Not Poor Enough For Pity

CHAPTER 5:ROCKET SHIP IN THE GARDEN OF ROT

The garden fell into that kind of silence where the only thing you can hear are crickets rhythmic chirping that seemed to give off a sense of a lull. Near by, the fountains water swayed with even strokes as tension crackles by the minute like a broken wire. The night sky blared into the background with stars that shone like models on a runway.

“Don’t play cocky with me, Lazarus. ”

The old man rasped. I straightened up, his hands tightening around my waist with that predator frevor. My mother simply observed, her eyes narrowing and her hands fidgeting with the texture of her handbag. The man kicked a pebble rolled by my blue 3 inch heel. He started to walk towards us. The air seemed to be under his whim as leaves flew around us like an aura with impending danger. As the man drew closer. I could make our his black suit and black polished shoes. His hair was curly that of B textured hair that my mom used knit as “beautiful hair”. My mother ran her eyes down this man’s form as if analyzing another contract.

“He is..?”

“Lazarus, my son. Lazarus Escobar.”

I looked up at Lazarus and our eyes met. Somehow, in this garden that crackled with the cold, warmth can be felt between us. Our eyes held a meaning, communication that both our parents would not understand. He was about to open his mouth when his father spoke his voice filled with pride and a sense of lust.

“This girl..” the man tossed and pushed me towards Lazarus. My heels scuffles as I immediately tip toed to break the motion. “is your future step mother, Yuudine Mondragon.”

The silence that followed made the water in the fountain seem like it was on loud speaker. Lazarus just stared at me fidgeting with my dress, he saw how I stared at him with that nervousness and that.. Familiarity.

He looks kinda handsome? Hot? Handsome? Sexy? Hmm he looks like a horse.

I stopped dead in my thoughts when I see him c***k a smile. As if he knew what I was thinking. He lowered his head and placed his hand on his chest before bowing deep as if to greet a Royal citizen.

“It is a pleasure to meet you,

‘step-mother'.”

His voice gave out a hint of sarcasm to which his father clicked his tongue. But my mother was overjoyed, clasping together her hands happy that I was getting along with my future step-son.

The event lasted for hours, music echoing through the entire mansion with disco lights feeling like the second coming of the gods it illuminated the sky with a brightness that leaves people with sunglasses. The atmosphere was filled with the whiff of expensive cigars and wine with strippers dancing in the VIP lounges, their body a display for the whole world to see.

I sat by the pond at the very edge of the garden, letting the darkness envelope me. I watched the frogs hopping around jumping in and out of the pond with the freedom. But to me, freedom is fleeting, a star I can never hold or reach. It is there surrounded by the darkness and this time, the darkness has come to swallow it whole.

I let out a breathy sigh, swirling the champagne that my mother had forced upon me just hours earlier. The taste was bitter, not to my preference at all. I feel like I’m growing up to fast is this what people feel back in the day? I felt a shadow loom over me. But this time, it was not a shadow that dared to swallow me whole—that dared to pull me into the darkness. This shadow in particular had a beautiful aura to it. A rocket ship that makes me want to reach for the stars

“I know you ain’t here on your own free will.”

The voice rang out, calm and steady as if cautious that I might run away. It was not loud to order me around and discipline me, it was not soft to whisper sweet nothings in my ear and sugar coat their words to draw me in. It was just right, the feeling the Goldilocks had as she ventured into a place unknown to her. A perfect temperature in a spot in the barrier that I had not interacted with yet.

I let out a scoff before sitting down fully on the grass. The feeling of it’s roughness beneath my dress was a sweet feeling to someone who had to endure oh so much just for her to end up in a marriage with some—

“melted wax candle?”

I looked up startled my body twitched slightly. I couldn’t help but hear the angels who said to open my heart and demons who tells me to beat this horse in a radio showdown. He sat beside me and wrapped himself into a ball. I can see it in his eyes, he had pain.

“a Greek statue.” I murmured softly. He looked towards me and raised his brow. “you’re like a Greek statue.”

It felt like birds chirping at those times in awkwardness. Before he busted out into laughter. before I could even react, he let out a snort to which I responded with a laugh that my mother may call unladylike. The frogs were startled and jumped into the water. But I, stayed put. He wiped those imaginary tears off his face before grinning.

“I get called that a lot. Just how I was raised I guess.”

He handed me some fruit punch that he snuck beneath his suit. He had the hopeful glint in his eyes. Seeming as if he wants to watch a doll crumble in front of his eyes. A butterfly that was overdue in their cocoon.

Before I even realized it, my hands reached out and took the glass before gulping it down. Minutes ticked by with no conversation, just the sound of the croaking frogs, and mother nature doing it’s work.

“Do you want to go somewhere entertaining and aweing?” He said casually which broke the silence that’s been hitting us like a gun for minutes. His eyes sparkled with mischief and I can’t help but give him a small smile and accepting his hand. To us, mother nature is doing it’s job to keep everything orderly. But, unbeknownst to us, Cupid has came down from the skies and he had trained for this moment for his whole life.