OUTNUMBERED

OUTNUMBERED

A fiery house is seen abandoned in a space painted with marks of dead bodies. Screeches of finger nails can be seen on the wall, with traces of faint blood oozing around the place. 

What mattered to Alex the most was getting his pound of flesh from Katrina, no matter the place. All those days Alex had been restless, sleep felt like a chore to him, and he wished and prayed that the days would move faster, faster than the speed of light, so that Sunday could come around again for Uncle Mark to drive him in his faded blue jeep.It seems like the wind took his whispers of prayer to the universe. Sunday came by with Uncle Mark no where to be found.

A burst of laughter is heard from within him, his opposer was laughing at the disappointment his facial features held. Alex’s heart beating so fast like a jet plane screeching over his head ready to punch his reflection in the mirror. His mom Rebecca had called out to him to let him know about the change of plans while he was on the look out for loose edges to tidy up one last time in front of the mirror. Becca could see how her son’s countenance changed to the opposite direction and was wondering if it was what she said that made him rage like that. " O Lord" she muttered, what has come over him?. They had started going to church as a family after they had moved out from Atlantisca. Alex was a hard nut to convince about attending masses but here he was now making a fuss about not going to church. "Mtcheeew" she sighed, banged his door and left.

It felt like everything was wrong with this particular Sunday. Where could he be? Katrina scanned through the hallway with her bulgy eyes perfectly situated on her face, her hair blonde twinning with the color of her eyes. A 16-year-old was blessed with features bigger than her age, with perfect height and hips swaying all over the place as she danced her way up to the altar to give her offering. Still fighting to hide her disappointment, she put up a fake smile as she hurriedly went back to her seat beside her mother, Ann. The presiding priest had gone to another parish to celebrate mass and asked the visiting priest to take over. But Father Jedi was a man of few words. His preaching was spot on, but no matter how he tried to manage the time, the mass still ended by 8:30. Katrina’s mom, Ann, was to give the closing remark as instructed by the absent parish priest. That took another 15 mins. Mumurs were beginning to find a higher pitch in the background, but none of this mattered to Katrina. She hoped that her mother took more time, so they didn’t have to close the mass until members for the 8:50 am mass arrived at the church. Don’t do this, Alex, you promised. Thoughts were flying through her head. "Amen," the congregation chorused. Her worst nightmare was happening in broad daylight. "Mum," she called, "are we staying for the next mass?" "It depends on when I see Becca. You know, I told you we were organizing the CO conference this year. We planned to see briefly after the mass." Are you hungry? Ann inquired. You better not be because I asked you to eat. I don’t know why you refused, so if you are, endure it some more till we get home. "No, mummy," Katrina responded.

O Lord, let it be true; let this meeting be held so my plan can work. Katrina was well aware of her mother’s lack of time management skill, and she was also aware that her mother’s "brief" was 2 hours later. It was during one of those "briefs" that Katrina and Alex wandered off from the church in search of the perfect hideout for their sinful lust. They finally found a house that, though abandoned, felt safe from the watching eyes of their moms, especially hers. It was in this fiery looking house that they agreed to do it. This place, looking like a haunted mansion abandoned by its owner, meant nothing to them.

Their desire was far greater than fear.

Sister Ann, Mrs. Sanders called out, "that was a beautiful sermon today." "yes it was," Ann replied. Please help me give this to Father Kent when he gets back. I’m not sure I can stay for the next mass, otherwise I would have given it to him myself. Mrs. Sanders finished. (Taking the envelope), Ann nodded and excused herself.

Look who is here. "Uncle Mark is here, so cheer up now," Becca called out to Alex. I’m sorry I could have called. My car broke down. I will make it up next week. Oh, sorry, Alex is really mad at you. Maybe you should go talk to him upstairs, Becca suggested. Turning to head upstairs, there Alex was, standing preplexed in front of the staircase as if he was trying to recover from what he had just heard. Next time he yelled, "What about now? Why can’t we go? I hate you. Alex dashed upstairs and shut his door before Uncle Mark got to him. Panting heavily, he looked like he had just concluded a 100-meter men’s race. He was a chubby and stout man in his mid forties who had never been married because of a series of betrayals, so he concluded that marriage wasn’t for him. Two years ago in Mexico, he was left stranded at the altar by the woman he thought was the one. only to find out that it was all a sham to get close to him and steal his money. Everyone questioned why she would be with someone like Uncle Mark, who wasn’t even a Mexican, when there were other drop-dead gorgeous men she could pitch her tent with. She always defended him in public and asked everyone to mind their business and leave her alone with the love of her life. This always gets to Uncle Mark. It turned him on in ways words couldn’t explain. He did everything in his power to maintain her beauty and satisfy her in bed, which was one of the main things that caused sentiments to set in and made the relationship linger more than it should have. For all of her victims, the relationship only lasted for 6 months before she disappeared with their money. But with Uncle Mark, she wanted to stay one more day. That one more day led to several weeks, evolving into months and then years. Uncle Mark finally thought that the heavens had smiled on him for all the years of betrayal he had faced, but no, same old story. The same evil fate. He lost everything because Sia took it all. It was over, this time with marriage. "No more," he swore. The mockery he faced at the hands of Mexicans sent him packing his bags for Atlantica, his home town. He left in search of greener pastures, but came back more wretched than he was, after so many years.

To be continued...

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