Friday, May 31, 2013

Chapter 2.24- Distracted




          Fish. Fishing. Seafood. All he wanted to do was let his little daughter in on daddy’s favorite things, but she stubbornly refused to say those words.







          Tibi already had a favorite daddy activity: Spending time with daddy. Why should she have to talk to him when she did it? Besides, she knew how to get him to play her way. Look at that. Isn’t she adorable when she makes her eyes all wide and smiles sweetly? Abuela taught her that move.







          Ignacio felt a little inadequate sitting there trying to figure out just what interested this toddler. What might tempt her to form the words he wanted her to say.

          The times Tibi babbled to Layla had been painful moments for him. Layla would smile brightly, and nod doing her best to hide the terror in her eyes. She felt she should be able to understand what Tibi said, she didn’t understand that the amount of time that needed to be allowed before she’d be able to hear the pattern in the child’s words.







But Layla wasn’t here today. Fall was closing in as the summer days became shorter and cooler and she wanted to make sure she found plenty of gems and metals to sell before they were hidden by the carpet of fallen leaves brought about by the change of seasons. If she wanted to have enough to purchase a larger home any time soon, she needed to find a lot, quickly.







          “Cawwit!” Tibi cried out startling her distracted daddy.

          “Yeah? Carrot? Maybe Miss Lala will grow you a carrot if you ask her.”

          “Miss Lala may-does,” shaking her head somberly. Her tiny tongue could not quite wrap around Layla, but Lala was an easy word and so Layla had become Lala instead. The girl also found watching Layla work her tiny garden fascinating, especially the tomatoes. She thought Layla was growing the bouncy balls Tibi loved to throw and chase.

          “To-May-Toes,” Ignacio enunciated for his girl. It would be a long day for sure.






          “What about an actual ball you can play with? What about baseball?”

          Like the little girl was going to cater to daddy’s wishes on that one. Her lips were sealed.







          “Tsi-gen!” Tibi cried delightedly after a moment in thought. (Chicken)

          “Hmm. Maybe you need lunch. We’ll try again later.”

          “Bok bok?”




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          He should have been the one introducing his girlfriend to his father. But Santiago had caught a pretty face amongst the guests of his wife’s annual Fall First party and couldn’t resist. And how had they managed to come dressed alike? Ignacio finally understood why girls got so upset when another female showed up wearing her dress.

          His mother loved to throw this party each year for her clients, only most of them were too terrified of being spotted to actually show up and most of the rest of those in attendance were only there for curiosity and didn’t really interact with each other, or their hosts.







          The gentle touch of his mother’s hand on his shoulder turned him around.

          “He didn’t even give me a chance to introduce her. He just went right up to her first thing,” he whined.

          “She’ll tell him very soon that you are her boyfriend, so relax,” she soothed. “Besides, she doesn’t know that’s your father. She’s actually thought he was Raul at first and is now very confused. But she has no idea of betraying you with your father. No matter his intentions.”






          “Wait, his intentions?” Ignacio drew up short.

          “Calm down. I already told you she’ll handle herself very well,” Sabria sighed. The family was used to Santiago’s roaming eye, but Ignacio had never had it rove over someone he considered his.






          “Your hair is so much like moonlight,” Santiago’s voice drifted to them. “I would love to see you stand outside so I can tell just how closely your eyes match the stars.”

          “Oh,” Sabria said. “Oh he changed tack on me. I’ll go rescue her. Damn him. Stand here. You’ll embarrass her if you go. She knows who he is now and it’s starting to creep her out.”

          Reading the tension on her sons face, she laid a hand on his shoulder. “It’s alright. Really. She just doesn’t know how to stop him without being rude.” And she swept off as Ignacio’s siblings materialized.  Ignacio knew the drill as well as they did. Time to distract the unhappy couple their father had tried to get in between at yet another party. Only this was the first time it had ever hit so close to home for any of them.






