Athena walked happily back to her apartment, with a shopping bag in her hand. She clutched her bag tightly as a group of teenage boys ran past her. A loud scream came from the place where the boys had just exited and soon, a small crowd had formed. She walked closer and almost immediately shut her eyes when she got there.
Two naked young girls lay in a pool of blood, with several wounds on their bodies. Things like these were common but not this frequent.
" Poor children "
" Bless them "
" Alejandro was found dead too "
She suddenly recalled the man she killed the previous day and ofcourse she knew she did something wrong, she felt no guilt or remorse. Athena slowly turned around and walked away. Things were starting to get out of control but Athena only felt more and more excited. The buzzing of her phone brought her back to reality as she drew the phone from her pocket.
" Senhora I told you to stop calling me. I'm not going to see them "
" Athena.....for heavens sake, just meet with them once and get them off my neck. They're going be at the orphanage next week and I really hope you'll come too. I'm too old to still be dealing with all your bullshit and please cover up those ugly scars so you don't scare them away. I don't know why you did those terrible things to yourself "
" Scare them? If you or anyone else had listened to me, I wouldn't have gotten them "
" Stop playing the victim and dragging people into your rubbish. Also, you know what I mean....have you seen yourself? Joe is going to be there too....please don't embarrass him again "
" Joe? The sponsor and caretaker Joe? "
" Yes. You know another Joe? "
" I'll be there ". She said and hung up.
Only when she hung up, did she realise what she had said. She knew she was nowhere near ready to face him and had only spoken out of anger. Cold shivers ran down her spine as she thought about him. She moved closer to the wall and held her body against it before throwing up. Sweat broke out on her forehead and underarms as she relieved every horrible, disgusting thing he had done to her ever day and night at the orphanage.
She fell to the ground and clasped her hands together, trying to regulate her breathing. Her fingers felt cold and her heart was thumping loudly in her chest. She shut her eyes tightly and slowly began to recite the alphabets. After a while, she drew in a deep breath,got off the floor and walked home.
...............
The soft wind blew the curtains aside, making way for the bright morning sun. Athena groaned and stretched in bed before reluctantly opening her eyes. She moved the stray hairs away from her face and got out of bed. She quietly walked over to her door, pulled it open and peeked out. She didn't want to run into Pedro or any of his friends so she had a very quick bath and returned to her room.
She stared out of the window as she towel dried her hair and sighed at the heaviness of the atmosphere. It looked like everyone was just waiting for the news and accepting their fate. This part of Brazil has always been one of the most dangerous and corrupt towns and if the world really was ending, all hell would let loose. She pulled her new dress out of it's bag and stared longingly at it.
" Now that it's time, I can't seem to put you on "
She tossed the dress to the bed and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. She had promised herself to quit but now she didn't seem to care anymore. She took a long drag before releasing the smoke into the air. She pulled away the soft material that covered the small mirror on the wall and stared at her reflection in it. She took another long drag and crushed the cigarette butt on the table.
Athena traced her hand to the zipper of the small dress she was wearing and pulled it down. She took a deep breath and slowly slid the dress off her shoulders and let it fall to her feet. Her ribcage stood prominently under her round breasts with her pale skin covered in bruises. She traced her hand on the inside of her thighs where the burn scars were.
As a child, she had tried to make herself less attractive by burning her skin with candles and lighters just so that Joe would stop coming to her. She picked the dress from the bed and placed it over her body. A smile played on her lips as she twirled in her room.
" Let's have fun ". The small voice in her head whispered.