3. Tuomo
CHAPTER THREE
Tuomo
N o. This can’t be happening. I shake my head. My hands are shaking.
“What do you mean? Her mother is dead . How? What happened?” I snap, furious.
“They found her on the floor of the main bathroom. She was throwing up blood.” Masaccio says, shrugging his shoulders. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t have a clue I am in love with the dead woman’s daughter.
“People don’t just throw up blood for no reason. What the fuck happened to her? Did someone do something to her?” My jaw drops open. “Did someone poison her?”
My eyes immediately go to my father, who is standing there, stoic, cold, with zero expression on his face.
I run at him, my fists clenched, ready to beat the truth out of him - but Rufino grabs me and holds me back. “Did you poison her mother?” I scream at my father.
My father brushes imaginary dust off his sleeve and looks at me as though I mean nothing. “Don’t be so dramatic, Tuomo. What reason could I have to poison the housekeeper? She was probably sick. These people don’t look after themselves.” These people, he thinks they are less human than he is. His blood is just as red as hers. The only difference is he has the money to look after himself while he kept her so poor she couldn’t.
Masaccio, my twin brother, pushes me back and stands between my father and me. “What has gotten into you, Tuomo? Why the hell do you care so much about the housekeeper?” He’s confused. I’m angry over a situation that on any other day I wouldn’t even notice.
“Don’t you know - he’s been fucking her daughter.” Rufino chuckles. “His little plaything, they have been sneaking around fucking in broom closets. Now, with her mother dead, I suppose she won’t be around here anymore.”
My blood boils hotter, faster, angrier.
My fists are clenched so tight that my shoulders ache. I narrow my eyes at my father. “Are you going to send Nerissa away?” I ask, my heart already knowing the answer, but my mind refusing to accept the truth. He won’t keep her here. This is what he wanted all along, a reason to get rid of her.
“Of course, I am. Why would she stay here? Her mother is dead. I don’t employ her, she’s a school-girl. There’s no free lodging here.”
“But Nerissa’s brother’s - they are still staying here, right?” I snarl. Those two assholes wouldn’t take on the responsibility of caring for her, but I’ll care for her. I just need her to stay.
“Well, they do work for me. So, yes.” Then she can stay.
I want to kill him.
I want to kill my father so badly that I’m envisioning it, like a waking dream. I don’t understand how he can do this to me. Why? Why would he take away the one thing that I have ever loved in this world?
Because he can. That’s why.
I have to change his mind.
But right now, I am so angry that all I see is red, irrational rage, fueled by hatred. My world is spinning in and out of focus and I can’t get my thoughts in line. If I stay here, I’ll kill him.
I spin around and march out of the living room. I need to get away from all of them. My fucking brothers are cowards. They don’t have the balls to stand up to him.
As soon as I leave, I hear the cackle of laughter.
It is funny for them.
This is amusing.
My pain entertains them.
My hatred is like venom. It’s inside me, and when I do eventually get so angry I let it out, it will be deadly..
I walk right out of the house, into the garden. I don’t stop walking. The property is massive enough I can keep going. Big enough to walk off this rage. The excruciating pain that is radiating through my body, from my broken heart.
I stop when I reach the orange trees. I grab a branch to steady myself. The world has tilted on its axis and I’m falling off.
Hanging my head down, I try to even my breathing. But I can’t. I am panicked. Fearful. Terrified.
He can’t send Nerissa away. I’ll die without her. She’s what keeps me alive.
I would kill for her. I would do anything for her. I am in love with her.
Can’t he see that? He sees — which is exactly why he will do it. To punish me, to remind me I’m second best.
He can’t send her away.
O ver the next few days, as my father prepares to take care of Nerissa - I become convinced that he killed her mother. He took her mother’s life so that he would have a reason to send Nerissa away, to punish me for falling in love. To prove a point.
He is watching Nerissa like a hawk, so I haven’t been able to see her, or talk to her. He says that he has her under guard to make sure she doesn’t steal anything before she leaves, but it’s to keep me away. To make sure I feel the wrath of his punishment.
I haven’t had a chance to comfort her or tell her how much I love her.
I want to tell her I am going to fight for her.
I beg and plead and promise my soul to him - but my father won’t budge. He won’t change his mind. Nothing I do now can keep her here, and even if she stayed, she has his attention. Her life would be hell.
He has arranged for Nerissa to live with another family, on the other side of the city, where she can no longer ‘be a distraction for me’. At least he hasn’t left her destitute on the streets, but her brothers would have asked questions if he did.
