“Why Anna? Why? Why do you make me do crazy things to you?” His face was solemn and contrite.
She stared at him for a long moment. There was a crazy, furious light in her eyes that made him flinch.
“You nearly killed me, Caesar. What could I have done to you that would make you try to kill me? Your only sister?” She was looking directly into his eyes. Those green accusing eyes really bothered him.
He grimaced and cursed under his breath.
“You know me, Anna. I’m really crazy in the head. I do crazy stuff. And you! you always play with my feelings. Things I don’t want you to do, you always do them. And I get mad. And when I get mad I don’t know what I’m doing,” he said helplessly.
“You’ve got to get control of your emotions, Caesar. One of these days, you are going to do something bad. Something you will regret but the harm has been done. And there would be nothing you would do about it.” She paused for some moments, then went on. “What made you stop Caesar? You nearly killed me, so what stopped you?”
Caesar licked his lips.
“Mother! I saw the face of our mother.”
Marianna sat up in his arms.
“You saw the face of your mother? She asked.
He nodded.
She studied him for a moment, not believing him and thinking his undiagnosed craziness was really affecting him.
“You are crazy, Caesar. I hope you know that?”
Caesar did not know what to say. At that moment, the thought of the man he had fought with that night came into his head and all her words blurted out of his head.
“That man…….that man,” he began. “Who is he? You’ve not told me anything about him, Anna?”
“I told you he’s my boyfriend,” She seethed out.
“You’ve told me that already,” he replied impatiently, angry that she had reminded him about having a lover and hating that he couldn’t do anything about it. “Just give me a few details, that's all.”
Marianna shook her head. The way Caesar had beaten Victor that night was still imprinted in her head. She had been so stupid. She shouldn’t have let Victor come with her to the church. She had made a mistake and he had paid for it. But she had seen to it that he was okay. He was in a safe place now. She had made sure of that. She was going to protect him. No way was she going to tell Caesar anything that could hurt the love of her life. She had loved the way he had clobbered Caesar. She held a feeling he had deliberately held back when he was fighting Caesar and she wondered why.
All these while she was thinking, Caesar was staring hard at her. He noticed the flickering of emotions going through her face and he knew her mind was busy with thoughts. But thoughts of what? What the hell was she thinking about? when he could not stand it any longer, he growled at her.
“Anna! I’m still waiting.”
Marianna jolted back to reality.
“What? What did you say?” She blabbed.
“That man? Who is he and what’s his name?” He questioned. “You know there’s something weird about him,” he said as an afterthought.
“What is it?” She said, caution in her voice.
“That man punches well. His punches are solid and good. Too good. I’m a good fighter, Anna. I know when I’m fighting a formidable enemy. I have a feeling in some way he’s way stronger than I am. Very strong I must say. I had this feeling I was fighting something inhuman.” he felt her stiffened in his arms.
“Inhuman? what do you mean?” she said through locked teeth. Knowing the way the mind of her brother works, she was beginning to dread this conversation.
He gave a funny laugh.
“I don’t know how to say this, Anna. Call me crazy but I had a feeling I was not fighting a human being. It was like I was fighting something supernatural. Let’s say an animal.” he concluded.
“Animal? You talk in riddles, Caesar.” she said, a feeling of fear, uncoiling in her.
“That man felt too strong. Perhaps he's not human.” He declared.
“Nonsense! That punch to your face must have really affected your brain. You need to have yourself checked.” She said, her knuckles, white and tout against her glistening red lips.
“I had a feeling he was holding back. Deliberately holding back, I presumed,” Caesar went on, not even paying attention to her. “I had a feeling he could beat me. But still let me beat him. If that man had not hit him on the head I would be finished.” Then he suddenly gripped her. “Who is he, Anna? Tell me about him. Or are you hiding something from me?” He was holding her tightly now.
“Caesar! You are hurting me.” she wailed.
He quickly relaxed his hold on her. He was quiet for a long moment, then he began to talk.
“Damn you, Anna! What are you hiding from me? What’s going on in that head of yours?” And that was when he heard her snoring. He wanted to wake her up but he held himself. She was weak and tired and exhausted. He was also tired too. With the rigor they had both gone through that night, he knew they both needed their rest.
He regarded her face for a long moment. Then with her in his arms, he got to his feet and went up the stairs to her room. He placed her gently on the bed, raised her head and placed the pillow beneath it and covered her body with the duvet. Then he went out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
He was walking down the staircase that led to the living room when he heard the doorbell ring. He stiffened, his hand on the staircase rails. He cocked his ears and listened again. Then he heard the doorbell again. He went down the flight of stairs, walked into the hallway then to the door. He shifted back the door bolt and opened the door.
