Spectrum

Chapter 2

After that night, a few days had passed and it was that faithful Wednesday morning and I was packing the last of my things into my Luis Vuitton suitcase. Mason was at the door with his arms folded as he watched me shove various brands of clothes into my suitcase.

“ How did you even convince dad into letting us bring one of our cars? “He asked eyeing me suspiciously.

The morning after I had asked our father had arranged for our favourite cars to be sent to my mother’s house in New York.

I chuckled “ Don’t worry about it. “

I zipped up my suitcase laying it flat on the ground for Nial to pick it up. Mason walked up to me before embracing me.

“ Everything’s going to be alright, ok? “ He said pulling out of the hug and cupping my face.

“ Alright, time to go, your father’s waiting downstairs, “ Nial said coming in to pick up my suitcase.

Hand in hand my brother and I exited my room and walked down the grand stairway of the Foxhall mansion before going outside.

Outside, Miriam and my father stood side by side waiting for us and without a word being said I flew into my father’s arms giving him a hug Mason soon joining after.

“ Call me if anything goes wrong, “ He said to the both of us before opening the car door for the both of us.

I was the last to get in and as I slid up onto the seat I couldn’t help but wave to my father, a sad smile crossing my face as he closed the door Nial then getting into the car.

We then descended the driveway and I found myself missing my father the further away we went.

Soon enough we were where we needed to be, the slums.

We were obviously out of place and the people around did not mind pointing that out as their eyes stuck to the sleek black Phantom.

I let out a shaky breath as I looked through the tinted window at the house.

My mother’s house was a small white two storey house surrounded by a waist-length white picket fence surrounding the house a small driveway adorning the side of the house leading up to a small porch which seemed quite unusual in a neighbourhood like this. The door then opened as my mother, Mrs Janine Smith stepped out of the door followed by her husband and my half-sister.

My mother was a fair-skinned tall white woman with a fit physique. Her dull brown eyes were staring boredly at the car parked in front of her gate and it was in that moment that Nial opened the door on my side of the car. 

Fixing my black mini dress I stepped out of the car my mother’s eyes slightly widening, I stepped to the side allowing Mason to come out of the car, the both of us making no move to greet our mother.

Nial, who had already taken out our luggage had come to stand before us “ Have a nice time young Miss and Mister, your car will be here soon. “ He smiled before going back to the car waving before driving off and with that, I got my two Louis Vuitton suitcases and duffle bag, Mason, doing the same.

Slowly, we walked up to where our mother, her husband and her daughter were standing. A smile stretched across her face as she came up to us encasing us in a tight hug.

She leaned back and stared at us.

“ You’re beautiful, " she said looking back and fourth between the both of us. We were, we both knew this.

My brother and I were alike in many ways but our looks were what gave it away most of the time. My brother and I shared the same smooth spotless olive skin, curly honey blonde hair and slightly slanted eyes muddy brown irises. Whereas he was tall, standing at exactly six feet, I was the average female height at five foot five. We had both inherited most of our looks from our father’s side and we were both proud of it.

“ Julius, take their bags inside, “ Janine asked her husband.

Her husband was a dark-skinned average height male who had a bit of muscle on his arms, his folded arms making them seem bigger than they were. He had soft almond-shaped eyes and a wide nose with full lips. He wore his hair short giving off an army veteran vibe.

He came closer pulling up my bag aggressively allowing me to reply a bit hardly “ Be careful with that, it’s Louis Vuitton. “

He stared at me blankly allowing me to give him a sarcastic smile. I had already gotten the feeling that he surely did not want us here and that was ok because we did not want to be here either.

Janine looked over to her daughter calling her over, she rolled her eyes slowly making her way over.

Janine smile, grabbing her daughter by the shoulders making her flinch a little bit.

“ This is my daughter, Riana, your half-sister. “ Riana slowly raised her hand to wave at us, my brother and I following suit.

Janine clasped her hands together, “ Ok, let’s go inside, you two must be hungry. “ She smiled widely leading her daughter inside.

I could see through it, I could see through it all, Janine didn’t want us here, she was merely doing it for her mental gain and it was in that moment that I had realized what my father had wanted us to see. Although he understood, he wanted us to see who this woman was and for us to stop vying for the attention of someone who did not care. He wanted us to exercise our self-control, this was a test, a test our father had wanted us to pass or so I had thought in that moment. 

No, we weren’t spoilt, but we tended to act impulsively, he wanted to see if we, more me than my brother were able to retain our self-control and not return to old ways when things and time got hard and I in myself could see where times would get hard in this house.

Father didn’t want us to try and cover how we felt, he wanted us to rise above it and he wanted us to see how much we affected people and how we could change people and allow them to see what they couldn’t.

Mason turned to look at me “ This is going to be one hell of a twelve weeks, “ He said telling me that he knew what I knew.

As time passed and the people outside had started to stare harder at our formally dressed self Mason pulled down his black Ralph Lauren polo shirt and stuck his hands in the side pockets his light brown linen shorts before motioning to the door with his head.

As I entered the house I couldn’t help but stare at the photos hanging on the wall as they all seemed off in a way to me, this family had secrets, secrets that I surely did not want to find out.

Mason and I had both taken the time to walk a bit around the opening hall of the house and look at the photos and one thing had stuck out through some of them, a small little boy who looked nothing like Julius smiling brightly at the camera and instantly theories had started to swirl around my mind.

The house’s furniture was more modern looking as it followed the black and white theme throughout all corners, the house gave off a cozy feel and the more I looked around, the more suspicious of a hidden agenda I got and it was quite obvious that they weren’t very good at acting. Not wanting to hold them up anymore, Mason and I both made our way to the dining room.

It was like the scene in the dining room was out of a movie as they looked like a model family with Julius at the head, Janine to his left and Riana to his right with pleasant looks on their faces, three chairs left open beside Riana allowing Mason and I to sit side by side.

Lunch was already laid down on the table and as soon as we sat down Julius had begun digging into the food causing Janine to frown.

Riana sat quietly to herself slowly eating her food. Riana was a tall female, just as tall as her father, she was pretty with her mocha skin and naturally straight black hair. Her look mirrored her father’s except her eyes which were hooded, she had naturally pink full lips and a model type figure. She seemed to be more reserved and not at all concerned with anyone around her.

After we had finished eating Janne had begun speaking to Mason and I “ You two will be sharing a room and just two rules, one, no going out without at least telling me and no drugs in the house, everything else should be common sense. “

With nothing to say I nodded at her, my gaze shifted towards Riana who was indulged in her phone. She soon then stood up seeming slightly alerted.

“ I’m going out, “ She said to her parents who didn’t acknowledge her in the slightest way.