I wished

18

“Hello?” I say as Lucious keeps staring at me without saying anything.  I start to feel warm all over my body and sweat matt over my skin under my clothes.  It feels as if I’m dressed correctly for all this and this place, with my old bell bottom jeans and sneakers.

“Emily?” He asks, making sure that’s my name.

“Yeah?” I say clasping my hands together.  Usually when I'm nervous I tend to get very sweaty all over my body. So sweaty hands were a thing for me and I hated it.

He keeps looking at me and his face turns into a frown.

“What?” I ask, feeling severely uncomfortable.  Why is everything so weird here? I look at Elizabeth, who stares ahead with a faint smile on her face.  Oh dear. Maybe this is a crazy house.  Maybe Elizabeth and her brother are crazy.

I shudder, feeling cringy at every second of this moment.

Lucious clears his throat, “Sorry.”

“Okay?” Can he just go to the freaking point now.  Shees, what’s going on.  I mean really. Elizabeth took me all the way here just to be stared at.

“I’m Lucious Staton.  But you can call me Lucas.”

“I know.” I say. I know exactly who he is. I’ve been reading a lot about him in the past few weeks and how he took the glass display after his dad, who died in a car crash.  Gilbert Staton.  I still remember it fresh in my mind, the day he died.  People were devastated and shocked.  Some were happy.  The protesters against the display. 

“I guess, you’re probably wondering why you’re here and stuff?” He wanders up and down the room with his hands behind his back.

“Pretty much, yes.” I say in an obvious tone.  I shouldn’t have gone with Elizabeth,  She’s a stranger in any way, why did I even allow this. But given what’s going to happen in a month's time, I feel eager, needing answers.

“I’m not who you think I am.”

“Who are you then?”  I lift my shoulders, feeling irritated.  

“Tell me what you know about me?”

“Well that you run the glass display. Took over from your dad, who got in a car crash.  You made everything better, I don’t know.  That’s what I know.”  I widen my eyes and shake my head, hoping that he’ll give me answers now.

“Those were all lies.” He says and Elizabeth nods.

I swallow.  I now think having me here has a deeper meaning than, being just here.

“How come?”

“We can’t just tell you stuff, we don’t know you yet.” Elizabeth says.  Okay, then why bring me here? Is this all goig to be a waste of time?

“But we are going to help you.”  Lucious says as he looks from me to Elizabeth.

“Why would I need help?”

“The glass display isn’t what you think it is.”

“Gosh, can you please stop speaking in circles and cut to the point.”

Luscious smile but quickly turns around.  What is he smiling for?

“Let’s just ask you this.,” Elizabeth starts, “Deep down in your heart,” She leans forwards and places her hands on my chest, “Do you believe that selling a person is right?”

My thought immediately drifts to Coby.  Coby who entirely and completely hated the fact to sold, but stayed quiet to the world because of me.  Deep inside me, I know it’s wrong.  But it’s for a good cause and I put everything in my mind to make me think positive about it.  And going out of my mom’s way just sounds like the best way

“Well given the cause-”

Elizabeth interrupts me, “Forget about the cause and for why. Do Think it’s right to be sold?”

“No.”

“Exactly.” Elizabeth says with a chuffed smile.

“So you don’t want me to get sold?”  I ask knowing there is going to be other people behind the display as well.

“What do you think happens to a person after they get sold?” Lucious asks.

“I don’t know?  They live happily ever after I guess.”  That’s what I heard and read.  That those people have the best times of their lives.  They were even interviewing a woman on TV once, after she’s been sold having a fantastic time. It’s like everything just works for you.

“They are put through deadly challenges.”

“What do you mean?”

“They actually want to kill all beauty.”

“Why?”

“Just know that you’re in danger.”  My blood runs cold.  What if I’m in danger. Right at this moment with them? What if they’re just playing me.

“I want evidence of what you’re saying, cause how can I know to believe you guys?”

“Okay, we knew this was coming so we’ll show you evidence.” Elizabeth's stands and holds her hand out for me. I take it and she drags me out of the house back towards the van.

“Where are we going?” 

“I’m going to show you what you want.”

I look back to see only the security showing up, but no Lucious.

I take a deep breath.  If they wanted to hurt me or something they probably already would’ve.  So I hop in the van with Elizabeth who looks excited like a kid again.

The security starts the engine and we drive in silence.  

“Play some music, Jack.” Elizabeth ushers.  Jack. That’s the security’s name.  I make a mental note to not call him the security anymore but Jack.

