Groceries (3)

It is Sunday. It should be church day. But no one goes. There is no pass to the plaza. There are a lot of soldiers blocking the path to the plaza.

Many tried to argue with the soldiers, but nothing good came out. That is when Alicia, Pamela and I decided to go back home. Which is not much better. It is swarmed by soldiers, the entrance at least. There are only 2 extra soldiers inside the house.

"They at least brought groceries." There is a massive number of groceries on the table. Corn, herbs, eggs and much more. Pamela instantly went to organize everything.

"Come, let's go upstairs. Let's work on sewing." I need to get my mind off things. I can tell Alicia is like that as well.

Soon enough, it was lunchtime, but the crown prince was nowhere to be seen, so we ate alone. There were always people coming inside and leaving papers in the former office of my husband.

"Mom, when do you think will go back to normal?" It has been a hectic day. A curfew at 6 pm was set up, and large gatherings have been prohibited. What will happen?

"I don't know, sweety."

"…"

At night, the crown prince came back. He looked tired. He didn't get any dinner and just went straight to sleep. Hopefully, it is like that all the time. God, please help me with this.

What if he gets drunk and just takes advantage of Alicia? Would he marry the daughter of a traitor? My mind spirals into all kinds of possibilities as I go back to sleep.

The next day.

The access to the plaza was lifted, and the number of soldiers in the plaza was reduced. I don't know what is happening because I don't know how to read, but papers are stuck to the walls. I get near a person that will speak, and I hear it all from the lips of the man who typically handles correspondence.

The crown prince defeated General Paez and took over the Caracas Government. All the traitors have been judged as high treason and sentenced to death. "This…. Maybe Sergio has been sentenced… he might also be alive if I ask him nicely, probably…." I quickly leave.

When I arrived at my house, there was the average number of soldiers there, they let me go in as they already knew me, but when I went in, I saw a familiar face. This soldier helped me when I was utterly paralyzed by fear.

"You."

"Do you know what happened? How did the crown prince take over the city? Are there any survivors?" I ask desperately. Unlike the other soldiers who look at me coldly, he understands and takes me aside.

"Lady, everything is upside down; more than half of the junta members were killed, and their heads were thrown into the plaza to scare us. It worked; even though most soldiers were Venezuelan, they all pledged their loyalty to the Empire." This kid has no sensibility. My face goes blank, and I go back to my room.

This time, though, I waited quietly for the crown prince to leave my husband's office, and I somewhat ambushed him. He doesn't seem surprised. "Please, tell me… is my husband dead or captured?"

"Dead."

"…" No hesitation… My husband has been mutilated and used as a prop.

"…"

"You defiled my husband's corpse and then used his house… you have no shame as a human being?" My tears start streaming down out of rage.

"…" He doesn't say anything and leaves. I drop down on my knees. Oh, Sergio. I am so sorry for not trying to do anything; it is for the sake of our daughter.

That night, I cried myself to sleep, and I woke up much later than expected. The crown prince is there waiting for me.

"I have arranged a proper funeral for your husband. It will be at the end of the week. Go to the priest to get informed about the details." He quickly returned his papers to my husband's office before I could say 'thank you.'

--

2 weeks passed.

The crown prince has kept his word. Every weekend, soldiers leave groceries, and the household routine normalizes. The crown prince yells in frustration every so often. I heard he is so frustrated with the ancient aqueducts and the lack of schools.

The priest himself came to my house and was yelled at by the crown prince. The priest left in a hurry. Aside from when he is working, he is always either smiling or just natural.

Today though, he has just given us a paper. It is a school certificate. He has created an all-girls school and an all-boys school. Now he is making everyone go.

"Why does Alicia need to go to school? I am teaching them everything she needs to be a good housewife." I am offended.

"I need the people of the empire to be able to read, write and do basic mathematics, men and women." He said as he was eating some freshly baked bread.

"What is reading, writing and doing mathematics good for?"

"How is a housewife going to manage a house if she doesn't know how to divide the amount of food or how much to buy with how many Reals. How will she understand urgent correspondence if she doesn't know how to read? Or how will she make a secret urgent correspondence to her husband in another city if she doesn't know how to write?" That…

"I haven't had the need to do so all my time being a housewife. Everything is acquired with experience."

"I want you to teach a class on how to sew. You are not doing anything. I will be paying you 100 Reales a year. It is not much, but it is what I can pay the teachers now. In the future, I can make that better." Me? Working? (A/N: 100 Reales are 3 thousand dollars right now; 2023).

"Accept that preposition. I also need your help to run tests on an invention. I will need people to help me sew and be able to learn to sew."

"Why?" The crown prince doesn't get mad when he is talking to me. He only gets angry when he is with officials and other official people. I have become bold enough to ask questions, as he doesn't mind.

"I am making a company to create employment. The mainland already has similar laws; your husband and other people didn't want to follow them, so all the progress I have created has not reached here yet." He gets angry when he talks about traitors. Ahhh, I have really become accustomed to him living here. I am the sorry husband.

"Either way, I must go. I am busy." Even though many more soldiers and people have arrived in Caracas from Bogota, he spends most of his day in his office and the mornings on the inner patio. Nonetheless, there was less yelling.

"…"

--

I suddenly get up as I hear a scream.

Alicia also gets up, and Pamela also arrives from the first floor.

"What happened?"

"The crown prince," Pamela said as she led the way as she was the one with a candle in hand. As usual, no soldiers are guarding him. He is that confident we will do nothing, and he is right. I can't do anything to him unless I want my head and Alicia's gone.

We quickly arrived and opened the room to find the Crown Prince on the door scaring us.

"Hyaa." Alicia and Pamela quickly step up, and so do I.

He quickly steps to the second-floor railing, looking to the inner patio. The moonlight shined on him. He was just in underwear, breathing heavily.

"…" He looks at us like a ravaging beast. Is this the moment where it comes?

"Get out." The crown prince said as he didn't move.

"GET OUT!" We quickly leave. I don't get it.

"…" His heavy breathing could be heard even as we were on the other side of the house. Should I go back? But what I do? I will leave.

--

3 days later.

Every night was the same thing. The crown prince gets up in the middle of the night with a yell, but he ignores it and makes it look like nothing happened.

All in all, Alicia has been going to school for the last three days. She complained the first 2 days, but she finally made friends the previous day. I am considering taking that job. Not all mothers should know how to sew.

"Maria. I need you here." He suddenly asked, and I complied. I quickly go where he is and find a weird thing.

"What is it?"

"A sewing machine, anyone that uses it will be able to get 100 stitches in a few seconds. This one is a prototype I have been making for a few years already. We are already in the process of mass-producing them. We will need a lot of people knowing how to use them."

"100 stitches in one go?"

"Yeah, here, let me show you." He sits down and puts his foot on a pedal-like thing, and then, with one hand, he makes a wheel spin and begins pedalling it. And just like magic, a needle goes up and down as the clothing moves like magic.

In no time, the whole piece of cloth gets sewn, and he cuts it and gives it to me. "I don't have much experience with it, some stitches are well spaced nor well centred, but a person that masters this machine will be able to make thousands of stitches within no time."

"This is… Magic." There is no other way to put it. This could only be magic and nothing else. He just smiled and didn't say anything.