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Brew City Magazine | |
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Guidelines About the Magazine Editor-in-Chief: Managing Editor: Associate Editor: |
Purple Mariposa Stephanie Nolasco
It was a cool Sunday evening, one of the warmest days in February. Despite the positive weather change of this bitter month, I was shivering like a dying leaf, ready to fall from a branch's grasp. While walking on the quiet streets of Amsterdam Avenue, I looked at each building number attentively, hoping to find number 209. Lizzy was expecting my visit and truthfully, I wanted to get this over with. 201, 203, 205, 207…209. My breath became short and my heart was beating like drums being played at Columbus Circle subway station. Sweat beads slowly dripped from my freshly shaven armpits, down to my fingertips. I turned the next page of the notebook I was holding, avoiding to smudge previous writings. There was no turning back, especially when the subway station was 8 blocks away on a hill. Besides, what would my cousin Lizzy think of me for not coming over as I previously stated? I rang the door bell twice on arrival, with long pauses. No response. Maybe she fell asleep, forgetting about my visit. Maybe she went off to the grocery store and this is my big chance to escape. Maybe she had her headphones on; you can never hear the doorbell with headphones on. The door buzzed noisily and my short breaths stop. I sighed and pushed the door forward. To make matters worse, she lives on the top floor, apartment 1209. That's twelve flights of stairs and me with bad asthma. Despite my urge to turn back home, I ran all twelve flights, reached the 12 th floor, used my asthma pump and knocked loudly on her russet-brown door. The door creaked open and Lizzy appeared. She embraced me in a tight bear-hug and invited me in. Lizzy no longer looked like the girl I once knew, with dried ice cream drool on her bottom lip and plump bubble-gum cheeks. Her cheekbones were pressed against her ivory skin, revealed no round circles of flesh. Her eyes, now a wide aquamarine hid away her once black coffee eyes and her slim figure was concealed by lavender sweatpants and an extra large white t-shirt, originally fitting her tightly. Lizzy smiled at me and seemed excited over my visit. "So Steph, you wanna have some Pepsi, diet coke or water?" She asked. "Nah, I'm good." I answered. "Have a seat then and I'll be with you in a minute." I sat in her creamy-beige leather sofa and looked around. Her living room consisted of nothing, but faded photos of Dominican Republic and old lovers. A small television stood at the center, but its screen was heavily powdered in dust. Damn, when was the last time she used that thing anyway? Before I could sneeze from the dust, Lizzy returned. Her curly honey brown hair was now tied back in a rigid bun. She sat in the opposite leather couched and smiled at me. "Well, tell me about this assignment, Steph." She said. "Um…so, yeah, my creative non-fiction class assigned a writing piece based on an actual crime event. I was debating over writing about the Black Dahlia case or the," "What's the Black Dahlia case?" She interrupted. "I'll explain later." I said, annoyed by her interruption. "So, anyway, I didn't know what actual crime to write about, until last week." "What happened last week?" She questioned. "Some lady name Maria Something was killed. It was all over the news. Her man killed her." "Oh." Lizzy quietly whispered. Her eyes, now filling with tears, became closed and she then took a deep breath. "So, you want me to tell you about Constance, right?" She mumbled. I began to stand up from my seat. I couldn't take this anymore. "You know what, thanks Lizzy, but I knew this was a bad idea from the start." I was about to run towards the door when Lizzy suddenly stood up. "STOP!" She shouted. "You want me to tell you this story, right?" "RIGHT, STEPH?" She continued shouting. "YES, GODDAMIT, BUT DON'T FUCKING SHOUT AT ME!" I yelled back. Both Lizzy and I began to breathe heavily. The last time we've shouted like this was when we were children and she accused me of eating her precious Hershey's candy bar. Lizzy sat back down to her seat and I followed. "I didn't mean to shout at you, Steph. I've….I've just never spoken about her in such a long time…But you know what, I want you to get that A plus and I want to read your piece once you're done. You better let me read it or I'll beat ya ass." She said, while laughing. I smiled, relieved that she seemed herself again. I opened my lilac notebook and took out my pen. "Whenever you're ready." I told her. Lizzy took another deep breath. "Well, it was a time when pizza was mad cheap and people were beginning to use 'yo' in their vocabulary." She said. "You were about 6...7...um…yeah, 7, and I remember I was 11 because I still was a fat cow." I smirked, but kept silent. Lizzy continued her story and my mind faded away in thought. It was a steamy, humid June 1st, barely weeks before summer's scorching heat hit Washington Heights. Two little girls sat in front of an aged Victorian apartment with an antique bronzed lion statue staring towards the hectic afternoon traffic. One girl, petite with waist length dark brown hair kept poking the other girl's rib, or more like her oversized waist. The other girl, round with fleshy pink