Author's note Draft 2

If the story does not say draft 2, it's not the final draft

Edited on 10/24/21

Edited on 2/8/22

Life Worth 0

III-IV

III (Saturday, the 1st of June 1957. Flea Market, New Orleans, United States of America. )

Two years into her new life in New Orleans, Louise made her first friend. In the summer of her seventh year of life, Louise met Andrei John Hughes.

That day started with Louise and Neil going to the flea market with Louis to sell the food grown in the cypress community. Every once in a while there will be a surplus of food grown that would be sold in the flea market.

Louise was told by her and Neil to watch the food at the stall from being stolen because he was going to look for things needed for the Cypress community. While doing as told, she spots a boy with the most interesting hair.

He who had the brightest color of wild orchid hair, she had ever seen, and with the most stunning matching burgundy colors eyes to go with them, caught her interest. His nice English with a distinct Romania accent helped keep her interest.

Wondering why a boy who looks nine is wandering a flea market alone, she watched the boy see what he's doing. As she watched the boy, she noticed him stealing from the other stalls.

Thinking he would come to her stall next to steal from her made her wait for him.

When he tried to steal from her stall, she grabbed his arm and set him in a chair next to her. Then start on her own interrogation of him.

He seems vaguely amused that she kept on asking him questions, and too occupied by her to do anything like run away from her. She didn't mind him finding her amusing, because she was far more interested in him and his hair to let him decide it was time to go.

Wild Orchid wasn't a natural hair coloring, yet he insists that it was his natural hair coloring that made him more interesting to her. Looking at his hair root, eyelashes, and eyebrows made her believe him. So, she didn't ask about his eye color, thinking it was that color for the same reason his hair is that color.

"Why so much interest in my hair and not that I was stealing from the stalls?" He asked her not five minutes after questioning him.

"Because it's not my problem, you are stealing from them as long as you're not stealing from this stall, I don't care." And he laughed at her answer for three minutes straight.

She didn't get what was so funny, so she told him to. "Stop laughing."

" Why?" He asked with a sly smirk on his face.

"Because," She said with a scowl on her face.

"Because what?" He said to taunt her.

"Because I don't get what's funny," she says, pointing at him in his face.

"Well, this was fun, but I have to leave now." He says, getting up and walking away from her.

Still interested in him, she looks for Neil and finds him watching her and that boy interacting together. She asked him to watch the stall for her, and he said yes if she does something for him later. Agreeing to his terms, she went after the boy.

After searching for him for two minutes, she found him four stalls away from her stall and followed him.

It only took him a second to realize she hadn't stayed behind and throw an amused smirk over his shoulder that made her huff at him.

The kid, because he was more of a child than Louise had ever been herself, huffed out his obvious amusement with her and tried to ignore the fact he was being followed.

As he tried not to look like he was trying to escape her, she realized she could easily keep up the pace with him. Until he realized he could not lose her. Where he then stopped and looked at her pointedly.

She politely for her answer to his unasked question by grabbing his arm.

" You're very talented at stealing, and you are evading needs a little work." Was her deadpan response.

"Thank you, but why are you bothering me?" He said with an unimpressed face. "Can't you stalk someone else?"

She actually thought about her response to his question. Since Louis and Neil were here at the flea market today and Ista, Luthor, Halona, and Lynda were at the cypress community, she didn't have anyone to bug. And begging Lynda was not an option right now because she needs to spend time away from her to find something to do without her.

And finding him to be a bug would give her something to do on her own, and it was a good thing for her to do. Because everybody else had their own things to do most days by themselves, and Lynda was doing the same, they might not have time to spend with a lone-girl like her.

Louise had never been alone and not having something to do at the same time. It pays for her to have a schedule and a list of things needing to be done and things to learn to do.

At home, she had already done all the arts and crafts things, read all the books, and practiced all the things she learned from her clubs.

At the Cypress community, there wasn't anything much for her to do.

There was little else to do at the time. And that sucks for him to be her extra interest.

"I actually have nothing else to do that's as interesting as you are right now." She informed him dryly, shrugging a little at the incredulous look that answer earned her.

Andrei smiled at her unattractively for a few moments longer, but eventually gave a kind of shudder-shrug and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Okay, bye." He says, trying to walk away from her again, but she was still holding on to his arm, so that kept him in place.

Letting go of him, she stated to him that. "I will find you again." And then walk away from him for once.

"Wait... Why? " He asked, standing there.

"Because you're my new friend." She said over her shoulder, not looking back at him.

It wasn't until much later, when she was at the Cypress community and listening to Lynda tell her about her project on finding something to do when she was not around, that Louise absently realized she called him a friend and that she didn't know his name.

And that made her smile. Noticing that smile, she decided to make sure she finds him again.

IV (Sunday the 11th of June 1957. Cypress Community. New Orleans, United States of America.)

"Louise made a friend," Neil stated like it was no big deal.

"It rarely takes you this long to know something like this, Neil!" Louise deadpanned back, putting more eggs on her plate, as breakfast came to a stop for everyone other than Louise and Neil.

