Scar Red

23: A Sappy Supper

One day when we were little, I had asked Jared why he spoke to me and identified with me when many others didn't, not even his other friends.

He had told me this; "Well, people see what they wanna see and I choose to see something different. I saw a pure, innocent heart, one that was brave and powerful. And...that's you."

If only Louisa could see me differently, maybe she could finally accept me.

We were seated around the dining table, having dinner, and ever since she set her eyes on me again, well, let's just say that my presence seemed to soil her very mood.

She had accepted my greetings and even managed to feign a smile. Yeah, as long as I still looked the way I was, and hung out with her son, even a thousand years wouldn't change her attitude toward me.

I had refused to let her bad energy weigh me down that evening and currently, I was very close to abandoning table etiquettes and attacking my meal as I masticated on my rice.

"So how's Pete and your mother—what's her name again? Yes, Elizabeth. How are they?" Ezra asked merrily.

Ezra was JJ's father. He had come back some minutes ago when we were just about to have dinner and decided to tag along. He was glad to see me, in fact too glad. Unlike Louisa.

I swallowed my food and smiled right back at him. "They are all good." 

Apparently, Jared's father was quite acquainted with my parents even before Jared and I met. Ezra and my father used to go fishing and sometimes, we would tag along. By 'we' I meant me, Jared, Gabe, and Nicholas.

Nicholas and Gabe never got along and occasionally you could sight them exchanging brutal stares.

"What about the ol' patch? Anything's changed?"

I shook my head. "Not much has changed…though old Pa Jones passed away sometime last year."

He made a pitiful sound. "I remember old Pa. Always had a flair for senseless words, though he can't be blamed. All those overhyped stories about his youth that he'd remember every once in a while, denying ever saying anything the next moment. At least he will finally have some rest."

Old Pa Jones was essentially the local eccentric. He usually roamed the village, always ashen-looking. However, contrary to his appearance, he had quite a merry demeanour, being all too happy to offer strangely interesting confabulations to anyone who cared to listen.

He wasn't in his right mind and could as well be termed as batty. His family always had a hard time finding him whenever he somehow wandered off. But now that he is no more, they wouldn't have to worry about his shenanigans again.

Mr. McGregor chuckled in his incredibly deep voice. He always was an easygoing man; dark, huge, and bald. Jared took after him—character-wise but mirrored his mother in every other way.

He was a precise replica of her; from her lighter skin to those pouty lips and every other feature, just less dainty. Gabe was the only one who got most of his father's attributes then with a hint of his mother's tweaks.

I helped myself to more of the rice, instantly feeling her piercing gaze on me again, as I did. I bet she would poison my food with her eyes if she could. However, I was too preoccupied with my hunger to worry about her.

JJ sat beside me having supper, though very attentive. His stifled laughter reaching my ears was all the proof I needed.

A comfortable silence fell as we ate with the sound of Faustina slurping her milk dominating it.

"So, Carina, what brings you to the city? It's obvious you can't be here just to visit us." Mrs. McGregor suddenly piped up. It was only a matter of time before she made such a comment, wasn't it?