I am no one, I'm nothing

Capitulo Trece

"Well, Julia, it's ludicrous to think that we've never had guests who haven't been... like her." Maria mused, plunging her hands into the soapy water as she scrubbed daintily at the fine china.

"I suppose," Julia sighed, rolling her eyes with a judgmental sweep of her murky brown eyes. "The others simply haven't been as... defined."

"Defined?" The sweet voice of Maria questioned. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well haven't you seen her?" Julia questioned in an incredulous tone. It was a sneer, a mock, and Aldonza could almost see her lip curving above her teeth in a wild display of animalism. "Why do you think she came to us beaten? And with that nasty word on her neck-do you think just any woman receives that? No." She clucked her tongue and began to dry the dishes before stacking them into various cabinets.

"She needs to be here." Maria stated simply. "She needs to confess her sins and receive God's holy forgiveness."

"She needs to live by his rules." Julia snippily replied. "Did you hear her with that man? It was nasty, vile-and very loud."

"I saw them." Maria told her in a near whisper; Aldonza had to strain against the door to catch her words, her hushed tone.

"You what?" Julia exclaimed in an excited hiss.

"I saw them," Maria repeated. Aldonza pictured her dropping the dish she was currently scrubbing and grabbing her friend's shoulders, gripping them with the excitement of a schoolgirl as they traded gossip in a contest to see who could dig up the juiciest dirt. "He was hunched over her, and she wasn't wearing any clothes. He only had on pants, and he was kissing her."

"No." Julia shook her head with finality. "No, no, there's no way that happened."

"But there is, it did!" Maria told her, returning reluctantly to the task at hand. "I saw it, Julia."

"No." Julia told her sternly. "There's no way. You want to know why?" Her mischievous green eyes met hers and seemed to glow with a sense of greed. "It couldn't have happened that he was over her, that he was kissing her, because she's a whore-a filthy slut who will sleep with anyone with a penis for a mere half a shilling. She's not to be trusted, Maria. She shouldn't be here. The Padre has taken in some deviants before, but never like this."

Maria considered this and shook her head sadly. "But Jesus associated with... with people like her." She exclaimed with a little more vigor. "Why can't we pick up the cross and join him? She clearly needs our help, Julia."

"Help? And what can we do for her?" The latter retorted.

"We... We can teach her the Christian way through ministry. You heard her at the table, she's going to help us with the program-she's going to become a disciple."

Julia thought about this and clucked her tongue a few times with loud, tight clicks. "Well, I'll believe it when I see it."

Aldonza shrugged her way through the door, her blushing cheeks accentuated by smooth curls. Her insides were fiery, the passion hidden behind her eyes from their hate-filled comments, while her face remained calm, even serene. "Here are some more plates." She told the two Sisters, who stared snidely at each other with mild embarrassment at having possibly been overheard. "Do you need any help?" She stared at the two women, mocha eyes moving from one pair of innocent eyes to the other.

Sister Maria cleared her throat and stepped forward, addressing Aldonza personally with a gentle smile. "No, no dear, that's quite alright." She told her, placing a caressing hand on her shoulder. "We are nearly finished, anyways. But, thank you, anyways." She stepped backwards as Aldonza slowly turned to exit the kitchen with deliberate, aggravated steps. How dare these women-who were supposed to be ones of God, ones who didn't possess a judging bone in their body-have the nerve to pass judgment on her when they hadn't even hardly spoken to her? Had they saved her life? Yes and no. They had taken care of her, or at least that's what she had been told. But through the care process, the bathing, the cleaning up after-had all of it been committed with hateful intentions, or, at the minimum, judgmental actions?