pretty baby // h.s

01 | to the city.

a.

it was the spring of 1932 and i was going on sixteen. I was making the long and tedious journey from my mother's house in the country to my father's home at the edge of the city.

I would've had joey, my dear brother, come along with me but collins, my other older brother, had him do field work for our neighbours. so it was just me, as usual, going to visit my papa.

it was a five mile walk, and I just finished the hard part—walking along the dirt road for two long and dreadful miles. the sun was hot and intense yet there was not a cloud in the sky. there were few trees that grew along the road, so I was out in the heat for most of my trip. my white dress was relatively thin, so it wasn't hot as it would be if I were wearing my school clothes or church clothes. I also had my hat on so the sun wouldn't be in my eyes.

my favourite part of the walk was coming up, a small bridge that went over an equally small stream. it was a strong sturdy bridge, carriages and cars alike go over it everyday.

I loved watching the water quickly rush over the rocks, it always had a soothing affect on me. many times when I was child, joey and I would come down here to splash about, and collins would come along too. we'd all have a picnic under the cool shade of the trees that grew nearby. collins was good back then.

but that was before he started taking the drugs. everything went bad after that.

momma, papa and collins would fight constantly—collins would be high on drugs, papa drunk on alcohol, and momma.. well, she would always take collins side, whether he was right or wrong. that's why my papa left when i was only twelve. I think it's something to do with money. whenever I asked I always got hushed. little girls were to be seen and not heard.

when I think about my family, sometimes I think momma loves collins more than joey and me.

in her eyes, he could do no wrong. even when he did do wrong, my momma never scolded him like how she would scold us. if collins got mad or we misbehaved, he'd yell and hit us. collins was the man of the house; the boss.

then there was joey, my lovely joey. he may be my big brother but he's my other half. we're very close as he's only a year older than i. he doesn't talk, he's mute, but we have a special way of communicating. I always know how he's feeling. sometimes I wonder if thats one reason momma likes collins better than him. but he does have momma's gift of piano playing.

but I like joey better than collins, or momma and papa. he's not mean like they are. and he doesn't drink like papa. I wish that I loved momma the most, cause she's my momma, but I can't help but feel hurt when I think about her special love for collins. maybe it's cause he's her first born? I'm not sure, thinking about all this makes me sad.

I was still on the bridge, thinking about all this when I should've been walking. I picked up my pace and continued walking on.

-

the further i walked, the less of the countryside showed and more signs of the city showed. carriages were less frequent and more cars became visible. the dirt road beneath my feet became hard concrete of the sidewalks. horse-drawn carriages were still somewhat in used in the countryside, though rarely. I usually see one a day, or every other day.

soon enough I was at the edge of the city.

my father lived near the slums, but not actually in them. he was a hard worker, an alcoholic, but a hard worker. he was little more better off than the people living there so he could afford a nice little flat near the factories he worked at.

before I turned fourteen, momma use to come and visit him on the weekends to make sure he had food and his clothes washed. even though they live far away from each other, and don't see one another often, they still love each other.

now I come and do it as my mother is becoming older and can't make the journey to the city. I don't mind. I miss seeing him sometimes. sometimes joey comes, but as usual, collins makes him do odd jobs around the house, or work for a neighbour so he can take his money to use for drugs. joey doesn't do anything cause he's scared, just like me. but he does keep a little of what he's earned. and when he has enough, joey takes me to the city for a milkshake.

i smile at the last time we went.

as I continue to walk, i see that a food vendor had spilled his diffrent types of foods and fruit all over the road, holding up the cars. it was a one-way street, so the cars would be stuck for a while.

I felt sorry, for him, as that was a lot of money wasted, but I continued my walk. I was nearly there, and very tired. I had some clothes and few other things in a small luggage I was carrying. I didn't put too much in there cause I knew it be heavy and slow me down.

a gorgeous black car was waiting along with the many others. it was different though, as the windows also had small pull-down styled curtain shades with it! i've never seen such a thing in a car. the shades were sort of transparent yet obscure. I could only see the outline of a man in the car, his face hidden. I thought the car was nice and wished I could be in one like that.

after what was in fact a quick glance at the vehicle, I continued my walk as the crowded sidewalk got busier and busier, the image of the black car soon leaving my mind.

as if I never saw it.

-

hey I hope you liked it xx

i'm from canada, so i don't know much about 1930s in america lol. this may seem very similar to the movie 'the lover' (1992) but i promise you i've added my own twists to it, though it was very much indeed inspired by it! ((warning if you watch it, it's quite explicit!!))

its a nice short little chapter. they're gonna be around this long but they may get longer as time goes by!

please vote and comment! see you in the next update xx