Have you ever felt like you're losing yourself to madness? That the world seems to turn itself inside out and you're the only one to notice. That everything stable is crumbling, and the walls that keep you from panicking from the dangers outside are dissolving. That is my experience every time I wake and go about my day. I think it's some kind of psychosis that the pills don't help. Ohhh yes, I nearly forgot, the name is Eleodoro Vivas, I'm not the best with introductions. You can call me Elio if you prefer. I prefer being more direct than trying to fill space with needless stuff and skip straight to the point. My day was starting like any other.
My routine is probably no different from most people in principle. I wake up, brush up, shower and eat a quick breakfast of bananas and a bowl of flea market cereal. My home is a small space with only four areas, a bedroom, closet and the singular table where I eat most of my food on and the bathroom. The place didn't have much outside of a mattress with a pillow and blanket. There is a fridge in the far corner of my bedroom but other than that there was just a pile of library books and enough clothes for eight days in my closet. If you hadn't guessed I'm not exactly swimming in gold or carry much dinero in my pocket at any one time. I have no family, or at least family I would speak too. So that keeps me from being completely broke. No one else to feed.
I finish my food and check my fridge to make a mental note on what I'll need to get after my shift. As you probably envisioned from the description of the bedroom I don't get much from my job, It's minimum wage plus tips sort of thing aside from my other methods of earning. I sometimes trade with the other employees, make gifts or do a favor to get new clothes or actually healthy food. That or my… herbal supplements but my guy who sold it to me went back to Barbados.
I put on my work uniform and walk out the door with a pill in pocket in case something comes up. I forgot to specify where I live which is why I don't worry about my money situation very much. I live a bus ride away from the tourist trap area of San Juan. It doesn't mean it is close, just close enough for a bus route to be available. The place I pay rent for is a tiny room in a row with other tiny rooms. Think of it as a labor ant farm. The workers of the local tourist destinations live in places like this if they don't have homes. It was on the side of a mountain which is very common in Puerto Rico. If you're not on the side of a mountain you're in the valley, beach or the summit. All the homes and buildings hang precariously by boards. At Least it was a nice forest where the farmers among the tenants worked. Nice people, gave me my first job getting various fruits and cutting weeds.
The bus stop was downhill near a cliff edge with a fence to keep people from dangling from it. Another common thing in Puerto Rico around the center of the island. The bus stop sign was just a metal stick with a sign written in Spanish on the top and English at the bottom that was nearly hanging by one good screw and three rusty ones. I stood in line with other workers from various unseen jobs. You know those jobs you know are being done but barely see the workers or care. Some lesser cooks, janitorial staff, repairmen and desk drones. Some are going to change shifts with the night staff, some are just going to check if they're needed (they only get paid if they are seen doing something.)
I was basically in the middle. I don't have a strict position other than server or tour guide but I get called when extra hands are required. It was the usual waiting period for the bus but something in the air barely felt right. I thought it was Mendoza's cigarette but while that was rank, what I was feeling felt malicious. Like something evil was in the area and was around me and the other workers. Even though we were in 80-degree weather a chill went up all of our collective spines, we all shivered in unison. Here came our Boss.
"Well isn't it a lovely day everyone." He said in English confusing half of the staff. Mister Adriano was an unusual man. He was a very dark-skinned man with a muscular frame and a very impressive beard and long hair that seemed to gleam in the sun. He wore a suit and tie but his posture and usual attitude made him seem more like a surfing Taxman. Slumped back with bad posture, an easy going grin with a smile that radiated a lazy air of relaxation. Like a small stream in a forest. His wife wasn't with him, which was odd, Betty was never outside his line of sight. Maybe they finale had a lover's spat. Had a bet going on when they finally have one.
"Where's Betty? Señor Adriano." I don't speak often outside of customer interaction but it was usually around the boss I genuinely asked things. He came out of nowhere a week ago when those weird storms and disasters ended on the mainland. We usually get a lot of storms around here but that tornado shredded its way through the mainland like toilet paper. I would say his timing made it suspicious but that implied that I cared enough. The boss was decent enough, he pays, he bought the motel the workers reside in. He bought the hotel we worked at from the other guy but we forgot his name when we saw our checks became twice the size. Which wasn't much but enough.