          “He is drunk and he is an ass and he did not realize you are his son’s girlfriend,” the woman told Layla without preamble. “Mom knows how he is and she is not hurt and she does not blame you one bit. Neither do any of the rest of us.”

          Standing quietly for a moment Layla tried to reel in her thoughts. Who was this? Her words were accented almost as Ignacio’s were, only more heavily. Though maybe she could find traces of resemblance in her face too? Maybe not.

          “Sorry,” the woman said. She stuck out one hand in the same brusque manner as she had approached with. “Nalleli. Ignacio is my little brother.”






          “Oh! I didn’t realize-” Layla tripped a little over her words. “I didn’t know-It’s nice to meet to you.”

          As the two women attempted to get past the awkwardness of having ones father hitting on the other, Santiago passed by his sons deep in a discussion of ancient Egyptsims methods of mummification and what happened when the process sometimes went wrong.

          “You should have told me that is your latest piece of-” he snarled.

          “-You don’ want to finish that.” Ignacio interrupted.

          Eyes narrowing, Santiago passed on muttering under his breath.






          But Raul had gained an idea by what his father had said. Across the room, Layla was unaware that yet another of Ignacio’s family members watched her closely.






          “So are you guys getting married any time soon?”

          “I’m-uh-ah-What?”

          “You have lasted longer than anyone else,” Nalleli continued as matter of factly as she had begun. “And I know that you survived Mom’s First Interview: spook predictions, your past deeds, threats and all. And Mami says you are going to be around for a while so we just kind of figured.”

          “Threats? Your Mother didn’t threaten me. Well, she did some strange faceplam move and she did indeed do the spooky predictions and brought up my past. But no threats.”

          “Wow. That’s kind of her thing. It is always how she manages to get the girls to run. I got to watch her do it once, she was seriously frightening.  Pretended to predict that all kinds of horrible stuff would happen to her if she stayed with Ignacio. He never knew that part, but he could never believe anything bad about Mami.”

          “Imagine that.”




 

          Abruptly, Nalleli turned to peer at her brothers.

          “Really,” Layla continued without noticing. “Your mom wasn’t too frightening. I kind of thought she was sweet. I loved the story of how she first met your dad too.”

          “Uh-huh,” Nalleli’s eyes narrowed and she turned back to Layla. “How she saw him sitting by her side? Yes. She loves that tale. Tells it all the time. Like it justifies how she’s stayed with-”

          And she clamped her jaw tightly closed.

          “Do you like fishing, too?” Nalleli asked, changing the subject abruptly, making Layla blink in surprise.






          “It’s got to be started soon if it’s going to work out,” Raul spoke quietly, those the noise around him wouldn’t have made eavesdropping easy anyway. “Are you sure Matthew is on board to move it all out?”

          “I have already gone over that with you,” Ignacio answered. “He understands the situation and is sympathetic. We have even worked out the best times for me to deal with him so it doesn’ look too suspicious.”

          “You’re positive he’s sympathetic?”

          “Yes. He doesn’ like it any more than we do and is prepared to assist.”






          “You better be safe,” Raul’s brow had lowered. “I don’t need you taking unnecessary risks just because you think you can. Are you sure people are still avoiding you?”

          “Iggy has actually taken my brother Cyrus out and shown him some spots,” Layla was still talking to Nalleli. “But we’ve never gotten around to it with just each other.”

          Nalleli hadn’t taken her eyes off of her brothers. Raul had something new up his sleeve this time and had somehow managed to rope Ignacio in. She’d hoped that wouldn’t have been the case, but hopes rarely do anything other than disappoint in her experience.  






          Her jaw hardening in distaste she briefly debated on pulling Layla off somewhere to perhaps enlighten her, maybe convince her to convince Ignacio to get himself out of it all. Nonsense. There was nowhere in the house that was private right now. Maybe she could invite Layla over sometime, or maybe out to lunch.





