Flawfull

A Girl With Golden Hair

The day Jasmine moved into our small neighborhood is a day I will forever remember.

We were kids by that time, pure souls with rosy cheeks from aunts' pinches, running around naked with no sense of shame or embarrassment.

A brand new white car attracted everyone to his window on that day. With attached faces to the widow's pane, we all watched breathlessly at the new couple getting out the car. Fresh meat was always exciting, especially in a boring neighborhood such as ours'.

That is probably one out of many reasons some will say our neighborhood was too small. Nothing escaped the eye. And when I say nothing, I mean- nothing. So entire families gathered around their windows just like a band of hungry crows and examined the new couple as if they were a new species.

"Oh God, look at this heels!" said my mom. "Unbelievable! How can she even walk with these nails stuck in her feet!"

The wife was the first one to get out of the driver sit. She had a very long and very white hair, but not an old-people-white-hair more of a clear-straight hair. Like blonde that forgot its original color. At a glance, you might be mistaken to think she was pretty, but at a closer look, you could tell her facial features were too strict and grave.

"Once, long time ago, there was a period you also wear this kind of heels for me." sighted my dad quietly. "Do you remember, dear?"

My mom stuck a hard look in him as a reply while he was too busy at pretending not noticing her doing so and continued reviewing the husband that came out right after his wife. The twins, who were located somewhere between my chin to my dad's elbow, pushed me away in order to get a better view. "Hey!" I shouted. "I also want to see! Mom tell them!"

"Don't fight kids.." muttered my mom without taking her eyes off the window. 

"Mom!" I cried again, but all for vain. My mom had already been possessed by the juicy gossips' magic, and there was nothing I could do against it.  As a child, I never understood it. The strong desire of the mothers to collect as much as information about other people in the neighborhood as possible just to share it all with each other on a cup of tea in one of their houses. Today, I still don't. 

"For God sake, where is she going now?" whispered my mom and made me wonder if she was even aware to the fact she was speaking. I jumped behind the twins' backs in an attempt to get a bit of view. A desperate attempt, since the twins who were just 6 years old back then, a year older than me, grew way too tall for their age. I did not stand a chance against their genetical mutation. 

"If you will be patient, you will discover in a second." whispered my dad back.

My mom returned her harsh look to him but he still refused to face it. 

"She opens the back door!" yelled one of the twins excitedly. "Maybe they have a dog!"

"Shhh!" my mom hushed him, "let me see."

Now, my dad was the one to turn to look at her. "You know you don't need quiet in order to see, dear. Right?" he asked while trying to swallow his smile without much of success.

My mother's nostrils widened in a dangerous way. "You're really trying to annoy me today. aren't you, dear?" replied my mom through clenched teeth. "You've got some nerve in front of the kids, eh? works for me, dear. Guess what? the couch did start to get cold lately..." she added with a sweet smile on her lips.

My dad just opened his mouth, to probably regret that he even dared to open it from the first place and beg for forgiveness when the twins shouted together in disappointment.

"It's a girl! It's just a girl!"

My mom's attention returned immediately to the show through the window. "No way! they have a daughter? already? but they seem so young!" she yelled in surprise. 

I finally succeeded in getting between the twins, taking advantage of their disappointment moment, and looked. And just like they said she sat right there, in the back seat of the white brand new car in the middle of our small and boring neighborhood. 

At first, I couldn't decide what she looked like. An angel or a fairy? She was as pale as snow white herself, and not just her skin her hair too! It was longer than her mom's hair and darker. Not too pale and not too blonde. Somewhere in between, it recreated the color gold. Her eyes were so blue I could still see them clearly through the window glass. 

I watched her hypnotized, I think we all did, that is why none of us noticed when her dad circled the car after he took something from the trunk. 

We were so focused on her breath-taking beauty until we saw her dad only when he came closer to her back seat, where her mom stood still holding the door open, carrying in front of him a willow chair. 

That was the moment my mom shut the window close at once so we could not see anything at all anymore.