cheeks and coke-bottled glasses, looked annoyed by the younger girl's poking. She pushed her glasses against her face and looked down at the giggling stick. "You wanna play again Stephy?" The chunky morsel questioned in exasperation. "Duh, dough girl." The little girl said, while continuing to laugh. "I'll play if you stop calling me that." Lizzy, the chubby girl answered. "Ay, ya, fine Lizzy." Steph, the skinny one, answered. Both girls then began to play together. Once both girls stopped, a playful tune, reflecting a musical box, was heard in the background. A loud, roaring noise was coming closer and Lizzy's smile widened, exposing metal braces. Without saying a word, she runs towards the truck and places her fat little fingers down her tight pockets. "Oh no! My money!" She shouted. To Lizzy's dismay, no money was found down her pockets. She spent her final dollar on a slice with extra cheese and pepperoni earlier, but failed to remember. Lizzy began to wail in agony, while Steph simply looked confused at the moaning fat kid. A young woman, possibly in her early 20s, walked towards the crying child. Without looking at her, she told the ice cream driver. "Can I get two chocolate ice cream cones with rainbow sprinkles, please?" Within seconds, the driver handed over the two cones. Lizzy wailed louder and Steph covered her ears. The young woman bend down and handed one of the ice cream cones to Lizzy. "Aw, mama, here you go. It's too hot for warm tears," the lady said. She took one pale pink polished nailed and placed it against Lizzy's cheek, while she hungrily devoured the sticky sweetness. The woman's finger stroked around the child's cheek, making each fallen tear drop disappears. The woman's hazel eyes stared deep within the coke bottle glasses. "What's your name?" She softly asked. Yet, her question failed to grab Lizzy's attention, who was too busy chomping down the final crisps of dry cone. The woman laughed. "Why did I even ask? You're eating, duh Connie!" She laughed and slapped her left hand against her sweaty forehead. She then began to lick her melting ice cream cone next with the very happy Lizzy. A voice immediately thundered in the background. "YO, CONNIE! GET THE FUCK BACK HERE!" The young woman, startled, dropped her ice cream cone towards the concrete floor and ran towards the voice. She didn't even notice her purple butterfly hair clip fall down to the concrete floor. Once the lady disappeared, Steph walked towards Lizzy, who was bending down to pick up the butterfly clip. "Who is she?" Steph asked. My pen was running out of ink. "Aw, damn, I need a new pen." Lizzy placed her hands down her soft pockets and reached for one. "Here," she said. "For some reason, I always carry extra." Lizzy then gazed towards the wooden floor. "Her name was Constance Raul. She fell in love too soon and was forced to marry Daniel, some punk-bitch always getting into trouble." Before I could question her motives for an early marriage, my cousin answered. "She got pregnant and her mom found out. You know how traditional Dominican mothers can be. Under the Catholic faith, you're not supposed to have sex before marriage, so if you get pregnant, you gotta get married before the baby's born. For some reason after the marriage occurred, she was rushed to the hospital and her large belly was gone. She returned home sad and all, with no baby in her arms. Whenever someone asked about it, she changed the subject and of course, no one would ask Danny. Besides, if he wasn't out getting high and shit, he was fucking the next Post Avenue hoe. You know if you're a chick in Post Avenue, you're a hoe, no questions asked." "Did Connie know about Danny's infidelity?" I questioned. "Nah, and if she did, I'm sure she tried to ignore it. I'm sure her family would disown her if she got a divorce. You know how strict that Catholic religion is." Lizzy finally looked straight at me. "Things were getting weird. I mean, Connie never really came out and when she did, she came out and played with the children outside. She loved buying people ice cream or 50 cent sodas, but Danny would always scream at her if he was left alone in the apartment." I started jotting down notes and my cousin continued talking. "So, yeah, like this one time…" "Oh come on, Stephy!" Lizzy began howling, while standing in front of the building. "We always play the stupid same game over and over again! Don't you know any new games?" The petite Rapunzel stood in silence. Her eyes filled with tears and her pink mouth spread open. A screeching cry rushed out and she began to yell louder and louder, "I'M GONNA TELL MY MOMMY!" The fat dough girl held her arms up in display, while saying, "Ok, ok already, geez, no need to get parents involved!" Steph became quiet. Before the two girls began playing, a soft whimpering was heard. Both girls looked at the young woman sitting on top of a red Chevy. The same woman, who previously bought Lizzy ice cream, was now hiding her face under her arms. Her weeping became louder and more apparent. Lizzy's fat little finger touched the baby-smooth skin and the woman leaped in surprised. Although relieved to see a child looked at her, she immediately looked away. To Lizzy's dismay, an oval sized maroon bruise oozing with clear puss laid above the woman's left hazel eye. "Aww, don't worry baby," the woman said quietly, while tears