章 1: Prologue
If not for the streaks of moonlight reflecting in the courtyard, five-year-old Andrea Graham won't have taken note of the blurry figure weeping under the fig tree- her favorite spot.
The little girl had bouncy baby coils that ran the length of her back, a fake tiara on her head, and a few locks of her black midnight hair fell onto the sides of her face to cover half of it.
She had an average size round face with sharp figures, and a contrasting pair of evergreen eyes, but the double chin and swollen cheeks gave her baby face a very chubby appearance.
Even though she was still small to know anything about body dysmorphia, her dad and neighbor's children had made it clear to her that she wasn't as beautiful as the other little girls because she was chubby- almost weighting like a fully priced pig.
She didn't care. Her mother told her countless time that she was beautiful and will fall in love someday with a man who would love and cherish her for the rest of their lives. Like every little girl, Andrea aspired to grow up like her mother and become even more beautiful than the other girls.
At a very tender age, she had a thing for helping people who were stressed out or disheartened. She was a ball of joy and her mum would always reward her generosity with candies.
So wherever Andrea went, she went along with a handful of candy to brighten up other children's moods even though most of them hated her and won't even play with her no matter the circumstances.
Her little steps squeaked on the pavement while she dug her hands to remove a sweet from the pockets of her worn-out jeans. Even when she tripped on a stone and fell hands flat with her belly onto the floor, Andrea got up, cleaned the dirt with her hands, and quickened her steps to the fig tree where a boy was sobbing.
She extended her arm with the sweet towards him, and flattened her free hand to her thighs, resisting the urge of patting his back. "Take this candy and stop crying." She hated when people cried. She always watched her mother cry and she'd grown to hate it. She didn't want anyone to cry- especially her mother. "If you don't accept the candy, I'm going to go with it, okay?"
It's like her words brought the crying boy to his senses and he bobbed his head once, then took the candy. "Why are you giving me your candy?" He asked with heavy eyes, and a childish voice, and moved his wrist to wipe the tears on his cheeks. "I don't need it."
"You need it." She threw her hands in the air and sat next to him. He shifted to make space for her and grinned back at Andrea. She didn't know what went upon her to take his long hands in hers and rub them together. "When mum is crying, I give her candy and she immediately stops crying. Everyone likes Candy."
"Not me, I don't like candy." He said, taking his hands out of Andreas' grip and frowning. There was a funny line on his raised brows that Andrea wanted to poke with her fingers. "I'm not allowed to eat candy. My father doesn't like when I eat candy."
"And what about your mum?" Andrea adjusted her crinkled blouse and met his gaze with sincerity. "Doesn't she let you eat candy? My mum says candy isn't good for the health but we need it once in a while to be happy."
His voice cracked and he turned his back at her, looking out of the fence with whatever emotion it was in his eyes. "I don't have a mum." He averted his gaze to the floor and picked up a pebble. "I had a mother but she left. She has gone away."
"Is that why you are crying?" Andrea asked with a high-pitched voice. "She hasn't left you. Maybe she just traveled to do something and she will be back. My father travels all the time and comes back. Your mother can't go away and allow you."
He tossed the stone at the fence and it smashed the iron railings with a force that echoed in the courtyard. "Daddy said she won't come back and that he will bring another woman to take care of me, but I want my mum. Not someone else."
Little Andrea couldn't comprehend how a mother will leave her son and go away whereas all mothers loved their children. "Can I hug you?" She asked the boy and he nodded in approval.
So, she got closer to him and threw her hands over his neck, taking him into her bosom. "Let's be friends. We could share my mum if you wish. She prepares the best food."
She didn't even know his name, nor his age, but he had accepted to be her friend and from that night onwards they had become best friends despite the four years age difference between them.
He would challenge her bullies at school and scare them away with his good fighting skills which his father made him learn when his mother was gone so that he could defend himself.
Andrea was fun of him. She loved when he was around and the smile on his cheeks will always warm her heart.
She didn't imagine that one day the boy she met under the fig tree will have to leave her and travel to a foreign land.
Even though her father wasn't happy to have the boy around her, she didn't care. He warned her several times but she won't listen. And it came a day when she was ten years old and very stubborn to listen to her father.
She ran out of the house to say goodbye to this boy before he went away for studies, her dad running after her through the back door.
She crossed the road and was sprinting towards a black jeep when tires screeched and a shout made her halt and turn to the incident which made her feel guilty for her whole life.
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Author's Note: Yes! If you are reading this then you must have read the prologue. Thanks for giving Andrea your attention. Please support Andrea's story with Ernesto by voting, commenting, and sharing the story with your friends and family.