R-15
WARNING: contains misogynistic statements, so be careful when reading to not activate triggers.
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In a rather shabby three-room house, with peeling wooden walls and somewhat scruffy roofs, whose old thatch had a musty smell, it was not unusual for that place in the slums, but it was a place that housed a friendly family of 4.
"Allan, are you coming back from the market yet?" an old lady's voice rang out in the busy street, everyone there had simple, clean clothes, and the elderly were sweeping the sidewalks of their houses, with their grandchildren running here and there with the flea-ridden street dogs, scaring mice and cats with their animation.
"Grandma Beth, how are you?" the 25-year-old was holding a paper bag with a few assorted items. The good-natured young man's hair was slightly long touching his shoulders of a particular color of blue, his skin was dark like dark and shiny mahogany.
The young man's wide and full lips were curved in a sincere and polite smile, he at his height of 1.95 m was imposing and strong, but with that kind of friendly expression, he was not so afraid despite the scar that destroyed the beauty of that masculine face and desirable.
From the strong chin to just above the eyebrows, a half-moon cut, deep that seemed to have dug that part of the flesh out, one could only imagine the pain that the young man had to go through at that moment.
"You know, as usual, my sons are at sea, my daughters-in-law have gone to sell their embroidery in those fancy shops, and my husband is in a bad mood trying to teach my eldest grandson carpentry."
People from the slum areas worked as fishermen or sold porter services at the ports for daily payments, some of the luckier ones had a profession like carpenters, blacksmiths, and painters (houses/furniture) among others, which provides a little more income, but within the increasingly industrialized country, these professionals have been earning less and less money. This led many young people to work for these industries, which also didn't pay much, but it wasn't necessary to have experience or a profession.
For women to work was not abnormal, but there were jobs that socially were frowned upon for women, such as working in some furniture and steel industries, but there were no laws that prohibited the work of women in the Rosary Empire, unfortunately, it was the case for children also, from the age of 10, children were already called to work in industries, mainly in hardware and machinery, putting loose screws and loose nuts, at high risk of life with low wages, but it was vital money in the family dynamics of the poor slum dwellers.
Grandma Beth was a talkative and a bit of a nosy woman, she couldn't help looking at the paper bag with the items inside, she was curious where this man got the money to buy so many things, wasn't his family poor?
The old lady looked around at the houses that were better kept than this young man's house, poverty seemed to scream from every crease of his clothes, every patch, and by the discoloration of the fabric, changing from a yellow hue to something similar to those stains of mud.
Allan or rather Allancaster was already used to Mrs. Beth's searching eyes, but he just pushed the paper bag away and smiled politely at her, he finished his greeting for the day and tried to go home.
"And is your mother already better? I heard that Doctor Dagoberto came last night. The poor thing hasn't gotten worse, oh… I hope not" Mrs. Beth said, sounding sorry that her neighbor was a little ill.
However, her unsympathetic gazes couldn't escape Allancaster's gaze, there was only the cruel curiosity to gossip, wondering if something more sordid had happened at this boy's house, who seemed slightly vulgar and suspicious on account of his skin color... Descendants of those barbarian peoples beyond the desert, maybe he was selling his own sister or mother.
It doesn't differ from prostitutes, after all, everyone knew of the reputation of barbarian women as excellent dancers and seductresses.
Doctor Dagoberto might not have come because of their mother, but to "court" his younger sister who had just turned 20, who in the opinion of many had already passed the time to get married.
Even with that undignified work... Whoever saw themselves working as a cleaning lady in a brothel!
May God Hashan free this street from a person as low as that pretentious girl!
She thought the good lady, almost letting the venom drip in the warm smile she wore when greeting the neighbors.