4

AGAINST THE TIDE

Desperation flooded Nadine’s heart. She dragged herself forward, tears streaming down her face, begging, “Please, Theo, don’t be like this… We are family.”

Without hesitation, Theo delivered a vicious kick to Nadine’s ribs. She gasped, a strangled sob escaping her lips as pain radiated through her body.

He grabbed a bag, yanked her mother roughly to her feet, and barked, “Move. Out. Now.”

Her mother’s frail body swayed, leaning heavily against the chair, eyes locked on Nadine in silent terror. Nadine struggled to stand, but her battered limbs refused to obey. The room blurred as tears clouded her vision.

Theo’s hand shoved Nadine roughly, forcing her toward the door. “You don’t belong here anymore.”

The door slammed shut behind them with a deafening bang, sealing their fate.

Nadine sank to the cold ground outside the door, chest heaving with sobs, her body aching, her spirit crushed.

Her mother knelt beside her, trembling, whispering broken words of comfort and apology, while Nadine clung to her, feeling more lost and alone than ever before.

The cold air rushed in, wrapping around them like a suffocating shroud. Nadine staggered back, her body still weak and sore from the bruises Theo had left on her, but there was no time to pause. Her mother clung to her arm, trembling and pale, her frail frame fragile like a cracked vase.

Nadine swallowed hard, fighting the sting behind her eyes as reality pressed down on her chest. They were cast out, homeless, alone, and utterly abandoned. No shelter, no warmth, no promises. Only the biting wind and the relentless ache of uncertainty.

Her mother’s soft, broken voice cut through the silence. “Nadine… where will we go? I’m so tired…”

Tears blurred Nadine’s vision. She crouched beside her mother, brushing a trembling hand over her thin cheek. “Mama, please… I don’t know yet. But I will find us a safe place, I promise. We will get through this. Together.”

But even as she spoke, the words felt hollow like a fragile shield against the storm. Her own heart trembled with fear, the crushing weight of helplessness threatening to break her.

Desperate, Nadine led her mother by the hand through the streets, each step heavier than the last. The city that once held familiar faces now seemed a maze of cold indifference. The lights flickered, but they offered no comfort, only reminders of the warmth and security that had slipped through her fingers.

Her hope flickered faintly when they reached the rundown motel where Nadine had worked. Maybe, just maybe, they could rent a room somewhere safe to rest, away from the unforgiving world.

Inside, the musty smell greeted them, but so did the sharp gaze of the motel manager. His eyes scanned Nadine’s bruised face and her mother’s fragile form with disdain.

“What do you want here?” he barked, his voice dripping with contempt. “We don’t take charity cases. You don’t belong here.”

Nadine’s heart shattered. She opened her mouth to plead, to explain, but the words caught in her throat. Instead, she lowered her gaze, cheeks burning with humiliation. Her mother shivered behind her, clutching at her sleeve.

“Please…” Nadine whispered, voice trembling. “We just need a room. We can pay.. ”

“Enough,” the man snapped, cutting her off. “Get out. Now.”

With no other option, Nadine turned away, her mother leaning heavily on her for support. Their footsteps echoed hollowly on the pavement as they wandered, aimless and broken.

Night crept in, swallowing the city in darkness. Exhausted and aching, Nadine stumbled upon a neglected cottage on the outskirts, a ramshackle place with peeling paint and boarded windows, but it was shelter nonetheless.

With trembling hands, she spread her thickest blanket on the cold, cracked floor. Gently, she helped her mother lie down, careful not to disturb her frail breathing.

“I will take care of you, Mama,” Nadine whispered, voice choked with emotion. “I will find work. We will be okay. I swear.”

Her mother’s eyes fluttered open, tears glistening. “You are so brave, Nadine… but I’m scared. What if things don’t get better?”

Nadine swallowed the lump in her throat and forced a small, reassuring smile. “We have each other. That’s all that matters.”

Each morning, before dawn’s first light, Nadine would rise, leaving her mother wrapped in the blanket, vulnerable and tired. She roamed the streets tirelessly, knocking on doors, asking for any kind of work, cleaning, cooking, anything. Since she has been sacked from her two jobs.

But the world was harsh. At the diner, the manager’s cold eyes appraised her and turned her away without a second thought.

“We don’t need help right now,” he said brusquely.

At a nearby shop, the owner barely acknowledged her, brushing her off with curt dismissals.

“No openings.”

Day after day, rejection piled upon rejection. Her body ached from the bruises and the hunger gnawing at her insides. Her hands trembled from exhaustion, but Nadine refused to surrender. She couldn’t. Not when her mother’s life depended on her strength.

Nights were the hardest. Returning to the cottage, she would sit beside her mother, gently wiping sweat from her forehead, murmuring soft words of comfort.

“Just hold on, Mama,” she’d whisper. “I’m here.”

Tears often spilled silently down Nadine’s cheeks when she thought her mother wasn’t watching. The crushing weight of their situation, the helplessness, it was almost unbearable.

At the market, vendors looked past her with disinterest, their eyes glazed with exhaustion or suspicion. When she asked for work, the words came back like a bitter echo“No vacancies,” “Try elsewhere,” “Not today.”

One afternoon, after a particularly harsh refusal at a bakery, Nadine sank onto the cold stone steps, shoulders shaking with silent sobs. She closed her eyes, trying to hold back the tears, but they spilled over anyway, hot, bitter tears that matched the ache inside.

“Why is it so hard?” she whispered to the empty street. “Why won’t someone give me a chance?”

Her mother’s frail voice broke through her despair. “Nadine… you are strong. We will find a way. I believe in you.”

Nadine opened her eyes and smiled weakly. Her mother’s faith was the fragile thread keeping her from unraveling completely.

Yet the challenges kept coming. Hunger gnawed at them, and without steady income, even the simplest meals became luxuries. Nadine scavenged what little she could from local soup kitchens and begged quietly when she could. She hid the worst of her hunger from her mother, always insisting she eat first.