Chapter 6- The friendship

The party was in full swing, and Sophie was treated as the princess, but her eyes would only get stuck on Azazel. She would irritate him to play with her, and stand next to her, sing and dance with her, but he did not give two fucks about Sophie, for his attention was solely on the girl who was showing her brother to her friends.

“Why are his cheeks so squishy?” Narcissa squished Cleon’s cheeks, and she was obsessed with Cleon. The little boy looked like a doll to her, “are his cheeks always this squishy?” Narcissa took little Cleon from Athena’s arms. Athena was worried that Narcissa might drop him. On the other hand, the little boy was thrilled with the attention he was getting. Cleon licked Narcissa’s cheeks, “Eww, slobber,” Narcissa handed little Cleon over to Athena, making everyone laugh.

Narcissa hugged Athena, “Don’t feel bad, Thena; I will always be your best friend. My brother is mean, Tristan and I good, Azazel recently learned to talk,” Narcissa blurted out in one go, kissing Cleon. Athena cared about nothing; she saw Azazel as nothing but a big nasty bully.

She had saved many of her friends from bullying before, but now she is a victim; the only difference is that she could fight back earlier, as she had her father’s support, but now she is an orphan, so keeping quiet was her best chance. Her tears flowed unknowingly. She now started to understand the police officer’s words.

“Don’t cry, Thena,” Narcissa wiped Athena’s tears. “I am here; so is Tris” Narcissa looked at Tristan standing far away. She didn’t know how to react but nodded.

Blanche was a little far, watching all of this happening, she did not like Narcissa getting close to Athena or her brother. She walked over to Olivia, “Hi, Olivia; you look so hot; I am sure Charles will have a great night,” she winked, kissing Olivia on her cheek.

Olivia blushed at her words, “Thanks, Blanche,” she took a sip of her drink.

“It is so sweet of you to take the little kids under your wing; I am sure the election board would appreciate that” Olivia knew how desperately Blanche wanted to become president of the children’s welfare, but she lost support as she had no credentials, she was like rest of the people who were competing, taking Athena in is like Blanche had a golden goose in her hands.

“Bold of me to take them in, Olivia. She is a trickster, the reason my sister is dead,” Blanche’s eyes spilled tears, and Olivia handed her a napkin.

“Iris was my everything; she took her away from me,” Blanche wiped her tears. “Iris had been sick since the day she was born, and at last, she succeeded in killing her” Blanche began to tear up again.

“Now she is friends with your daughter, Cissy; you better watch out; her touch is Midas’s touch; everything she touches is destruction,” Blanche planted doubt in Olivia’s mind.

“I know how lucky Narcissa is for you all; you don’t want to lose her, do you?” Blanche saw Olivia’s expression darken. Both stood there watching Narcissa and Athena interact. Blanche could see Olivia’s jaw clench. Olivia began to move in Athena’s direction as if a train was keyed.

She immediately walked over to Athena, yanking Narcissa and Tristan out of place, “Don’t you two talk to her ever,” Olivia yelled at Narcissa and Tristan.

“You,” she pushed Narcissa and Tristan behind her standing as a shield, protecting her like Athena carried some disease. “Don’t come close to my daughter or my sons. Stay away from them” Olivia grabbed Athena’s arm tight. Athena was too shocked to react, and Cleon started crying amidst the chaos. Athena gulped her saliva down as Olivia looked intimidating. “Murderer and a gold digger,” Olivia yelled in Athena’s face, digging her sharp nails into Athena’s arms and scratching the skin.

The little girl was stunned, she did not expect this sudden outburst, and she looked around in confusion. The other kids were laughing at her. Only Cissy and Tris were sad for Athena. The only thing she could do right now was to apologize.

“Okay, mam. I am sorry” she looked down at her feet, humiliated.

