Page 49 of Hearts Etched in Glass
The strange feeling of being ‘watched’ is lurking with each and every movement I make. I have an idea that Mariana is not monitoring me because she believes I will steal from her, I believe she has other thoughts swimming inside her head. I continue searching the merchandise until I stumble upon the perfect design.
It is a silver band with three diamonds perfectly fitted. Pointing to it, I peer up at Mariana with a wide-toothed grin. “That one.”
She gives a pursed smile, and nods her head. Asking for the size of the ring, I give her Marcus’s size. Her eyes trail up and down my frame, still questioning. I’m half tempted to tell her to spit her thoughts out, for this is utterly annoying.
“I’d like to engrave the inside please, is that possible?” Her body freezes as her shoulders draw up to her ears.
Mariana Anderson is Grecian, and her husband is Scottish. They are both the parents of my dear Marcus and devoted Catholics. From what I’ve gathered in my time of knowing Marcus, they wouldnotapprove of his affection for both sexes. I would love to point out that in Ancient Greece homosexuality was not as tabooas it is in our culture today, but that may not go well considering theirgeneration.
“What would you like engraved?” she asks with heavy apprehension in her tone.
I soften my tone and try to tell her with such care in my words. Awaiting her reaction.
“T. E. B., B. H. A., and M. A. A.” As soon as the last letter escapes my lips she turns abruptly to glare at me with furrowed brows.
“Why are you doing this?” She hisses between her teeth.
“Because I want to?” I smile back at her.
“No why are you entertaining this farce. This delusion my son has. I’ve seen you grow since you were a babe. This is distasteful!” She spits the words in my face.
Oh, how I love the feeling. The feeling of anger washing over my body. The malicious intent thrusting through my veins begging to be let out. But this is my Marcus’s mother. I will not harm my mother in law.
I lean into the glass table, as she takes a step back and her shoulder brushes against the wall. I place one hand atop my other fist, widening my eyes and giving her thekindest of smiles. “You love who you love. I love your son. For we love because He loved us first, John 4:16.”
She throws the ring at my face, but I catch it mid-air. “This is abhorrent behavior!” She yells at the top of her lungs.
“I refuse! Get out. Get out with your sins, you devilish fiend. You probably ruined my son, he should have never been born!”
I politely raise a hand to silence her as my demeanor transforms into my true sinister form.
I can feel my gaze darken. My jaw clenches, as my smile melts away into a hard scowl.
“You failed.”
Her face turns into confusion. As she gets ready to speak again, I politely say, “Shut the fuck up Mariana.”
Then I place both hands on the counter top and stare her down.
“You failed your test. You are not invited to the wedding now. If you continue your abhorrent behavior, you will never see your grandchildren. Your grandchildren from your only son. Your only son is kind, generous, intelligent and one of the most incredible humans I have had the honor of knowing my whole life. If you everspeak ill of him or my family I will make you regret it. This shop is ours. We chose to always purchase from your shop, out of the love we have for Marcus, but maybe the Adders shall buy their jewels someplace else. I could smash each glass, steal all these jewels, but luckily I’m not a devilish fiend. I’m actually just a person. Even though your behavior has been rather unjust.”
I grab the money from the inside of my suit jacket and throw it onto the counter. It is more than enough for the ring, but I don’t want her victimizing herself.
As I leave the shop, I flip her the bird and hear her scoff behind me.
Carefully I place the ring in my buttoned pocket and stride towards my motorbike. Before I can hop onto it, I feel very large hands grab me and something heavy crashes into the back of my head.
Chapter 26: Bobby
Bad Company,Five Finger Death Punch
A scratchy, cloth, potato bag sits over my head, and I cannot see anything but a pitch-black abyss. The car sways as we go down a gravel road and from what I can calculate from the time we have been traveling; we cannot be too far from Lockham. I cannot believe these morons abducted me outside of the jewelry store, granted maybe I'm the moron for not having better situational awareness.
My point is a bloke isn’t safe anywhere nowadays.
I decide to utilize my time wisely and begin listing off random scriptures from the Bible, which leads topunch in my gut. The air in my lungs expels as I feel my diaphragm launch into my lungs.
When I regain the chance to speak, I state loudly to my captures, "Jesus, does not condone this behavior." Which leads to a painful eruption on the side of my face. Presumably a nice punch to the cheekbone.
