Mercy's All That You Need

If Mercedes Valance had been awake, she would have been admiring the stars. That was what she'd climbed all the way up there for in the first place, but she'd had a long day.

Although it was a Saturday, her mother had awakened her at six in the morning to begin the day, which had been long, boring and filled with advanced calculus problems. She'd jumped at the chance to get away from her mother's tumultuous schedule, climbing up to the top of her roof as soon as the sun was showing its first signs of setting.

Mercedes lived for climbing up on her roof every day at sunset, simply staring up at the sky, waiting for it to darken and the twinkling lights she adored so much would make themselves visible.

After the long day she's had, she'd consequently fallen asleep while waiting for the stars. So when she finally woke up from her nap, she found that she'd been shivering through her sleep. For an Oregon night in the middle of May, it was a little chilly. It was well past dusk, probably inching closer to midnight for all she knew.

As she all but fell off her roof while climbing down the ladder, the only thing Mercedes could think about was how much of a cow her mother was going to have. She was surprised to see every single light downstairs still on.

This wasn't normal, she knew it was well past her mother's ten PM sharp bedtime. Mercedes had been fleetingly hoping that her mother somehow hadn't noticed her absence, that maybe she'd merely been absorbed in one of her favorite soap-operas all night, but then Mercedes knew there was more than likely no such luck.

What had she been thinking? Of course she noticed. Her mother began panicking when Mercedes was out of her sight for more than five minutes, and she'd been got for at the very least four hours. She had no idea where her daughter went on her nightly escapes, but that hadn't been a problem before because she'd only been gone for an hour tops. And why would her mother think of looking up on the roof for her? Mercedes knew she was in for it then.

Praying her Chuck Taylor's wouldn't squeak on the kitchen's linoleum flooring, Mercedes tip-toes her way through the sliding glass door that acted as the threshold to the back patio. She paused by the island, hearing voices filter through from the living room.

“That... no, that's not possible. You're insane. There's no way—it's unacceptable! I won't let you!”

One of them was hysteric, her mother always went into a frenzy when she wasn't in control of any situation. The other—the one she didn't recognize—was deep and masculine, and while it was calm, Mercedes could tell they were quickly growing frustrated with her mother.

“I don't think you understand the severity of this situation, Ariel,” They said slowly, their voice raising slightly in irritation. Mercedes obviously didn't have the slightest clue as to what was going on. She'd only witnessed her mom in such a state when she got lost at the local carnival when she was five. “She needs my help. She will die if you don't allow me to do this.”

“She's just fine, we've been doing just fine for the past eighteen years! I won't let you!” Her mother refused, her voice shriller than ever as it was shaking with both anger and fear.

Nothing else was said by the man, instead a thump rattled the walls and then the distinct piercing sound of glass shattering could be heard all throughout the house. Mercedes' heart jumped into her throat, and she didn't even think twice before she bolted out of the kitchen, through the short hallway, and into the living room.

Mercedes may not have known what was going on, but she did know that her mother was in a truckload of trouble. Upon entering the living room, she shrunk back a little, not expecting to see so many unfamiliar, intimidating faces all at once.

Four men sat cramped and looking uncomfortable on one of the two burgundy, floral print sofas. All were tense and alert as soon as they laid eyes on Mercedes. They all looked similar to each other, yet entirely different from what you would think you'd see in Mercedes' mother's living room. Tattoo's, piercings, and black galore. Mercedes was suddenly regretting her decision to crash into the living room uninvited. She'd obviously stumbled in on something she hadn't been meant to witness.

Quickly, her eyes flitted across the living room and to the source of all the commotion. A tall, muscular man with a buzz cut had her mother pressed up against the wall by the fireplace.

Just off to the side of where they were standing, one of her kindergarten pictures laid broken on the floor, glass shattered everywhere and the frame splintered. It was unnerving to see such a mess, such a scene in her mother's otherwise pristine living room. Mercedes forced herself to focus on what was going on.

“Mom? What's going on?” She squeaked, shrinking even further under the almost harsh gazes of the men still seated on the sofa. She wished she had the courage to stand up to the man who was completely shadowing her mother's petite figure, but found herself thankful that she couldn't see the look on his face.

Ariel was just barely thirty-seven, having given birth to Mercedes at the callow age of nineteen. Somehow, she'd managed to home-school Mercedes from when she was six onwards, and she really didn't even know how her mother pulled it off while being a single parent, but she did it. And she did it well. Her hair was the same wavy, sanguine red as Mercedes' and they both shared her dainty stature, but their resemblance in looks was as far as their similarities went.

She was the headstrong, what-I'm-doing-is-right-and-you're-wrong type. She always took charge of any situation you could possibly throw at her. Mercedes, on the other hand, was quiet, soft-spoken and docile. While she wasn't exactly known to follow what everyone else was doing, Mercedes did not like playing the leader. She hated bossing people around like her mother seemed to do so easily, she would rather have people make up their own minds and think for themselves instead.

