soft allure. ° tozier

thirteen

August 15th, 1986

An hour or so passed before Opal was able to regain herself and continue to look through the box.

First she pulled out a slinky, seductive red dress. Red for Ruby.

The woman bought it for her Christmas shift when Opal was fourteen.

Opal never wanted her mother to work on Christmas but she understood that they needed the money.

Her mother may not have had any, but she always managed to scrape enough together to supply for the both of them.

Whether she got money from one of her rich boyfriends, or by working extra shifts in "Frank's Funhouse."

Opal hated that place with a passion, the way the exotic dancer's were treated, the disrespect that went on in their was disgusting.

Ruby Faye, didn't like to call herself an exotic dancer.

She was straight to the point; brutally honest. She was a stripper, clear and simple.

Opal remembered all the times her mother would tell her to stop calling her an exotic dancer, just to be straightforward and stop using euphemisms.

Next Opal retrieved from the box, a file filled with all the woman's money calculations for a month.

All the values and costs of things they needed and lists of how she would be able to get the amenities.

Ruby was smart, she was incredible truly.

The woman had a way with numbers, that Opal admired.

Ruby knew what she was doing and always managed to sort things out so her daughter could focus on school.

She was incredibly bright, and everyone had said she had an amazing future ahead of her.

However Ruby was kicked out of home at sixteen,

with a baby on the way -that was Opal- and a dropkick boyfriend that found out that he didn't pull-out quite on time and soon enough a child with his own DNA would be his responsibility.

He left town, and never came back for her.

Every time Opal wanted to do something reckless, she remembered that story.

The first time her mother had ever rebelled, she managed to ruin her life.

The time she lost her virginity, she ended up pregnant and homeless.

Disgusted at the idea their perfect child hadn't abstained, Jade and Gregory Faye bade young Ruby to never return and fend for herself out in the big city.

All they gave her was baby blue blanket for the child she was bound to bare.

The blanket was the next thing she pulled out from the box.

Stitched in glittery fabric was the name "Opal", her mother had stitched that for her on her second birthday.

Opal ran her nimble fingers over the lettering, her mother didn't know how to stitch, but she learnt for Opal because she wanted her to have something that truly belonged to her.