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Mary's ❀ Marigold.

By Sierra Ginae.Published 3 years ago Updated 3 years ago 10 min read
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A West Texas mother has fallen victim to a parent's nightmare. Her “perfect” 20-year-old daughter has fallen into the grips of a not-so-perfect boyfriend. Not physically, but mentally.

The young girl’s mind was easy to toy with. Mary’s mental state was the easy target of her classmates. Mary had a severe case of OCD and was very superstitious. The four corners of her desk had to be touched every 10 minutes. Her classmates were eager to watch the episode Mary would have when the whiteboard wasn’t completely erased. Students also showed Mary videos of Black Cats, which would make her shake with worry. “Great, now my day is done!” she stressed. During lunch, students would open small packets of salt to spread around Mary’s tray just to watch her squeal of horror echo the lunchroom. But during her senior year, Mary met a boy. Ryan. A boy that didn’t care about her desire to have the poster in her locker perfectly measured and aligned, didn’t mind Mary taking the salt shaker off of the table when they dined out or didn’t mind Mary’s need to open and close all of her car doors before driving. “Mama, he’s the man of my dreams,” Mary said frequently.

Mary’s mother, however, saw things differently.

She saw signs of Mary being taken advantage of. Throughout the relationship, Mary always paid for their dinners. Their last two Christmases, Mary purchased Ryan a significantly large amount of gifts in comparison to Ryan’s five. Mary reached out to Ryan once a week in comparison to Mary’s everyday check-ups. “Mom, quit your worryin’.” she often told her mother. On a rare cold Tuesday, Mary’s mother dined at her favorite local restaurant with her friend, Georgina. The dinner was normal, until something caught her eye in the distance.

“Wait,” Mary’s mother mumbled, readjusting her body in her booth as she squinted her eyes in the distance. “Is that Ryan?”

“Ryan?” Georgina asked, swiftly turning around.

“Don’t look now! He’ll see us!”

“Tell me what you see,” Georgina plead, turning back the other way. “What is it?”

She observes. Ryan, at the far end of the restaurant, places his receipt at the counter, grabs the hand of an unknown blonde woman, and walks out of the building. Georgina watches the couple from their window as they drive away in Ryan’s car.

“I’m sorry, Lauryn,” Georgina sighs, gazing angrily out of the window. “How are you gonna tell Mary?”

“I don’t know. She’s not going to listen to me.”

Days later, Lauryn brought Ryan’s cheating allegations to her only daughter. A mothers' expectation of heartbreak and tears were met with a twist.

“Did he kiss the woman?” Mary asked her mother.

“No, but he held hands with the woman as they exited,” Lauryn said. “I know you don’t want to come to grips with his cheating, but you don’t hold hands with other women that you’re not romantically involved with.

Mary’s eyebrows scrunch. She sits up in her mother's run-down reclining chair, brown eyes repeatedly swiveling left to right.

“I knew it. It’s that damn black cat!”

“What?”

“4 days before that, I saw a black cat on our lawn! I said “Shoo, bastard. Shoo!”,” Mary expresses, voice growing with fury. “That animal messed up our relationship! I knew we were cursed the second I saw it!”

“Mary, I don’t think the animal has anything to do with-”

“As a matter of fact, I'm gonna find some sort of repellant that keeps those rascals away!”

“He doesn’t love you like you love him, Mary!” Lauryn shouts, stopping her daughter from walking out the door.

The words stop Mary in her tracks. Her long brunette hair flips on her left shoulder as she turns swiftly at her mother.

“You don’t even know what love is,” Mary snaps, glaring furiously in Lauryn’s direction. “Dad left you at the alter!”

Lauryn’s face tenses with hurt as she watches Mary storm to her vehicle, wheels screeching out of the complex perfectly exhibiting Mary’s anger. Words exchanged between mother and daughter are damaging and hurtful.

Mary had no plans to leave Ryan. After the confrontation, “Oh, that was just a misunderstanding.” was the only explanation Mary needed. Wanting their relationship to defy all odds, Mary purchased an excessive amount of Lucky Charms and decorated Ryan’s entire apartment. “I love it,” He lied. Mary couldn’t see beyond the obvious. The statement from Ryan alone clouded over his clear expression of disturbance. Later that night, he told Mary that he had to work and that he’d be back before 10. 10:00 came. Then 10:30. Then 11:30. Calls to Ryan’s phone went unanswered. At midnight, Ryan sent Mary a text.

“Hey babe. Got stuck at work. I’ll call you when I’m on my way home. <3”

Mary was smitten. In the bed that they shared, she leaned over on the dresser, plucking a petal from her other “good luck” charm, a plant she relied on to keep their relationship afloat.

“He loves me,” Mary says to herself, clutching the petal to herself.

Another day passed. There was no sign of Ryan. By day two, a drunken Ryan returned to his apartment, stumbling through the door. He appears angry, bitter, and somewhat disheveled. His brown hair is wet. His eye, bruised. A fight had taken place at a nearby bar.

“Where have you been,” Mary shouts, meeting him at the door. “I’ve been calling you nonstop! You haven’t been home in three days!?”

“Oh Mary, I don’t have time for this,” Ryan spats, snatching three of the good luck charm decorations off of the wall. “And take these ridiculous charms out of my place! Never liked them from the start..”

Stumbling into his bathroom, Ryan slanders the door shut. The disrespecting of her good luck charm leaves Mary heartbroken, drawing her to tears for the first time in their relationship. Mascara running on her cheeks, she sits on the side of her bed, snatching another petal off.

“He loves me not,” She mumbles to herself.

