The Lovers on the Mountains✔️

Part 2/5

A/N: Longest chapter.

2361 words

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Like a routine, they watched the sun sink behind the mountains. Lucas cutely waved to it, wishing it a good night, even though he knew it wouldn't respond. Emilio kept his eyes to the ground as he drew stick figures in the sand with his index finger.

Lucas couldn't look away from the sun or the sky. The pink shade mixed with purple as nighttime arrived never failed to take his breath away, no matter the many times he's seen it.

God is an artist, he thinks. Craning his head at Emilio, he wonders if he was watching too but of course, he wasn't. He was too focused on his sand 'masterpiece'. Lucas's curiosity made him take a glance at the doodles in the sand, to which he instantly frowned.

Emilio, not so much.

His eyes directed him back to the sky. Soon, Lucas heard his and Emilio's names being called in the distance. They turned around under the night sky to spot a middle-aged woman pushing a cart of baked bread. Recognizing her, the boys ran to the lady.

"Mom!", Lucas yelled. The woman smiled hearing her son's voice.

"Here, let me take this for you," Emilio offers. The woman nods and smiles, handing Emilio the cart. Lucas wrapped his arm around his mother's, supporting her since he noticed she limps as she walks.

"How are your feet, mom?" Lucas observed how her condition has gotten worse over time.

"They're fine," she shrugged it off.

"Mrs. Rodriguez, you really shouldn't work so much. It can turn into something serious," Emilio suggested.

The woman cooed, reaching over to ruffle the boy's hair. "Thank you for worrying sweetie, but I need to work. I'm your mom, after all."

Those words touched Emilio's heart more than she could imagine.

"Mom, we can work for ourselves! We made $3000 today!" The woman stopped in her tracks, causing the boys to do so as well.

"$3000? Did you steal the money?" She was not as happy as Lucas thought she'd be.

"N-No, mom! We didn't. Mrs. Martha gave it to us. Said she won't need us anymore."

"So, you were... fired?", the woman summarizes.

Lucas opened his mouth to speak but closed it instead.

"... Yeah," Emilio answered after no one said anything.

"Ah crap, it's hard to find work these days." The woman began to limp again, and Lucas was quick to hold her arm as she walked.

"Mom, you said a bad word," he declared.

The woman exhaled deeply. "I know sweetie, and I'm sorry, I'm just tired."

"How much did you sell today?" The crate looked as full as the first time Emilio saw it this morning, so he couldn't help but ask.

"A lot of people are trying to sell," she explains. "But most of the city is gone."

"So, not a lot?", Lucas asked for clarification.

The woman smiles, shaking her head before looking at her son fondly. "No sweetie, not a lot."

Emilio looked up from the cart to spot the park they'd agreed to sleep in tonight a few feet from them. That gave him time to ask another question.

"What are we going to do with the $3000?"