Divide

The Swindler

The sun blazed down on Hackney, London, like it almost had a personal feud to settle with the very earth the borough existed on. The harder you looked, the more it seemed that the death star, light-years away wanted nothing more than to vaporize the flat roofs of the drab houses cramped together along the street. Not a peep was heard on the outside, save for the disruptively obnoxious hollering that reached the twitching ears of one young woman, sitting by her window, gazing at the rowdy bunch of boys with such intensity that had the sun seen her eyes, it would have shied away too.

"Darling?"

Her ears nearly withdrew into themselves, and the furrow between her brows deepened. It did not look to belong on her otherwise crease-free face. She merely shifted her legs, pins and needles rushing through with a burst of force.

"Darling?" The voice was louder this time.

Still, she would not even look in the direction of the door, eyes almost obsessively fixated upon the giggling fools splashing water at each other. Even when the door creaked and footsteps approached, she did not turn to look. Not even when nimble, callous fingers tucked under her chin, and black eyes met her own, did she look. She only stared at the perfect mirror of her face in those eyes that stared through her, troubled and searching.

"Eddy, I have been calling you for ages." It was her mother. She looked rather pale and the bags underneath her eyes seemed only to get heavier.

'Eddy' contemplated speaking. Her mother did not ask her a question however, and so Eddy did not feel inclined to say anything in response. She set her gaze back on the boys outside.

"Someone caught your eye?" Her effort to diffuse the situation did not seem to work.

Her mother only sighed and straightened up, leaning back as she stood there, waiting for Eddy to say something – anything – in reply. Minutes had passed and Eddy continued to sit and watch in silence.

"Edna, come on dear, please talk to me," she tried again, placing her hands on Edna's face and forcing her to look once again. "You can't keep doing this. Please, tell me what's wrong."

If anything, the acid in her eyes seemed to bubble over at that. The tight line crossing her mouth released its unforgiving hold.

Then, very softly she spoke, "Mum, I want to go outside."

There was a stretch of silence before she mustered strength to reply to Edna.

"I wish I could let you, dear," she said, reaching to brush away the stray hairs in her daughter's face.

Edna leaned away from her mother's touch and promptly left the room, leaving her to stare after Edna. She turned to the window when she heard one of the neighbor's kid call out to her gleefully.

"Mrs. Kane!" He shouted.

Mrs. Kane poked her head out the window and, offered a weak smile and a wave, but it seemed the boy had already lost his attention as he ran down the street screaming, away from the threat of more water balloons.

Mrs. Kane surveyed the small room, heaving a tired sigh; it was her daughter's room. As if the house couldn't look anymore worse for wear, Edna's room remained a chaotic mess. There were clothes strewn across the floor and socks peeking out of half-closed drawers. Her desk was a mess of papers and toys and little knick-knacks she wasn't sure how to call. It looked much like the aftermath of a terrible storm. She had asked Edna to clean up, but the girl was simply too uncooperative, especially today.

She huffed as she approached the cluttered desk. She could not begin to grasp how that girl was able to live like such a savage. However Mrs. Kane's eyes softened at the sight of one cassette player lying on the desk, a gift Mr. Kane had brought her daughter. It was playing one of those new obnoxious songs Edna and her father both adored, though Mrs. Kane couldn't resist the tug straining her lips. She picked it up and pressed the stop button. She went to place it back down, but not on the exact spot Edna had had it placed.