          “I just want to make sure that Layla stays out of it,” Ignacio said. “She is not going to make drops for you, and you stay away from her and her things. That is my house now too, and we are not funding your enterprise.”

          “I would really like to take you out to lunch sometime,” Nalleli said, still very distracted as she puzzled over what Raul's newest plans could possibly be. “Do you usually go home for lunch, or have you been to the diner?”

          “Her assistance could be lucrative for us if we add her,” Raul said. “Really, let’s face it, if she made drops too we’d double the good we’d be doing. Double our meager profits, too.”

          “Who hasn’t been to the diner?” Laughed Layla. “For a solid month after I’d arrived in town Sally- Sixkiller, my cousin- took me as often as she could in order to meet as many people in town as possible. She didn’t do much introducing though. Just pointing and a brief life story. Though there were quite a few people I didn’t spot there. You for instance.”






          “Layla stays out of it or I am out of it,” Ignacio said firmly. “She has no ties here and I have no problems telling what I know to the police and dragging her and Tibi into hiding with me. You would never find me, brother. Stay away from my girl.”

          “I can ride a broomstick upside down!” Nalleli popped out as she had completely lost the thread of the conversation as her mind worked.

          “No need to get so touchy,” Raul sneered. “We’ll leave her alone.”

          “Ok,” Layla was completely mystified trying to figure out where that came from. “That’s-uh- that’s really-really neat.”







          “Check out the pigtails on Cruz,” Nalleli pulled Lalya near.

          “I mean it, Raul,” Ignacio leaned forward menacingly. “You will swear it on Mami’s life that you will leave her alone.”

          “I saw that,” Layla’s eyes were wide in merriment. “I thought that was just the trend for men in Lucky Palms! I never dreamed it would hit here.”

          “Fine. I swear it. We will leave her alone,” Raul stormed off the moment he had said it and Ignacio deflated.

          Nalleli heard Raul's growl over the buzz of people in the room and sighed with relief. Maybe she wouldn’t have to tell Layla anything at all. Maybe Ignacio would tell her when he needed to. Or maybe her not knowing meant he’d try to get out of the scheme more quickly.

          “Go find my mother,” Nalleli told her instead, finally remembering what the pair had been talking about. “Ask her to join us for lunch tomorrow, eh? I want to talk to your boyfriend for a little bit.”



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          Layla thought there were plenty of people in the living room, but the bathroom was obviously the happenin’ place to be. Here she found Sabria and several other guests along with Santiago.

          Dear PlumbBob, what was her cousin Silas wearing? And Santiago was kind of freaking her out with the stiff looks he kept shooting at her.






          “So Nalleli and I were planning on going to lunch at the diner tomorrow. Would you like to join us?” Layla asked cheerfully. It was unnerving though. Why was everyone in the bathroom?






          “How sweet of you to remember me, but no thank you. In fact, I’m not sure this week will be a good one for you either,” Sabria answered. Layla’s face fell.

          “Oh, my dear,” Sabria caught herself. “I’m sorry. You’ll just probably have a much better week if you stay close to home. I’ll even let Nalleli know that you won’t be able to have lunch with her for a little bit. Ok? And tomorrow, I’ll even come by to help with Tibi.”

          Layla looked at the woman baffled. Why would she need Sabria’s help with Tibi? Ignacio was always there if Tibi was there.

          Santiago and Cornell Riffin finally left the bathroom making it feel much more roomy. Too bad Silas still stood there staring a hole in Layla’s head.






          “Is there something I need to know?” she asked slowly. She’d really rather not know if something is going to happen, but Sabria was making it sound like some disaster was about to happen.

          “You’ll know when the time is right,” Sabria said gently. “Just remember: Time is always precious.”