Breathing heavily, the man slowly let go of her mother's shoulders, but did not step away from her any further than that. It was obvious he was trying to calm himself down, and when he turned around to face Mercedes, she was bewildered to see that he'd plastered a dimpled smile across his face.

“Hello, Mercy, it's a pleasure to finally meet you,” He greeted as he adjusted his brown leather jacket on his shoulders, his tone completely different than the one he'd been using with Ariel. “I'm Matt.”

Contrary to Matt's change in mood, Ariel looked absolutely rabid as she pushed past him to stand just a few feet in front of Mercedes. Neither she nor Mercedes picked up on the use of her nickname, which only her mother used for her. “Where were you, young lady? I've been worried sick about you!” She scolded, wagging her index finger at Mercedes in disapproval.

From the sofa, several of the men could be heard snorting with laughter. Mercedes could feel her cheeks heat up in embarrassment as she stole wary glances at the man she then knew as Matt behind her mother. Under his jacket, he wore a black v-neck t-shirt and dark wash jeans. From what little skin he had exposed, Mercedes could tell he was heavily tattooed, as were the rest of them men from the small glimpse she'd gotten of them.

“I was on the roof,” Mercedes began softly, stumbling over her words as she was still trying to figure out why there were five strange and downright scary men in her living room.

Just as Mercedes had predicted, her mother blew up. “On the roof!” She spat, making Mercedes flinch as she stared up at her mother with a hurt expression. She'd already been spooked from the shouting and loud noises from just a few moments ago, and she disliked being yelled at directly that much more.

Looking down, Mercedes concentrated on not crying. She was freaked out more then she'd ever been in her entire life. She was scared of the unknown visitors and on top of that, she'd made her mom angry with her. This wasn't turning out to be a good night for her at all... “Looking at the stars,” She muttered, somewhat sheepishly. Although she loved her mother dearly, she could get over-protective of Mercedes at the most embarrassing moments.

For as long as she could remember, Mercedes always had a thing for stars, and the sky in general. And when she was paying particular attention to them, she liked to be as close to them as possible. The best she could do was her roof.

Hesitantly, Mercedes sent a pointed glance between her mother and Matt and finally, Ariel seemed to catch her daughter's drift, but she did not so much as look back at him or even acknowledge his or the other men's presence.

“Uh—let's just say our parents know each other very well,” Matt said after a few moments of tense silence, dropping his dimpled grin to smirk in Ariel's direction. Of course, Mercedes still had no idea what he meant by that. After he gestured toward the men on the sofa, he turned back to Mercedes. “Why don't you go on upstairs? It's getting late and we've still got a lot to discuss with Ariel.”

Mercedes didn't want to leave her mother alone with those men. She'd never seen any of them before and while she was generally very accepting of strangers, these people didn't exactly have 'friendly' written all over them. She looked toward her mother, finding it increasingly difficult to look Matt or any of the men in the eye. “Do you want me to stay, mom?” She asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper as she made eye-contact with her mother.

Withering under her daughter's still-hurt stare, Ariel's gaze turned glassy with unshed tears as she looked like she wanted to reach out and hug her.

That freaked Mercedes out even further, but she tried her best not to let it show. Her mother was not one to cry. Ever. “No darling, you go on up and get some rest okay? Don't worry, I'll be fine.”

With how drastically her mother's mood had changed, Mercedes didn't know what else to do. Had she really just been let off the hook for all but falling off the roof? No more of a lecture than the one she'd already gotten? Seeing the strangers, her mother looking frazzled and worried, and the broken picture, Mercedes felt as if she were in some parallel universe. In just a few moments, everything had changed.

Even though Mercedes desperately wanted to stay with her, she hesitantly crept away from the archway she'd been subconsciously cowering into, and began making her way up the stairs. She lingered on the first step, hoping she could catch a few more pieces of their conversation.

“It's already started, Ar. Only a few months left now.” She didn't recognize this person's voice, meaning that someone from the sofa was speaking. Her hand clutched the banister tightly, trying to emit as little noise as possible as she made her way up the stairs at a snail's pace.

Who were they talking about? What had already started, and what was going to happen in a few months? Mercedes was hyperventilating by then.

At this, Mercedes' mother let out a strangled cry and she began to refuse what was being said just as vehemently as she had been before. That was all it took for Mercedes to scatter up the stairs and into her room as quickly and noisily as she could. She could not handle her mother crying as hysterically as she was just then. On top of all of the confusion, Mercedes was worried and scared for whoever they were talking about.

It sounded like these men were talking about something serious, something life-threatening, and it killed Mercedes not knowing what they were talking about.