Chapter Three
“C hin up,” My mother scolds beneath her breath, “You’re slouching.”
I stifle my sigh and straighten my back, lifting my chin as demanded. I glance out of the corner of my eye to her, noting the way she holds her body so still it’s like she wants to be a statue in the background and not the woman she is. Her hands are folded together in front of her, her shoulders square, chin tipped to the sky and her face a fake mask of serenity.
She’s a beautiful woman, a catch as many call her, but I never did like it when women are referred to as if they’re a prize to be caught. This isn’t fishing but then again, as a woman in this society the only thing we are judged for is how good we look on a man’s arm.
My father is up ahead with my older brother, Liam, speaking with some hot shot businessmen from out of town, about what, I’m not sure. All I know is that I was ordered to be here for the lunch, and I needed to be seen, not heard.
Standard procedure. I could be physically here and be quiet but that didn’t mean I needed to listen to whatever they are saying. I don’t know anyone else who has to live a life like mine. And I’m almost certain my parents are planning to marry me off. The thought churns something inside of my stomach but it hasn’t been mentioned yet so I’m hoping I’m only being paranoid.
A boisterous laugh draws my attention to the men ahead and I look just in time to see both my brother and father looking back to me, followed by one of the guys in a three-piece designer suit. He’s young, handsome even, but clean looking, put together so pristinely it’s like he just walked off a magazine cover for the rich and famous.
And as I look at him, look at the slicked back blond hair and perfectly chiseled face I can’t help but compare him to the guy I met a few nights ago.
River.
He is the complete opposite to the man ahead of me, rough around the edges with oil stains on his hands and beneath his fingernails, messy, chestnut brown hair and eyes so dark they could pass as black. He towered over my five eight frame and was built as if carved from stone, with muscles and broad shoulders. He has a dangerous type of beauty, like a flame for a moth, compelling to look at but you know if you get too close he’ll burn you and turn you to ash.
But I was captivated by him, wanting to get closer even if warning sirens were wailing inside my head. I’ve never been around a man like River, and it both excited and terrified me.
It made me want to go back.
I’ve fought myself for the past few days, knowing it’s a bad idea, but my feet itch to get in my car and take him up on his offer to take me around the track. I’m pretty sure my mother would burst a vessel just knowing I was anywhere near that, and I know if she ever found out I went to the carnival, I’d be hung out to dry.
My mother has a way to punish without lifting a finger. For a long time, all I wanted was her approval but now, I don’t even know what I want, and I don’t know how to get out.
“Marly, darling,” My father calls, beckoning with a hand. As the Mayor of the town, he’s a man who gets what he wants. I’ve bore witness to his charm and his manipulations, and I know he’s meeting with these men today to try and bring more money to the town. Don’t mistake that as him trying to better the home that we live in, this is purely selfish, more money for the town means more money in his pocket. I’m young but I’m not stupid. He’ll use whatever he can to get what he wants.
I love my parents, I do, but that doesn’t mean I have to like them or like what they represent.
I step up to him, forcing a fake smile on my face and straighten my spine. My brother looks down at me once before dismissing me, but my father puts on a loving show.
“This is my daughter,” He tells the three men ahead of us. I smile at them like I’ve been trained to do and listen as they fall back into conversation, wondering why he called me up if it wasn’t to join the discussion.
“The South side of town is open for development,” My father continues, “It’s the perfect spot for those condos and the mall you were showing me earlier.”
My brows knot.
The south side is already inhabited. Fully. There is no more space.
“Quite frankly, it’s a sore on the eye, Mayor Winchester,” The youngest and the one who was looking at me earlier says, “How is it the divide is so obvious?”
I keep my opinions quiet, my face a blank mask. I have a lot to say on it but I’m not sure they’re looking for my input, or even want it.
This town isn’t fair, there’s the south side and then there’s the rest of town and the south drew the short straw. My father never allows money to be used to fund any developments there, they reroute funds, claiming something is more important than fixing the local schools faulty heating system or building new apartments for the long list of families in poor accommodation.
“It’s always been the way,” My father lies, “It needs money, and this town is only small.”
The guy nods, “I see.”
