Chronicles of Elm St: Haggle
Prologue
"Come, my son, we're going to market to pick us up some breakfast."
"OK, mom!" the five year old boy with blonde hair and hazel eyes piped excitedly, "Can we pick up some fresh peaches? They're my favorite!"
"I know, son… I know."
Lucifer and his mother walked from their modest, stone house and down a dirt trail to the main road leading to market.
"Mom?" Lucifer spoke while still swinging his arm back in forth with his mother, disturbing the quaint silence of the country.
"What is it, son?" his mother asked, she swung her and Lucifer's arms, too, more enthusiastically.
"You're not… not going to steal again… are you?" the hazel-eyed boy asked, his stomach cringed at the word steal.
Lucifer's mother let go of his hand and crouched down to her knees, looking compassionately into her son's eyes. "Hunny, you know I only steal things because we don't have the money… when your father left me three years ago… we just couldn't afford many things."
"I know… but I don't want you to leave me like dad did… and last time we were almost caught robbing by those men!" the boy cried tenderly.
His mother wiped the single tear rolling down his cheek. Despite their life of poverty and theft, she remained a remarkably beautiful woman—her fingertips were soft and lulling.
"I won't steal anything this time," she hushed standing up and taking his hand in hers, "I will never, ever leave you, Lucifer, I promise."
Lucifer's hand tightened around his mother's, the two saw the first caravan as rounding the hill near the market place.
The market was always flocked of poor and rich animals and humans alike. 'The merchants who run the caravans and side shops are shifty and deceitful,' Lucifer's mother would always say to him, 'Never trust a word they say because they lie through their teeth just to get your Bells. Their wares are usually feeble and over-priced,' she would continue on, 'Never leave my side when we're in the market.'
Walking past two sword-wielding hippos, Lucifer pushed up closer against his mother, it was the same two tyrannical hippos that accused his mother of stealing a bangle from a peddler's stand—they barely escaped even though his mother was guilty. Those hippos were hired by the government to look over the market square and arrest any thieves or beggars. The market streets seemed especially crowded this day, the rustling of shuffling feet droned on and the misleading, eager shouts of all the merchants and peddlers boomed in Lucifer's curious and susceptible ears.
"So, 'ou like my merchandise, chil'? I gave you 'ou a deal, a very fine deal!" one rat merchant hollered from the front of his wooden stand. His purple fur was matted and extremely unkempt. His two front teeth were horribly stained and jut from his chapped lips, while his whiskers were wiry and disproportionate. He hauled a flamboyant shirt off the rack and stuffed it in Lucifer's face.
"Get your scams from my son, vermin," Lucifer's mother hissed irksomely, pulling her son along the street with her.
As the pair walked the bustling streets, Lucifer found it hard to resist the tempting claims of the merchants. Many of their things looked exotic and valuable… he longed for them. He saw their regular fruit stand in the distance; beside it was a jewelry stand which his mother had enviously thought of stealing from more than once.
"Here we are, son, our trusty fruit stand," his mother said releasing his hand and walking towards the barrels brimming with all kinds of fruit. "Come pick a nice, ripe one, son," his mother beckoned.
Lucifer heard his mother and his stomach's growls for a peach, but the caravan next to the fruit stand intrigued him. Despite the rickety wood the wares were displayed on, he saw many flashy, expensive things: the most radiant gemstones; golden watches and rings; finely woven dresses made of divine silk fabric; but what really amazed Lucifer were these two statues. Stone lion statues, they stood chest to chest with their backs arched regally, their manes a deep green that were perfectly painted around their heads and down their backs. Both lions' mouths barred showing vicious teeth that demanded respect, but what was most prominent were their eyes; exquisitely round, crimson jewels that sparkled dazzlingly in the sunlight.
As if drawing Lucifer to them or calling his name, Lucifer approached the statues dauntingly with his tiny hands open wide, his body coursing with desire.
He was mere inches from touching one of them when his mother stepped in front, her back facing the caravan.
Peering slowly up at his mother with his large, oval eyes glassy, her face was furrowed with disappointment. He knew he had wronged her.
"Son, how many times must I tell you, no touching these things, don't even seem interested, the merchants can pick that up and they'll haggle with you," Lucifer's mother scolded quietly yet sternly.
"Haggle…?" Lucifer asked, not knowing what that meant.
"Ah, so another who believes we're all bad," a voice snaked from behind Lucifer's mother.
She turned around to face the peddler and stood directly in her son's vision.
"My son must be forgiven, he is only young, we had no intention of buying those lions," she said venomously, her voice hinted urgency.
"I can cut you a fine deal, these two have brought much sorrow and suffering into my life, I want rid of them… how about 25,000 bells?" the peddler spoke slowly and conspicuously.
"I said we had no intention of buying… we must be going."
"No? No deal? Fine, you drive a hard bargain but 10,000 is my final offer, I'll be in the poor house with such a deal," he continued. Lucifer saw him eyeing him through the gap in his mother's legs which he was peeking through shyly.
"Good bye, have a good day," my mother spat bluntly, grabbing Lucifer's hand.
