Chapter 12: Things Got Worse

When Zac, Hadasa and Kayleb were assigned to arrange and pack up non refrigerated food in the three big boxes, Hadasa chatted with Kayleb, happily performing their tasks. Zac's face appeared annoyed, tired and bored, leaning his body forward. They noticed they were all alone in the room.

-Man, I can't wait to get the hell out of this punishment! I mean, where the hell is everybody?! 'Cause this shit along with ministry work is gettin' borin' real fast. Eighteen more days to go and I'm done with this shitty ass community service.

Kayleb noticed Zac's unhappy face, curiously looking up at him. "Uh, Zac. Are you alright? You don't look so good."

Zac ignored Kayleb and continued on with his work. Kayleb called his name a second time, and Zac still hasn't answered. But once Hadasa called Zac's name, Zac quickly turned to her out of curiosity. "Huh?"

"My brother's callin' ya," Hadasa answered, moving her head down at Kayleb.

Zac turned to him. "What?"

Kayleb repeated the question and Zac responded, "Yea, I'm fine, kid. Ya don't need to worry 'bout me, okay?"

Kayleb raised his eyebrow at Zac. "Are you sure?"

Zac returned his attention to the food, expressing his annoyed face. "Yea, I said, 'I'm fine!' Don't worry about me!"

-This lil brat can't even listen to me, can me?! I mean, how freakin' annoyin' is that?!

Kayleb then glared at Zac. "Hey, you don't need to be a jerk to me!"

"Well, if you hadn't doubted me earlier, none of this would've happened in the first place. Would it, kid?" Zac snapped, glaring back at Kayleb.

"My brother wasn't even doubtin' ya! So what the heck are ya talkin' 'bout, Zac?!" Hadasa roared, glaring at Zac. "He was jus' makin' sure you're okay. You don't need to be a total craphead to him, alright?!"

"Oh, yea, yea, yea. Sure…" Zac gave Hadasa his doubtful look on his face.

Hadasa dropped the food in the box and stomped on the floor, clenching her fists behind her. "And what makes ya think that my brother wasn't gonna make sure you're okay?! Huh?!"

-I can't wait to beat the shit out of this bitch and that brat in the face. Like for real now.

"Well?! Are ya gonna answer me or what?!" Hadasa impatiently asked with her continuous glare.

"Well, let's jus' say that he didn't accept the fact that I was actually fine and he still didn't listen! So that's actually his fault for that!"

Hadasa gave Zac her surprised look on her face. "Listen? Listen?! You didn't answer his call earlier, and now you're complainin' that he didn't listen to you?! Talk about hypocrisy much, don't ya think?!"

-As much as I hate this bitch so much, but she kinda has a point here.

"And also," Hadasa continued, "Maybe if you appear to be fine, he wouldn't even make sure you were okay!"

"Oh, what the hell ever!" Zac swung his hand in the air and continued arranging and placing the food in the boxes, while Hadasa growled at him, closing her eyes.

Kayleb looked up at the clock behind him and turned back to his sister. "Uh, Hadasa."

Hadasa opened her eyes and looked down at her brother, slightly turning her head left. "What?"

"We're wastin' time here! We gotta get back to arrangin' and packin' the food for charity!" Kayleb reminded his sister.

Hadasa smiled at Kayleb. "Yea, I guess you're right 'bout that, Kayleb. Let's get back to work."

As Hadasa and Kayleb returned to work, Zac sighed out of relief.

-Finally, these two stop botherin' me and I can get back to work. 'Cause I wanna hurry up and get the hell out of here earlier than in the last three days.

When someone knocked on the door a couple times, Zac, Hadasa and Kayleb turned around. They saw Mrs. A peeking her head into the room, holding onto the door and grinning at them. Zac expressed his tired, annoyed look on his face.

-Now what does this bitch want?!

"Hi, there," Mrs. A said.

"Hi, Mrs. A," Hadasa and Kayleb said, waving at Mrs. A. Zac stood silent and returned his attention to his task.

Mrs. A noticed Zac not greeting him. "Um, Zac. Aren't you going to greet me?"

Once Zac ignored her, Hadasa silently growled at him and walked her way towards him, tapping him on the shoulder a couple times. Zac angrily turned to Hadasa. "What?!"

"Mrs. A's talkin' to ya!" Hadasa responded as Zac returned his eyes to Mrs. A.

"Yeah? What's up, Mrs. A?" Zac said with a tired face, pretending to be glad to see Mrs. A.

"Aren't you going to greet me back?" Mrs. A questioned.

"Oh, right. Hi, Mrs. A," Zac responded.