His face widened into a shock , then quickly squeezed into a frown.
Ara stood at the entrance. She was wearing an expensive sleeveless white dress. Her hair was piled high on top of her shapely head and she wore gold earrings and a gold chain around her neck. She looked like one of those city, beautiful, sophisticated women.
“Hello Caesar,” she said, her eyes warm and friendly. Then it suddenly became full of horror when she saw his face. “My God!……..”
“What the hell are you doing here? Didn’t you check the time?” He seethed out hating her seeing his face this way.
Still shocked, she shivered at the harshness in his voice and lifted her thin shoulders.
“I…..needed to see you,” she babbled, and shivered again. “Can I come in? It’s so cold out here,” she folded her arms around her and began to rub her shoulders. “Who did this to you, Caesar? You look so bad.”
Caesar regarded her for a long moment. How can a woman be so persistent? Can’t she see he was not interested in all these shenanigans?
“Look Ara…….” He began but she broke into his words.
“Caesar, If you are not going to tell me anything, then fine. But I’m freezing here. Let me come in.” she said in a shaky voice, her eyes pleading with him.
Cornered like a rat in a lion cage, Caesar grunted and stepped aside. She gave him a weak smile and walked into the house. He swore under his breath and slammed the door shut. He stood there motionless, rage of anger washing over him. When he felt better, he walked into the living room.
She was already sitting on one of the couches, her long legs crossed. A cigarette was burning furiously between her slim fingers. She looked relaxed and well tended.
“What took you so long?” She asked, her eyes watching him and noting the scrawl on his awful face.
“None of your business,” then he waved his hands at her impatiently. “Just what the hell are you doing here, Ara? What do you want?”
“You!”’ She said solemnly. She released a long, thin smoke and moistened her lips with her tongue. “I want you, Caesar. That’s all.”
Caesar began to prowl around the room with nervous energy.
“Then you can’t have me,” he said gravely. He pointed a thumb at her. “I’m only letting you here because of the respect I have for your father. If not……,,” he left the word unsaid but he knew she got the meaning.
Ara smiled but it did not reach her eyes.
“What happened to your wedding?” She asked, looking directly into his eyes. “Is that where this happened?” She pointed at his face.
Caesar, caught off guard by her questions, turned red, then white, then red again. Of course she must have heard about what Selena did to him. Did he think a news like that won’t go around? Selena! He hadn't thought about her since he got back from the wedding. That damned bitch! She played him for a sucker. He will fix her. By God he would.
“Look at you! Look at your face!” She jeered at him. “I heard how you fought a man because of Selena. I heard everything. Never knew it was this bad. Well, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. We are all humans. Humans tend to make mistakes,” then she narrowed her eyes on him. “I warned you about that bitch! But your thick head won’t let you think. How could a man like you have fallen for her gimmicks? How?” She was looking at him with total disgust and the look in her eyes irritated him.
“Keep out of this, Ara. I will fix Selena when the time comes.” he snarled. “But keep out of this.”
Ara regarded him for sometime. Then she crushed out the cigarette in an ashtray beside her and got to her feet. She regarded him thoughtfully.
“Now that Selena is out of the way. Then it’s best if you consider us.” she said evenly.
“Us?” He said, lifting his eyebrows amusedly. “There’s no us, Ara. Don’t be foolish.”
“There is. You're just too blind to see it.” she came over to where he stood.
He held his breath, knowing what she was trying to do, what could happen if she did it and knowing he was too vulnerable at the moment to stop her.
“Ara……” he began but she caught him off when she took his hands and placed it on her neck.
“Look at you. You looked like a wounded lion. A sexy wounded lion.” she purred.
He drew in a long, shuddering breath as his hands touched the cool flesh of her neck. God! I’m so weak! Can’t I just push her off? She winked at him, her blue gray eyes flushed with hot desire. His heart began to thump hard in his chest. She then moved against him, her arms around his neck.
For that brief moment, he surrendered to the pressure of her body, then cursing under his breath, he shoved her away.
“Fuck you!” He seethed out. “I don’t want this.” His voice was thick and unsteady.
She knew he was pretty worked up and she giggled.
“Let me ease your pain,” she said in a voice scarcely above a whisper. “Let me ease your pain, my darling.”
The sound of her even lulled him on. Maybe it was because of what had happened that day; what Selena had done to him, maybe it was because he was looking for something to vent his pent up feelings and frustrations on, all he could remember was his body, despite the steeled resistance in him, yearned for Ara that moment. He didn’t even know when his hands reached out, pulling her to him. All he dimly remembered was that he had slipped his arms around her. Then he was kissing her hard, and holding her to him, feeling her trembling as she moaned his name, her mouth hungrily against his.