C2

"Get her!!!" The policeman yelled. "She's a shop lifter"

There was chaos everywhere as she forced her way through the crowd pushing down innocent bystanders. She swiftly ran into the subway and got on a train.

She looked out the window to check if she had been followed and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw no one in uniforms. She let her thick long black hair down as she hummed along with the song that was playing on the radio. She opened the wallet she had stolen and starred at the amount of cash and smiled

"Well papis, we'll eat something decent today"

****

"Seriously, mother I'll be there for the fitting tomorrow. I told you, I'll even attend the rehearsal dinner. So can you please cut the crap?" Castel muttered frustrated.

"Castel Mourinho, I am your mother and you will talk to me with respect" his mother said through tight lips.

"For heaven’s sake mother, stop being so dramatic, you do not have to call my name in full." He shoved his hand through his shiny brown hair.

"You get on my very last nerve boy…I will call you whatever I want to call you." His mother said.

He rolled his eyes, "just call me Cas, that shouldn’t be hard. What kind of name is Castel anyway?”

"I will not call you that. You’ve probably never been intuitive enough to check the meaning of your name, but be assured were named after your great grandfather, he was a great man. You should bear your name with pride" his mother said in her usual calm voice.

"How'd you know he was a “great man”? He asked making air quotes. “You never even met the guy, all we know is he “discovered” the land that houses the Mourinho empire. But how do you discover a land that people already live on?" he scoffed annoyed.

“You must think yourself very wise Castel, but your foolishness overwhelms me, it’s choking me. You should be quiet.” She said in a chilly tone.

Today was just one of those days to him, he usually didn't let his mother get to him but he wouldn't deny her words stung sometimes. He looked across at her beautiful face, even at forty three she still looked really young. Too bad her character wasn't as good looking. Hell! He could think of a thousand other things he would rather do than be in the same space as his mother.

As their car drove through the Wynwood neighborhood, he watched a few kids skateboarding, genuinely interested in the art, wondering when he would get the chance to skateboard again and then something caught his eye, one of the skateboarders had hair so shiny and thick, it cascaded down her back in volumes all the way down to her waist, she moved with so much finesse on the skate board. He couldn’t help but stare in awe even as their car drove past, he had no idea when he turned to look.

“Castel..." His mother called and when she noticed he wasn't paying attention she followed his gaze. "Have you no shame? You do nothing but fool around with girls and now, you’re literally gaping at ghetto girls in front of your mother."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, trust his mother to make everything sound sinful.

“And what exactly is wrong with ghetto girls, mother?”

"Castel...these girls are beneath you, do not get entangled with these people, you have disgraced our family enough, getting involved with peasants will just be the height of it all.” His mother said with an irritated look.

“And you had to say all these because I stared at skateboarders? The way you jump to conclusions is almost as irritating as the way you look down on people because they’re not as privileged as you.” He looked out the tinted window of the car dismissively, desperately hoping she wouldn’t say anything further. And thank God she didn’t.

The rest of the journey to Coral Gables was painfully quiet. His head was throbbing from the back and forth banter with his mother that had been going on for too long. It had been an awfully stressful day for him, he still didn’t understand why his mother saw the need to make him go with her to the tailors all the way at North Miami for measurements for his tuxedo. She could have had the tailors come over to their house, but of course she just had to torture him in some kind of way.

The car finally parked in garage of the family wing of the estate and he got out of the car before his mother could get the chance to say anything to him.