The next day, Ryan was gone. On the table, however, was Mary’s favorite. Strawberry pancakes, orange juice, two strips of bacon. Beside the plate, a note.

𝒮𝑜𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝐼 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹𝓃’𝓉 𝒷𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓌𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓊𝓅, 𝒷𝒶𝒷𝑒. 𝐿𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝒷𝑒 𝒽𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝑜𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉. - 𝑅𝓎𝒶𝓃.

Mary was once again, smitten. She jogged back to their bedroom, plucking another petal.

“He loves me,” She squealed in an excited tone.

But being out all night became a habit of Ryan’s. “I found a new job,” He relayed to Mary. Again, no further proof or explanation is needed on Mary’s behalf.

Mary’s 21st birthday passes. A big get-together is planned by her friends and family. 'Happy Birthday' messages flood Mary’s phone and social media. Everyone is at the party. Everyone has reached out. Everyone, except Ryan. No phone calls, no texts, no gifts, nothing. A naive Mary waits around but assures her family that he’ll arrive. The sun sets in Lauryn’s large backyard. Ryan is a no-show.

“Ryan got stuck at work, guys,” Mary assured her remaining relatives. “Don’t sweat it!”

Mary’s relatives knew that she was lying. Mary figured that they bought it. Eventually, she returns to Ryan’s empty and dark apartment, plopping down on the bed in the yellow dress and makeup that she flaunted that day. Flaunted for a man, that didn’t show.

“He loves me not,” Mary mumbles, plucking another petal.

Mary falls into the same routine. Ryan returns to his apartment the next day with another faulty explanation.

“Sorry, babe! Happy belated,” He smiles, greeting her after his 7am arrival. “Work got so busy, but I’m off tonight. Do you want to go out to your favorite restaurant tonight?”

“Yeah,” Mary croaked, half-asleep as she wiped the crumbs from her eyes. “Sounds great.”

“Alright. Make sure you’re dressed nicely. It’s pretty fancy!”

Ryan kisses her cheek, scurrying to the bathroom to freshen up. Mary smiles, leans over in bed, and plucks another petal.

“He loves me,” She thought in her head.

Months later, things change for the worst.

The excessive distance tweaks the mind of a usually naïve Mary. Something’s amiss. A day of not being at home suddenly turns into days. Calls and texts from Mary remain unanswered. One day, the saddened girl drives around their area looking for him to no avail. After 6 days, Ryan returns. Mary isn’t so easygoing this time. Her mind has been rattled.

“I haven’t seen you in 6 days,” Mary barked, hands on her hips as Ryan walked through the door. “Where have you been?”

“I have some news to share with you, Mary.”

She’s sat down. Ryan rests his hand on Mary’s leg. The Telltale Signs of a breakup.

“I’ve been seeing someone else,” Ryan sighed. “We’re getting serious, and-”

“How long have you been seeing her?” Mary interrupts, struggling to talk through her bubbling tears.

“Almost a year.”

Anger ravishes Mary’s body. Springing onto her feet, screaming she viciously snatches every good luck charm off of the entertainment room walls. Panting heavily, Mary grabs her Good Luck plant and storms out, leaving Ryan to bury his face in his hands, despite feeling no guilt.

That night, Lauryn was greeted by her crying daughter. As a mother and knowing this day would come, she already knew why. A shower, a fresh meal, and a place to stay were all a mother could offer her heartbroken daughter.

“I’m happy she can finally move on,” Lauryn relayed to her friend, speaking on the telephone after Mary fell asleep.

After hours, Mary did as she had done the entire day. Cried. With her plant on her nightstand, she snatched another petal off, repeating the same cheesy phrase in her mind.

“He loves me not….” She thought, bawling into her pillow.

For 2 months, Lauryn watched her daughter blossom into a more confident woman. Mary’s obsession with Ryan dwindled, she started a new job and began making her own friends.

One nightly phone call from Ryan, however, sent her back down the abyss.

“Please come back. I miss you,” He pleaded. “I don’t know what I was thinking, Mary. She’s no good.”

“You've never treated me right, Ryan,” Mary stated. “How am I supposed to believe you?”

“I brought new charms around my apartment and also sprayed my deck with the cat and animal repellant,” Ryan bragged. “Now nothing will come between us.”

With Mary’s obsession with superstition answered, and the same repeated little reassurance, she was smitten. She sat up in her bed, gathering her clothes for an overnight bag.

“I’ll be back over later tonight,” Mary smiled.

Jumping for joy, Mary snatched the last Yellow petal from her Good Luck Plant. The last petal ended with the phrase she had longed hoped for.

“He loves me! Mom! Mom!!”

Rushing into her mother’s living room, Mary shook her mother's arm as if she had won the lottery.

“What is it, dear?” Lauryn laughed.

“Mom, Ryan called back. He said he wants to get back together!”

The same story for the last 4 years. Mary forgiving Ryan for the same “crap”, as Lauryn called it.

“Mary, you’ve got to stop-”

“No mom, look, I did the “He loves me, he loves me not” test on my 'Good Luck' plant that I purchased when Ryan got his apartment, and guess what? The last petal ended with, “He loved me!” Mary expressed, still exasperated. “He just called before I pulled the last petal! It was meant to be!”

Mary, grabbing her packed bag, darted out of the arms of her safe home and into the arms of a manipulating man. Lauryn, again, is heartbroken. Looking at the plant in Mary's room in the distance, all that remained was a nearly wilted pistil.

The petals of what used to be a thriving Yellow Marigold represented the wheels in her daughters' mind. Both, were no more...

humanity
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About the Creator

Sierra Ginae.

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