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Arrrrgh! No one would do what I wanted them to do. Blast them all to hades. I wanted Sabria to be the one to talk to Layla, not Nalleli. And Nalleli was wearing that ridiculous skirt and my game kept freezing (so there was no way I was opening CAS to fix it) and Santiago keeps trying to flirt with Layla and then I could Not get Sabria out of that bathroom. Obviously my game knew I was trying to do something particular and determined to foil my attempts. So! Lots of tidbits, not many answers. Stuffs next time. Hang on folks, Mr. Toads Wild Ride is about to begin.

Oh, and isn’t Nalleli lovely? There's a shot where you actually see her face on the bloopers page. Also, while all this was going on Sally aged up to YA. I did open her up to save her to the bin (and fix her hair and eyebrows and outfit) And not ten sim minutes later she’s married to Ottawa. (check her bin save and sure enough, Sally Fox) The very next pop up I get? Guess who’s expecting? So we won’t see her as soon as I had originally planned, but she’ll be around again.

And there are a million bloopers up for this one. They all had far too much fun with their conversations and I wanted to use it all So badly, but couldn’t. For instance, everyone seemed very much to want to talk about death. Lol. So go check out the bloopers and have a laugh at their expense.

And last- It’s officially summer break and my updates are going to slow down quite a bit as we spend a Lot of time in the pool and I have youngsters to entertain all day long. Lou will go to a summer program starting next week, but my son’s summer program doesn’t begin until July and I’m doing a lot of his pediatric therapies at home in the meantime and those take a lot of time. Also there is a two week vacation at the end of June/beginning of July where a solid week I won’t even have internet. *cries. Just bear with me, the Sixkillers aren’t going anywhere.

16 comments:

  1. I love this chapter, though I feel your pain on trying to herd Sims into dong what you want.
    I've had more than a few bathroom parties; Sims just love their plumbing, I guess, lol.
    And, LOL, pigtails! It's a fashion trend that will hit all our towns!
    Santiago is a hoot, hitting on his son's girlfriend. In front of the whole family. Smooth.
    I love Nalleli.
    So, 'drops' huh? Can't wait to find out what Nacio's family is into.

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    1. Thanks! It was nice to get back to 'sims in the wild' stuff and then bending it for my particular use. It's more fun that way.

      Oh yay! So it's not just my sims that think the bathroom is where the party is really at. That drove me crazy. But at least I genuinely think Silas had to go as he finally shooed everyone out. lol

      Yes! Men in pigtails will spread like wildfire now that they've all seen Shawn in all his beribboned glory. Though at least Cruz hasn't jumped on that particular bandwagon yet!

      I could not believe that one. And Ignacio just stands there and pouts at it instead of stepping in. Crazy simmies.

      Nalleli's neat. I really didn't think I'd get to introduce her so that was a pleasant surprise when she showed up. The upside down witch speech bubble though was what really made her appearance nice. I've not ever come across that one before.

      Just Raul and Iggy. No one else in the family is fully aware of what they're doing yet. But it should be interesting to see it play out.

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  2. Right, I don't have time. I have 10 minutes to get to the sisters, so I'll leave you with this to mull over, and come back to do a real comment later.
    “To-May-Toes,” - uh, actually, it's "Tuh-Mar_Tuhs."

    That is all.

    Oh, actually...
    The two weeks end of june beginning of july?! THAT's the two weeks I'm off work and can spend all day and all night online!! And you won't even have INTERNET?!

    (Also, you've ruined my make-up. It's hot, so I've got marcara of the non-waterproof variety on, and then cried laughing at this)

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    1. Bwwwahahahahahaa! Poe-TAY-to, Poe-Tah-TOE, Tu-MAY-toe, To-Mah-TOE, Let's call the whole thing off! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2oEmPP5dTM Yay for the new song stuck in my head of the week! I like that one. lol

      Yup. June 25th through June 7th? I think? And the week without internet ends on the 4th I believe. Yeah. No internet for me. *sniff. It's horrible thinking of it. We'll barely have phone service even. We're talking backwoods Georgia. One day his mom will get that house wired for phone and internet we hope. (It's an old plantation house she's restoring.) As it is it doesn't have central heat and we're all praying the central air will be installed by the time we get there.

