The landlady, probably still clinging to Jade’s lie about ‘her parent’s house burning down’ and that she had ‘no where to go,’ had given her time.
But months had passed.
The Landlady was now was demanding her rent.
Jade could have sold some of her stuff, especially the useless gas tank, but because I had mentioned it (repeating what she had said about a week earlier) she could not.
Anything I said she would have to take the opposing view, even though it had been her idea.
Aware of this, when I heard Jade complaining about one of her phones, I didn’t say a word.
Jade had two phones, one she used to watch cartoons, the other for calls. When the call phone battery died and the charger didn’t work, she began a soliloquy about being unable to work without the phone.
The fact that Jade had no job in reality did not make her anguish less, for in her mind she was ‘on call’ for whatever it was she claimed to be doing.
I heard her voice from my room. If she was normal I’d say something about moving the Sim card or, if possible, the battery. But I didn’t.
If I had she’d sprain her tongue explaining why it was impossible.
Sprain her tongue, never heard that phrase before.
It’s Jamaican. When caught in a lie or trying to escape the obvious someone starts to chat.