lolita | bellerín

homeless

(unedited)

"Don't cry,
I'm sorry to have
deceived you so much,
but that's how life is."
-------

Salome found herself sitting in the middle of nowhere and staring into nothingness on a Saturday afternoon, when there were so many things she should've been doing. She'd been walking all the way back home from the hospital, for the sake of her mother, and somehow ended up passing through a green, lovely looking park.

So, tiredly, she collapsed on a bench. She just hadn't gotten up since. She had a lot on her mind, like her mother's health and her relationship with Hector, both of which seemed to be growing weaker and weaker.

Salome figured that no one was around, so she grew comfortable and stretched her body—clad in yoga leggings and a tight thermal shirt (she dressed to make it seem as though she was running, which she was not)—and lay right there on the bench, in the middle of the empty park.

She lay for another half our or so and entertained herself with the sight of the sun setting before a familiar voice spoke her name, causing her to jump. "Salome?"

The Colombian sat up immediately and stared at none other than Calum, who was breathing slightly quicker due to having actually been running. "Calum?"

"Fancy seeing you here. You run here, too?"

Salome looked down at her attire, then blushed. The fact that she had to say no in response was embarrassing. "No, I was just sitting here. I've been sitting here...I'm too tired to walk home."

"Oh? Where'd you walk here from?"

Salome sighed. "I walked to Queen Elizabeth's from my place. I live a few miles away. I would've taken the tube, but the weather was nice, and that's rare..."

Calum laughed. "You must hate the weather here. Hector does, too." He moved to sit next to Salome as she nodded, turning to face him a little more.

"Yeah...it still gets cold at night, though. I hate it. Night time used to be fun." Salome tucked her hair behind her ear, watching Calum's lips form a smirk. "What about you? It seems late to be running."

Calum shrugged. "I do it when I'm bored, or when I have a lot going on."

"So what was it today?"

"I was bored." He snorted. "What were you doing over at the hospital?"

"Visiting someone."

"Oh," he spoke, sympathetically. "I hope they're okay."

Salome nodded, since she yawned a little and couldn't speak while doing so. Once done yawning, however, she checked the time on her iPhone and then noted that she had no texts or calls from Hector. It'd been like that for a week now. In her mind, they must've been over. "I should get home, if I want to make it there by midnight."

Calum quickly spoke. "I can give you a lift."

"Can you?" Salome blushed slightly.

"My car is at my apartment, but I live a block away." He smiled as the two stood and began to fall into step. "Hector wouldn't kill me for this, would he?"

"I don't think we're together anymore." Salome spoke, a twinge of sadness lacing her accented voice.

Calum bit his lip. That was good, because he knew Hector had been messing around with someone named Berta lately despite never mentioning a breakup with Salome. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It was inevitable."

"What do you mean? You guys were cute together." Calum smiled a little. "Even though we were all jealous of him for having you."

Salome tilted her head up at Calum as they walked. "I'm actually crazy."

"Well, who isn't, right?"

Salome bit her lip. "No, like..." She paused. "I'm—" she almost blurted it. Seventeen. But something stopped her—both of them, in fact—and it was the sight of Hector's car, of which he was now exiting as he spotted the two.

"I knew it." He spoke, angrily. "You two have been going behind my back! Have you been screwing each other?"

"Hector, what are you talking about?" Salome gasped a little.

"I should've never introduced you guys in the first place—"

"Chill out, mate. I just ran into Salome at the park—"

"Oh, I'm supposed to believe that shit?"

Both Salome and Calum looked down at their attire before Salome spoke. "You haven't talked to me in a week, asshole. Don't act like you really care about me or what I'm doing with my life."

"I've been busy!"

"Busy fucking another woman? I'm not stupid, Hector. Who is Berta?"

Hector's eyes shot up to Calum. Calum hadn't even been listening to the argument because they were speaking in rapid Spanish, but of course he noticed when Hector sent him a death glare. "You idiot. Did you tell Salome?"

"What?"

"Berta was just a one night stand! A one time thing, and it was my birthday." Hector scoffed. "You couldn't see me or come to my party."

"I couldn't do those things because I was with my mother! Who, by the way, is dying." Salome spat, placing her hand on her stomach. Another wave of nausea was coming, and she'd been having them all week; she just never actually threw up.

Hector frowned. "Salome, I understand that your mother is sick, but I also know you make exceptions. Like how you went to the dance with that boy—and spent the night with him, also." His voice was calmer, as he loved Salome, he really did, and didn't want to fight with her.

Salome's face fell at the mention of Jason. "What we did was different, Hector. Much different then you cheating on me with Berta because you wanted that to happen and you knew it was happening. I could barely tell the difference between the stars and the moon when I was with him."

Hector's mouth fell open. "Are you saying that he took advantage of you?" His face softened as he reached a hand out to Salome, who swatted it away. Calum had long since gone inside of his apartment, already giving Salome a look that said 'I'm going to give you two some privacy because I don't know what the hell you're saying but you know where to find me'.

Salome felt her eyes burning. She wasn't a crier, but she was exhausted, stressed, and sick—she was willing to bet that she was pregnant—which was the perfect recipe for tears. "Now and here, or ever, isn't the place to talk about it." She spoke, turning away from Hector as she repeatedly wiped her eyes of the rapid tears that seemed to flow without limit. "I need to go home."

But what was home? Her tiny apartment, absent of her sick mother and violent brother who could've been dead or alive? Hector's home, where she now knew other women had roamed? Ideally, for Salome, it was Hector himself. But she felt betrayed by him.

Hector placed a soft hand on Salome's shoulder and turned her around before kissing her, something short and sweet. He hugged her. Salome didn't hug or kiss him back, but he didn't care. She had no one to turn to in this great big world—except for Hector himself—and now, even he had failed her.