Mirage (ON HOLD for revision)

Chapter 22: Mari's Birth

  “Marissa Ramirez?”

Matt leaned against the wall of Mari’s classroom, staring at a spot of dirt on his right shoe. He wasn’t visible to anyone inside the room, but he could hear the teacher tapping her manicured fingers disinterestedly on her table, which was purposefully pushed right behind the spot Matt leaned against for what little breeze the dusty windows could offer.

It was his lunch break, while Mari’s class was just about to finish taking attendance. For some reason, the students on the higher levels were given the afternoon classes while the Grades 1 to 3 had the morning class.

“Marissa Ramirez?” the teacher called out again.

There was no need for Matt to check; he saw her come in just before his History teacher left right on the dot.

“I told you to call her Mari,” Matt said, and he could almost feel the teacher straighten up on her seat, her manicured fingers seeking solace under the table.

“Mari,” the teacher said, her voice trembling just a little.

“Here!”

“Now, if you could just remember something so simple,” Matt muttered as he walked away, back to his own classroom. “One more time and Mari would have blown a fuse. How difficult is it to remember that she hates her name?”

After class, Matt went straight to the library beside the science room. As most libraries in backwater schools, they only had a dozen or so copies of the same textbooks sitting petrified by dust on bookshelves painted pastel blue. No one ever goes to the library because there was no point in going. It was the safest place to wait away from people’s prying eyes. He waited for two hours, marked only by the bell dismissing the afternoon class.

As usual, Mari was still sitting inside their classroom when Matt arrived, unlike everyone else who all but bolted out the door to catch the last rays of the afternoon and play outside.

“Let’s go home, Mari?” Matt asked as he stood in the doorway.

“Ok.,” Mari replied.

The walk back was as quiet as always, with only a few words Matt left for Mari to initiate. Otherwise, the words would fall soundlessly on a frozen lake, without making even the smallest ripple. Mari didn’t speak. To Matt’s surprise, halfway through the route home, he saw his mother Sonia walking towards them with two umbrellas hooked on her left elbow. Matt instinctively looked up and realized the deep red cottons were nowhere to be found, replaced with thick, ominous storm clouds.

“Look at you two,” she said, beaming as she stooped to meet Mari’s gaze. “Matt must be really happy to have such a beautiful sister. He even waits to go home with you.”

Words fell on the frozen lake, so quietly as if they were never said. But Sonia didn’t falter, transferring the smile smoothly to Matt as she handed him one of the umbrellas before sticking close to Mari’s side, the side of the passing cars.

It has been three months since Mari came to the house, and everyone except Mr. and Mrs. Carlos, treated her as if she has always been there. That warmth encouraged Matt to believe it could melt the frozen lake. But it has been three months and there has been no change. If anything, Matt has gotten used to her by now.

Sonia held the gate open for them, closing it behind her as the two stood by the door. For some reason, they weren’t allowed to open the doors or the gate themselves, except for the door in their room. The two of them piled in after Sonia, settling into a still silence to be broken only once father returns.

“Up to your rooms, then,” Sonia said in a soft voice so low it hardly registered. “I’ll bring you some snacks in a bit.”

Matt acknowledged, making sure Mari follows him up the stairs. Ten minutes later, Sonia came in with a tray balancing three empty glasses dangerously to one side, a pitcher of fresh lemonade on the other, and a plate of sandwiches in the middle.