This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/Roos85 on 2024-10-26 00:29:39+00:00.
Nothing hurts more than having an empty wallet the day after I cash my social security check. I sometimes sat at the kitchen table, using my tears to add flavour to my stale coffee. I would sit there and pray my kids didn’t need money for something pointless. Those never-ending expenses drained the fight out of me, and all I wanted to do was disappear.
Every time my kids stepped in the door, it cost me money. Every time they left the house, it cost me money. Every time I heard the ice cream man and that stupid jingle creep up my road, it would send shivers up my spine. Every time my kids came running with their hands out, screaming for ice cream, I would feel like going outside with a bat to hit the ice cream man in the face.
Being a single mother was hard. Money was always nonexistent. Even if I had a job, I couldn’t earn enough to hire someone to watch my kids. Being rich wasn’t my goal; I just wanted enough so I wouldn’t have to worry. All I wanted was enough to get a decent cup of coffee and not feel guilty if I decided to treat myself to one.
I wasn’t the type of person to fall for get-rich schemes. Every week, I got a notification or a leaflet in my door promising me I could be making money hand over fist. It always sounded too good to be true, so they either got chucked in the bin or ignored.
“Earn extra income from home,” read the ad. I had heard of these multilevel marketing companies targeting people like me. I’ve been to those parties. The women selling those types of products always made it sound like they were living the dream. But you could tell from the bags under their eyes and the fake gold jewellery they wore to show off their non-existent wealth that they were working tirelessly for weeks with no breaks just to break even on the money it cost them to buy the products in the first place.
Something was different about this, though. I didn’t have to sell anything or recruit people. It was some herbal tea company called “Heavens Gate Tea” and alll I had to do was send their test product to all the people in my town. It wasn’t costing me anything, and all I had to do was give up a couple of hours of my time to ship some samples. I really had nothing to lose, and if nothing came of it, I saw it as a lesson learned.
When the check came in the mail, I couldn’t believe my eyes. They paid me ten grand for a week’s work. I couldn’t believe it. At first, I thought they made a mistake. I was afraid to touch the money, at first, until the company sent me a thank-you letter with a number to ring if I wanted more work.
I spent the first few days enjoying the money. I bought my kids new clothes, toys, and ice cream cones with all the toppings; I even treated myself to a large caramel latte.
It didn’t take long for the phone calls to start coming in from people looking for more samples. So I ordered more and got paid. I mean, their herbal tea must have been good stuff to pay me that much just to send out more samples.
Once those samples went out, the calls got even crazier; people were begging me for more, even getting angry when I told them I had none left.
The calls continued for a few days; each day that passed, the people on the other end sounded more desperate. They sounded like addicts desperate for their next fix.
I didn’t think much at the time until one night I went to bed early after dealing with crazy people ringing me every second of the day. I was drifting off to sleep when suddenly I heard a crash in my kitchen. I lay there frozen, too scared to move, as I listened to the intruders rummaging through my drawers.
I nervously jumped from my bed and moved to the door. My heart skipped a beat when they started making their way up the stairs.
“I have a gun,” I shouted.
Whoever it was, they were determined, so I grabbed my bat when suddenly they burst through my bedroom door.
“What do you want?” I screamed. The wide-eyed, frantic-looking woman was frothing at the mouth.
“I need more tea. I want it. You have to give it to me now.”
The woman’s eyes turned black as she made a lunge at me before I hit her hard with the bat, knocking her unconscious.
I ran downstairs, grabbed my phone and rang the police.
“There’s a crazy bitch in my house; I think she’s tweaking or something. She was screaming for at me for a cup of tea. Please, you have to send the police.”
The operator on the other side of the phone sounded strange. “Don’t worry, mam, they’re on their way.”
I felt a lump in my throat.
“But I didn’t give you the address.”
“When the officers get there, just give them the tea, and nobody will get hurt,” she said in a menacing tone.
I dropped the phone and went to my window. I nervously pulled back the curtain to find hundreds of people descending on my house.
I grabbed the phone again and dialled the number of the herbal tea company.
“Hello, Heaven’s Gate tea. How may I direct your call?”
“Please, you gotta help me. They want more tea.”
As I waited for their response, I was startled by a noise behind me.
I turned, and a woman was creeping up behind me holding a crying baby. Her eyes were glazed over, and glaring at me.
“I’ll give you my baby for a drop of the tea. I need it.”
“There’s a woman here trying to give me her baby for more tea; what will I do?”
My heart was pounding fast, and my whole body was shaking.
"Are all the samples gone?” The woman on the other side of the phone sounded enthusiastic about the whole situation.
“The tea is all gone; I sent out all the samples. I don’t think you understand how dire my situation is.”
“We understand perfectly. We see this as perfect customer feedback. We think you will have a bright future here with us at Heavens Gate Tea. Welcome to the company