still staining her powdered face, "I just fell down the stairs, that's all. You shouldn't run down five flights of stairs in heels." Lizzy looked down at the woman's feet and saw blood stained flat sandals. Steph walked between the two females and looked at her cousin. "Come on already! Mommy is making meat patties for dinner and then we could watch 'The Little Mermaid' at night." Steph said excitedly. Before Lizzy could protest, the young woman spoke. "Go on, I wouldn't wanna miss such a cool slumber party." She stated. "Can you join us? Please, please, please?" Lizzy pleaded. The battered lady laughed, but before she could answer, that same thunderous voice pierced the brief happiness felt within the three girls. "CONNIE, GET THE FUCK OVER HERE!" All three girls looked at the direction where the voice was coming from. At the entrance of the building stood a young male, about 6 feet tall, revealing various tattoos of bottle green dragons underneath his white tank top. With light brown bed head and smudged coke-bottled glasses, the man glared at Connie. His fists were tightened against his Levis and his jaw clenched. Connie jumped from the Chevy and ran towards the man. He grabbed her slender wrist, but before she could yelp from pain, the couple disappeared. The two children stared at each other, but within seconds, ran upstairs for fresh meat patties. I continued jotting down notes when I realized my cousin stopped speaking. She took a small white bottle from the nearby coffee table and place two drops on each eye. "My contacts are getting dry," She explained. "Well, that evening, I remember my parents leaving for an adult birthday party and your mother volunteered to watch me for the weekend. I remember you were so excited because it was your first sleep-over with me. Truthfully, I was annoyed we would see 'The Little Mermaid' for the millionth time, but we both knew that was your favorite Disney film." She smiled wistfully. "Sounds great, but do you remember what happened to Connie?" I asked. Lizzy became quiet for a few moments and then answered, "I don't know. I knew that Danny was mad at her for being outside after getting beaten like that. Why she got beaten? I don't know. No one on the block asked. We just minded our own business, but everyone knew things in that apartment were bad. Although that day would be the last she ever saw that son of a bitch, she didn't get to have that simple life she deserved." Lizzy answered, tears swelling from her eyes. "We had just finished eating and we saw about half of 'The Little Mermaid.' You fell asleep at 8:15, even though your bed-time was 8:30. I was wide awake, I guess from all that damn Pepsi. I was bored and I tried waking you up, but you wouldn't even budge. I just decided to look outside the window and watch the stars on the sky. I've never seen that many stars in the sky, especially here in New York City, but that night had so many stars…" Lizzy pushed her glasses forward and brushed her pigtails behind her. She wanted to get a closer look of the twinkling lights that sparkled so high above. She secretly made a wish to every star for different things, like oven-fresh pizza, a yummy burger, or home-style fries. Before she could fantasize any longer, she heard a door slam. Her head turned, to see if her aunt caught her still awake or if Steph went to the kitchen for water. The door was still closed and Steph's mouth was opened with fresh drool rolling down her chin. Looking back at the window, she saw Connie; the young woman that once bought her ice cream. However, Connie no longer looked as beautiful as that day. Her lavender-silk pajamas were now stained with some scarlet liquid, splattered like a Jackson Pollock painting. Her lower lip was torn and exposing fresh muscle, throbbing erratically. Her arms and legs had whip marks, now transforming into dark green bruise. Her hair was in various directions and she couldn't stop crying. Her arm was holding against the side of her rib, which continued to stain her pajamas. "Danny, I'm so sorry, please forgive me." She pleaded, while coughing. Danny, appearing from the left side of the bedroom ran towards Connie and pushed her against the wall. At contact with the wall, blood splattered on Danny's tank top. He then smacked her and shouted towards her discolored cheek, "You're damn right you're sorry bitch!" Connie held her arms against her face in defense, but Danny grabbed each arm and threw her on their bed. "Please Danny stop, you'll wake up the neighbors." She pleaded. Her cries were ignored and Danny began unbuttoning his pants when he suddenly stopped. He then began to laugh. "Baby, when are you gonna understand that I really don't care? I'm tired of your fucking games." He then grabbed her cheeks and spit at her. She continued crying, choking from attempting to talk. Danny looked straight towards Lizzy's direction, but her stocky legs ran to Steph's bed. She started to shake her sleepy cousin. "Stephanie, Stephanie!" She whispered loudly. "Wake up, wake up, please, please, please wake up!" After being shaken so many times, Steph finally woke up, pushing her long hair against her face. "What do you want, stupid?" She snarled. "Something bad is going on, please wake up!" Lizzy pointed towards the couple's window where Danny was continuing to slap Connie, while blood flew in multiple directions. "Oh