He tiptoed slowly to the door and craned his neck and was surprised to see a figure standing close to the flowers. The person's back faced him and he was a bit worried at not being able to see the face of the person.
He stepped outside quietly as he walked towards her, the silhouette turned and screamed and he jumped a bit.
The voice sounded familiar. It was none other than the famous Mrs. Richard. She quickly stomped her foot on something trying to kill it.
Was that a bug? Mark wondered.
" What are you doing outside at this time of the night?" She challenged him and he stared at her like she was an alien. Was he five?
Mrs. Richard maintained the scowl on her face as she squashed the object beneath her slip-on, it burnt her leg but she would take that over Mark having any dirt on her.
" Why are you staring at me like you lost your senses?" She queried.
" I know what you are trying to do"
" Which is?" Mrs. Richard cocked her head to the left to assess the useless fool that had the guts to challenge her.
"Make me leave this place so that you can continue whatever you were doing." He replied.
Mrs. Richard narrowed her eyes at him, and wiggled her fingers at him, "Go back inside and have a nap." She said.
Mark cocked his head, " I can't go back, is that what I think this is? You are smoking. How would your husband feel if he saw you doing this?" He challenged him.
"Are you out of your mind?" She inquired.
Mark stared at the woman before him, what would have forced her into being involved in smoking. " Why are you smoking?" He asked.
" You do know that you are liable to die young and leave your lovely husband to pain and heartache right? Is that what you want for him?" Mark asked again.
Mrs. Richard stared at him like a deer caught in the headlights. No one had the guts to challenge her and call her out.
"Instead of spending this time advising me why don't you take some of it and help yourself with getting your life together. Is that too much to ask for?" She challenged him and smiled at the look of annoyance that crossed his face.
Exactly what she was going for and she got it.
" Tell me how you expect me to get my life tougher when you pretend as if everything is well and don't even have your shit together. Make it make sense." Mark responded. His father-in-law's advice replayed in his mind. He had allowed her to intimidate him for too long.
Rarely did things take Mrs. Richard by surprise but this one managed to make her open mouthed, " How dare you speak to me in that manner?" She fired at him,
" I can reduce you to nothing in this house."
" I don't dispute that fact but I don't think it's right for you to cause a future problem to your children and a beloved spouse because of instant gratification. If you die, they will miss you." He said, purposely omitting himself because he knew that he wouldn't and it was only a matter of time before he moved on.
His wife and her husband might find it a bit hard to recover.
Mrs Richard felt a pain in her chest at the words he spoke because they were completely true. These were the people who would miss her completely if anything happened to her lungs.
" That's none of your business." She replied, gave him an ugly stare before rushing into the main house.
Mark watched her retreating figure and shook his head in wonder at how people were very careless with their health and later they'd take up spaces in the hospital looking for pity.
A lot of people's illnesses were self-inflicted and he saw it as a form of selfishness.
What was he supposed to expect from Mrs. Richard? She had never pretended to be a good person, yet her husband went ahead to marry her. He wouldn't be shocked if he was aware of her vice and decides to just let her be.
It was their family dynamic. He had to work to make sure that his family became very strong that no third party could break.
An idea filled his mind and he quickly rushed into his room to take a paper, he opened the drawer, removed his box of pencils and began to draw.
The idea poured in and he moved his hand across the blank paper loving the strokes he made. All things being equal, he was going to make it out of his artwork.
He was almost halfway done when he heard a piercing scream. No one had to tell him twice that it was Lacey, he knocked down the pencil and his painting as he ran towards her room.
He didn't want anything to happen to her.
Her parents were already outside her door before he arrived and they tried to call her out. " Lacey!"
" Lacey!" Her father knocked on the door.
They stared at each other, " I hope my daughter is not dead inside there." She said and Mark snapped into action.
" Easy with the door, I understand that you don't know how it feels to buy something this expensive." She said.
Mark rolled his eyes but didn't reply out of respect for Mr. Richard who looked at the room with fear in his eyes and also for the safety of his wife.
In one push, the door came off its hinges, giving it a wide berth and the parents jumped from the splice of the wood.
" My baby..." Mrs. Richard almost near tears when she saw Lacey lying on the floor.
" What happened to her?" She had begun to cry and the men stared at each other.
" Step away from her, she will come alive."
Mark felt her temperature and removed his hands. " She's burning."