Chapter 5 #3
Tears pricked Mayté’s eyes. This was all she had ever wanted. But then she got a good look at the painting. A dark and drab little room with tattered curtains and light filtering through a tiny window. The cobwebs and dust in the painting looked so real. Too real.
The cheers and bidding transformed into screams and sobs. Then everything changed again. The azure sky transformed into a peeling ceiling. The salty ocean air shifted into something humid and musty.
“PLEASE DON’T! STOP!” Another scream chilled Mayté to her core. It was her own voice.
The door slammed open and Mayté saw herself fall to her hands and knees. The other Mayté’s body shook as she sobbed. A purply bruise blossomed under her left eye.
Standing at the doorway were the men from last night. They stared with cruel amusement.
“She’ll make us back what Robles took and then some.”
This was the fate that awaited her if she wasn’t chosen.
The door slammed, leaving Mayté alone with herself.
The other Mayté curled into a ball. Seeing herself like this was strange and disturbing.
More than anything, she wanted to tell herself that everything would be okay.
But that would be lying. She took a step forward, toward her figure on the ground, but everything shifted once again.
Now the other Mayté wore a tattered dress and apron.
Her cheeks were sunken in, and her eyes had the darkest of circles.
She sat outside on the dusty road, alone and ignored in the street mercado as everyone else bustled about.
She was away from those terrible men, but why did she look even more empty and broken?
A man walked by, lugging around a painted canvas depicting a scene. The other Mayté watched him.
Whenever Mayté saw others’ artwork, it sparked something in her. Sometimes confidence, sometimes envy—but always inspiration. It got her fingers itching to create.
But the other Mayté’s expression was as dull as ever. Unaffected. She put her head down.
The sickening realization hit Mayté so hard she almost vomited. This was her fate if she lost Fortune’s Kiss. Her dreams and her talent, gone. Too empty to even be of use to those terrible men. Alone on the streets with nothing left.
But, but, but … What about everything she’d seen before that? When she was a famous painter. Surely that was her fate if she won Fortune’s Kiss. Which left the vision of her with those men—her fate if she wasn’t chosen to gamble. Everything melted away into nothing.
Several figures approached. One by one, they formed into boys she knew. Juan Felipe. Ernesto. Dominic. And many others. Each and every one of them walked past her, not even glancing her way. Instead, they surrounded Lo.
“Lorena! Lorena!”
“The most beautiful girl in Milagro.”
“Your eyes sparkle like starlit diamonds.”
“Your smile takes my breath away.”
“I love you. I love you.”
All their words, as sappy as could be, still sent pinpricks to Mayté’s heart. Always Lo. They notice her, but why not me? She doesn’t care about them. She’s so ungrateful. She has no clue how good she has it.
Mayté jolted, stunned by her own nasty thoughts. Then she saw Carlos. Her mother pulled him into her arms and hugged him tight. The rest of her brothers surrounded them. None of them noticed her. They were too busy joyously laughing with each other.
“Carlito. My pride and joy. My favorite.” Her mother’s whisper echoed inside Mayté’s skull.
It’s not fair. What has he done for this family that I couldn’t? If they would just listen … but they won’t. Never have. Never will. They should all rot.
Good-for-nothing Carlos.
Selfish Lo.
They don’t deserve what they—
“STOP!” Mayté screamed. But her head wouldn’t shut up.
If the boys loved me, I would appreciate it. I wouldn’t play games with them and talk badly behind their backs.
She dropped to her knees and gripped her head.
If my family trusted me, I could have used money from my paintings to help them. We wouldn’t be so bad off. Father ruined everything. He’s the one that should be punished. Not me.
Dios should strike them all down.
“NO!” Mayté pounded her fists against the floor. “No, no, no! I want them all to be happy.” Her vision blurred with tears. “But I want to be happy too …”
Up ahead the skull sat on the table, but now the skull was painted with azure swirls and flowers. The same damn shade of blue she hadn’t been able to afford at the shop.
Mayté jolted awake. Her muscles ached and her head throbbed. She lay sprawled on the cold hardwood floor.
Then it all came back. Fortune’s Kiss. Measuring her soul. Everything she saw …
She sat up and gripped her forearm. Pinkish flesh puckered where the marigold petals had taken her blood. The room was no longer dark, revealing chipping, white walls. As if someone had trapped her inside an egg.
Had her fate been decided?
Only one way to find out. Trembling, she put her rebozo back on and stood.
She pushed the door open. The lobby had changed.
Before, everything had been shrouded in shadows and toed the line between fantasy and nightmare.
Now the hall was pure light and grandeur.
As if waking up from the most beautiful dream and realizing it was real.
A circle of stark white walls surrounded her.
Golden beads swooped from the ceiling like raindrops frozen in a spell.
They glimmered and winked at Mayté. Ornate candelabras left behind an alluring glow that danced across the marble floor.
Golden pillars glimmered. And she wasn’t alone.
A small group of people surrounded a table at the far end of the room.
She inched closer to get a better view. Framed portraits sat on the table, each of a different person.
And there she was, lips curved into a tight smile.
When was this picture taken? She had never liked showing her teeth in photographs.
Her dark hair was pulled back into a low bun, and she wore a white blouse with a blue ribbon on the front.
The girl behind the glass had a twinkle in her eye. As if she knew an exciting secret.
She had been chosen to gamble.