please Elizabeth! That's just the television, let me sleep already." Steph murmured the last few words and threw herself under the covers. This time, no matter how hard Lizzy tried shaking Stephanie, her cousin just wouldn't budge. Lizzy went back to the window. Connie wasn't getting slapped by Danny anymore. Danny held a switch blade against her throat. When she was able to break free of her lover's grasp, he then presses the blade into her wounded side. While she stared at him in dismay, he continued to press the blade harder and harder against her rib cage. She tried to push back, but Danny persisted in pressing his blade deeper and deeper into her. Connie's eyes widened open as fresh blood dripped from her torn flesh, making her fair-skinned feet burgundy. Danny breathed harder and harder as he pressed deeper into her. She yelped, "Oh my God" and her eyes rolled back. She held on tightly to Danny's clenched arm and closed her eyes. Her lip stopped throbbing and her hands relaxed. Danny slid the knife out of her gash and ran out the room. When he left, Connie opened one eye and then, slowly the other. She limped to the door and shrieked for help. "SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME! PLEASE, SOMEONE, ANYBODY, I DON'T WANT TO DIE! PLEASE, OH GOD, PLEASE!" Lizzy was tempted to pick up the phone and call the police, but knew she would get in trouble for using the phone so late. Besides, would the police honestly believe an 11-year-old-fat kid? Once the cries silenced, she assured herself someone helped Connie. She walked back to bed and slept next to Stephanie, already snoring. Lizzy closed her eyes and faded into slumber. The next morning, after a hearty breakfast of eggs and bacon, both girls walked outside of their building to play, as usual. Except this day was different. Police swarmed all over Academy Street, while elderly women gossiped. One woman, tumbling towards the floor, blubbered, "Ay dios mio, mi hija se murio! Oh my God, my daughter is dead!" Both girls were confused and being short enough, were able to push themselves toward the center of chaos. There was Connie, a lifeless corpse. Her skin, once a creamy ivory, was pale blue with deep green streaks around her arms and legs. Her lavender pajamas were now a dark ruby-red. Dried blood was caked against her tore bottom lip. Her eyes were opened and stared above the sky, as if she was pleading for God to take her away that very moment. Her right arm was still clutching her large gash, which revealed a whitish bone poking through the tore flesh. One nail was hanging from her left big toe and a centipede was crawling around her left pink ankle. Stephanie began to vomit eggs and bacon. I stopped writing and ran towards the bathroom. That wave of nausea hit my stomach like a pile of falling bricks. My cousin burst into tears, overwhelmed by emotion. After holding my stomach for five minutes, I ran to my cousin and held her tightly. "Listen, I'm gonna go home. This is just too much." I said. Lizzy wiped her tears and looked at me. "Trust me, I'm pretty much done. Just give me a few minutes ok?" She assured me. I went back to my seat and patiently waited for my cousin to speak. Breaking the silence, she began to speak. "For two weeks, the police couldn't find the killer. Everyone knew it was Danny, but no one dare spoke. They knew that whoever spilled the beans would end up like her. The police finally caught him hiding at a friend's apartment. He was put on trial and deported back to the Dominican Republic.. Of course, Connie's parents never forgave him. I couldn't forgive myself for a while. I've just wondered what would've happened if I did called the police that night. She might have still been alive." Lizzy continued to wipe her tears. I stood up again and continued to hold my cousin tightly. "Lizzy, it's not your fault, it was fate, ok?" I said. "Besides, she doesn't have to worry about Danny anymore…Hey, whatever did happened to Danny? Is he in some Dominican prison?" "I dunno," Lizzy answered. "Rumors about him getting stabbed in some local jail were roaming, but it's not like people cared anyway. He deserved it." Lizzy then looked at her watch and shocked, she said, "Oh shit, I gotta make dinner." She stood up and began running towards the kitchen. "You wanna stay over? I gonna make veggie burgers with soy shakes." Disgusted, I asked her, "What ever happened to gold ol' fashion rice, beans and chicken?" "Um, I don't eat meat anymore, not since that day." She softly responded. Hesitant, I replied, "Well, I would love to, but I gotta run…Thanks for everything and if I need anything, I'll call ya." I walked to the doorway and Lizzy handed me a white envelope. "Open this when you get home, ok?" She gave me a final bear hug, a kiss on the cheek and waved goodbye as I walked down the flights of stairs. The air outside grew colder and I ran down the hill towards the train station. Luckily, the 1 subway line was there, waiting for me to depart. As I sat on my seat, I noticed yesterday's newspaper with a front cover photo of Maria, a woman killed by her ex boyfriend. Looking away, I focused on the white envelope my cousin handed me and I just couldn't wait any longer. I ripped open the envelope and there it was: the purple butterfly hairclip with a single strand of brown hair.
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