"She's at home, working out a …" His face started to contort and bend in a way that made me think it was some backroom deal or he was paying a ransom. He had that, "We are doing this deal because we have no chance." kind of face. "Severance package from our former employers. Don't worry we will still be overseeing the hotel." The other employees shrugged with blank expressions, their eyes glazed over with apathy. Not to mention the crust on some of their eyes. This was normal for them, I was usually the least glazed over but that was for a medical reason. We were a loose coalition of Afro's, pale Spaniards, mixed mulattos and a few natives including myself. So we just assumed the strange gringo was always going to be strange the others just seem to roll their eyes whenever he says something disarming. Though they do have hard times remembering their encounters with him for some reason. Finally, the company bus rolled in and my day could officially start with my first vision of hell. To elaborate, I think I have schizophrenia. I think. Why may you ask? Well, how else would explain the one-eyed man driving the bus and the giants with six arms on the nearby mountaintops in dirty loincloths? Maybe the bird woman flying in the sky was nothing more than a trick of the light. I have never gotten checked out by a doctor (can't afford it and can't go) but I'm sure as shit know that seeing crap like this is a good sign that you at least have something. Luckily I find the drugs for hallucinations easily enough by other means sadly just visual ones.
Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you see it, the boss decides to ride with us and more specifically me. Up close he smelled like an ocean and it was hard to say whether it was the good or bad kind of smell. Whether it was the smell of a gentle stream down the mountain or a raging storm with the combined scent of the depry soaked in seawater. It just seemed to be overpowering either way.
It also seemed that his hair had dips of green on the tips. Highlights? I don't know. I just tried to ignore it all which was not made easy since the boss took the window seat. I don't know why he chose to sit nearly the short native boy with hygiene issues (not from lack of trying just from lack of cash.) I'm not even worth the attention… well outside of one thing or two things. No, he wouldn't know about that. No one remembers that, not even the police.
"You know it's not nice to stare."Boss-man Adriano chided me. "Honestly though if you wish to speak. Speak then, You have garnered a reputation among your co-workers." For better or for worse? I thought.
"What do you hear hermano?" I cautioned as he gave the look of an interrogator, the blank stare of indeterminate interest with razor focused eyes of azure. "People say many things, not all of them true. Most are putos lying to get a rise out of the other." I added.
"True but I trust my sources. I just wanted to talk before giving you a special assignment." He asserted. I calmed down a bit, he changed the subject to something more manageable. Entertainment.
"So, what is it?" I questioned as he stared at the mountains and valleys. Could have sworn that his eyes followed the same monsters I was looking at. There was a difference in our observation thought as I watched with disbelief trying to push them out of my mind he seemed to examine them. Like he studied them in his spare time or they were familiar to him and he was waiting to see what was different about them. He continued to stare out the window but then turned to me with a hardened expression.
" I have some guests that have asked for a private party. Do you know the Dare family?" The stern face transfixed on me with sincere frankness. I think I knew the name, I think I worked near a place with that name.
"Do they own that mall south of El Morro?" El Morro is an old monument from the conquistador era in San Juan. It's an old musty fort surrounded by ocean and new tourist buildings. I think I saw something constructed under that name nearby once.
"Yes actually. They are rather wealthy and it appears the daughter of their illustrious C.E.O has graced my hotel. They insisted that have no catering or people waiting for them but I convinced them to at least have one." He kept his stare on me as I fidgeted with the curls in my hair.
"Why me then? They requested a 5-foot handy boy." I smirked. Adriano let loose a chuckle, breaking the stern expression stretching his skin.
"No but you're close enough in age to dear miss Dare, she is quite the cute little thing." He nudged my shoulder three times and his stern look returned with a vengeance of stretching more skin, making him look quite older. " She asked for you by name."
"Well…." I had no way of spinning that into something normal. "That's creepy." The boss switches back to happy hotel owner again from my response.
"Yes, Miss Dare does seem to be a peculiar one. Unsatisfied is what I best describe her. Her family can cover this city in gold several times over and yet unsatisfied. A paradoxical girl." I began to understand a bit better now. Reverse spoiled girl. What is that? You know that trope in Disney movies where the princess is always wanting more, however vague that may be, even though they live a life what many would kill for. Reverse spoiled is that trope given life. A rich girl who does her damndest to pretend she is normal even buying low-quality crap to "blend in" when the bitch can properly afford the penthouse above the casucha. This is going to be fan-fucking-tastic.
