¹Royal Cries.

000.

ROYAL CRIES
━━ prologue

━━ FOR WHAT SHE was given in life, things could be going a lot worse for Elisa. Granted, she never felt like a normal kid and was never treated as such. There was always that fear, dyslexia, and ADHD that only singled her out in school, making her a target for her peers and teachers.

There were always odd things that would happen around Elisa. Once, when she went to the zoo with her mamá, it was like a whole group of people started whispering to her, telling her things, telling her to do things ( most of it being bad things, telling her to run away, to start a fight, to cause a scene right there in the zoo, just nothing good ). When Elisa asked her mother about it, Liliana couldn't hear a thing that Elisa was hearing.

Liliana may have heard nothing because she was hungover. She was a partier, to put it simply. She partied a lot, often neglecting Elisa, even being so drunk she forgot she ever had a kid at times.

Elisa had done without in a lot of situations, lack of love from her mother, no father at all. Liliana and Elisa didn't live any sort of grand lifestyle at all.

But Elisa had a mother, and that's what mattered, even if calling Liliana a mother was being generous. Nevertheless, that's what she always told herself. Many kids didn't have that, and they didn't have a dad like her either, and they could be taking care of their siblings all on their own. Their situations could be—and many were—way worse. Elisa had a roof over her head, had clothes to wear, and was fed ( although, sometimes that wasn't always the case ).

Safe to say, Elisa could be in a lot worse of a situation than she was already in, living in Durango, Colorado. That still doesn't diminish all the horrible shit she went through, though. Being your classmates ( and your extended families ) punching bag does not have any perks.

Still, it was always the same cycle with Liliana; she would party, bouncing from party to party, never once thinking about the kid she had at home. And then, Liliana would get in trouble with the law. Elisa had been taken away multiple times because her mother had put her in so much hazard. Elisa wouldn't get to live with her mother again for a few months every time. Although wherever Elisa was put in those months may have looked nicer, they were somehow worse than living with her drunk mother.

After getting in trouble with the law, Liliana would start to clean up her act, but she would relapse eventually. Liliana always did, and then the cycle continue. It was like that all of Elisa's life, it was all she ever knew. All she ever knew was the house reeking of booze, and even marijuana at times. And her classmates only made it worse. Their parents would talk about Liliana in front of their kids, not even bothering to hide their disdain for the woman. They would talk about how Liliana put up a front in the public eye that she was this great mother, but would then leave her kid alone at the house upon hours, sometimes even days.

They were right, of course, but that was still Elisa's family they were talking about: Liliana was all she had.

Granted, Liliana never came home drunk. Hungover? All the time, but never drunk. And she never brought strange men home either. She was an alcoholic, sure, but she never endangered her daughter like that. But, then again, being an alcoholic is dangerous all on its own, and having a kid on top of that is even worse.

Liliana didn't exactly want Elisa either, but her parents refused to let her get an abortion or to let her put Elisa up for adoption. ( Even though Elisa did end up in foster homes from time to time. ) But Liliana's parents refused to help raise Elisa, they said it was punishment for having a kid out of wedlock. They never once considered how it would also be a punishment for the kid, as well.