“Let’s head in for lunch, we can discuss more over some good food.”
As my father turns to leave, he drops his hand from my back and I step to the side, knowing the invitation for lunch only extends so far. My mother would be there for show only, my brother too, but it leaves me free for a few hours.
I watch them leave, walking up the white stone path to the mansion at the top of the small incline and once they’ve disappeared from view, I bolt in the opposite direction.
I’m not going to risk going back up to the house to change, so I hobble in the five-inch heels my mother insisted I wear and hold the skirts of my dress down as I make it to the garage and grab the keys hanging on the hook.
The Mercedes beeps as I unlock it and climb in, kicking off the heels so I can drive. The AC blasts the moment the engine turns over. First with hot air, instantly breaking me out in a sweat before it turns cold, and the garage doors open. Zara is out of town with her family for a few days so I can’t escape there, and I don’t trust anyone else not to report back to my parents, so I just drive. It’s a Friday afternoon, the streets are only a little busy for now, but it’ll get busier the later in the day it gets.
This side of town looks normal, pristine lawns and well-kept buildings fill the space but as I drive closer to the south side it all changes. It physically makes me sick knowing my family is the problem here, I’m the problem, but what do I do? How do I change this?
If my father is looking to develop this area it’s not for the good of its residents or businesses. He’ll use them as steppingstones and then discard them when he’s done and what will be left for them then?
I slow the car as I drive through the school zone, my window down to listen to the kids playing in the nearby school playground. What happens to them when the school is knocked down to make way for a mall?
The condos they build won’t be for the families in desperate need for accommodation, so what happens to them?
Knowing my family, they’ll disguise it as opportunities for new employment and housing but won’t make it possible for any of these people to get it. In my father’s eyes, if you don’t have money, you don’t have anything. They’ll be priced out of the only area they’ve ever known.
I turn down a side street and head toward the main street where cafes and restaurants, filled to the brim with customers, enjoy coffee or cocktails in the afternoon sun. The buildings are crumbling, the roads and sidewalks littered with potholes and cracks, but they don’t seem to care. They look comfortable, happy even and I really wonder how anyone in my life can look at this and think it less than.
No, what we have is less. This looks like life to me.
I stop at a crossing to let a couple walk over and once it’s clear, I move to pull away only for the car to sputter.
Frowning, I look down at the dash, but nothing is flashing so I try again only for it to do it once more, and then smoke is suddenly bellowing out of the hood.
“Oh my god!” I yell, struggling with my belt to get out of the car. I finally free myself and jump out, the smell coming from the engine trying to choke me. There are clouds of smoke pumping out from under the hood.
Shit, I left my phone at home. Grit bites into my feet since my shoes are also in the car and I have no idea if it’s about to go up in flames.
A silver Ford pulls up behind mine and the door opens a moment later, my nerves settling only a little when I see who it is.
Jake, the guy Zara’s been texting nonstop since she met him at the carnival, walks toward me, cringing at the smoke coming from my car. It’s a little less now, thinner but still coming.
“Well shit,” He whistles, “That ain’t good.”
I stare at him, unamused, “Well obviously.”
With a chuckle, he yanks open the door and leans in, grabbing the release to open the hood.
“Is that a good idea!?” I yell but he’s already in front of the car and is opening it up to release plumes of smoke that curl into the blue sky. He coughs a little and waves his arm but there’s no flames, thank god!
“You got breakdown?” He asks.
“Um,” I cringe, “I don’t know.”
He stares at me for a beat and then shakes his head, pulling out his phone before scrolling and hitting the screen. I watch him make a call, but he walks to the other side of the road and speaks low enough I can’t hear him.
“I’ve got a truck coming,” He tells me when he returns, “They’ll be here in ten.”
“What’s wrong with it?” I chew my lip.
“My guess is the gasket is blown,” He shrugs, “The engine is overheating.”
“Right,” I nod like I know what he’s talking about.
“Don’t worry,” He says as he heads back to his own car, “You’ll have help in no time.”
“Wait!” I panic, “You’re leaving!?”
“Gotta pick up my daughter from school,” He pauses, “He’ll be here soon, just sit tight.”