“Get away,” Olivia let her go with a jerk. She stumbled a little but composed, holding the table. She nodded. Tears blinded her eyes. She took Cleon, slowly walking into her room. She didn’t know why Olivia was so angry; if looks could kill, Athena would’ve been dead and rotting,

She took her brother upstairs and put him to sleep. The little guy fell asleep sucking on Athena’s thumb; she slowly replaced it with his pacifier. Blanche would give her a payment for the chores she performed in the house; she saved every little bit of it for Cleon. Her parents saved them money, but the court told them her money was in the bank’s custody until they figured out what had happened. The little girl has no clue about banks or courts; she isn’t even old enough to figure out any of it.

All she cared about was giving Cleon a good education and making him happy. Claudia walked into the room to check on the little kids, the woman had taken a liking to her since day one, and it wouldn’t go anywhere now.

“Miss. Claudia,” Athena called Claudia.

“Yes, child,” she picked Cleon up, changing his diaper.

“What is a gold finger?” Athena sat there eating her dinner Claudia had brought for her.

Claudia stopped doing what she was doing. She turned around to Athena and asked, “Gold finger?” Claudia couldn’t understand what it was.

“I don’t know, child, where did you hear that?” she resumed her work.

“Um! Mrs. Black called me that. She said I was a gold finger,” Athena innocently put a spoonful full of food. Claudia took a second to ponder what Athena had asked, and she understood what Olivia might have called.

“Fucked up bitch, is that something you call a child, high society bitches, shameless whores,” she muttered under her breath well enough to take her frustration but not loud enough for Athena to hear it.

“It is nothing, child. Don’t you think about anything anybody says in this house for a second,” she picked Cleon up, putting him next to Athena. “All you should worry about is getting out of here, okay?” she lovingly rubbed Athena’s head.

“Now, sleep” she took the plate away from her hands. She tucked Athena in, the little girl tried to sleep, but the rest was nowhere near her; she remembered her previous birthday party when her parents were alive. She loved everything they did for her, and this time, she was all alone, as an orphan, just like Azazel said she was.

“I miss you, mom and dad,” she would look up to the sky every night and picture them looking down at her smiling, “I don’t think I will ever stop loving you. I will see you someday; until then, please take care of each other, and I will take care of Toro”, she kissed her mother’s frame. She wrapped the blanket around herself the nights she felt lonely. She would pretend that the blanket was her mother hugging her to sleep.

Suddenly her room door opened, and Azazel walked inside. The girl bolted right up, sitting on the bed. Azazel did a one-over at the room and nodded in disapproval. He walked over to Athena and grabbed her hand. Athena hissed at the touch. He slid her sleeves up; he saw a bruise from earlier where Olivia held Athena, which somehow the little girl failed to notice. Though he was with Sophie, he saw his mother holding her tight, he did not like it a bit.

He kissed her bruise and pulled out a tube from his pocket, applying it to her hand gently, not hurting her further. He did not lift his head from her bruise. He felt like burning everything down, especially Sophie; if she hadn’t bugged him, Azazel would have saved her.

Athena sat there looking at him. The little girl understood nothing of Azazel; he felt like the wrong person from their little interaction, and today he called her an orphan. But was it all to his façade? He seemed nothing like the sweet boy he saw in Greece.

He looked into her eyes, and Athena blinked her tears away. “I am sorry,” Azazel said, “I am so sorry, doll face” he wiped the tear from her eyes. He looked at her one last time, leaving Athena in her room, stunning the little girl. He walked into the main hall only to be bugged by Sophie again.

“Why were you in Athena’s room?” Sophie demanded an answer from Azazel, but he did not answer, and Sophie wouldn’t let it go; Azazel shook Sophie’s arm off his, walking out in anger.

Sophie ran to her mother crying, “Mommy,” she called. “I don’t like zaze. He is rude”, she jumped into her mother’s arms.

“What happened, baby?” Blanched asked Sophie, not understanding why her daughter would be upset over a little thing.

“He is rude, mommy. I asked him why he was in Athena’s room, and he didn’t tell me” Sophie hugged her tight.

“He was in Athena’s room?” Blanche gritted.

“Yes, mommy. Zazie should only play with me, not with Thena,” Sophie was making a huge fuss. “Tell Zazie to stay away from Thena,. Tell him mommy,” Sophie began to cry.

