HELENA
Two people rejoiced the day I first cried. A healthy set of lungs, almond-shaped eyes, a beautiful turned-up nose, ten fragile little fingers and ten dainty little toes - for a couple that had been waiting to be blessed with a child, it didn't matter what I had between my legs. I was loved all the same.
From the moment I was conceived, they only prayed for a baby. There were no goals to aim for, no fiery hoops to jump through. High hopes and grand dreams didn't come until later, much later.
Some I recognized as mine. Most of it, I had to take on as my own.
Born to a father whose job took most of his time and a mother that didn't mind his absence, I made us a basic unit of society, a family. Just as hands were never raised and voices rarely echoed in our home, hugs were scarce. There may be something missing but love lived there.
The language was different but it was what I had known.
Until I learned, it could've been more. There was black and white to my pale gray.
How would have I wanted to be loved knowing what it should've been like?
Karyssa was born with enough love in her but only loved under certain conditions, so different from my upbringing. I may have had the same love in me but I didn't know what to do with it when no one required it, demanded for it.
How did Karyssa want me to love her had I known how?
Hate was taught and love was innate yet Catherine would argue that both were inherent and acquired. Either could be unlearned and relearned. I should have listened.
Karyssa already knew how to love when I didn't so when I was failing and learning too late, she was mastering hate.
Unfamiliar with a silent broken heart, I pretended not to see her sadness grow. Anger came and resentment replaced endearments. Her touch-the tenderness from before was forgotten. I remembered my skin burning but they were hits I deserved because I conveniently disappear when she was hurting.
"Where did she go?" Mariam took the icepack from me and held it against the back of my head.
"Lei-Lei, another injury added? What is it this time?" I heard Catherine's voice before she appeared in my line of sight. "Was it Karyssa?"
Catherine was only trying to guess but confirmed it somehow. She had a knack for reading my micro-expressions quicker than I could tuck them away.
"She did, alright."
"Never thought you're this unpopular with people." Mariam grabbed my hand, wordlessly commanded I keep the pack pressed to ease the swelling. She kneeled down and placed new packs on my ankle, securing them with a wrap. "Why do they hate you so much?"
"Curious?" Lauren butted in. "Didn't you bother asking your son? What excuse did he come up with? How much hate justified blinding someone?"
"I didn't mean to offend-"
"Well, you did."
Catherine wrapped an arm around girlfriend's waist, not to stop her from talking but to hold her in place. Lauren was ready to give Mariam a piece of her mind and more.
"Helena bought the entire plantation but you get to keep your homes in her land. No one got displaced and they still kept their jobs so what made them angry?"
