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Chapter 2 About Kevin

  • As I lay on my bed, I couldn't help but cry. College was my only chance to be somebody in life and it was over. I would also lose contact with my colleagues, some of which I already had a lot of affinity for. This could also open doors for me, because there I would meet people from Zone C. Then the next day I would have to open the newspaper and look for a job. And it didn't matter what it was. I needed to earn any money. Now it was my job to support the house. It could be Kevin, my older brother. But no one knew where he could be at that moment. Kevin hadn't been home for a while. When he came, he couldn't disguise the smell of alcohol and illegal drugs. Several times I saw my mother meeting him at the gate and making him hide everything he had in his pockets or backpack before entering the house so that no one would see what he had there. I always pretended I didn't know anything. But I think everyone except Leon knew what Kevin really did. I wasn't sure if he just used it or if he also sold it. I was just sure he didn't help the family with a dollar. The fact that my father had lost all our money made him even further away from our home and family. He was very angry with the situation that Adolfo Lee, our father, put us in. Kevin was 23 years old. Mom claims they knew from the start that he would not be the son who would win the opportunity to attend college. He was never interested in studies. So they decided they would have another child, in this case, me. I have always been very focused and dedicated to everything that was asked of me. Leon, in turn, was an oversight by my parents. So I've always been, in some way, the hope of the family, being for the possibility of being able to get a job or even a rich husband that would provide a good life not only for me, but for my family. The fact that everyone thought I was beautiful gave me even more advantage, after all, being beautiful and smart was not for everyone. And I really tried to take advantage of every opportunity that came my way.
  • Kevin Lee was a handsome man, tall, dark, blue eyes, or were they green? Our family had the gift of having eyes that changed color... Always blue-green, or green-blue, depending on the brightness of the place where we were. Kim used to tell me that my eyes turned green when I was angry, but I was never sure, not least because I never looked in the mirror when I was mad. But my friend was extremely observant, so somehow I didn't ignore his opinion. I had the same eyes as my brother.
  • Kevin Lee was hotly contested by the girls. I think not only because of his appearance, but also because of his type: mysterious, self-assured, daring, ambitious. He and I got along great as a kid. As we grew up, we moved away. Although I wasn't the most obedient, I didn't do many things wrong. Illegal, almost never. Kevin, for his part, seems to be looking for trouble, from getting involved with married women to getting into the narcotics life. He was a constant problem for my parents. However, Mom always tried to somehow protect him, even if she didn't agree with the things he did. My father, after being responsible for our bankruptcy, no longer felt entitled to demand respect from his children. I continued to respect and admire him, as he was still a loving and devoted father, even though he did everything he did. But Kevin never saw it that way and when poverty definitely came to our house, he left. He only came when he didn't have anything to eat or needed something that only my mother could give him, like money that she took from I don't know where, a warm bed and maternal affection.
  • Despite everything, he always bet on me as the family's hope. And I was glad he believed that I could one day change our whole situation.
  • That night he showed up at the house and when I realized he was in my room. When I saw him, I wiped away my tears. I didn't want him to see me in a moment of weakness or to blame my father for my suffering.
  • - Look who showed up. - I played.
  • - Hello. - he said. – New eye color?
  • I looked at it without understanding very well and he said smiling:
  • - Red.
  • I smiled sadly. I didn't know exactly what he was up to.
  • - To what do we owe the honor of your visit?
  • - Delete the photo you posted on your social network.
  • - What?
  • - I saw... You seem to be offering yourself to men.
  • - Kevin... You fool. It has nothing to do with it.
  • - Of course you do.
  • - You came home to tell me to delete my picture?
  • - Also... I was furious when my friends showed it to me.
  • - Well, I didn't know your friends were following me.
  • - But follow. So, better start not exposing your life so much there.
  • - What does it have to do with?
  • - I don't want. he said gruffly. “I think you better do what I'm telling you, or I'll have to tell Mom to demand it of you.
  • - Kevin, you wouldn't dare.
  • - I already said.
  • - Did you hear that I'm going to have to leave college?
  • - Yes... Mom told me. Adolfo Lee ended our family's last name.
  • - Kevin, don't say that. Our father was wrong, but he cannot be punished forever.
  • - We will be punished forever... Don't you understand? What's your chance of a good marriage when your future husband finds out?
  • - Everyone in Zone E knows that by now, Kevin. And I don't care.
  • - It should.
  • - It should? And you should also care about so many things, like the well being of your family. Where were you when we needed?
  • - Katrina, I don't want to discuss this with you. I owe you no satisfaction. As I no longer live in this house, the responsibility is all yours.
  • - Aren't you going to help me then?
  • He laughed:
  • - Help? I don't have a job, how am I going to help you support them?
  • - Get a job and come home. We can split the expenses. It would help me a lot... And it would help you too.
  • - No thank you.
  • - Kevin...
  • - No. What little money Mom had invested in you and not me. You owe it to them now.
  • - I... I have no idea what I'm going to do. - I confessed.
  • - Options abound. – he said ironically.
  • I hit his arm:
  • - You fool. – I knew from the look in his eyes that the suggestion was something inappropriate.
  • - In the last of the options, you can work with your friend Kim.
  • - I don't know how to do that...
  • - Who doesn't know how to comb and make up?
  • - I. - I said sincerely.
  • - What can you do?
  • - I... I don't know what I'm good at.
  • - I think posting photos on social media is not your strong point either. And you won't make money from it.
  • - You can sell to your friends. - I said laughing.
  • - You silly... But sexy photos can make a lot of money. I have some contacts if you want. Our parents would never know.
  • - Are you serious?
  • I was offended and he didn't say anything. Amazingly, I didn't doubt he was serious.
  • - Your beauty can make money.
  • - Do you think I could be a model?
  • - I've never seen models in Zone E... But there are good call girls. I could do well with that.
  • - Kevin, I think you're not my real brother. It was changed in the maternity ward.
  • He laughed and said:
  • - I could be your pimp.
  • I looked at him worried and sad. This was probably a joke.
  • - Kat, money is money and nobody lives without it. We live in one of the countries with the greatest social inequality in the surroundings. So all work is worthy.
  • - No... Not all of them. I would never sell my body. - I said.
  • - If nothing goes right, you can work with me.
  • - So you work now? You can help our family...
  • - My job doesn't make much money... Enough for me and my vices. You know what I'm talking about.
  • - What are you doing? What are you working on?
  • - I can not say.
  • - So it's illegal?
  • - No... But it's immoral.
  • Saying that, he left and went to talk to my mother, showering her with praise so that she would love him even more. I stood there, thinking about the burden I had to carry and all he had told me. Kevin could bring us even more problems than we already had. And I was sure this day would come.