Purple Glass (Elohim Volume #1)
Chapter 1
Sounds from the muffled TV downstairs penetrated the dark house.
Esmie lay on her stiff twin bed, twisting the quilt in her hands, waiting for the tap on the window that would signal the biggest decision of her life.
Sweat dewed on her skin from the dual sets of clothes she wore.
Street clothes under her pajamas. The street clothes were the problem as they were in direct defiance to her mother’s wishes.
One of her best friends, Mindy, had approached her right before biology.
She’d held up three tickets for herself, Esmie, and Tessa, their other best friend, to gain entrance into the once famous Nightcrawler club to see their favorite band, Maldado, a group that mixed Bomba and Reggaeton, with notes of Plena in the chorus.
Technically, it was her favorite band. Mindy and Tessa fell in love with them upon Esmie’s introduction and translation of the words.
Unfortunately, Andloor Capitol had put forth edicts attempting to eradicate all culture from the city, making their music illegal.
According to Andloor Capitol’s memo, “To be inclusive of everyone, no one shall express their culture other than being a person from Andloor”.
This only fueled the girls’ interest in them.
The band was forced into hiding, refusing to submit to Andloor’s ridiculous laws.
That is, until rumors in the underground music world stated they would be performing at an exclusive location, with limited secret tickets, which was why Mindy had gotten them.
Her parents’ position at Genetronetics TMC, the biggest corporation in all of Andloor, allowed her access to certain perks and connections.
With Esmie being a fan since they first debuted in the underground circuit, it could only be fate she was meant to go. Right?
Wrong. Her mother forbade her. “Esmerelda Morales, you know not only is that group illegal, but the club is in the downtown part of the city. And you want to risk going? Para que? Un Band? No, it is too dangerous, and I’m not having you get arrested on a school night.”
“I’m not going to get arrested. Mindy has connections. Plus, I’m an adult in college. My first class doesn’t start until nine. And the Universidad is on the edge of downtown Andloor. Nightcrawler isn’t far from there.”
“No es no. Your internship fair is tomorrow, and you need to be refreshed and ready to meet all of the top industry representatives. I already spoke with your professors and the Presidente de la Universidad. I won’t have you missing it because of doing something illegal.”
“But Mamá, you know those laws are wrong. They are trying to erase our culture. Even you said…”
“Ya!”
Esmie balled up her hands next to her sides at the memory of how the conversation went.
Everyone knew Mrs. Morales, despite her small stature, didn’t tolerate foolishness.
Her tight-lipped, straight-backed ways were known throughout their neighborhood.
Even Mindy, the rebellious one of her friend group, didn’t cross her mother.
She wondered if Mamá would even let them still be friends if they hadn’t grown up together.
A door downstairs creaked, and Esmie’s heart froze as she heard the familiar thump of her mother’s footsteps trekking down the hall.
If her mother found her still awake and with these clothes on, she would never see the light of day again.
Esmie visualized her Mamá’s footsteps based on their familiar pathway, past the stairs and into the kitchen.
After a few minutes they retraced back down the hall again before her mother’s bedroom door creaked shut.
Esmie exhaled a slow steady breath. Her mother should be in for the night, and her father had already been asleep for over an hour.
When she felt the coast was clear, Esmie crawled out of bed.
Shedding her outer layer of pajamas, she was adjusting her outfit when she heard the signal, a few rocks tapping against her window.
Esmie shot up, her wavy black curls bouncing around her face.
She brushed them away and steadied herself on the stiff bed, peeking out one of the two small windows in her room.
The large maple tree in her front yard blocked most of the view, but a small light shone back and forth in the darkness between the lower leaves.
In the light of the full moon, she could make out the silhouettes of her friends Mindy and Tessa, holding up their hands most likely showing their favorite symbol to each other.
With their thumb and pointer finger pressed together, then pushed out to the sides to make what appeared like a letter ‘V’ to others, was actually a heart to each other.
It was their friendship hand gesture they shot each other wherever they went and met up, letting each other know of their love and loyalty to each other.
Esmie returned the love hand gesture before crawling out of her bed and pulling on her vans.
Her black tulle skirt tickled her forearms as she tied her shoes.
Her lace leggings blended with the skirt in the dark room.
She checked the mirror one last time to ensure her makeup hadn't been wiped off. Green eyes stared back at her, trepidation in their gaze. Her dark tan face was flushed from the warmth of the space and her anxiety. The tulle skirt fluffed out from her curvy hips. Her friends would most likely be in form fitting clothes on their thin figures, but those wouldn’t look the same on her.
Plus, she wanted to be comfortable. She sighed. It would have to do.
Slipping out of her bedroom, she crept along the landing to the staircase, pausing to glance at her brother Leo’s empty bedroom.
Leo was her favorite person in the world.
Many times, she felt like he was still there, waiting for her to come by to jump scare her, or yank her into his bedroom so they could whisper secrets to each other.
She shook her head. He wasn’t there. Now he lived downtown in a cozy one-bedroom skyrise, and she was the only one under her mother’s intense pressure.
It wouldn’t have surprised her if the reason for Leo moving as soon as he graduated was to get away from Mamá’s forceful hand.
He studied hard to obtain a prestigious internship position in the Capitol Building Law Enforcement Division, working in labs on top-secret things he could never tell her.
Her parents were too proud of his accomplishments to think he succeeded just to get away from them. Or at least from their mother.
Bracing herself against the banister, putting as much weight on it as she dared, she attempted to muffle the sound of her shoes by treading as lightly as possible.
She avoided the stairs that creaked and let out the breath she was holding when she finally reached the first floor.
Esmie gazed at her parents’ white bedroom door, the last room at the end of the hallway next to the entrance.
She willed herself forward, grateful to still hear the TV tuned onto the late-night news, hoping it would drown out some of the sounds she made as she tiptoed down the hallway.
Arriving outside of her parents’ bedroom, she held back a sigh.
She was only a few steps away now. A shiver ran down her spine, and Esmie glanced to her right at the silent living room ensuring no one was there, watching.
Once satisfied, she reached for the glass storm door that would lead her to the foyer and to freedom.
The knob clicked loudly in her hand. Esmie stilled, glaring at her parents’ door, silently begging it not to open.
As Esmie waited, she felt a twinge of guilt for going behind her mother’s back.
She shouldn’t be doing this. She never disobeyed Mamá.
Just as quickly, another thought emerged.
She wouldn’t have to do this if her mother had just let her go.
If her mother would just let Esmie do anything, she wouldn’t have to sneak around.
It wasn’t like she was a disobedient daughter.
She did whatever her parents asked of her, the top of her class, number one in the district in volunteer hours.
Praised everywhere, except at home. This one act of defiance wouldn’t harm anyone.
With new resolve Esmie entered the foyer.
Her footsteps padded along the runner lining the small hallway to the front, opening the heavy wooden slab door.
Whispering a prayer for safety and forgiveness, Esmie stepped into the cool night, exhaled her pent-up anxiety and smiled at the full moon knowing tonight was the night her life would begin.