She is leaving in two days. I wanted to see her, to spend these precious few days together, but it has been impossible.
We are all sitting around the dinner table. My entire family. My brothers, my sister Dalila, and my father. Usually, dinner is filled with talk of business, or Dalila trying to convince my father to let her start horse riding or get a new car. He usually caves and gives her whatever her heart desires. She is spoiled.
Tonight, there is a hushed silence at the table, and everyone seems to glance at me when he’s not looking.
They are waiting.
And I sit here knowing it is the wrong time and the wrong place - but I ask my father again.
“Why can’t she stay, Dad? Why can’t she live in her mother’s room? She will be eighteen in a few months, and she can take over her mother’s job.” My desperation is humiliating, but I would do anything to keep her here.
My father has reached his last ounce of patience. He stands up, slamming his fists against the table and sending dishes rattling across it. My sister’s glass of water topples over, making a mess across her plate of food.
But she doesn’t say a word. No one says a word. We all know never to speak when my father is like this, or we will become the focus of his anger. But tonight, I am desperate. I don’t care how angry he is. I’m dying inside and I will not stop until there is no hope left.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, boy?” He screams at me.
“I love her.” I scream back. “Do you have any idea what love is? Have you ever loved anything besides yourself?”
My father reaches across the table and grabs me by the collar. With his other hand, he slams his fist into my face. The metal of his signet ring brands my cheek, and his knuckles crunch against my cheekbone.
I’m falling. I want to hit him back, to fucking fight him for her, but I’m not strong enough.
N ext thing I am waking up on the dining room floor with my brothers and my sister standing over me.
“Dude, what the fuck is wrong with you? Have you lost your gad damned mind challenging him like that? He will kill you,” Celso says, holding out his hand to help me up.
I push it away. Embarrassed, and in pain, my eye is throbbing. I can barely open it.
Celso huffs and walks away. Rufino grabs my hand and drags me to my feet.
“Get your shit together, idiot. You are making a fool of yourself over a girl. If you carry on like this, he will end up killing her, too.” He laughs as though it’s a joke, but in his eyes, there is a streak of seriousness. He also believes my father killed her mother.
My stomach rolls as a wave of nausea washes over me.
I don’t know what else to do.
It’s useless. I can’t win against him. I have no control over my life.
I shove past my siblings and leave the dining room on shaky legs. My head is pounding, and I need an ice-pack and an advil. But most importantly, I need to speak to Nerissa.
I walk straight to the staff’s side of the house, straight to her room.
I shove the door open without knocking. “Nerissa,” I say, walking in.
But it’s empty.
Not just empty - I mean barr en.
There is no bed, no cupboard, no clothing, no curtains.
Nothing.
She is gone. Every trace of her erased, like she never existed.
She is already gone.
My father has sent her away, and I didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye.
I fall to my knees, clutching my aching chest and fighting tears of anguish.
“Tuomo?” Her voice comes from behind me, and I jump to my feet and spin around.
“I thought you were gone.” I stammer, rushing to her and dragging her into my arms.
“They had to deep clean this room. I was staying in the room across the hall. They said my mother might have contaminated it.” She bursts into tears so full of pain that they rip through her body, making her shudder in my arms.
I hold her tighter.
“They are sending me away.” She whispers between heavy breaths.
“I heard. I don’t want you to go.”
“I’m scared. I don’t even know where I’m going. I miss my mom—”
I thread my fingers through her hair along the back of her head and hold her face against my chest.
“I will find you, little bird. Wherever they take you, I will find you. I promise you. Remember our pact. Ok. No matter what happens, just remember the pact.”
She nods against my chest, her tears soaking through my shirt and her whimpering cries muffled against me.
“Will you remember the pact, little bird?”
“I will.” She whispers, leaning away from me. “I will remember it.”
“Good.” I say, brushing a strand of hair from her face. “I love you.”
She sniffs. “I - I love you.” She says, speaking softly, distracted, lost.
She must be heartbroken that she is being taken away from me. She must be as heartbroken as I am. But I will find her again. I made a promise to her, and I will keep it. She belongs with me. She always has and she always will.
I dip my hand into my pocket, remembering the gift I have for her.
I pull out a small plastic charm. A toy from a chocolate packet. It made me smile because it made me think of her. I push it into her palm and close her fingers around it. “Next time we meet, I will give you a diamond.” I say.
She looks down at her hand, at the little plastic bird. She smiles.
“Thank you, Tuomo.”