"No! Please, no my friends! You mustn't leave me… 4,000 bells, that is truly a spectacular offer!" the peddler hollered running to the outside of his caravan and to the small boy. "Boy, I can tell you want those lions… they contain a secret and grant wishes to those to who possess them! For a meager 2,000 bells both the Lion and Lioness are yours!" he bawled, eyes set frantically upon Lucifer's.
"Mom…?"
"If they grant wishes than wish for a clue, because no is no!" Lucifer's mother barked and yanked Lucifer to the fruit stand.
Bringing Lucifer close to a barrel, his mother whispered to him while pretending to inspect the fruit. "See what happens when you act interested? The slightest thing and they spark up, shouting false things just to get you to buy…"
Lucifer nodded, heartbroken, he now had a burning desire for the two statues but he would and could never hurt his mother by being disobedient.
"I am sorry, son… these fruit will cheer you up. I have enough money to buy some for tomorrow, too. Just pick out a peach you want."
Lucifer sighed and found a plump one with a single purple spot, shaped like an eye. He tugged on his mother's pant and she picked it from him and put it on the counter along with some other fruit.
"600 bells, my dear patron," the alligator running the fruit stand said plainly.
Lucifer's mother took out a thin wallet and slipped the exact change onto the counter. The alligator placed all the fruits in a brown, paper bag. His mother had stopped to chat with the man, he was a family friend. Lucifer reached up for his mother's hand and held it tightly, he turned around to the stand where the lions were, and he no longer saw the shady peddler at the caravan.
Moments later he saw the peddler through the crowd of animals and humans, leading the two hippos through the crowd with a look of anger embedded into his face. He was shouting something in a frenzied manner and walking briskly.
Thinking nothing of it, he turned around but then he felt a force throw him backward.
"What did you steal this time, beggar!?" The fatter of the two hippos had seized his mother by the hand and was now twisting it.
Lucifer's mother let out shrill cries and tried to speak, but the hippo slapped her across the face when she tried. Small sprinkles of blood and saliva splattered the ground.
"Stop you brute! Leave my momma alone!" Lucifer cried furiously and ran to the hippo. He futilely beat his fists against his thigh but it was no use.
"Hah! Is this your beggar son? Not setting a good example for him, he'll be a street rat just like you when he's out of diapers!" the hippo scoffed cruelly, pointing a finger at Lucifer, his rotten breath engulfing Lucifer's nose.
"I'm five, I don't wear diapers… and stop saying that! My momma is a good person!" he screamed, tears streaming down his face.
"Your dirty mother is about as good as brain damage," the hippo roared in Lucifer's face.
Snatching him by the arm, he wound up his hand then smacked him across the street.
Lucifer fell hard into the dirt; it filled his mouth and his eyes. Already he could feel bruises clotting on his body.
"Don't touch my son, don't you ever touch him!" his mother screamed, thrashing her arms at the hippo that was holding her.
The hippo snickered and tossed his mother to the dirt, too.
"This is the one who stole your ring, right?" he asked, turning to the peddler.
The peddler clasped his hands together and looked wrathfully down at the woman in the dirt: "Yes, sir, that is her, she snuck one of my valuable rings into her back pocket after using her son as a distraction! That vile waste of bones is indeed the wench who stole from me, kind sir!"
"You beggars make me sick," the hippo spat. "STAND UP!"
The hippo gave her no time to stand, while his greasy words still lingered in the smothering air, he had kicked his mother in the chest. She flew up against the wooden bottom of the fruit stand, through her untamed hair her face twisted with pain.
Lucifer sat in the dirt still on the other side of the street, but through the legs of the crowd he saw everything that was going on. With each person that passed him, he would look into their eyes desperately and frantically, sending a silent prayer to them to save him and their mother, to at least shed a tear of concern. But as if what was going on around them was an everyday event, they walked casually past the dirt-stained, bawling boy, the woman groveling and beaten at their feet, and the cruel roars of the hippo. Lucifer was sure that his mother stole nothing, she promised she wouldn't. He wanted to help his mom but his leg hurt too much now, he couldn't stand on it.
"I have stolen nothing! I am innocent!" Lucifer's mother roared as the hippo wrenched her to her feet and put his hand in her back pocket. "Stop touching me, I do not have this liar's crummy ring!"
The hippo growled angrily and opened up his hand, inside was a golden ring, in the center of the ring was a sapphire—it was the largest Lucifer had ever seen. Lucifer was devastated, he could hardly contain himself. He broke down into hysterical wails, throwing himself against the hard, rough dirt street repeatedly.
"Liar! You're a filthy liar!" the peddler screamed at Lucifer's mother, he marched toward the hippo and snatched the ring from him. Before leaving, he mustered spit and emptied it upon his mother's tunic.
"Finally, I've got you, dirty beggar," the hippo growled into the mother's ear and slammed her against the side of the fruit stand.
The brown bag Lucifer's fruit was in soared through the air. It landed a few inches from the hippos, but on its side. Through his swelling tears Lucifer saw a peach roll through the crowd and next to his foot, the peach's small, purple eye peering at him.