      And just wait till you see my bloopers. I know how you love those!

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    2. I'm baaack!
      It's tuhmahtuh, and puhtaytuh. Neither of the versions in the song fit my accent.

      :'( How dare you!?

      Anyway, LOLed at the pigtails (we call them bunches here.)
      And well done writing in all those speech bubbles! You had some very random ones, but you made it work!
      Tibi is adorable in that second picture. Awww. (Who's Abuela?)

      Santiago really does look like Ignacio! The genes must be strong in that family. Raul looks very similar too (but he's got that teenage-chubby-cheeks syndrome). Love how Santiago introduces himself by flirting! Are he and Sabria still together, or are they separated?

      Love how you kept swapping between conversations! I wonder what Raul is upto? And what these 'drops' are!
      Nalleli first distracts Layla from her father, and then from what Iggy is doing, and then gets distracted by trying to hold a coversation as well as eavesdrop. Brilliant. The upside down broom thing? That was what had me crying.
      And, the entire time Layla is thinking 'man, I'm tired.'

      I wonder what Sabria was hiding? I'm with Layla, don't think I'd want to know, but I'd be curious.

      My sims have bathroom parties too. In some downtime (while I was waiting for the twins to age to toddler), Bonnie threw a party. Kaity attended, Shaena, Madi, Geoff, Taylor and some guy were all there. The guy was in the bathroom, and Kaity fancied a bit of fun, so got her flirt on. Then her mother crashed the party. Loads of fun. Especially as Bonnies bathroom is hard enough for routing for one sim, it was a nightmare for three!

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    3. Lol. That's okay. We'll slip them in there somehow.

      Bunches. Oooh, okay. I get that better now. Thank you!

      Very random speech bubbles. I've never seen the upside down witch before and was fascinated. I kind of thought it was a mistake at first.
      Hence the title- Distracted. Even Ignacio was distracted while working with his darling little girl. Everyone is all distracted.

      Poor Layla. She kept trying to go home and I wouldn't let her. lol. She was ready for bed!

      Lol. Bathroom parties. So long as it's not only my nuts who all wanted to hang out in there.

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  3. That was fascinating! I can't wait to find out what Raul is up to and why Sabria wants Layla to stay home... Also, Ignacio's dad hitting on his girlfriend was funny in a train crash kind of way

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    1. Yeah, it was hard to look away once he started. I really didn't want to lose control of Layla for even a second in case I needed to cancel something really quickly, but thankfully he suddenly went off all on his own and I was able to pop Nalleli in there.

      We'll find out why Sabria wants Layla home next time. It'll take a little longer to find out what Raul and Ignacio are up to though.

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  4. Heehee, su abuela le enseno bien. Look at that face, so adorable! Sheesh Iggy, try talking about something SHE likes, lol. Poor Layla, I feel her on that. It's often difficult to understand small children if you're not used to the way they talk. Yay, I understood may-does the first time I read it!

    Baseball? Iggy. Really. smh.

    Geez Santiago. Intentions? That's only a little creepy. That's right daddy-o, she's not just some piece of ass, so back off. I wonder though if Santiago was embarrassed or really just upset that Layla was already claimed. But I did like Nalleli's approach to Layla. Soooo direct and covered all the bases.

    Hm, so Sabria gets the girls to run, then? Well isn't that an interesting turn of information. Maybe he's not so much of a womanizer as everyone thinks, it's just that his Mami runs them all off with facepalms.

    Whoa now, Raul and Iggy are in some shady business it sounds like. Make the drop? Stay away from her things? This doesn't sound good. That's some interesting advice from Sabria, there, too. What a chapter!

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    1. Very well! I loved that face she kept pulling. I've never really noticed it before, but it's really intelligent and I love it. Kind of puppy-ish too. May-does is a Lou word and I couldn't resist popping it in there. And the first year she was old enough to get that Mommy has a garden she really did think they were bouncy balls and I'd catch her plucking them and throwing them all over the yard. Now at least she waits until they are somewhat red before snatching them off the vine.

