piece of I.D arrived yesterday," Harleen told them proudly as she grabbed a napkin.
"Wow, that's great," John congratulated Harleen with a happy smile on his face.
"That was such a short period of time," Pamela pointed out sounding perplexed.
"I got lucky, apparently my lawyer managed to get an earlier slot her friend had to drop," Harleen told them as John got up to switch the movie.
"Are there any restrictions?" John questioned in an interested manner as he put the movie back in its case.
"I can't drive till I'm sixteen. I can't own a gun until I'm eighteen. And I can't consume or purchase alcohol or tobacco until I'm twenty-one," Harleen listed as she glanced over at John.
"That's a pretty good deal all things considered," John responded as he put the new movie in.
"I'm just glad I got it so quickly," Harleen replied as she grabbed a soft-shell taco.
As she had predicted they both stayed the night and were both passed out on her couches when she woke up that morning. Pamela had wanted her to sleep out in the living room with them but Harleen shut her down by saying she was unable to fall asleep on couches. Pamela was more than a little disappointed by this but decided not to argue for once. Harleen was relieved when they left late in the morning and she could get back to her usual routine.
It was a week before classes were set to start and Harleen was working in her corner of the computer room as usual. She had three computers she was using to input the information. One to check that the references were all correct, one to enter all of the information and another to check and see of it uploaded correctly. She was sitting there squinting to read the text on the screen, lately it was becoming harder and harder to read up close.
She was just about to check several entries she uploaded when she heard her teacher speak from behind her, "hey Harleen, how's the work going?"
Hiding her annoyance at being interrupted she replied, "fine so far today. The systems haven't crashed at all like last week." The previous week the computers kept going down until Harleen herself had to go in and reset the system. Most of the information was already backed up elsewhere so it only delayed the process slightly.
"That's good to hear," her professor said as she took a seat next to Harleen. "Listen Harleen, I have a favour to ask," she stated looking over at the girl as she scanned the entry she had made once more.
"Which is," Harleen questioned sounding interested.
"I was wondering if you could stay on for this job until winter break," her professor replied as she noticed Harleen was struggling to read the computer screen.
Harleen was not surprised by this offer, they were still really behind on the database entries. She sat up and sighed a little before answering, "I'd love to professor Kift but I have my tutoring clients to think about as well."
"I realize, it's just, you're one of the few actually committed to doing this job properly, also we would just want you for a few hours a week not all day every day like this," she explained sounding hopeful.
Harleen thought about this before replying, "I can do Sundays for a while but I may have to end that agreement early depending on my workload this year." She looked over at her professor who looked pleased with this response.
"Great, I'll write up a contract for you that states you may end the employment at any time without penalty as long as you submit a letter explaining your reasons. Sound good?" Professor Kift asked as she stood up.
"That should be fine," Harleen agreed as she looked back at the computer screen.
"Also I notice you seem to be having trouble seeing the computer screens lately, you may need to look into reading glasses," the professor suggested with a kind smile.
"Ya I was considering taking some time this Saturday to take a look into that," she explained as she opened a new window on one of the computer screens.
"That's good. Just let me know if you need anything," her professor said as she turned around and headed towards the door.
The first day back for the new semester went just as predictably as her first day there last year. It wasn't until she went for lunch after her only class that day in the morning that she finally caught a break.
She had agreed to meet up with Pamela and John that afternoon as neither of them had seen her since her birthday.
"How have you been?" Pamela asked as Harleen sat down next to her.
"Good, just busy. I've been asked to stay on and help with the database input until winter break," she explained as she began to pull her lunch out of her bag.
Pamela looked surprised by this as Harleen had not said anything about this to her. "Oh, when did they ask you to do that?" She questioned as she to took out her lunch.
"Just last week. We kept having server crashes. I had to go in and reset the whole system, luckily we had most of the information on a backup server," she told her friend before taking a sip of her water.
"Sounds like they need to do some updating," Pamela said as John sat down across from them.
"You have no idea," Harleen replied sounding exasperated.
"You could always write up a proposal to ask for more funding for such things. I'm sure coming from you it wouldn't meet any opposition," John said before stuffing a slice of orange into his mouth.
"I don't have time for that unfortunately. I am working every evening plus weekends on the database until the end of October and then I have my tutoring duties once my clients start needing me again. At least after October I'm only there once a week and only until I can't handle it anymore," she expanded as she unwrapped a sandwich.
"Isn't that a little much," Pamela said looking at Harleen with concern. "What about getting some you time and sleep for that matter?" She asked with worry.
"I get that time on Saturday's. I already know enough about self-care to recognize how much I need and when I am getting overwhelmed," she answered then took another bite of her sandwich.
"Alright, well just be careful not to overdo it," Pamela said as she finally started to eat her lunch.
"I will," Harleen reassured her giving Pamela a small smile.
