Chapter 6 (Pt. 1) - Evelyn
How was she supposed to behave? How was she supposed to act? Those other people weren't the only ones who'd lost family. Her mother didn't even cross her mind, now. She'd lost her daddy in this whole ordeal.
The man who'd single-handedly raised her to be the greatest she could be. The man she appreciated more than the sun's embrace on a cold winter day. The man whom she loved more than her heart could bear to lose forever. The man who's laugh made her smile even when tears rolled down her cheeks. The man who knew how to comfort her, and protect her, no matter what life threw her way as a young girl who'd lost her mother's influence at far too young an age. The only person in the world who showed her what love was like. The one who'd shown her an endless array of skills, and joys in the world around her. The one who'd taught her how to see the peace in the middle of the storm, even when the winds of the hurricanes whipped at her cheeks, and threatened to tear her away from the ground. She cherished her father more than a starving dog with a steak. She had always been so grateful he was there in her life.
Her aunt seemed to roam the house every day, enamored by the wonderful house her brother-in-law had bought so long ago now. Evelyn knew it wouldn't last forever, anyway. "Nothing better to do than math, right?" She muttered to herself, and sat up. It was better to use her brain power and calculate stuff that nobody would listen to rather than lay down and die.
She took a piece of paper, and began crunching the numbers. Sure her father's paycheck was huge, and they had years to come waiting in the bank, but he knew better than to let it waste away on the mortgage and taxes when that kind of money would stop rolling in every year. He earned $326,000 a year, but taxes took away $9,114 of it. That meant that in a year, the take-home was $316,886.
The mortgage was $4,270 a month. That subtracted $15,240 from the total pay, leaving her and her aunt with $265,646 for the year if they stayed here. A single person could survive on their own, just barely scraping by, at around $30,000 a year. For two people, one being a growing teenager, that would more than double. Sure, they'd receive his social security check, being an additional $3,000 a month, but what was that in the grand scheme of things?
Crunching the numbers began to bore her, and hurt her brain. She was missing so many factors. Based on what she recalled, though? "Three years maximum. That's how long we could stay. If she doesn't go blowing it all trying to treat us." She circled it on her page, then stood, pencil dropped.
"I can't believe this. I won't believe it. He's got to be innocent. He has to be... Why would he ever kil-kill anybody? Especially Camilo?" Dripping smeared the fresh ink on her paper, so she had to wipe her eyes clean.
"Good morning, sleepyhead. Or should I say good afternoon?" A chipper woman with a face full of makeup and long, dangling earrings entered the room. She had on a very colorful bouffant dress, and a perm that probably cost over a hundred bucks. She had hickory-brown hair though they were unrelated. Hers was dyed. She may have been the most physically-colorful, buoyant woman Evelyn had ever met.
"Hey." The girl muttered, stepping toward the window as though averse to her aunt. Really, it was just the fogginess in her mind. The rotund woman walked over to Evelyn's desk, and just chuckled at the numbers. "Three years? Someone forgot to account for his savings. Even apart from your college funds, young lady, he had over a million dollars stacked up for retirement and a dozen rainy days." She snorted. She wasn't proud of this man whom her sister had married. She found him sick. But leeching off a rich man's money? That was something anyone could get behind. "Evelyn... math? You're making calculations right now? Goodness, girl. You need a boyfriend!" Her laugh was much more like the cackle of a witch in one of those old movies. Evelyn gave her a disbelieving stare. "One, dad would never allow me to get a boyfriend. Two, seriously, right now, while I'm grieving? Three, you already know the Trevor situation. I don't want to deal with any other creep any time soon." She huffed, aggravated.
Ever since that had happened, she always carried around her birthday present. In her pockets, the Flashknife, or so she deemed it, was ready to go at all times. What was once the most worthless, pointless gift she'd ever received, had very quickly turned into something she felt she couldn't live without. Sex offenders at school, disguised as innocent kids? Serial killers at home disguised as a loving family member? Who could she trust if not the innocent or the beloved?
"Oh come now, not all boys are like that. Wasn't there another boy you used to hang around? Yeah that Vincent boy! Where is he? Do they still live next door?" The woman asked, walking to her niece. "His name is Viktor. They live down the street. And he's my friend, not... ugh, you wouldn't get it." Evelyn muttered.
Her eyes were reddened now. Every time she blinked, she remembered Trevor's lustful face. Every time she tried to rest, her father's, but imagined it smothered in the blood of guiltless people. How could she picture either of them that way..? "Dearie, you need more makeup, too. You look a mess. Dreary. Tsk tsk tsk." Her aunt's warm, chubby hand lifted her chin. Evelyn gave her a disapproving glance, then jerked away from the touch.
"I'm fine." She muttered, teeth grinding in irritation. "Well now, that's just a lie. You just lost your father. Come on, I'll make you all pretty-like." Her aunt grabbed hold of her forearm, practically dragging the poor girl to the vanity. Evelyn only allowed it because the cloud that never left her mind didn't leave much room for autonomy these days.
"Aunt Pepper, I don't need makeup. I need my dad." Eyes accompanying every twitch of movement her aunt made. From the few things she remembered about her mother, she seemed much more mellow than her sister.
Evelyn had to watch in horror as her makeup was tossed aside. There went all of the natural-looking stuff. Some mascara, an old dusty circle of blush, her satin lip gloss, and two shades of eyeshadow that were fairly close to her skin tone.
In place of all that, her aunt laid out electric blues, hot pinks, wine reds, and royal purples. False eyelashes an inch long and as thick as a bundle of hair were even more frightening. Evelyn didn't want to look like a clown by the end of this! There were enough girls at school running around like that.
(Nothing wrong with girls who wear make-up. Forget what the modern culture says; if you want to be a dainty, beautiful, go-getter woman, embrace the femininity that God has granted to you! It can be fun to do 'guy' things, AND fun to be girlie-girl at the SAME TIME!! [Mind BLOWN!] Have a blessed day, troops!)
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top