Backstabbed - Camilo Madrigal X OC

Gifts

He continued to cry silently in my arms. I held him tight in my grasp, letting him know I would be there when he needed me.

Or at least,

For this week.

I turned my thoughts to plotting for the miracle, any sort of scheme that would be somewhat decent. Obviously, the first thing I needed to do was find out their schedules.

They have to have a list around here somewhere...

I dug deep into my memory, trying to remember catching a glimpse of it somewhere. I hadn't really been paying attention up until now, which wasn't useful, at all.

I lay there for a while, pondering about this dumb evil scheme. It's not like I wanted to do it, that was clear. But once again, I don't have any sort of choice.

Well, if I decided not to, mama would actually disown me, probably give me a hard beating right before. She lives up to her threats, I learnt that the hard way a long time ago.

Camilo eventually feel asleep, my shirt was soaked in his tears though. I snuck out from under him, leaving the room to go find Luisa.

I had a good idea of where her room was, even though I'd never actually needed to go in it before.

Wait.

Who am I kidding? Why would she be in her room at lunchtime?

I snatched my hand away from the doorknob, then left casita.

I wandered around town for a bit.

Luisa, Luisa...

Where could you possibly be?

It couldn't be that hard to find the largest person in encanto. Right?

As I strolled through the markets, I remembered I needed a present for Luisa. I began digging through my pockets to count the money Mirabel had lend me.

$35... good enough. (This is for AUS btw, it's still dollars but I think the value is a bit different in the US? Also not sure if it's still $ in Colombia 🥲)

I searched a couple different stalls, to be honest I had absolutely no idea what she liked. I barely knew Luisa, she just happened to be apart of the large family I was staying with.

"Ugh... what does she want..." I groaned. Present buying was never my specialty, after all, this was actually the first time I had to buy someone a present. We didn't celebrate birthdays back at home.

I turned around to see Dolores towering over me, I gasped from surprise.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to scare you. If you're looking for Luisa's gift just get her something feminine. Like a dress." She hastily whispered to me before hurrying off again. To do who knows what.

"Thanks Dolores," I said before turning my attention to a dress stall. A gorgeous blue dress caught my attention, it had white patterns decorated all around the hem, it was made of cotton as well. Personally, I thought it was stunning, rather feminine as well. Just what I was looking for.

I sighed walking over to check the price tag, knowing well enough that $35 wasn't going to cover.

Just as I thought, $55. It was actually cheaper than I'd originally thought, it was a well made dress. Nevertheless, I was $20 short.

"Hey, I see you're eyeing a particular peice of clothing?"

I turned my attention to see Isa standing next to me.

"It's wonderful, I'm sure Luisa will like it. Unless that's for you?" She asked.

"Eh, I'm short for money. I'll just have to get her something else." I said, shrugging it off. I looked around to see what else caught my attention.

"That's too bad Val. I could help? Villagers tend to pay me for my chores, no matter how much I refuse. I have plenty of spare money I don't use, after all, my family doesn't ask for the shiniest of presents. I guess that's our whole motto, not taking things for granted."

"Thanks but you said it yourself, the Madrigals don't ask for the best gifts in the world, I'm sure I'll find something."

"Pleaseee~?" She whined, I'd seen it from the day I met her just by looking at her. She was majorly stubborn.

"I couldn't do that, you've already welcomed me into your home. The least I could do is stopping digging the debt hole even deeper."

She laughed at my words, responding with, "oh no hun, you don't owe us anything. That's just what we do, we don't help people only to expect things for return. We do it because we're privileged enough that we can help others without needing help ourselves. Now, are you getting this dress or not? Because this stall has a wide variety of gorgeous choices."

"Ugh, fine. You're too nice, literally. But thank you for that." I smiled at her, the Madrigals were definitely special, and not just because of their gifts.

"No probs! You are one of the closest real friends I've ever had. I'm always happy to help." I cringed at the word 'real'. I thought of Isa as a best friend, but I wasn't really the Valerie she thought of me as.

No matter how much I wished I was.

After paying, she had to get back to her chores, while I had to get back to what I was originally doing. Now, where would one find Luisa?