"I say less paradoxical and more like she's loca de la cabeza." He looked at me confused. Oh right, Adriano doesn't know Spanish. "Crazy in the head," I said in my best American accent.
"Right, right, sorry I know Latin but it appears the language strayed from its source." And he was talking weirdly again. Latin, why would he know Latin of all things? "Either way you're her personal server today. Be nice we might get a big endorsement and she might be a great tipper." At least he knows the universal motivator of dinero and plata.
"If the boss man says so." I shrugged off. At Least I will have money from the tips if I play the cordial or suaveness angle. Everyone has a preferred treatment, a preference for whatever performance I can muster. The boss man gave me the directions to where in the hotel our loaded guest was staying at. Apparently the top floor. Go figure. I absently mindedly took the elevator with a cart of food, drinks, and other consumables as I cycled through the kind of mask I'll perform. All servers have them, a sort of personality switch to make the customer feel good even if their shit's for brains. I decided for suave romantic if she was a naive brat and weary native type if she is the white guilt type. May not have a lot of dignity but it sure does loosen a blanco's wallet.
The top floor was certainly a breathtaking view of San Juan, but it is also barely a good place for a party which was my assumption as the food I had with me could easily fill 15 people. It was kind of like a penthouse, at least that was what I have been told. Large suite, a top view of the city and the ocean, private wifi and three bedrooms with a master one twice the size of the other two. I reach the door and knock three times.
"You can come in." Announced a rather loud and yet somber lady. Like she was forced here, what kind rich brat is this? A red-headed girl was there in the center of the room on a clear glass table. It was good by the hotel standards. Chipped paint at places, a simple walk-in kitchen right next to the living room with a plasma screen. Sadly, it has some cracks in the walls which I guessed were from the last storm. Some buildings in San Juan are sturdier than others, the hotel was not one of those places. My eye was caught by the girl in the center. She certainly fulfilled my expectation of rebelling her father by going the other direction. She wore an over-large shirt with that recycle symbol with a strange goat man on it. I think it was a monster from old stories. A satyr I believe. Her pants were formerly blank jeans that now have doodles and what looked like small paintings covering them.
"Did you fall asleep in front of a finger painting class,"I remarked under my breath as she played with her scarlet hair.
" You can set the food if you want. My friends should be here in a few minutes." She said nonchalantly flipping through a comic. It had a yellow stained clock with what looked like superheroes standing in front of it. I didn't know whether to feel glad she just skip the small talk and went straight to the point or insulted that she seemed to be avoiding my presence. Every time I tried to make eye contact she looked away getting her nose deeper into the comic. A bit strange doesn't even begin to describe this girl, but whatever as long as I get paid. I went through my usual routine for serving a table minus the talking. I place the plates, utensils, glass for drinks and flowers in the center. The flowers had a card written by señor Adriano. When I looked at it again through a message in golden ink was on it.
Sorry for siding with my brother, please don't send me to Tartarus. My part of the bargain is front and center.
With love and care, lord of the ocean's, the mighty Oceanus.
I wrinkled my eye's to get the sand out them and the message was still there. Before I could question what it meant the door flew open.
"Hey Rachel the coast is clear-" There was a trio of teenagers dumbfounded in the doorway and the strangeness continued. The trio was two boys and one girl, the guy to the left had furry legs. Not that he was hairy but in that he had goat feet. Hooves and all. The human parts looked like a pale-faced Jamaican with a permanent look of terror. Huh, maybe he has some grass on him, I haven't smoked in a while. The other guy and the girl were a bit more normal but gave off a more dangerous aura.
The guy from the right was the first to speak. "Wow, that smells great. Thanks for bringing it in man!" The response was forced. The boy was hiding something and his tone of forced complimentary showed it clear as the morning sun. The boy gave off tourist vibes, a typical dumb one at that. Tanned for a "blanco", short black hair and sea green eyes. I think he was at the local beach because he smelled of the ocean. Kind of a sailor or seaman type smell.
"We're Rachel's friends." the girl said seeming to force it out. Must have hated the redhead at some point. She, despite the goat legs of the left one and the more muscular frame of seaman, the girl gave the most dangerous aura. One that gave an impression that she was decided whether or not I'm a threat and what to do if I was.