It was early October when Harleen's sister approached her looking serious. "I need to talk to you," she stated failing to keep the annoyance out of her voice.
"What about?" Harleen asked sounding interested.
"Come on let's find an empty room," her sister said turning away and beginning to walk up the hallway.
Harleen wondered what this could be about as she walked silently along behind her sister. Kathrynn had not spoken to her or contacted her in any way since the incident ended last year. They reached an empty classroom and much like her brother Kathrynn held open the door for Harleen to enter.
After being seated Kathrynn looked right at Harleen and said, "you need to phone mom."
This caught Harleen a little off guard, she had completely forgotten about her mother bothering her during the spring. "Why is that?" She asked Kathrynn sounding curious.
Kathrynn sighed and leaned forward before answering, "she's worried about you, really worried. She wants to see you and try and reconcile. None of us are living with her right now as her place is to small. But she calls me and Nathan all the time to try and see if we can talk to you since she's not even allowed near you at the moment." Kathrynn looked really worried, after all she had been closest with their mother.
Harleen thought about all of this before explaining, "I'll talk with her. Can you tell her to meet me in the local botanical garden on the fifteenth of October at 11am. I would phone her myself but unblocking her number would take too much time and I'm very busy with work at the moment."
"Thank you," her sister said with a sigh then left the room.
The day of the meeting arrived all too quickly for Harleen's liking. Part of her wanted to just skip out but she knew that dealing with this now would be better than letting things stew for longer.
Her mother greeted her cheerily at the entrance to the botanical garden. She happily told Harleen all about her coworkers' antics as the two walked through the gardens and admired all the different plants. They then sat down on one of the benches for a short rest when her mother looked over at her with a slightly more serious expression.
"I wanted to talk to you about a few things," she stated with an air of importance.
"Okay," Harleen replied looking at her mother.
"I want us to get a place together and for you to reduce your work hours," she stated sounding stern.
Harleen held in a sigh and replied, "I'm sorry mother but I can do neither of those things."
"You certainly can. Unlike your father I do not hold such views and besides you should be able to have enough time to be a kid for once," she explained looking hurt at Harleen's response.
At these words Harleen couldn't help but laugh. Her mother looked rather outraged by this reaction. "Mom, I have never been a child in the traditional sense of the word, plus I am no longer in the age range for such foolishness," she explained as her mother sat there looking upset.
"How can you say that, you're only fourteen and besides I don't like how much that school works you. They're taking advantage of your kind nature," her mother retorted sounding angry.
"I'm choosing to work this much, I'm choosing to be where I am. I have no interest in taking part in adolescent whims. Besides I'm fine where I am and with how things are," Harleen stated hoping this would end the discussion.
"Well I'm not alright with it at all," the older women snapped at her with outrage.
"That's your problem, not mine mother," she said simply purposely sounding callous.
At these words her mother started to cry then said, "why can you not understand. I just want to go back to being your mom."
Harleen was quickly losing her patience with her mother and decided to try a sure-fire way to end this discussion as well as any further contact attempts by her mother.
"Oh really," Harleen responded in sarcastic outrage. "Last I checked you were never even close to being a mother to me," the girl pointed out in a mocking tone.
"What do you mean?" Harleen's mother questioned sounding thrown off by her daughter's sudden change in attitude.
"Hmm, where do I start?" Harleen mused as she purposely allowed her voice to become more high pitched. "Leaving me with my grandparents almost all the time from the time I was one. Having them or my siblings constantly watching me even on weekends," the girl put forward in an annoyed manner.
"Harleen I never meant to," her mother tried to begin but then the girl cut her short.
"Meant to what, be so absorbed in your career that you forgot about your youngest daughter," Harleen made obvious in a disgusted sounding voice.
"Look, I'm sorry, it's, I," Harleen's mother tried to get out but was lost for words.
"The fact is mother you spent maybe 2% of my life with me if that, and most of that was probably either you putting me to bed or tacking me somewhere. So, I'd say 2% is being generous," Harleen explained in an irritated way.
"I just umm," the woman tried to get out as she quivered from being upset.
"And then you did the worst thing of all," Harleen began in a low voice. "You left me alone with that bastard," the girl yelped out in a dismayed tone. "And I will never forgive you for that," she finished as she faced her mother with tears swimming in her eyes.
Before the woman could say anything though Harleen stood up and ran off.
It did not take Harleen long to get home as she made sure to catch the first bus that she could. Once home Harleen paced her apartment in agitation after what she had just done.
The conversation had left her irritated and jumpy. She felt wound up again, the feeling bothered her as she knew of only one way to get rid of it. That evening she went into the forest to kill again.
She brought along with her a cat that she had befriended in her neighbourhood. She knew the cat was a stray because when she first spotted it was rail thin and very vicious. She befriended it though just for this purpose.
