A DEBT TO PAY

ANDREA

It wasn’t until my mother called me that morning that I knew my dreams would never materialize.

It was on this day that my entire life took a turn for the worse.

You might be wondering what the fuck I am talking about and I will tell you.

I had the perfect life, a university undergraduate studying law in one of the most prestigious universities in the states.

“You are joking!” I laughed, making sure my mother knew I found her very hilarious.

“Andrea Silva, am I a joke to you? This is quite a serious matter and I want you to treat it with all seriousness” My mother’s stern voice reproached me.

She had to be joking because what she was saying right now was downright unreal and impossible.

“I am not going to drop out of school to marry a man I barely know and just because Camila disappeared on you. Did it ever occur to you that she ran away just to avoid this same situation?” I asked.

Camila was my twin sister and to say we were complete opposites would be an understatement. We were like blood and water in both looks and mannerism; simply put, I was the bland version of my sister who had the most bubbly personality and this she reserved for others. To me, she was an asshole and we had not talked for a long while hence the reason I had no idea she had disappeared.

“That is besides the point, Andrea. We owe that man a lot of money and this is money that we cannot think to pay back. You would know that we had to take out that loan to send your ungrateful self and your sister to the University” my mother scoffed

“So this is my fault?” I muttered.

I knew about the loan but what I had no idea about was the price we had to pay for it.

“I am just saying that it is time for you to do something for the family for once and you are being a little bitch. Your sister would have done this without batting an eyelid” my mother reminded me.

My sister who was conveniently missing, I thought but did not voice out.

“I cannot marry a total stranger, mom. I am not taking Camilla’s place and if she agreed to this then I do not know what you are going to do about that” I argued.

There was no way I was listening to this conversation and my mother right now. I was hoping she would laugh and tell me how much of a scaredy cat I was. Maybe she would say she had been trying to prank me and this was nothing more than that.

“Your father is going to jail if you do not do this and you know what they do to people like us in there” My mother’s soft voice came through my musing.

“I know you think this is the craziest thing but your father is going to go to jail and there will be nothing for you or for me. We will be the talk of the town, our faces out there as debtors. Now you are going to tell me how in God’s name you plan to finish schooling if all of these happen” She raved.

“Was this always the plan?” I asked, my resolve faltering.

As much as I considered whatever this arrangement was totally ridiculous, I wanted nothing to happen to my family and I would do anything to protect them and that anything included marrying a stranger.

“What?” My mother muttered, confused.