Laura told Rosita that she was sorry our reprisal had caused their family so much grief. Rosita backed away and looked at Laura in dismay, smiling thr...ugh tears before rejoining their wet cheeks. The two women rocked together, lost in their common sorrow.That night in bed Laura related how she had praised me for keeping her sane but the common disgust the two women felt towards Rosita's husband was not disclosed until days later and even then only one layer at a time, like old paint flaking off. I’m frustrated with my studies at Algonquin College because I want to be done with school, get my degree and start working for either the Canadian government or the private sector. Whichever will actually hire me first. One of my friends, Fatoumatta Hassan, graduated from Algonquin College with a bachelor’s degree in applied business in 2013 and still can’t find work in her field. That really angers and bugs me. Fatoumatta Hassan has a business degree from an accredited Canadian school, to me,. You tricky bastard, I thought.I didn’t stick around to do any actual work. Frankly, I needed to change my underwear after working myself up. After getting home, I saw mom at the kitchen table stressing out over bills. She looked fragile.“Mom? Are you okay?”She looked up at me with puffy eyes, “Oh yes, I’m fine, just doing the finances,” she offered a smile, then paused. “Just getting home from school, where were you?”Crap, my backpack. I ran through a bunch of lies but she could bust me on most. As much as the room next door was hers, this room was mine. She called the phone four times in a row. All the messages were hang-ups. I plugged the phone in and downloaded the conversation to the computer, again, emailing it to Grant right away.I’d just disconnected the phone when there was a loud knock on the front door and the doorbell rang several times. I didn’t hurry, but didn’t dick around either. When I got to the front door, I opened it and looked at my former friend.“Get off my.