Charity didn’t even have time to brace herself. One second she was a quivering bundle deep in the folds of Alejandra’s worn hoodie, the next, the entire cocoon lifted clean off the table as effortlessly as if it weighed nothing at all.
And to Alejandra, it probably did.
Charity’s stomach lurched with the sudden upward motion. She clawed at the inner lining on reflex, trying to steady herself against the swaying cotton walls that now carried her through open air. The smell of Alejandra’s soap and faint musk filled her nostrils, reminding her how pitifully small she was in comparison to even this single garment, let alone the teenager who owned it.
A sting of rage flared behind her eyes. She wanted to protest. To bark orders the way she used to when someone in her household dared handle her clothes or her belongings without explicit permission. But when she opened her mouth, the sound that spilled out wasn’t sharp or commanding. It was soft, high, feeble, like a baby bird’s squeak lost in a thunderstorm.
The sound died in her own ears. That’s my voice now, she thought numbly, her lips parting in mute horror. She clenched her jaw tight to stop it from trembling.
Alejandra moved. Each step was a quake that pulsed up through Charity’s bones despite the layers of fabric cushioning her. It was agony to remember how long it had taken her to crawl the distance Alejandra now obliterated in lazy strides. Hours of exhausting struggle undone by a single pair of teenage legs. Charity’s pride shriveled inside her chest like a salted slug.
The familiar living area vanished behind them. Ahead, a doorway loomed, the bedroom Alejandra slept in each night while Charity had once drifted to sleep on linen sheets worth more than this whole apartment. The contrast twisted in her gut like poison.
She peeked from the edge of the hoodie, her tiny fingers gripping the hem for dear life. The room beyond was as unpretentious as the rest: a thin mattress on a dingy floor instead of a proper bedframe which rested next to a overturned clothes bin , blankets mismatched, the walls bare save for a single tacked-up calendar marking paydays and family birthdays back in Sonora.
My closet is bigger than this, she thought bitterly, though the thought brought no comfort.
Then Alejandra’s voice rolled down from the sky, thick accent wrapping around warm Spanish and blunt English all at once:
“Hey, si quieres, sleep here.”
She barely even looked at her as she said it, just lowered the bundled hoodie like a parcel being set aside. Charity felt her body sink into the thin bedding the moment Alejandra let go. The sudden stillness after the dizzying motion made her stomach pitch uncomfortably.
She wanted to snap, Don’t just drop me like that! but she bit her tongue. The room was already too big, the shadows too deep. Out there on the exposed sheet, she’d freeze within minutes, or worse, who knew what scuttled in at night in a place like this? Bugs, rats… a single spider would be a nightmare at her scale.
Inside the hoodie, the warm, human smell still lingered. For all her bitterness, Charity crawled deeper into its folds like an animal burrowing into a nest. Her fingertips brushed the soft inner seam where Alejandra’s neck would rest.
She closed her eyes, but her mind wouldn’t quiet. It spun with mocking thoughts: She thinks she owns me. She really thinks she can just… pick me up. Put me here. Tuck me away.
A tremor of defiance bubbled up, only to wilt just as fast. Of course Alejandra could do all those things. She already had. And what could Charity do about it? Scream? Run? She had nowhere to run to. She didn’t even know where here was, only that Kira was her last desperate option, and tomorrow she’d have to force Alejandra to reach her.
Alejandra doesn’t have the money for guardian licensing, she assured herself, clinging to the thought like a life raft. She’s bluffing. Just getting payback. That’s all this is.
A cold, traitorous whisper in her mind reminded her that bluff or not, she’d obeyed. She was curled in the same hoodie that had carried her like contraband through half the city. She had let Alejandra lift her, carry her, place her, because what other choice did she have?
Charity squeezed her eyes tighter, pushing her face into the hoodie’s collar until Alejandra’s scent drowned out her fear. She hated that it comforted her. She hated that a girl she’d never even dignified with eye contact now decided where she slept.
She hated most of all that she could do nothing but wait for tomorrow.
——
forgot to setup todays post. So this is posted from my phone. Will have to add image and fix any issues when I can from home.
1) “when she opened her mouth, the sound that spilled out wasn’t sharp or commanding. It was soft, high, feeble, like a baby bird’s squeak lost in a thunderstorm. The sound died in her own ears. That’s my voice now, she thought numbly, her lips parting in mute horror. She clenched her jaw tight to stop it from trembling.” Littles are known to have small voices.
2) “Hours of exhausting struggle undone by a single pair of teenage legs. Charity’s pride shrivelled inside her chest like a salted slug.” that would be demoralising.
3) “who knew what scuttled in at night in a place like this? Bugs, rats… a single spider would be a nightmare at her scale” fair point she probably doesn’t have those fance pest repellents.
4) “She thinks she owns me. She really thinks she can just… pick me up. Put me here. Tuck me away.” and she’s right
5) “Kira was her last desperate option, and tomorrow she’d have to force Alejandra to reach her.” good luck with that.
6) “Alejandra doesn’t have the money for guardian licensing, she assured herself, clinging to the thought like a life raft. She’s bluffing. Just getting payback. That’s all this is.” not for american guardianship at least.
7) “. She had let Alejandra lift her, carry her, place her, because what other choice did she have?” not really “letting” if she has no other option.
The apt is just a small example of the dangers facing her in Mexico. No protective lights, No little clear apt, lots of Bugs, mice, snakes and other small creatures that live in a warm climates. Charity’s only hope is to play to Al’s greed and tell her that Kira will give her a reword if she is able to get ahold of Charity and when she is taking to Kira on the phone will be able to arrange a cash for charity event.
Assuming she actually goes to Mexico.
I think what Al wants is about more than money, so saying “Kira will pay” (which she mightn’t) won’t be enough.
what do you think she wants, to humiliate her ex rich girl boss?- sounds like she is getting worse then Sara now.
I think she wants Charity to see how the other 99% live, and get some form of satisfaction from making her learn her new place.
Sara wants to straight-up and enslave Charity; it’d take a fair bit to be worse than Sara.
sorry for the late reply. Work has been busy lately keeping me swamped.
1) yes they are. A natural byproduct of their size.
2)yes, its like raking leaves or something only to have someone come through mess up all the piles undoing your work.
3) defiantely not. She doesn’t have that kind of money.
4) She is right but it would be hard to accept. As you would feel like a thing at times more then a being.
5) She should have went to Kira before all this.
6) Yeah she would need. a sponsor or something for american guardianship
7) This is clearly the charity spin. she is letting alejandra do things. the illusion of control.
You did a great job on making her look baked lol.
thanks