"Hi, Zac. Are you alright? You didn't answer me earlier." Mrs. A raised her eyebrow at Zac.

"Oh, no. I'm fine, Mrs. A. I'm jus' tired, that's all," Zac answered.

"Ah, I see…" Mrs. A said, shaking her head. "So my volunteers next door heard you guys arguing. Can you tell me what it was 'bout?"

"There was some miscommunication between us," Zac answered as he quickly got back to work.

"About what?" Mrs. A asked.

"Zac was bein' a total jerk to me and my sister!" Kayleb cried, glaring and growling at Zac.

Zac leaned back a bit, put his hands out forward, and widened his eyes with his mouth open, when he heard what Kayleb said.

"Eh?! No, Kayleb's a liar here! I didn't do anything wrong. We miscommunicated 'cause we didn't bother to listen to one another, that's all," Zac responded, glaring and growling back at Kayleb.

"No, my little brother was right. Zac was bein' a jerk to us. He literally got mad at Kayleb and I for makin' sure he was alright," Hadasa added, glaring at Zac.

"Ah! I did NOT, Hadasa! And you know it, liar!" Zac snapped, pointing his finger at Hadasa.

While Zac argued with Hadasa and Kayleb, Mrs. A angrily sighed and glared at them. "Alright, everyone stop arguing! Now!"

Zac, Hadasa and Kayleb stopped their argument and turned to Mrs. A.

Mrs. A then frowned at them. "Now if you can't get along with one another, you have to do more extra chores around here and remain here a bit longer. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," All three of them said.

"Good, and keep your voices down. Other volunteers are trying to concentrate on their tasks as well. Not just you guys," Mrs. A said.

"We will, Mrs. A."

"Oh, good. Very good."

Once Mrs. A closed the door, the gang went right on back to work. Zac quietly sighed out of relief while he continued working on his task.

-Whew, that was a close one! I thought I would get caught and remain grounded for nine more days! Glad I got that shit over with. Now I jus' need to not mess this up and keep workin' on finishin' this task, pronto.

When the gang finished arranging and filling up those boxes with food, they fetched Mrs. A and told her about their completed tasks. Mrs. A dismissed them and they exited the building.

****

As the gang left the building, Hadasa turned to Kayleb and Zac. She walked backwards a bit with her eyes closed. "So what do ya wanna eat out at?"

"Oh, I don't know," Kayleb responded. "Maybe at Star Ice Cream?"

"Huh?!" Zac asked. "Star Ice Cream?! No way! Why go to that lame ass place anyway?! There are very few people who go to that place."

Kayleb clenched his fists and raised them up underneath his chin, glaring at Zac. "Hey, ya don't need to curse at me, y'know!"

Zac breathed deeply, also clenched his fists, closed his eyes and put his head down. He stood there without even saying the word.

-I'm gonna get this brat. I really do.

"Alright, that's enough you two! We don't wanna be confronted by Mrs. A again," Hadasa said.

-I hate to say it, but Hadasa's right. We don't wanna encounter that shit ever again.

As soon as Zac and Kayleb were no longer angry with one another, Hadasa turned to Zac. "Okay, so what do you have in mind, Zac?"

"Beats me," Zac responded, closing his eyes, avoiding eye contact.

"Oh, so you don't know either, eh?" Hadasa questioned. "Well, in that case, we'll be going to Big Burger today. What do y'all say?"

Feeling a bit tired of that place, Zac angrily turned to Hadasa and glared at her. "There's no way I'd agree to that either! I mean, is that all you're gonna think about?!"

"No, of course not! Why the heck do ya think that, huh?!" Hadasa snapped back, raising her clenched hands up underneath her chin, glaring at Zac.

"'Cause you literally can't think of anything outside of Big Burger. Can ya like think of something else to eat then?!"

"Sure…um, uh…" Hadasa placed her hand on her chin and looked up at the sky, until her eyes widened from her thought. "How about we go to Seafood Bay? Is that alright?"

"Sure," Zac and Kayleb agreed.

"Good," Hadasa said out of relief, turning to Zac. "Do you bring any money today?"

"Yep, I sure do," Zac answered.

"That's good to know, Zac," Hadasa said, shaking her head with her eyes closed. She then opened her eyes and looked at Zac and Kayleb one last time. "So let's get out of here, gents."

"Got it!" Zac and Kayleb said as Hadasa happily ran towards the bus stop and Kayleb followed suit, while Zac just kept walking forward.

-Well, at least we'll get something different. Now let's go have some fun now, Zac buddy. I'm sure things are going well…hopefully…