“Shh, Sophie, do you like Azazel?" Blanche asked Sophie. The woman wasn’t sure, but she had to confirm; otherwise, the little girl wouldn’t be so upset about it. Sophie nodded yes with light in her eyes. “You only want him to play with you?” she asked again, and Sophie smiled, rubbing her teary eyes.

That day Blanche understood that Sophie loved Azazel, and she should strike a deal with the Blacks using this to her advantage.

And now, her main goal was to keep Azazel and Athena away, and she would do anything in her power to keep them apart.

Athena sat down on her bed, opening the books she got from Arthur; he was the only person that was a little civil to her in that house. He didn’t like her, but he didn’t taunt her either. He was just impassive to anything considering Athena; all he did was bring her books and chocolates in secret. Somehow, he took a liking to Athena; no matter how many times his mother would threaten him to stay away from Athena, he wouldn’t listen to her. She fell asleep reading; like that, another night passed in loneliness.

Morning rolled in, and Athena got ready for school; she was very nervous about leaving his brother alone and going. She had so many questions. How would miss Claudia handle him? She knew Claudia loved her brother as her son and would take good care of him. She got him ready and got herself ready. She walked into the kitchen early morning to help Claudia with the chores, but the woman wouldn’t let Athena touch a single thing.

“Focus on your education, Thena. I will take care of Cleon,” Claudia would tell Athena every time Athena tried to do something. She bid goodbye to her brother and Claudia; she wanted to ask if a bus would pick her up, but she decided against it as Blanche was not happy in the morning.

Athena ran out, but Claudia stopped her, “Child, here,” she gave Athena money to take the bus, “it is a little far; I don’t want you to get tired by the time you reach there” she kissed Athena’s cheek.

“Thank you, Miss. Claudia, but I can’t take this,” she tried protesting, but Claudia wouldn’t listen. The woman loved when Athena called her Miss. Claudia.

“No, child. You will be tired”, she kissed her again, “Good luck with your first day,” she smiled and ran inside.

A small smile crept on Athena’s lips. She was very grateful for Claudia. The woman protected her like a shield. Athena ran into the school building but stopped in her tracks, listening to Narcissa’s voice. “Thena,” Narcissa came running to her with her backpack handles sliding off her shoulders.

“Cissy?” Athena was shocked to find Narcissa there, isn’t she supposed to be in her school? Athena was sure that Narcissa belonged to a wealthy family, but how was she in public school?

“I asked mommy to change schools,” Narcissa laughed, pulling her handles up. “I heard from your aunty that you were going to this school, so I changed,” She happily hugged Athena; Athena couldn’t believe her ears.

“You did that for me?” Athena hugged Narcissa back.

“Yes,” she clapped her hands in excitement.

“Oh, she did,” she heard another voice; Narcissa and Athena turned around to find Tristan.

“Tristan, what are you doing here?” Athena asked, “I came to drop my sister off” Tristan smiled at Athena.

“Oh!” Athena beamed.

“Let’s go, Thena” Narcissa and Athena ran into their classroom. From that day, Athena and Narcissa became terrific friends. Narcissa loved Athena like her sister, and she kept her relationship with Athena secret from her mother since her mother did not like Athena and viewed her as a problem.

……………………………………..

“I don’t want to go, dad,” Azazel protested, but Olivia and Charles looked sad. “This is necessary; Son” Olivia rubbed her son’s teary eyes.

“But I love to stay here,” he tried convincing his father and mother, and he hugged Olivia.

“No, son. You cannot”, Charles emotionlessly cut him off.

“You are leaving; you need to harden up. You cannot stay here,” he passed an ultimatum leaving the place.

Having no choice, Azazel hopped in the car running off to an unknown destination.

“Was it necessary to be so hard on him, Charlie?” Olivia asked, entering her husband’s study.

“Do you want him to spend time here and get close to that girl?” Charles questioned, pulling Olivia to him.

“No, but” she proceeded to say something, but Charles cut her off.

“Whatever I am doing, I am doing it for his good. We have Tristan and Cissy here,” he kissed her cheek, letting her go.

Olivia nodded in acceptance, and she knew Athena would be a problem, so she sided with her husband.