He plays some Michael Jackson’s music and Elizabeth sings as if she’s the only one in the car.  I try to hold in my laugh, seeing her ridiculous face.  She’s enjoying herself very much so I leave her to it and stare out the window.  A light drizzle started, making the windows wet with water drops.  Cars speed past.  Fancy one’s and old one’s.  Sometimes I wish that we had a car but mom never made enough income for that and she always complained about caring for me as well.  She always gave me half the food that she ate and it never satisfied my hunger so I would sometimes eat dinner at Coby’s.  I started to work at a coffee shop after school and weekends, just so I could feed me properly and buy myself some blankets, because mom doesn’t care if I’m cold or not.  I sigh. If dad was still alive everything would have been so much different.  Mom wouldn’t have been so mean, but the day he died she snapped just like that and she was never the same again.

Eight years ago.  Dad was found in an exotic position on the ground.  He killed himself by jumpring from a twelve storey building. They say that every single bone in his body were broken and mom was the one who found him like that.  She drove to him (we then had a car because my dad could afford it) to personally give him lunch.  She parked in a parking lot in front of the building and literally saw him fall from the sky.  At first she thought it was a big bird but as she strained her neck she realized it was a person.  She yelled in fright as the person landed with a loud thud on the tar road. She run towards the body, having no idea that it was dad but when she realized it was him she screamed and cried and didn’t want anybody to touch dad.  Anyway that’s how the story goes.  Mom never even told me, I heard it all by other people in school.  When the news was brought home, I was devastated.  I couldn’t believe it and I couldn’t place the fact that it was a suicide. Why would dad kill himself?  He was so happy. As a ten year old I almost always saw him laugh and smile.  But as I grew older I started to understand it more.  I started to replay memories of him and I totally understood.  He was the most unhappy man in the world and no one even realized it.

“Hi honey whatcha doing?”

“Hey dad, I’m drawing a picture.” I gave him a big toothless grin.

“What are you drawing?”

He was busy eating yogurt in a small white bowl, his concentration on the phone in his hand as he tried to do some small talk with me.

“Just a dog.”

He ruffles my short curly hair as he starts talking to someone on the phone.  He seemed stressed and all of sudden he fell to the ground and started crying.

“Dad?” I ran up to him feeling confused to see an elder break down in front of me.

“Honey, please call your mom.”

That’s when dad’s breakdown started. As a little kid I thought dad had severe pain attacks.

“Where’s dad?” I asked the one time when me and mom sat at the dinner table alone.  Dad never missed a dinner with us, that’s why it was so strange.

“He’s sleeping a bit, he isn’t feeling well.”  It became more frequent.  Lies about dad feeling sick and sleeping.

“Dad?”

“Yeah honey?”

“You have to take me to school.”  I woke him.  He over slept two hours.  He never did that.  He wasn’t one really for an over sleeper.  I didn’t question it at that time, but when he came work from home he slept.  On weekends he would sleep right through, only coming out to eat and make some small talk with me.  I felt mad at the time, because I wanted more time from him, but I eventually got over it.

“I can’t believe you.” My mom once yelled, anger seeping from her voice.

“Get over it, Natasha.”  Dad never used my mom’s name. He always called her honey or angel but hearing him call her on her name freaked me out.

“How can I get over something like that.”

They kept yelling and screaming the whole night.  That was the first time I ever heard them fighting.

Once when we sat around the dinner table, dad didn’t eat his food.  He just stared at it as he scrambled it around with his fork.

“Eat your food Richard.”  Mom instructed with a snarl. She hated when I didn’t eat my food so I guess the same went for my dad.

“I’m not hungry.” He moaned.

“Well, you have to eat.  You haven’t eaten all day.”

“I’m just not hungry.” With that, he threw he’s fork on the plate and stood with force. He marched to the room and like always he started sleeping again.

“That father of yours is getting on my nerves.” Mom says biting hard on the piece of meat on her fork.

“What’s a nerve mom?”

“You lost so much weight.”  Grandma said once at the dinner table.  She looked at dad with stressed eyes.  We rarely saw her as she only came once or twice  a year.  She lived in another country, quite far away.

And that’s how it went until dad killed himself.  I try not to tear up as the van comes to a stop.

“Where here.”  Elizabeth calls.

“Low-key remember Elizabeth.”  Jack warns, making me shudder in fright.  I look at the building, small and made out of rocks.  Big glass windows cover the walls and a beautiful water fountain is situated in front of the glass doors.

“What’s this place?” I try to eagerly pry.

“You’ll see, put this on.” 

She hands me a black beanie mask, with two holes where my eyes should be.  This is like stuff that thieves wear.

“Why should I wear this?”

“Just put it on and follow me.” She puts one on as well and starts walking towards the doors.

When we enter a sharp clean smell enters my nose.  Elizabeth stands before a weird machine thing that scans her face with a blue light. I do the same and an electric gate opens.  My eyes burn off the white tales and the bright lights shining on it. My eyes start to see colors and I just follow Elizabeth’s movements.  After a few minutes of walking I shudder when I hear her talking.

“Hi mom.”

There.  Laying in some kind of glass contraind lays a woman her eyes close and her face misformed.