      His topic choice were really all over the place. And the ones she wanted to talk about were priceless. They're in the bloopers.

      I think he was upset that she was claimed by someone he cared about. Though he and Sabria were the first residents of the bathroom party, so I can guess what Sabria did to keep his attention firmly in place. lol

      What do you want to bet that Mami also told them all that if they told anyone what she'd said that their skin would turn blue and their lips would fall off? lol

      We'll see what those two are up to later on. It might not be as awful as it sounds. Though I know it's not wonderful either.

      Oh yes. And she'll heed it to, because she has to. ;)

      Thank you!

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  5. You gotta love family, lol! How funny that Layla was hit on by Iggy's dad, talk about your awkward moments!

    At least they had a fairly large bathroom for their bathroom party. My sims usually only have just enough room for a shower, toilet, and sink (and now with IP all in one bathroom, they are even smaller, lol!) so they route fail over and over!

    I actually love Nalleli's rainbow skirt! =)

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    1. It was even worse when she reciprocated! I have a hard enough time getting her to do anything romantic and here's Santiago and she finally starts pulling it all out. Very awkward! lol

      Oh I know! You'd figure they'd all hang be route failing constantly, but thankfully Silas started to shoo everyone out for me (as he seemed to have a legitimate reason for being in there.) And they all left quietly. All.But.Sabria. She just had to stay in there to torture me. I haven't installed my IP yet and can't wait to see this bathroom! I'm sure there will be route failing coming soon!

      I like that skirt, it's pretty, but it's not her almost at all. It made me laugh really. One of these days I'm going to stay on top of outfit changes when important characters age up. One day...

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  6. Laughed loudly several times while reading this, and I kept reminding myself my 7-year-old is trying to sleep.
    Ignacio's brother sounds like he's doing something illegal. I like how Ignacio adamantly demands Layla have nothing to do with any of it.
    Oh, and 'Lala'? Teletubbies! I don't know if I'm the first to think of that because I haven't read the other comments yet. I wanted to type before I could forget my thoughts.
    Ugh! Being flirted with from your BOYFRIEND'S dad! /shudder
    Then, the bathroom!!!! LOLOLOLOLOL! Why do they always do junk like that? Mine are usually congregating in the bathroom, always asking everyone else to leave, or they're stuck at the front door because somebody is blocking it. Several times, I've gone and moveobjects on to get them to move. Then I might have to reset them, but my pics are better! Oh, and then cake! They all want the cake at the same time. I'm babbling. Stupid fever is back.

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    1. Lol. And 7 year olds hear eve.ry.thing when they're supposed to be sleeping, don't they? xD

      Raul does sound a little underhanded doesn't he?

      LOL! Now all I can hear is "La La!" We had a Lala doll. lol. Oh man!

      Yeah. That was nuts. I seem to recall them heart-farting all over each other too. Attraction system out to make a fool of the maker yet again.

      Why the bathroom??? Ugh. To get them in the door I've sometimes put in extra doors near the front door until they're successfully in the house. :/ Though I've also accidentally had the host standing somewhere super awkward so that everyone bum rushes that particular spot. Ha! The cake. Ugh. That bum rush with resultant toe tapping is bad. No! No more fever! *Be Healed! lol

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  7. Layla is so pretty with her hair up! No wonder Iggy's naughty father hit on her... lol!

    I wonder what kind of shady business Raul is into...

    Sabria, why so ominous?! Way to make Layla (and me!) feel antsy!

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    1. Santiago and Layla were constantly heart farting at one another. So annoying. lol

      Mmm! We shall see!

      Lol. Sabria is ominous because she enjoys the attention the act gets her. That and she's been putting on the act for so long to make money she forgets to drop it sometimes. lol

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