Writing for Fun
January 2018
Not What It Seems - Sue Barker
Not what it seems Juanita sat on the balcony, the hot afternoon sun scorching her already sun ravaged skin. She sighed; the heat warmed her tired old bones. Seventy summers had come and gone; life should be easy now.
She slowly moved to the bedroom, catching a glance of the elderly lady reflected there. What had happened? Where had the statuesque raven haired woman gone? She had been replaced by this mockery of nature. Before her she saw someone with grey hairs on her head and several sprouting from her chin, a hunched back and thick ankles. Still visible was the scar on her cheek where Sofia had thrown a plate in her temper. Oh, life had been cruel.
Returning to the balcony she looked over to her elder sister Sofia; she hadn't faired any better Juanita thought. It was of no comfort to her that they had both suffered so badly in the ageing process.
Why was it always the girls that were expected to stay and look after the home and their parents? Their three brothers had all escaped; each married, had families and moved to different parts of Spain. Infrequent phone calls with cursory enquiries into how things were, gradually reduced to the dutiful calls on birthdays and Christmas. They came back when their parents died, pretended to reluctantly take their inheritances and disappeared as fast as they could. In fact Juanita couldn't remember the last time they had any contact from them.
After the estate had been divided the two women only had enough money to buy a tiny apartment together, its only saving grace was a balcony that had sunshine most of the day. Both Sofia and Juanita had to find work to have any standard of living. For many years Juanita cleaned houses and Sofia worked from home sewing and making dress alterations but now they had both retired.
She looked at Sofia now in her 78th year and couldn't swallow the bitterness she felt. As the youngest she'd looked after everyone, hoping one day to escape this life of drudgery. Sofia had always been an opinionated woman, she had never even been on a date, people were wary of her and her sharp tongue. Juanita was often lambasted for her failings. Nothing was ever good enough for Sofia. A tear escaped and slowly slid over the wrinkles of Juanita's face, she mustn't let Sofia see her crying or Sofia would cruelly enjoy tormenting her for being so weak. Once a long time ago Juanita had a wonderful boyfriend but he couldn't wait long enough for her to escape her family and obligations. Again she felt the sadness envelope her and she spiralled into the memories of lost opportunities.
How could she climb out of this depression that was like a black cloud around her head and shoulders? She had tried everything she could think of, she had been to church and prayed, she had said the rosary and she had been to confession. But her God was deaf to her, no help or succour was in her reach.
As usual she offered to make tea; Sofia put her order in but today was going to be different. Juanita had purchased a new herbal tea from the market just for a change. 'It aids the digestion,' she explained. Both sisters suffered from chronic indigestion so they had tried many remedies; so far none had helped. Juanita thought Sofia was the cause of her pains, and secretly she was sure Sofia's indigestion was caused by her viciousness acting like acid eating her away.
With her shoulders stooped she slowly carried the tray, stopping several times to catch her breath. The tray was set precisely as her sister demanded; tiny tarta de Santiago, the delicious almond and orange tarts sat tantalisingly on the best china, the herbal tea poured and ready to drink; it was a little green in colour, similar to an olive hue. The little table was between them and they sat and enjoyed this little ritual in silence.
Juanita closed her eyes with a sigh and a slight smile.
A week later their bodies were found, rotting and decomposing in the sun. If a neighbour hadn't seen the post and then heard the flies who knows how long it would have been before they'd been discovered.
How on earth the mistake had been made no-one would ever know. Maybe in their old age they had been confused but using Oleander leaves for a tea was an instant killer.