You Must Be…

“You must be Brenda. The one who is calling all the shots. The one I have been told to avoid…” Emilia let the words roll off her tongue in obvious disgust. Since I was new to the club, I still wasn’t sure who to trust. Wasn’t sure who I could believe. 

I wanted to believe Brenda because she was the only one who had been nice to me since moving to Texas. Brenda had been the only one who had welcomed me into the community when I had been shunned by everyone. But I also knew Emilia was the only one who could give me a job. Her father was the President of the Library Board and I was aching to get the only open library position. If I didn’t get the job as the youth librarian, I knew I was right in trouble. There was no way I could pay my way in town if I didn’t get the job. But what Emilia didn’t know was that I was soaking up every lesson she was teaching. 

In the few short weeks I had been in town, I had learned everything I could about duping those around me. And Emilia and her father were the people I was working hardest on, while planning to bring Brenda on full-time once I was hired. What I truly should have learned was to find out what was behind Brenda’s anger before I hired her. And why she was so into providing payback.