A Twist In Assassination

WRITER'S POV

CRASH!

A loud sound echoed around the house, waking a tired Araceli. She jumped out of bed in alert with wide eyes, searching blindly for the old vase by her bed. As soon as her hands grabbed a hold of it, she tiptoed carefully out of her room to the living room where she was sure the noise came from.

Her heart was beating fast with every step she took. She said a little prayer in her head like her mother always taught her whenever she became scared at night, when the rain fell.

Her hands touched the switch to the living room and she took slow breaths, before switching it on and jumping out of where she'd been hiding with the vase lifted high in the air, ready to rain down carnage

"Urghhh" the intruder groaned, grabbing his head at the unexpected light that temporarily blinded his eyes and caused his growing headache to worsen

With a gasp, Araceli carefully dropped the vase on a table and ran over to the intruder

"What the fuck, Ara!" The intruder hissed

Araceli apologized, trying to help him up "I'm sorry Mateo. I didn't know it was you"

Mateo allowed her to carry most of his weight and led him to the only single three seater couch in the living room.

"Where have you been? Out drinking again?" Araceli fired in annoyance. The care still evident in her eyes but anger was more prominent

Mateo only grunted in reply, angering Araceli the more

"What is your problem! Look around you, idiota. You really think we can afford you falling ill over liver disease? You'd die Mateo, you hear me? You.would. die" She said the three last words by repeatedly hitting his head with each word (idiot)

She ran her hands through her hair in frustration. She instantly felt bad for saying that to him but it was the plain truth. They had no money to take care of any hospital bill. Hell, they barely ate twice a day

Araceli Beckham is a twenty two years old mixed-race orphan, striving to make ends meet. Her mother was from Mexico and her father from the United Kingdom. How both of them met and fell in love is a story Araceli couldn't for the life of her remember. Araceli is a positive bright girl that believed in having bad stories to create a successful one. She believed whatever struggle she was going through now would stop one day and she'd look back at all of it and laugh while motivating others to never give up.

She was a final year student in a college not too far from the little apartment she managed to get for small money. She was proud of having worked her butt off to get that far in the school. Although she was having a bit of an issue paying for her last year, the school had given her extra time because she is one of the brightest in the school. She brought back too many awards and fame for the school through competitions they encountered with other big schools.

Her school wasn't known as it was a small college that started two years back. Not the first choice of Araceli but she had to consider her non-existent riches.

Her parents died when she was seventeen and her brother, Mateo was nineteen. It was tough for them but not so tough as they were never a rich family. The struggle and hustling had always been there but the workload just became a lot for her, especially since Mateo decided to take the wrong path in life since their death and became a pain in the ass for her.

It was the same cycle every night. He'd come back drunk out of his mind and stumble to the single room they had, to wake her up for some food. He made little noises that made her aware he was back but none had ever been this disruptive and noisy. Maybe she should have guessed it was him but her brain wasn't ready to think of that at the moment. All she could think of, was to protect herself

Araceli loved her brother a lot but everyday she felt their relationship straining. He wasn't ready to take life seriously and help her out. The little she made, he'd steal it and venture out for his useless drinking lifestyle. On more than one occasion, she'd sat him down to beg and cry to him how difficult he's making their life. He'd act like he was listening and when the night came, he'd repeat the same thing.

 She grew tired of trying to talk to him and finally decided to let him be. She now put her money in the bank, only leaving enough food for him, sometimes at the detriment of her own stomach.

"I'm sorry" Mateo hiccuped, making Araceli roll her eyes. It was the same damn thing every other day. He'd apologize like he meant it and still go back to his old ways the next day

"No, Mateo. I'm the one who's sorry for still hoping you'd change" Araceli shook her head in disappointment and walked back to her room.

"No, Ara. I'm really sorry" Mateo weakly whispered

Araceli froze in her step, raising a brow at the glaring regret in his tone but decided to ignore it. She couldn't be fooled by him.

Just before closing the room's door, she yelled out "Your food is in the pot"

She waited for a reply and after hearing nothing from him, she sighed and closed the door, knowing he's probably fallen asleep

They always shared the room with mateo sleeping on the blanket and Araceli taking the little bed, but since Mateo became uncontrollable with every day that went by, Araceli made the decision he slept on the couch in the living room in order to avoid staying with his drunken and dirty state every night.

"I've got tests tomorrow. I need to sleep" she muttered to herself and climbed onto her bed. Immediately her head hit the pillows, she was out

_________

"Again?" Leila groaned tiredly

"It's how you keep having hope for him everyday" Araceli snorted, making Leila roll her eyes

"It's how you don't" she retorted