Page 12 of Gene

“I thought you had a car.” Gene looked at her

“I do, but something was wrong with it, so I had to give it to the mechanic. Apparently, there are parts they need to order, and it could be a while,” she rushed out, lying through her teeth.

Guilt was festering inside of her as she told yet another lie. She knew if Gene found out she had sold her car, that it wasn’t going to end well. But he wasn’t going to find out because it was none of his business. She was an adult who could make her own decisions. Were they always smart, no, but no one always made smart decisions.

“I’ll pick you up and drop you off,” Gene said.

“No! You don’t need to do that. You aren’t going to do that. I am perfectly capable of walking. It gives me the exercise, and I enjoy the scenery,” Sammi explained.

It was more like she didn’t know whether the Springfield Sinners were watching and didn’t want to get anybody else involved. They were a dangerous club and she didn’t want to have anybody else’s lives on her hands.

“You don’t need exercise. Do you even eat?” Nolan asked.

“First off, that’s none of your business, and second, I do eat. I eat a lot. Food is life. When I am sad, I eat. When I’m frustrated, I eat. When I’m happy, I eat. I’m constantly eating food.” Sammi was offended.

“But you don’t drink water,” Gene said.

“I do, too, drink water. It might not be as much as everybody else wants me to drink, but I do, and I have other stuff to drink, so I’m giving my body fluids. I just forgot my water bottle at home this morning. I was in a rush since I overslept.”

“Next time, it’s okay to be a little bit late to grab your water bottle and fill it up,” Gene suggested.

Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen because she wasn’t going to bring her water bottle again. Not until she figured out why she was peeing so much. And even then, if she was continuing to pee even after she found out, she still wasn’t going to bring it. She had a job to do, and she couldn’t stop to pee every fifteen minutes. She wouldn’t be able to do her job if she did that.

“Do you understand?” Gene asked.

“Yes, boss, I do understand,” Sammi replied.

“You can go, Nolan. I’ve got it from here.” Gene looked back at him.

“Are you sure, boss? I can make sure that she gets home safely,” Nolan suggested.

Gene turned his whole body toward Nolan so Sammi couldn’t see his face. “I’ve got this. You can go back to work.”

Gene whispered something to Nolan, but she couldn’t hear. What were they saying? Was Gene going to fire her?

“All right. I’ll see you later, Sammi,” Nolan said before he left.

It made her feel a tiny bit better, knowing he would apparently see her later. Which meant she possibly still had a job. Hope filled her as Gene turned around to look at her.

“Do I still have my job?” she blurted out before she could stop herself.

She needed to know, or else it was going to bug her until she found out. If he was going to fire her, then she needed to start thinking about other jobs that would provide her with health insurance and fast. Sammi didn’t know how much longer she was going to last. It was a scary thought not knowing if today was her last day.

“You still have your job. Don’t worry. I’m not going to fire you over forgetting your water bottle at home,” Gene calmly said. “But you are going to start doing something.”

She scrunched up her nose as she looked at him. “Do what?”

“I want to see you every morning before you start work to see if your water bottle is with you and full. I want to see an empty water bottle by the time lunch comes around and a full one before you go back to work. Then I want to see you right before you go home with an empty water bottle. Not a small four-ounce water bottle, but the water bottle you first brought here was about thirty ounces if I’m correct.”

Her mouth fell open as she stared at him. He couldn’t be serious. He was joking, right? He had to be.

“You can’t do that,” she stated. “You aren’t allowed to do that, right?”

This was her first time working on a farm, but it was like every other job, right? He couldn’t demand that she come to him four times to see if she’d had her water. It was bizarre, crazy.

“I just did. You weren’t taking care of yourself, so I’m stepping in, and I’ll be doing it,” he stated.

“I am taking care of myself. You may not like the way I’m doing it, but I am. You can’t take control. I’m not yours.”

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