"Phyllis, I'll be straight with you. You shouldn't have posted that video in the first place. The whole company knows now. It doesn't look good for you."
My mom called, sobbing so hard she kept choking on her own words:
"Sweetheart, can we please just stop? The police said they'd handle it. Let's not put anything else online. You're a young woman—your reputation matters more than anything. All the relatives back home already know. They're all talking behind our backs, and it's killing me."
I hung up and shut myself inside.
I couldn't go out. Someone might be watching from downstairs. Someone on the street might recognize my face. Just the thought of opening the door made my chest seize. So I stayed, and the walls closed in, and the nights stopped ending. I lay there in the dark, night after night, wide awake.
Every time I closed my eyes, those three disgusting faces.
Every time I opened them, those unbearable comments.
In two days I lost eight pounds.
The face in the mirror had sunken eyes and dead-white skin. I looked like something barely alive.
I ran out of water.
I bundled myself up head to toe and went downstairs to the convenience store by the apartment complex gate.
The moment I stepped out of the store, there they were.
All three of them, crouched on the steps, cigarettes dangling from their lips. They spotted me instantly.
My whole body locked. I turned to run.
Rodney rushed up and blocked my path, that smug grin plastered across his face:
"Oh hey! Look who it is—our big internet celebrity!"
"What's with all the layers? Scared someone's gonna recognize you?"
Ervin walked a slow circle around me, then leaned in and blew smoke right into my face:
"Didn't realize you lived here. What a coincidence. Where's your motorcycle? Afraid we'll come say hi again?"
Every neighbor walking by stopped to stare.
Some pulled out their phones to film.
Not one of them stepped in.
I backed up until my spine hit the wall, my voice shaking so badly it barely held together.
"What do you want?"
"Nothing much."
Roger smiled at me with that greasy, disgusting look on his face.
"Heard you're real famous now. Thought we'd come say hello."
"Oh, and thanks, by the way. We're all celebrities now, thanks to you."
Ervin reached over and flipped back the brim of my hat, his tone dripping with satisfaction.