Harleen had never killed a cat before as most of the ones she saw seemed well looked after and she couldn't have a pattern of lost pets popping up in the places where she lived. This cat worked perfectly for her purposes though as no one owned it and she had managed to befriend it enough to get it in the carrier.
The cat mewed in an annoyed tone at being confined. Harleen simultaneously opened the cage and stuck her hand in grabbing the back of its neck. She then held it tightly as she tied its limbs, she wanted to keep the animal alive for as long as possible. She even tied a muzzle around its face just to be extra safe.
Harleen began first by taking it's claws off one by one. The cat yowled in pain each time and tried feverishly to get away. After removing all of the claws she moved onto it's eyes. This was a bit harder as the cat kept twisting away from her. The process of slowly taking the animal apart calmed her as nothing else would. Even after the animal stopped moving she kept on with her work carefully separating each organ and laying it aside for later disposal. Once she was satisfied with her work she began cleaning up, by the time she had finished it was almost entirely dark out. She made her way out of the forest easily having traversed the path many times before.
Once home Harleen showered and then made herself a cup of tea. That had felt better than she expected. Often times she would kill the animals a lot quicker than that because of the risk of rabies. She always wore protective gear then buried it along with all the other evidence in holes she dug through out the deeper parts of the woods. Harleen couldn't wait till she was able to start proper field work and could work with cadavers for a bit. She knew it would not be the same but she hoped it would at least be something.
Harleen returned to school the following Monday feeling better than she had in awhile. She felt refreshed and ready for the day, she had not felt that in a while. It occurred to her that maybe killing animals the way she had been just was not doing it for her anymore.
Harleen had her head down and was walking along the hallway contemplating all this when someone suddenly stopped in front of her. Harleen stopped just short of running into them and looked up. It was Kathrynn standing on front of her and she looked furious.
Next thing Harleen knew her sister had slapped her across the face. Harleen stumbled back startled from the blow as she felt pain for the first time in a long time. The blow stung and was already starting to throb as her sister yelled at her, "how could you say those things to mom?"
Luckily for Harleen the corridor was empty as it was near the end of the day. "I have no time for this Kathrynn," she stated as she turned around to take a different route to the computer lab.
Instead of leaving Harleen alone though Kathrynn sprinted up behind her and tried to grab her by the arm. Harleen easily side stepped her sister and the older girl went stumbling forward and almost fell flat on her face.
"As I said Kathrynn, I have no time for this," Harleen said once more as she again turned and proceeded to walk the way she had been going before.
"How can you say that? How can you say you don't even have time for your own family?" Kathrynn hollered at Harleen sounding outraged.
Harleen turned to look at Kathrynn before answering coldly, "last I checked you didn't want me to be part of your family."
Kathrynn let out a loud exclamation of frustration before turning and stalking off.
When Harleen got to the computer lab the usual staff was there doing the same job she was.
One of the other young women looked up to greet Harleen but instead asked sounding shocked, "what happened to you face?"
Harleen had not thought about this as she just wanted to get the job done for the night then head home to document the damage done to her cheek. Part of her knew there would be a mark but she figured most of it would fade within a few minutes as the pain had also subsided to a dull throb very quickly.
"I tripped and fell into one of the coffee tables," Harleen lied easily as she walked over to her usual station.
The other girl walked over to Harleen and made a closer inspection of the mark. "You should put ice on it, it will help reduce the pain and swelling," she commented as she closely examined the spot on Harleen's cheek.
"I already know that Angela. It doesn't hurt much though so I'm not worried about it. It managed to miss my teeth so I'll be fine. Just might get a slight bruise for a while," Harleen explained as Angela stood over her looking concerned.
Angela sighed before replying, "alright, just be more careful next time. Don't want to permanently damage your face after all."
Harleen shrugged before saying, "in this day and age I would hope my brains are more important than my looks." She then began to open the programs she would need for her work.
Angela laughed a little at this statement and shook her head. "I know what you mean, but unfortunately looks do still matter in a lot of cases where they shouldn't," she replied sounding a little exhausted.
"Luckily for me it will still be a while before I have to worry about all that stuff and hopefully by then things will have changed," Harleen stated as she took out her reading glasses.
"Societal norms can take quite some time to change last I checked," Angela said as she walked back over to her station.
"Well that may be true, but it is happening," Harleen responded as she began to type.
"Ya, let's just hope things keep changing for the better," Angela replied as she sat back in her chair and stretched her arms.
"Hear, hear," cried the other students in the room.
Things progressed as usual for Harleen as the semester went on. As her tutoring demands rose she found it harder and harder to keep doing the database work. It was three weeks before the winter break when she turned in her letter of resignation so she could focus on tutoring her clients as well as her own studies.
And Goodbye,
Well with this chapter over I just want to say I look forward to your reactions to my next chapter. That and I really did mean what I said up top.
Sincerely,
RJ Meijers