The Façade of Quad in Nimrod ✓ | Satire, family drama, dark society

VII

At eight in the morning, most of the city of Nimrod woke to the sound of rain gushing out of rain clouds like alligator tears. It was a stormy, rainy Sunday. 

The farmers speculated that it would rain all day, the church goers wrapped themselves in rain gear from head to toe adamant to follow weekly habit no matter the weather, and middle-class middle-aged gossipers said it was the heaviest rainfall of the decade (although that was debatable).

Fernando waited until eleven when the rain began to reduce to a trickle and got a cab. He took with him some talismans and trinkets he bought in the Parajan street markets to entertain guests and Valerie. Then he stopped at one of the sweet bread shops to get some sweet breads. 

On his way, he also stopped at a flower shop to buy her some flowers on Aulen's request. Everything he did for Valerie was for Aulen. It was all part of their plan.

With a satisfied smile, he took the cab finally to the Quad mansion. The rain was coming down hard again and the old cab let up sprays of water onto unfortunate lower-class passerby. Fernando just watched them as they shouted in surprise and glared at him.

Just at that exact moment, Henry was also passing by, but luck was on his side today as the poor man in rags that happened to walk next to him at that moment took most of the splash. Henry was using a broken umbrella and hurrying to his job. It was Sunday, but he wanted to make more money to eat breakfast, or rather, by the time he finished it would be brunch or afternoon tea.

Two hours later, the last stacks of books lay next to Henry in a tower. Bookstore owner, Gilbert Boren sat at his desk and picked at his teeth with a wooden ruler while he waited for customers. Despite it was a rainy, rain guzzling Sunday, he'd opened the shop because he hadn't much else to do anyway and Henry had been eager to work.

Henry decided he would take on harder tasks this time. He thought he could somehow impress his father, but he was feeling a little dizzy from not having eaten dinner the night before and skipping breakfast this morning and most definitely missing out on lunch. He couldn't help it though. He had no money for food and the family rule was that he needed money in order to eat.

But that's where he'd gone wrong. Of course, he could eat at the family table if he wanted to! Mordecai didn't want to starve his son, he just wanted to be paid back once Henry had the money for it. Still, he didn't care enough to keep an eye on Henry to make sure he did eat. Despite all the dizziness though, Henry was able to do his job.

Somehow.

Gilbert watched Henry and the outside stormy day. He wondered if it would flood and hoped that his shop wouldn't be affected. Thinking of floods reminded him of an old book with a red spine and brown leather cover that he loved. He raked his mind for the title, tapping the ruler on the desk.

"Water in Mayville," he muttered satisfied with himself for remembering. It was a book by a man named Reuben Shormstear who became an acclaimed author at the young age of twenty-seven after writing Water in Mayville. His books were cherished by many middle-aged middle-class men and Gilbert was one of them.

"A story about a little boy having to move out of his town because of a flood and his father becoming an alcoholic and his mother selling her jewelry to get money. The story of the boy who sang like a bubbling brook... where did I put it?" He wondered out loud, scanning the store and furrowing his eyebrows. He knew he should take better care of such acclaimed books as that.

At the far corner of the store Henry came upon the book. He would not know that Gilbert had accidentally put his own book in the 'for sale' box, so he sorted it in the piles of old and new, and further, fiction and non-fiction. He did the latter by flipping through the pages and reading a bit.