Gina (DIAMONDS Q)
The False Family
Hair as black as ebony, lips as red as blood. If Gina were the main character in a fairy tale, she would definitely be the exceedingly beautiful princess hidden in rags. A princess who needs to be rescued by her prince from her unworthy life in the dirt. But let it be known, she was neither a princess nor would a prince come to her aid.
The neighborhood where she grew up was gray, broken, loud, cold, and covered in an indescribable crust of human and animal waste from a century. Finger-thick dirt on all surfaces as if it had never rained hard enough to let enough water flow through the narrow alleys to wash away all the blood, excrement, sun-scorched cadavers, and sweat from the streets. If humans were not able to neutralize their smells after a while in their own sensory world, it would not be possible to live there.
Gina was the oldest daughter of a tanner family. She had seven little sisters and her mother and father worked from morning until night in the tannery, washing animal hides with acid. Gina's sisters were too young and unskilled to help in the factory, and Gina, tasked with taking care of her little sisters, was headed for the fate of a tanner's wife, whose fingertips were slowly eaten away and whose eyesight was lost over the years by the sharp fumes.
Gina wasn't entirely sure if her parents were actually her parents. They were only 14 years older than her and neither their hair, skin, nor eye color matched hers. Her younger sisters, on the other hand, all 6 to 12 years younger than her, were clearly their parents' children. They were blond, skinny, with orange-tinted spotted skin, thin lips, and a long, distinctive nose. All of them resembled their parents, who also uncomfortably resembled each other in a sibling-like way.
Gina on the other hand had deep black hair that shone surprisingly despite poor nutrition due to their circumstances. She had a light olive-colored skin tone, a delicate figure with still strong muscles, surrounded by slight feminine attributes. Her nose was rather flat and sat centrally, symmetrical and slightly triangular like a cat's in her face. Her high cheekbones were adorned with freckles and a long, elegant neck followed her distinctive facial contour. These many details of her beauty, however, rarely received attention, as Gina's beholders were always distracted by her eyes. She had two different-colored eyes. One eye was a bright green that shimmered slightly blue and inviting like a mountain lake in the sunlight. The other eye was colored in a caramel-like brown tone and radiated warmth and kindness, which was rare in this area.
Gina used her beauty as currency. She could obtain life-sustaining things like food and hygiene products, as well as services like repairs or even medicine with her bewitching gaze. However, some bills demanded more of her than just a flirtatious look. Gina often paid for goods with her entire body. Surprisingly, she managed to leave her body in those moments. She didn't feel any of the things that were done to her and washed off the traces in the evening. She played this game for years without losing her warmth and ease.
She had created a circle of people who ensured her survival. The men from the bakery, butcher shop, and dairy were at her feet, but women also succumbed to her nature and gave her clothing and luxury goods. An older lady from the neighboring town was particularly captivated by Gina's spell. A wealthy area with expensive cars, valuable jewelry, and handbags more expensive than anything the people in her neighborhood owned bordered the dirty slum where Gina lived.
Sascha (Cross 7) was a middle-aged woman when she met 16-year-old Gina. They met at the street corner between both worlds, where dirt and luxury said good night to each other. A notorious corner. It was not possible for the rich to enter the slum unscathed, nor was it allowed for the poor to cross the territory of the rich without special permission, for example, for trade routes or similar. However, Gina always managed, as she only had to look deep into the eyes of the border patrol, and all gates would open. Sascha observed this act of youthful arrogance with envy and admiration. She herself had lost the beauty of her youth despite every effort, and therefore adorned herself even more with the supposed beauty of money. Perhaps it was the secret desire to adorn herself with Gina's company and, in turn, with the beauty of this girl that called Sascha to approach Gina and gradually open the doors to her world. Perhaps it was also the desire for a daughter. Gina knew her effect, and she also knew that it was her beauty that guaranteed her the loving attention of people. What she did not know for a long time was what love really is - until she met Darko (Spades 6). Darko, a boy from the rich district, was tall, strong, and slim, and moved with an androgynous elegance of a tiger. Gina and he met in a bar and secretly met there night after night for months. Gina was fascinated by Darko's way of describing things and his view of the world. Darko, like everyone else, was enchanted by Gina's beauty. Especially the sound of her rough, deep voice melted his heart. Without ever becoming physical, Gina loved her Darko more than she knew how to love. A love so deep that it hurt her. She had the desire to be him, to be one. Every kind of separation felt like he would take her with him and leave only an empty shell behind, to fill her with life again when they met again.
Darko was not an open book for Gina, he carried a weighty secret with him, and so it happened that what Gina always feared came true. Darko disappeared from one day to the next, without explanation, without warning. He was just gone and left Gina behind. It was as if Gina's soul detached from her and stuck in the scorching heat like a mirage forever in front of her. The agonizing longing and uncertainty robbed Gina of her radiance. Her laughter silenced, as did her speech, her skin wilted, and her hair thinned. For her family, she had become useless, and so Gina disappeared too. She ran and she ran as long as her feet could carry her. People sometimes told stories of seeing her in the woods. At night, when the moon shone brightly, one could see a green and a caramel-colored sparkle between the dense fir branches, and also a deep, rough laugh was heard from time to time.
To be continued...
A Game of Underdogs and Naked Cats.
A game everyone plays: life. Each living being draws a card. Is the story already written? Survival instincts are inherited, but knowledge and experiences remain individual. All circumstances shape life. Dirt leaves stains and stench. Weapons etch body and soul with deep scars, painting pain in a liquid form, sticky and bitter on your skin. Some are gifted with a shield of protection or wrapped in soft benevolence. Others are left with only the cold, hard ground. One has the unstoppable urge to hide, while others seek the stage, the light, and the grand performance. For some, the heart grows so large that they can hardly manage to distribute all the feelings it pumps through their veins evenly, in order not to lose consciousness. The others won't even spare a thought for the existence of a heart. Circumnavigating walls we build ourselves, ensnared in routines and drowning in processes, we live on. We smell happiness and simultaneously bite into rotten fruit. We dream of freedom and tighten our grip on objects until we can no longer walk independently. Some can fly and are fueled by envy. Some want to sleep and are envied for their determination. Everyone wants to love and confuses the path there with labor. All cards are constantly shuffled, and the game begins anew. Everything is interconnected and develops its meaning only in harmony. Everything is mad and delightful, impartial and infinite. Just as we would like it - or not?