"This is Annabeth, Grover, and Percy." Dare interjected. Just as uncomfortable as the other three, their stares intersecting on me. Waiting, watching my moves with a detail I have only seen veterans on the street corner possess. I guess the girl was Annabeth, the other names were harder to pinpoint.
"I'll take my leave, The food is under the metal domes and should be good. Manuelo worked extra hard on it." It came out a bit shrimpier than I wanted it to be but I felt uncomfortable with so many eyes on me especially with such fear. I'm used to people ignoring me more than anything. Dare grabbed my hand gestured me to the table.
"You can eat with us if you want. We don't mind." She was genuine in her statement but her eyes still darted the room, waiting for something to happen. Is she waiting for someone to come?
"Look if you're with child services, foster care or the police, I kindly asked them to leave me the hell alone when I got this job and I'm not leaving. I don't give a shit if you try to take me back, I will live my life by my rules." I railed at them. It was harsher than I wanted and more truthful as well. If I had to guess it was my emotions getting the better of me, I don't like having things being forced upon me. The guy with Sea green eyes was the first to react.
"No dude, we are not with any government or charity. Well official ones, Groover here is trying to start one for iguana removal here." The goat man who was apparently Grover, shifted uncomfortably when I shifted my eyes toward him. He seemed to regard me like I was ready to turn him into the spare meat for this feast.
"They are invasive, if they continue at this rate the only wildlife will be them." The goat man said reflexively which I think was for my benefit so he can show candor. Though I am not sure why yet?
"I believe the food has started to already cool down we can get to the talking later," Annabeth said with hurried breath and took a seat. She gestured for me to take a seat right next to Miss Dare. Why do they want me to sit with them? I started to set up plates and rolled off who ordered what, which was rather strange. The boy with the muscular frame, who I guessed was named Percy had ordered blue pancakes. Blue pancakes for crap's sake. Which matched with his blue jeans, blue sweatshirt and sea green eyes made him look he might spit or piss blue as well or was from an off-brand Teletubbies shirt from my last job in the flea market.
Now I know that might bring the image of him as this happy-go-lucky kid at heart type of guy, a teddy bear. I think a killer surfer would be infinitely more accurately. He seemed happy but I felt a readiness for something to happen at any moment. He was ready to start or end something if needed. It's just I couldn't tell what he wanted, like usually with tourist. This guy gave the idiot vibe but not the starry-eyed. He was laser focused on me, his food and Annabeth in properly not that order. He noticed my staring.
"You okay man?" he inquired with a mouth full of pancakes.
" Umm, I'll just give the rest of your dishes," I replied in accented English, maybe try for the confused spanglish waiter. I placed Grover's meal of cheese quesadilla with a fruit salad and a simple Cubano for the blond hair one. Rachel was enjoying the simplest meal of cereal and some buttered toast. That one was just insulting. Manuelo was planning a huge lobster he caught himself for this. "I'll leave you to your breakfast," I said coldly trying to tunnel my vision to the door and ignore the pale Jamaican goat legs.
"You see them don't you." Rachel said casually as I grasped the doorknob. "Grover's legs, they are wired but you get used to it." She spoke calmly while breaking at points to munch on toast. Great! rich girl is sharing my delusions.
"Rachel!" Annabeth yelled. "Fine! The direct route it is. We are from a summer camp for...our kind." My ear perked at the wording. Not these assholes again.
"We have recently been hit by some hard times and we really like would for you to come. Honestly, we can't figure how you lived this long without any help. We kinda assumed that there would be two others at least." The sea green boy added while the goat man nodded.
"Most -" I cut off the supposed goat man's words.
"Great more jackass pretending their Kalinagos. For the last time, no I will not join your "tribe", no I will not bring back my tribe stupid traditions and go fuck yourself for trying to get me involved in your activism." I didn't even care anymore I just let it all out, I don't care what they say I'm leaving. There is nothing they can say next that will shock me.
"You're the son of a god." Rachel let loose after finishing her bowl. Ask and I shall receive. The other three turn to face her at the same time I did.
"Rachel!" Yelled Percy. "He probably thinks we are saying bull-" He barely got the last bit before I threw a pot at him and ran.