There was a kind of unspoken rules among the cypress community, or at least her family, that there are no such things as privacy. It is because the people of the Cypress community know what everybody does regularly and gossip in their own groups. Word gets around when you're not doing something you hadn't done regularly, and what you were doing, and the reason you're doing it, becomes known soon enough.

If you want privacy, act like everything you do is something you do regularly, so nobody thinks you need privacy.

Ista used this as an information gathering system for the Cypress community to keep track of each member of the community. The reasoning for keeping track of the people is because of the order in the Cypress community.

For example, the first time she was curious about what the elderly were doing all day and found out about them being the ones to make the Native Americans costumes for Mardi Gras. That night, Ista ask if she had fun with the elderly all day.

In the community, Ista knows what everybody is up to on that day, because it was her job as the Cypress community leader to keep order in the community.

"Louise" Ista questioned her with a gentle look while shooting her husband an annoyed look.

"He has wild orchid hair, and it looked interesting." She said, while thinking that should be enough of an explanation.

"And that is why you keep on meeting with him." Ista states knowing that wouldn't keep her child's interest.

" I think... No, I have a feeling... That he's going to be my closest and most trusted friend," Louise states that as if Andrei wouldn't be anything else but what she says.

That statement has gotten mixed reactions from everyone around the table.

From Neil and Louis's understanding face to Ista, Luthor, and Halona's surprise face. The only reaction Louise paid attention to was Lynda's general hurt in the face.

Seen this, Lynda jumped up from the table and ran out of the house into the bayou.

Before she could go after her, Louis told her to make sure Lynda understands she was not replacing her.

Running through the bayou was never truly a fun thing for her. As any kid growing up in a bayou can tell you, it's not safe. But it was exciting. The danger, oh the danger! The elements of suspense that at any moment could be your last out here. The moment, wondering if she was going to get attacked by any of the dangerous animals out here, if she was going to drown in the swamp, ever wondering if she will get lost in here and never give back to the community.

Growing up in a settlement in the bayou differed from my past life of growing up in the city of New Orleans. When I think of growing up in the 1950s New Orleans to 2000s New Orleans, I want to laugh my head off at how different the two time periods make this city feel like to grow up in. It is an infuriating topic to think about it. It was not living with Louis that I realized that I lived in the 1950s, in the past. The most I have ever worried about living in the 2000s New Orleans was if I would go outside and into some type of accident. But in the 1950s, New Orleans makes me worry about the problem of being African American and about the discrimination going on.

In the bayou, I don't have to worry about any of those things and the realization that comes with those things. The only thing I have to focus on is the danger of me being in the bayou.

Searching for Lynda was easy. She always goes to this relaxing area I set up for me to relax. I set it up in the relaxing area in this giant cypress tree that looked like Mama Odie's home from the princess and the frog movie. But instead of a ship in the branches acting as a house, there was a Treehouse I had Louis and Luthor help me build when I was four there. I made them carve stairs inside the tree with small rooms for me to store my things inside in front of the interest. I decorated the stairway with flowers I planted inside the tree. The opening-door to my Treehouse was made of beads made of shells hanging from the door line.

Inside the Treehouses, there were neon color pillows covering the floor and bookshelves covering all the walls. There was a small kitchen stuffed with snacks and drinks and a small bathroom with plumbing. On the ceiling were colorful glass bottles hanging like in Mama Odie's home.

Finding Lynda setting on her pillow was not something unusual when she wanted to give away. But seeing her cry it was.

"I Want To Be Alone!" She shouts it in my face.

"Hey, hey, it's ok, it's ok, I'm not replacing you," I say getting closer to her.

"You're my twin, I will not replace you." I stand while putting her head on my lap and running my fingers through her hair.

Ripping her head from my hands, she stated "If I was not your twin would you have replaced me?"

'This is getting into shaky territory. ' She's thought

"Of course not... I just mean that we were born into this world together, I mean that we were always supposed to be together." I told her as calmly as I can, treating her as if she was a wounded animal stuck in a corner.

"I thought that too once point a time, then you told me we needed time apart because what we were doing was not healthy, and when I found something to do without you, and you went on to find someone else to take my place and when it is time for us to be together again when it is healthy for that I won't have a place because whoever you spend your time with would have taken my place." Lynda cried, looking so vulnerable and waiting for me again, that I have to think about what a way to her next.

Still, looking at her at that moment made me realize that I didn't explain things to her, and I thought I did. And the reasons that if we stayed together, we would develop co-dependency on each other or at least her to me and why it is a bad thing.

Thinking about that makes me think that solved the predicament I had landed myself into. I sat there calmly to explain to her in more detail why we needed time apart.

After doing that, she seemed to calm down and put her head back in my lap for me to comb my fingers through her hair.

That should have been the warning sign that something was still not quite right.

And thinking nothing of Lynda's action, I asked her about our time apart.

Author's Note:

I have nothing to write down here right now, so please review