48

Mia bit her lower lip in guilty conscience “Mom I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hear-”
“Baby!” Her mother exclaimed in a hushed tone as she moved forward to her daughter tightly “Come on get up, we need to leave this place”
Mia’s confused eyes met her mother’s chocolate-colored eyes filled with tears.
“But Mom-” where are we going
“We don’t have the time!” her mom interrupted with fear clouding her eyes “Come on! Get up!”
Mia stumbled up on her two little feet as her and as soon as her feet hit the ground, her mother had already started dragging her downstairs.
Mia’s eyes filled with fear at her mother’s rushed state as she tried her best to keep up, all the while hugging the photo frame tightly to her chest.
Before they could reach the main door, a loud commotion broke out. Blasts erupted in the neighborhood as gunshots were fired.
“Oh my god. Oh my god” Mia’s mother repeated as they changed tracks and she peeked out from the window, her eyes widened “NO!”
Mia flinched at her mother’s sudden outburst as Aria looked down softly at her daughter, shoving her fears to the side.
“Baby” Aria, Mia’s mother called her as she bent down “Mom loves you, you know that right?”
Mia nodded innocently.
“You will do what I say right?” her mother pressed gently as loud knocking on the door echoed in the house.
Mia’s gaze snapped towards the main door, whereas Aria didn’t even flinch, she had already accepted her fate.
“Tell me, Mia” her mother insisted, drawing the little kid’s attention back to her.
“Ok,” Mia whispered as the knocking now turned into loud thudding.
Aria smiled and caressed her daughter’s cheeks while Mia leaned into the touch. She loved her mother’s touch, it was so gentle and delicate.
Her mother touched her cheeks just as gently as she played the keys, Mia could still remember her mother playing the piano every day for her before all this madness. Her mother had eventually given up on her passion in all the stress.
“Go hide,” her mother said as Mia’s confusion resurfaced.
“But mom-”
“GO baby” her mom interrupted while pointing towards the closed storage beside the television.
The sound of the front door opening made her mother snap as she pushed her daughter into the storage “Whatever happens, DO NOT come out. Mommy will be with you in a bit ok?”
Mia nodded fearfully as her mother quickly closed the storage, Mia could only peak out and see only a bit of the room.
“Aria Leighton right?”
Mia heard a man’s voice as multiple footsteps entered the living room. Mia could see 3 men standing in the middle of the room while her mother stood at the corner.
“What’s it to you?” her mother spoke up as one of the men with dark eyes and light stubble laughed humourlessly. He looked in his mid-20s.
Suddenly her mother’s hair was grabbed by the man as he tugged it harshly. Her mother screamed in pain as the other two guys laughed at the scene.
Mia gasped silently in shock as her hands itched to slam the door open.
“Bitch” the man fisting her mother’s hair snarled at her face “after ruining my house, you have the audacity to ask me what’s wrong?”
The man spit harshly at her face as her mother cried silently, struggling to get out of his hold.
“You think you can destroy the Paulo house and live peacefully huh?” he shouted as he slammed her down on the floor. A harsh kick was delivered to her mother’s face as blood splattered out on the carpeted floor.
By now, Mia was full-on sobbing while pressing her palm on top of her mouth meanwhile her other one clutched the photo frame tightly.
Mia was never the one to follow the rules. But she wondered why she couldn’t bring herself to open the storage door and try to rescue her mother.
I am a coward.
Her form shook as her mother’s cries echoed in the house. Everything was a blur from then on, the naive little Mia didn’t know what was going to happen when her mother’s clothes were ripped apart or when the men would grunt while cursing loudly as they got on top of the writhing woman.
Her mother kept crying the whole time.
Mia sat inside in shock, not a word left her mouth as she gaped at her mom laying motionless on the floor as tears kept escaping her eyes.
“Let’s finish her and go” one of the men suggested as the one with dark eyes, who looked more like their boss, nodded.
