Sofia es muy bonita (windydancer) wrote in marvel_prep, @ 2013-08-11 21:53:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | wind dancer |
Narrative: Whirlwinds. (Sofia)
Characters: Sofia Mantega
NPCs: Police Officers, a random student, supermarket Employees & Customers
Location: Supermarket, NYC, NY
Timeline: August 11, 2013, midday
Description: Sofia finally cracks under the pressure.
Rating: PG-13, mild violence and flying eggs
Yesterday was her birthday. Did Sofia's father remember? No. Derek had, but it was still frustrating to know that the man who was biologically her father couldn't seem to care or give any time or attention to her. On her birthday. The one day a year, other than Christmas, where it would make sense for her to get some sort of attention. Since her arrival to America a year prior, she'd been struggling with pretty much everything. Intensive English lessons that she'd worked so hard on to appease her father, and while she understood and could read English fairly well, she still struggled to form words and her accent, well, her accent was next to impossible to get right. She'd watched so much television and even tried watching My Fair Lady to see if she could pull out any tips from it. Derek suggested it as a joke, but she took him up on it.
The gift from Derek was a new dress that she was wearing. He said it was from her father but she knew that he was the one who got it for her. Derek was her first and only friend. The year-round school her father sent her too wasn't as welcoming as she had hoped. The kids there made fun of her accent and then there were the other countless things they didn't say to her face. The words she picked up in the air. Greaser. Wetback. Spic, Bans, Cans, Beaner, Bean Burrito and so on. Sometimes they said it knowing she heard them, but acted like they hadn't said anything. Those were the worst.
The grocery store her father owned and that she was in, was one of many. His face was hanging on the wall in a golden frame and smiling. She only saw him smile in photos. She'd never actually seen this smile for herself and wondered if it was photoshopped there.
Tucking her hair behind her ears, she turned and wandered further into the store. The shelves were well stocked, the teenage employees at the registers doing the bagging were joking around, and the other employees were chatting happily. She spotted a kid from her school there and quickly disappeared into an aisle, pretending to be looking at the first thing on the shelf she could find.
Taco shells.
Sofia frowned and the classmate turned and saw her, but Sofia pretended not to see them. These taco shells were made of corn. She'd never had a taco in her life. They weren't exactly Venezuelan cuisine. Some company called Jose Ole made them.
"Look at the border hopper," the voice carried in the air and Sofia froze. She inhaled sharply and then pressed her lips together tightly, breathing out through her nose.
"...we promise only the freshest produce with the lowest prices..." her father said over the intercom.
"Her dad apparently owns this supermarket chain," the student's voice said, "I think she's making it up though. If he's true, her mom was just some taco bender, I bet. She's lucky he even let her stay here. If it were my dad, he would have kicked her back to Mexico. I bet she probably used to pack those tacos before they came to the store."
The words stung and Sofia only wanted to cry. How could people talk like that? Why was she just standing there and listening?
The tears began rolling down her cheeks and her shoulders shook. Why was this happening? What had she done to deserve this? She'd lost her mother, gained a father who didn't care, nobody at school even wanted to sit next to her unless they were given no choice, and all she wanted to do was go back a few years when everything was happy. Sure, her family didn't have much in Caracas, but they had each other and she had friends and family.
A gust of wind blew a number of boxes off the shelves and onto the floor. Sofia didn't look at the boxes or the mess they made and ignored, for once, the voices of surprise around her. She was losing herself to her emotions and Sofia knew that it was dangerous to do that. But she'd had enough. She was tired of holding it in. Of spending countless hours trying to learn English, of working so hard to maintain good grades and doing whatever she could to please a father that didn't want her there. Not a single word of encouragement came from him, ever. Even when she got an A on a test, he said nothing, he wouldn't even look at her half the time.
Another gust of wind came and knocked more off the shelves but it didn't stop there. The air around Sofia began to churn, faster and faster into a whirlwind around her. Items were flying off the shelves not only in the aisle she was in but around and knocking into people. The patrons of the store were freaking out and the employees who were once talking and taking care of customers were now hiding, a few people were running out of the store. The shelves creaked loudly as the winds began to push hard against their foundation.
The milk in an aisle was being chucked hard from the shelves and hit a few people, eggs were flying in every direction beaming hard and likely to bruise anyone who couldn't dodge, and everyone now was taking cover as the wind storm engulfed the entire interior of the store. It lasted only a few minutes, a build up to winds possibly ranging at almost tornado speeds and then it was done. The wind stopped and all that was left was silence and the sound of children crying.
Sofia lay at the epicenter of the chaos, on the ground, curled into the fetal position. Tears streamed down her face as she cried, though it was more soft whimpers. She'd lost control, but she just couldn't hold it in anymore. Her father was going to be so angry. He might send her away but she was wondering if it was going to be all that bad if she was sent away. Her body trembled as she cried and she could hear the sirens as police officers arrived. The voices of the people nearby were a din in her ears and she was trying hard not to listen and to just block them out. But she couldn't.
"Mutant."
And she shut down. Sofia stopped crying and just laid there unmoving. She saw the feet of the police officers as they arrived and people trying to explain what happened.
A police officer approached warily, having garnered enough courage to come forward, and said, "You're under arrest..." though the rest of what he said was lost to Sofia. She heard the soft click of what sounded like handcuffs. She lay there limply and given that she was more or less allowing them to arrest her, the other officers joined in, one reading Sofia her rights, and the other slipping some sort of strange collar around her neck. The voices carried on the air were suddenly lowered to a muffle.
"Lo siento," she whispered as she was escorted out and could hear the angry cries of the grocery store customers and employees.