Telluric

Chapter VIII: Carlos y Diego

VIII

Feeling a little lost after his friends left school, Diego carried on numbly through the second half of his day. He was glad that Mayla and Noah had been so warm and kind to him, even with the unsettling physical quality of his eye color.

This was Diego's first time without Mayla in his Trigonometry class. He awkwardly sat in the back of the room at a table in which he often shared with his companion. Suddenly, a tap on his shoulder had him look up from his backpack. Some boy looked at him deviously, stirring Diego's stomach.

"Hey, Mexican." The boy taunted. "You legal here?" He leaned menacingly over Diego, the rest of the class just arriving from their other classes.

"Please go away." Diego replied in distress. The boy did not recede, however, but got even closer to him. Diego began to quiver, and shrink down into his seat. The boy smiled.

"Pathetic illegal..."

"Martin Heinz!" Ms. Ramona called out. She looked menacing across the room, glaring at the boy. Diego looked up from his head-down position. She clicked her heals across the floor as she treaded toward the two. "If I hear one more discriminatory term from your mouth, I will through you out that goddamn window, understand?"

Martin smirked and shook his head.

"And I'll sue." He retorted.

"Can't sue if you're dead, and there's no evidence." She replied, smiling maliciously. Martin widened his eyes and quickly returned to his seat across the room.

Ms. Ramona then turned to Diego who looked up. He sensed something about her, though he wasn't entirely sure what it was. She smiled at him, in a sort of knowing way.

"He's an ass, don't worry about him anymore." She told him. "Anyway, hope your having a good time here in Graywood." She then nodded and returned to the front of the class.

Diego stared at the woman, who began a lecture about sigma notation. Something seemed familiar about her demeanor to Diego. He scribbled into his notebook, but couldn't shake the feeling.

***

Diego walked home through the snow and arrived at his Uncle's house, treading up the steps and into the warm interior. Shedding his jacket and placing his backpack next to the door and his sneakers. His uncle appeared to still be out.

Diego sighed and looked at his shadow that had formed from the light shining through the window from the front of the house. He stared at it as it began to move up towards that light switch, turning it on for Diego, who laid down on the sofa in the living room.

Stretching out, he held himself and curled up, staring at the wall. After what seemed like an hour, Diego began to bend the shadows, lifting and afghan from the couch across from his, bringing it over on top of him. He then drowsily fell into slumber. The shadows bended back into their original places.

Minutes later Carlos Paloma, Diego's uncle, walked into the house.

***

Carlos worked for Mayor Roxanne Montgomery, as a sort of secretary and second-in-charge. Carlos' appearance is that of an older version of Diego. Originally from Mexico, Carlos had moved to Graywood shortly after his father abandoned him and his sister. Finding work in various places across America, and living a nomad lifestyle in order to find this work, he finally settled down in Graywood.

It had been living like this, but helping his younger sister was worth it. They shared secrets and musings as children and young adults. They confided in each other when they experienced the worst of times, and they shared the joy in the best of them.