Clementine had become a wild child. Born in America but raised abroad, she now had little regard for the expectations of high society. But her reckless ways eventually catch up with her when she is kicked out of college in New York City and forced t...
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"Ah, good, you're here!" Her mother seems to emerge from nowhere - she tended to do that - and added "I was almost afraid you weren't going to make it with me today, considering how little we've seen of you this weekend, but I wanted to give you space and not pressure you. Even though I think a day at the beach would do you good. Get you out of the house a little bit. Remember how much you loved the beach when you were little?"
Her mother was organizing her own bag full of little trinkets and creams that seemed irrelevant and yet somehow made her look really prepared for anything at the same time. Clementine admired that about her. She didn't know if all mother were like this, but she was glad hers was.
The truth of it was that she knew that if she did't go and occupy her body and her mind, she would spend the day moping around and wondering why Zico didn't call.
She needed to heal her spirit a little bit.
Plus the fact that no one really knew - well, other than Ernesto - made it feel that much more heavy.
Hot, heavy and dangerous.
Finally, Clementine brought herself to say, smiling, "I'm looking forward to it."
Clementine knew her mother was glamorous. She has this elegant way of doing everything, and Clementine felt both love and jealousy towards it. Thinking, that she wasn't sure she was ever going to be that much woman as her mother was.
Maybe that's why my mother had such love affairs in her youth, Clementine thought to herself.
In truth, she never really talked about it, but Clementine had a a feeling that her mother has a few wild stories up her sleeves that Clementine cannot wait to one day hear.
"You need some friends," her mother said to her bluntly in the car on the way there.
They were taking a taxi since it was Ernesto and Laticia's weekend off.
"What?" Clementine was taken aback. "I have friends," Clementine said, "had." She added on more quietly.
"Remember how popular you used to be here? You had so many school friends and girl friends. What happened? And don't tell me that those people at college were friends. We both know what they were, ok..Bad influences." Clementine's mother added on, turning her head to look out the window.
Clementine exhaled, a little angry knowing full well that they were here friends. And maybe now at a point she was okay where she was. And she didn't need the added on stress and pressure of trying to go out and be social after the fall she's just taken.
Her mother had no idea how social Clementine was in New York, and look where that got her.
"Why can't I just be alone for a while?" Clementine turned to her mother, "you know, connect to my own self?"
In truth, there were times Clementine wished that she had someone to talk to. She felt as if her loneliness was at times a rock, dragging her down to the bottom of the sea and she wished so bad that someone would just come along and cut the rope tying her down.
Zico did that, didn't he? Except that every time he did, she would float up so high that every time he left, she'd sink deeper and deeper.
Since it was a Sunday, traffic was not that bad and they made it to the beach in no time.
Of course with her parents, it was never just the beach. It was the beach club.
Private portion of the same sand and water that everyone else was getting, but with waiters and service and less unwanted locals as the people there saw them.
Maybe it was safer, but at the same time it was suffocating her. She knew what people would say, poor little rich girl.
But as soon as they entered the area, she got a feeling so deep of missing the rawness of her experiences of Zico and his friends, that she had to get away.
"I'll be right back," Clementine told her mother.
"But we just got here!" She retorted in protest.
"I'm not going far, just for a little walk."
"Okay, just don't leave the club."
Clementine nodded and waved, except of course she did leave the club.
She wean't going to be stupid about it, but she yearned to take a walk with her own thoughts and try to gather them.
