C18 Chapter 18

I rang the door bell and I waited patiently for her to come out to see me.

I hoped she was in.

I rang the bell again, and I waited.

Slowly, almost too slowly, the door came open to reveal Ará standing in her pajamas.

“Good morning." I said to her.

“Good morning, what are you doing at my house."

“I came to tell you that I've forgiven you."

“You're late."

“What do you mean."

“You're late, what made you think that I'll still be asking for your forgiveness, after what you did to me yesterday in the parking lot, no man, and I tell you, no man, has ever turned me down."

“Well, I'm glad I'm the first." I said and I watched a frown cross her face.

“It's a joke." I told her. “For what I did yesterday, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave you like that, I was too angry at everything."

“What do you have to be angry at, I mean you've always been Mr perfect."

“There's a lot of things going down and I'm actually very sad right now."

“Okay."

“Please can I come in?."

“No."

“Why?."

“I'm angry at you, Darwinson."

“You're angry at me?." I asked frantically “I'm the one that's supposed to be angry at you damnit, you pretended to love me, for years... “ I told her.

" I did love you, I only had to pretend at the beginning. “

" Can I come in?. “

" Yeah, sure, I'm sorry, Darwin. “

" I forgive you and I'm also sorry, I hope you've forgiven me. “

“Sure."

I walked into the living room, I was greeted by large live portrait paintings.

"Your paintings are larger than life, they're beautiful. “ I told her.

" Thank you, I didn't know you were an art lover.“

“ Oh Ará, I've always had love for art, how did I write to you all those poems?. “

" That's true, Coffee?. “

" Yes, thank you. “

" So, what's wrong?. “

" Everything, everything's wrong. Your cupcakes and cookies were delicious. “

" Thank you. So tell me, what is bothering you."

“Have a seat." I told her and I watched her laugh beguiling, like she always did.

“It's my house, remember."

“I know it's your house."

“You say it like it's yours."

“I'm sorry it's just that, I'd like you to sit while I tell you. “

" Okay sire. “

" Nice coffee. “

" Thanks. “

" My dad, he was about to fire me from the company in Detroit and he was going to let me out of the will. “

" No way. “

" I'm serious, I heard it while he was discussing it with his lawyers, the thing is that my dad, had an affair with a waitress that used to work at a diner he used to go to with his friends and then she got pregnant for him, he told my mum and my mum told him that if he wanted to keep the family together, he should leave the illegitimate child. At that time, I was born, we moved from New York to Florida and then we moved to Detroit. I grew up, happy and my half brother grew up with suffering, a very wise person told me that from suffering and pain are born the most beautiful of souls, in rare cases it is true, but, what if the soul misses their way and ends back in square one, loosing everything, they didn't have a billion dollar trust fund, they didn't have a wealthy family connection, they would be lost and, somehow, I didn't know how but somehow, very mysteriously, I had changed from that version of myself, that version that waits on lawyers and spends money without remorse, because my parents had always served me with money, to this version…to this version that does things by himself, but, I can't help but feel hurt and betrayed, by my parents. “

" My own family isn't perfect either, I don't think there's such a thing as a perfect family. “

" You can tell me. “

" I've never said this to anybody before, I'm sorry, I don't think so. I hope you understand that I'm not rejecting you, I'm simply just saying that it's too personal for me to just disuss. “

" I'm interested, you could just tell me a highlight of the whole story. “

" No, Darwin, no thank you for sharing with me. “

" Are you pushing me away?. “

" I'm hoping this doesn't seem weird, but, maybe I am.“

" Well, I'm not going to leave, so you can as well tell me anything. “

" No, I can't. “

" Opening up is key. “

" I'm a monster. “

" Jesus Ará, you're far from it. “

" No, I am. “

" Ará. “

" I had a twin sister. “

" Oh, I didn't know that. “

" Yeah, I did, her name was Ash. “

" How does it feel to have a twin, I always wondered. “ I said sipping my coffee.

" It... I don't exactly.. she's dead, she died when we were ten and I killed her. “

" Jesus, Ará, you have to stop saying stuff like that. “

" Darwin, I'm serious, my sister, Ash, died because of me. “

" How did it happen?. “

" It was on our birthday, the 19th of July, we were having our birthday party, we had just finished cutting the cake and then after a while, we started hearing noises, it was not so loud that it penetrated the music but I and my dad had heard it, so we went upstairs, to where the noise was coming from and we went to the room, the noise was coming from I and Ash's room, the door was heavy, my dad couldn't kick it down, we banged on the door, to see if Ash was okay, we were so confused, we didn't even know what the hell was happening in there, finally, my mum had brought the spare key and we had Opened the room to see our wardrobe fell, our bed sheets torn, the room was a total mess, it was a surprise that a little girl could create such chaos, in her hands were scissors and my toy donkey, dolly, was almost mutilated.

Ash's face was a crimson red and her face was stained with tears.

She had cut off the ears of my poor teddy, I was so angry and sad.

My dad was walking towards her to take the scissors from her but she ran, so fast into the bathroom, from where I stood I heard a loud thomp, and the the room fell silent, I had never heard so much silence in my entire life.