The Marriage Deal

Gone, like the wind

That day, sixteen years ago, it was Raina's birthday, her father was hospitalized after a successful kidney transplant from an undisclosed donor, and her mother had baked a cake, placing four candle sticks at the top of the cake,

She had pulled Raina aside and had gifted her with a beautiful necklace, the pendant was a tiny star, just like Lola's, the only difference was that while Lola's pendant was a moon, Raina's was a star.

Lola always wore hers, so for Raina, the gift meant a lot, she would always wear hers too, just like Lola did.

"Oh thank you Mama!" Riana had said gratefully, but her mother had smiled weakly,

"Never take off your pendant Raina, it should always remind you of me and of Lola," her mother had said,

None of which made any sense to Raina until later that day when friends and neighbours started arriving for the birthday celebration,

As some of the children in the neighbourhood of their suburban little town in Mexico gathered around to celebrate and sing her a happy birthday song,

her big sister, Lola, who was only three years older was standing next to her and chanting a popular Mexican birthday song for her too, she was delighted as the celebrant,

Her mother was among those who sang for her too, and she remembered occasionally throwing happy glances at her mother during the song, but with each glance, her mother's smile diminished, and when the song was over, it completely faded.

Everyone present went back to holding small talks or eating cuts of cakes from paper plates, while the kids played on.

While this was going on, Isabelle had secretly taken Lola by the hand and walked back into the house, but Raina saw them and followed behind trying to catch up with her mother and sister, wondering why her mother looked so distressed and worried,

"Lola! Mama! wait up!" she had run after them but her mother had picked up her pace, holding Lola firmly,

Lola who was equally confused had looked back at her little sister, wondering where their mother was dragging her too.

Isabelle's grip was firm as she didn't look back at Raina for once, instead, she pulled Lola and picked up her pace even more as they went out of the house through the back door which led to the garage.

And by the time Raina had reached the back porch, it was too late, the only thing she remembered seeing was her mother and sister getting into an exquisite-looking Black Bentley with no number plate but had a big sticker of a red skull behind the car.

The car pulled out of their garage and zoomed off with Isabelle and Lola in it.

Raina couldn't remember seeing the face of the driver, but the image of the Red Skull stayed with her for the rest of her life.

Everything was strange to her, her father didn't own a car, and neither did her mother, she had never seen that vehicle before in their garage, so none of it made any sense.

She watched as the car zoomed out of the garage and out of eyesight.

That was the last time she or anyone else had seen her mother or her sister, Lola. And even after Raina told her father and the police about the Black Bentley and the red skull, they didn't believe her, especially her father, Isabelle would never leave him and their precious second daughter all alone.

Just like that, Isabelle and Lola had vanished like thin air, never to be seen or heard from again, it had broken Roberto's heart upon his return from the hospital but he had kept going for little Raina, hoping one day, Isabella and Lola would return to him and Raina, but they never did.

And for that, Raina could never forgive her mother as she blamed her for everything, and when she was older, she took off the Necklace and dumped it in her one of her bags, but carried it everywhere she went to remind herself of her love for Lola, yet, vehemently swore never to wear it, just to spite the memory of their mother.

Years after their disappearance, her father, Roberto, got weary of searching for his wife and daughter all over Mexico so much that he started to neglect his precious daughter, Raina and leaving her to the care of his brother-in-law who was a young widower.

Roberto's heart broke with each passing day as he search fruitlessly, and when it became unbearable and obvious that he would never find Isabelle and Lola, he started consuming large portions of alcohol and gambling in frustration,

His job as a mechanic died off and so did his zeal to stay alive, he drank so much and in no time, his organs began to fail once more, and when Raina had turned eighteen, he was diagnosed with Liver failure.

Life became hard for Raina as she had to drop out of college to pay for her father's hospital bills, even though her only maternal uncle was of great assistance, it wasn't still easy for Raina,

Tragedy struck when her uncle, who was a manual labourer and a political adherent died in a political protest and his only son, Diego who was a sickly boy with a heart condition also became Raina's responsibility,

For Raina, going to college was no longer an option, she had to fend for herself and her family, and she had to handle her father and cousin's medical bills at all costs.

Raina worked in two jobs, she worked as a musician and tap-dancer during the day in a karaoke house then also worked as a chef in a restaurant in the evenings just to make ends meet and afford her father and cousin's treatments.

Tragedy struck once more and her father died before he could get a liver transplant, she had no other option but to move out of the country with her cousin as it only brought her sad memories.

The only problem was that they were illegal immigrants.

Her Grandmother's small home in the suburban part of Los Angeles was their only option, Mrs Phina was delighted to have both her grandkids come over and had since been looking after them till Raina would be able to successfully find a menial job,

And now, she had gone ahead and put her Abuela's job in jeopardy.

As she hugged her grandma, she shut her eyes forcing back the tears that had gathered around, she was a girl with a sad past and the future only looked blighted and unpleasant,

She needed to get her mind off her troubles as soon as possible or she would end up only sinking into depression gradually.