Chapter 49: Injustice

This fish is gigantic! I have never caught anything this huge before. I took a break from fishing to write a letter to Gustave, and this is what I caught after I got up again. Amazing. It was getting to be evening, so I thought I should head home.

---

"Iveron! Iveron! Iveron!"

Genevieve and I had just gotten off the school bus. We walked inside the house and she practically tackled me. She ran up to me, screaming my name in rapid succession. Even though she sometimes speaks in such a high register that I can't understand her, I like her much better than Francesca.

"Yes?"

"I made the cheerleading squad!! EEEEEK!! I can't wait to tell Mom! Where is she?"

Genevieve is pretty absent-minded and she sometimes doesn't see what's right in front of her. Mom was sitting at the breakfast bar. Genevieve was even looking in her direction. Sometimes I have to laugh at my silly sister.

Even though Mom was reading a book, she piped up and said, "Right here. Honey, that's great. Congratulations."

---

I was so proud of my kids. Iveron was still excelling at cooking and Genevieve was going to be a cheerleader. I still had half a mind to smack Iveron's teacher upside the head for yelling at him instead of helping him. He was a good boy and he didn't deserve that nonsense. I chatted with Genevieve for a while after she broke the news. Then her and Iveron ran off to the park.

Barium and I continued to keep in touch. I was tending Austin's apple tree when he called. I don't want to say I had favorites, but him and Echelon definitely fall into that category. I had lost touch with most of my other children, but I knew it was bound to happen since I'd had a lot of them.

After chatting with Barium, and getting a surprise call from Glasgow, I picked up where I left off in my book. It was another one of Christian's bestsellers. It turns out he had found out more about our ancestor, Elizabeta.

Elizabeta Zenteri was the daughter of Alexandra, the woman who inadvertently caused a generational curse to be cast on her family after falling in love with someone of whom her family didn't approve. Elizabeta lived with Eleanor, her great grandmother, until she was 18. Eleanor did not like her and made sure she knew.

She lived a desolate life in a small house where she raised twenty children. Society looked down upon her for being a single mother, for in those days, it was deemed inappropriate to have children out of wedlock. She was shunned or heckled any time she went out in public. Most of the witches in her neighborhood shunned her since she had lost her powers. Most of the humans heckled her for not marrying someone. For the most part, Elizabeta dealt with the public by ignoring them. She knew she wasn't lower class like they claimed. Any time she tried to fall in love, something would happen to the relationship. She knew full well what her fate held in store for her and she never tried to fight it.

I felt bad for Elizabeta. If anyone could have found out all the details about the curse, it should have been her. She was the closest person to Eleanor, after all. She even lived with her when she was growing up! It seemed like any of the women I'd read about didn't have the spunk or rebellion that Alexandra did. I'd always wondered where I got my fight from, since my mother wasn't that way. Perhaps I got it from Alexandra. I was getting sleepy so I decided to put the book away until tomorrow.

---

Albany sits in the courtroom, eagerly awaiting the Judge's next words.

"The defendant is sentenced to six months in juvenile detention for breaking and entering. Defendant is not guilty of murder charges due to insufficient evidence. Case dismissed."

Albany's face drops. She is devastated by the results. Reluctantly she has to agree with the Judge because it's true that she was unable to give a detailed description of the person who attacked Valos that night. All she could tell was that it was a teenage male. The person was smart, he wore gloves and a mask that covered his head completely, leaving no part of his skin exposed. Albany knew the eye color of the person, but lots of people had that same eye color, and there was no other proof. 

Alone and angry, Albany goes to a bar. She knows she can't do this all the time because Christian will be moving out soon and Sicily is still a baby who will need constant attention. She debates asking Christian to stay, but doesn't want to impose on his life. Still, for tonight, she doesn't want to go home yet.

Albany stays at the counter for many hours, continuously asking the bartender for more drinks. She tips him a generous amount, so he's more than happy to keep serving her.

As she finishes off her last drink, the bartender says its closing time. Albany makes a sad face at him, not wanting to go home. She is not even sure she remembers where her car is parked. She tries to stand up and trips a little because she can't balance straight, especially not in the six inch stilettos she is wearing.

The bartender walks past her to catch her from falling and manages to grab her butt. There's no one else in the bar, so he thinks he can take advantage of Albany. 

"Hey, sweetie. I can show you a good time."

He moves his hand to the front of her body and into her underwear. Albany screams and drops her drink.

"You jerk! Get your hands off me! I'll leave your bar! Just leave me alone! Please, I've had a bad day."

The bartender is upset because she broke one of his glasses and he has alcohol all over his shoes. Albany regrets tipping him so much earlier. He doesn't listen to her outburst and touches her harder, pulling down her underwear. She punches at his hand, but he spins her around and grabs her butt, pressing her against him. Albany starts crying.

"Please, don't... I'll have sex with you, just don't hurt me, please.."

"Oh, it's no fun now that you've given in. But you can do one thing for me."

He keeps his hold on Albany with one hand, and takes his pants off with the other. He grabs Albany's hand and makes her touch him.

"Put it in your mouth and I'll let you go without hurting you."

"NO! Just let me go!"

"What? Just a minute ago you wanted sex, now you don't? Am I going to have to teach you a lesson?"

Albany glares at him, squeezing him a little too tightly. The bartender winces and momentarily lets go of Albany. She takes this as her chance to run towards the door, knowing he will have to put his pants on before going outside.