“The Hayes already got a sniff that we are here, they’d be here soon,” the boss said as he crushed her mom’s bloodied face under his leather shoes “If it wasn’t for this bitch hiding, it wouldn’t have taken us so long to find this place.”
A low gunshot was heard as Mia closed her eyes in terror.
The boss had shot the woman on her stomach, deliberately not her heart.
“Die slowly and painfully, little slut” he placed his gun back as her mother placed a hand on her bleeding gunshot wound and groaned in extreme pain.
“Stop fucking around Salvador” one of the men shouted as low sirens at a distance could be heard now “The Americans are here already if we get caught Silverio would find out and you know what will happen if he knew you ended this bitch behind his back right?”
“Yeah” the boss groaned as he looked down at the struggling woman “he wanted to torture her too. Oh well” he shrugged as the three men walked towards the entrance.
“Light this house up like the rest of the neighborhood”
That was the last thing Mia heard before warm flames engulfed the house and their cars speeded away. All the houses were already drowned in gasoline by the Spanish so it took almost no time to light up the house.
Mia opened the door quickly as she ran towards her dying mother, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Mom” she cried out, shaking her mother awake “Please wake up!”
Her mother’s eyes opened as the usual brightness of her dark brown eyes dulled, a soft smile surfaced on her face even though she was clearly suffering from excessive blood loss.
“Baby” her mother’s gentle voice called out, just then, the flame burned even brighter licking the wooden furniture greedily and multiplying in force “Run away”
“NO!” Mia argued trying to drag her mom out, but to no avail “Mom please at least try to get up”
Mia tried and tried to make her mom sit up and then help her stand up. But her small frame and her mother’s limp body didn’t help at all.
“Get away Mia, you. .” her mother coughed up blood while clutching Mia’s arm “. . you need to live”
“No mom” Mia cried while shaking her head in denial, the fire made one of the wooden planks collapse just beside them as the little girl gasped in fear.
“RUN AWAY” her mother shouted “and don’t tell anyone your real name”
Her mother pushed her with the little strength she had remaining “GO!”
Mia stood near the main door crying hysterically as the fire had ceased the whole house “Please” she heard the mother say as she met her brown eyes one last time before a huge wooden plank collapsed on her mother’s body.
Mia’s heart squeezed as she turned away and ran outside of the house.
A coward.
Her hands threaded into her hair as she cried out into the sky “a coward!”
Her body collapsed in front of her burned-down house as hid her face in between her raised knees.
Maybe minutes passed, or hours, Mia had no idea.
“There’s a kid here!”
She heard a voice over the police sirens and ambulance as a warm blanket was draped over her small shoulders before being picked up by a middle-aged woman in a dark blue uniform.
A police officer.
“Kid, what is your name?”
Mia heard over the blurring headache and the recent trauma of her mother dying.
Even a small kid knew that justice wouldn’t be given to her if she cried in front of the police in times like mafia wars. It was a useless thought to even consider.
“. . and don’t tell anyone your real name”
She remembered her mother’s words.
“Aria” the little girl whispered as her head spinned, the officer nodded before speaking over the intercom and walking towards the police car.
“You don’t know where your parents are right?” the officer spoke as Mia kept quiet and closed her eyes, leaning against the middle-aged woman’s shoulder as silent tears escaped the kid’s eyes.
The officer got a silent response as she settled her inside the car.
“Yes, most likely orphanage” she spoke over the intercom as Mia’s head spinned again.
Multiple voices layered over to her ears as she became unable to process anything.
She heard a familiar voice speaking to another officer at a distance before her consciousness took its toll.
“Yes. . . only a woman lived there. . Aria Leighton”
The neighbor reported to the police.
“What are you doing?”
A 12-year-old Aria looked up at a younger sunkissed boy looking down at her with a huge grin.
“I like throwing pebbles in the pond” she replied as she tore her gaze away and threw another pebble at the pond, a small splash sound resonated around the quiet surroundings.
Kahlil bent down and settled beside Aria, grabbing a pebble from the pile she had gathered.