The following day, Yuki and Jacek decided to take a day off of work. They believed they deserved that much for the trouble they had both faced the previous days.
"How about we go for a stroll through town. I was going to buy some meat from Mr. Carter today, we can all go together. What do you think?" Mrs. Adlerian suggested with excitement to the duo who were seated in the living room reading a newspaper together; boredom evident on their blank faces
"That is a lovely idea," Jacek sprang from the sofa with visible joy.
"I think it is a good idea too. Are we leaving immediately?" Yuki asked with subtle movements. She was not as excited as her mother and brother about going outside, nonetheless, compared to being left alone at home, she preferred being with them better.
"Yes. We should go before the sun reaches its height."
"Then I will go and dress up," Yuki stated and left to change out of her chemise.
…
"You took forever but come out looking like that?" Jacek grumbled when Yuki came out wearing her usual dull dress and for whatever reason an even browner skin.
"Jacek! Don't be rude to your sister," Mrs. Adlerian hissed at her son then turned to look at Yuki, "I think you put on too much cream on your face, dear. It looks darker than your hands."
"I will put on gloves, mother. Also, this is a new cream I made. It turned out darker than I expected; I will make another."
Mrs. Adlerian nodded in acknowledgement before saying, "Let's go."
"Ahh!"
"What is it, dear?" Mrs. Adlerian questioned worriedly after Yuki's exclamation.
"I forgot my flask at the shop again," Yuki lamented.
"But you drank three cups of tea this morning Yuki. Do you need more?" Mrs. Adlerian questioned with a worried expression.
"Five cups," Jacek corrected his mother nonchalantly.
"Five cups?!" Mrs. Adlerian exclaimed, her eyes wide with disbelief.
Jacek looked on to his mother's reaction blankly. She was surprised that Yuki had five cups of tea? Why, she knew nothing! He wondered how she would react if he told her that, at the shop where Yuki was literally surrounded by all kinds of tea, her daughter drank tea instead of water whenever she was thirsty.
Yuki eyed her brother in betrayal.
Jacek ignored his sister's cold gaze while staring hard into the straw bag they were going to use for their shopping; it was empty, but it was better than meeting Yuki's eyes in that moment.
"Yuki, five cups of tea is too much, it is only ten!" Mrs. Adlerian chided.
"Mmm. I will cut down on my intake," Yuki promised.
Jacek looked up from the bag and at the sweet countenance of his lying sister. He noticed her charming smile twitch when their eyes met, still, the innocence and sincerity of her smile, by some divine miracle remained. His sister was a wonderful actress!
…
When the Adlerians arrived at the butcher's, his shop was closed.
"His wife is unwell. He is with her at home, that wonderful man. He has fresh meat at home. Few people have gone to buy some from him there," the hag who sold pumpkins in front of the butcher's shop explained.
"What do you think, should we go there?" Mrs. Adlerian asked her children.
"I don't mind. Do you know where he lives though?" Jacek shrug.
"He lives close to your uncle Grey, I have seen him there once," Mrs. Adlerian said.
"In the shanty town," Jacek protruded his scorn which scored him a rebuking glare from his mother and the hag.
"Yuki, dear, what do you think? Should we go?" Mrs. Adlerian turned to the quiet girl.
"We should go. You said he is the best butcher around."
"That he is. His meat is always fresh as well?" Mrs. Adlerian smiled, completely ignoring Jacek's frown. "Off we go then."
As the trio walked further and further into Stolz, they surveyed the changes in environments as they ventured deeper into that part of town. The town's condition seemed to grow worse and worse every step the three took.
At last, when the mother and siblings arrived at the slums, their expressions ostensibly shifted.
The slum stretched out before the family as if showcasing its deplorable state. It was a seemingly endless expanse of crumbling shacks and makeshift dwellings. The air reeked of poverty and desperation, heavy with the stench of overflowing sewers and burning trash. The walls of the countless structures were leaning drunkenly, as if barely holding on.
Since neither Yuki nor her mother had been there in a while, their ideas of the place were vague. Jacek, however, had a clearer memory since he went through the place often to buy flowers from their grower, whose farm sat beyond that place.
Now looking at their shocked expressions, he smirked. So much for being good-natured. "Are you sure you will find your way around here, mother? Your face tells me you have no idea where we are to turn next."
"We will be fine. There is a pine tree around here somewhere, if I see it, I will know where he lives," Mrs. Adlerian spoke with certainty as her eyes surveyed the terrible state of the slums.
"And you are sure that pine tree is still rooted in that spot, mother? Lead the way then," Jacek mocked.
A century later, a young girl who knew the butcher offered to help the family who were lost.
Mrs. Adlerian had never been more thankful to her late husband for the house he married her into. After Yuki, the one thing that made Mrs. Adlerian hate her late husband less was their house.
He had built their home when he was young, rich and sane. Thus, their family resided in the sector of Stolz where the rich and well-off lived.
However, she could not appreciate him for long whenever that thought came to mind. The reason? Their family almost lost that house to his gambling habits two years ago.
Had Yuki, despite her tender age of sixteen not stepped in, that house would have been sold off to pay for that shameless man's debts. And maybe their family would have ended up in this unpleasant place as well.
Her friends would many at times question her love for her stepdaughter, and in all honesty, they were not wrong. But how was she to ever hate the child who time after time stood her ground and carried the burdens that even she, as an adult could not dream of carrying.
Though Yuki had said she got her money from selling drugs she had made under her godfather's supervision at the time, Mrs. Adlerian always knew there was more to that story which both Jacek and Yuki hid from her. But could she pry? From a child whose bright eyes occasionally lost life as if she had known all the pain of this world, could she pry when she knew she had no help to offer? She wanted to know as well, she wanted to know everything about her beautiful daughter, but did she have the heart to receive the truth?
She did not. She was too weak; she has always been. So, just like always, she was going to be the kind stepmother. The loving stepmother. The supporting stepmother. The oblivious stepmother.