"I'm just saying, Suzy. My mother always told me that the only things you really need for a suitcase are clean panties and toothbrush.” I counted in a mild voice, although my lips betrayed me by bowing a little higher. "I think it has something to do with being things you shouldn't borrow, unless you don't care about bacterium, you know?"I could easily imagine Suzane Johnson writhing in a strange laugh when listening to this, simply by hearing the little pig snoring she let out when she got excited about one of my worst jokes.It was strange not to be able to return the same intensity of animation, although just so that she could not understand anything, I tried hard, and imitated a rehearsed sound of what was once an ironic laugh.I've never been the kind of person who struggled to be funny. I've never had much talent to be the silly court of a circle of friends. But I had a certain reputation for being the one who never let herself be shaken by the misfortunes of life.I always had
“Pen, your mother should write a self-help book with every dilemma she has ever taught you... Not that it's bad advice” said Suzane at the end of her laugh, and her tone of voice, changing to something more serious, made me go back to the present. She was having the annoying habit of saying things and then rethinking them better. That's when I didn't change the subject so suddenly, that I even lost the thread of the strike. I didn't like her to treat me that special way. It made me feel like my brain could have been affected by the accident (not that it was a lie), but I didn't have the courage to be unpleasant and tell her to talk to me like a normal person. “She has the gift of the word. Or you know how to lie very well about this advice.”“I would buy her book” I mocked with a low giggle. I had rehearsed that sound so many times to look normal, that now I even believed it was genuine. But it wasn't. I didn't smile like I used to. I didn't think it was the same fun in the most diver
I haven't been able to say what it was like to leave the house for a long time. I didn't have pale skin from those who didn't sunbathe. I even left the curtains open or went to my backyard to water some plants, and that made me receive some vitamin D. I didn't have my leg muscles totally unprepared for escape situations, because I even stretched myself from time to time to try to get some utensils that were at the top of the kitchen shelves. I would not fail to receive my orders by the postman, because I had put a sign on my mail saying that the letters should be left under the entrance door. But considering that all these things were not something to expect for Penelope Maxwell, then, yes, I wouldn't leave my house anymore and that was not healthy.What no one understood was that I started a period of isolation in my home long before the government declared any sudden stop in its daily lives. I had much more fun when I was alone, without having to force smiles or invent last-minute j
It was a complicated period. Because it was not easy to feel pain for simply trying to keep up with the beat of a song, while his bones were still recovering from a run over, or while his mind tried to devour his good will in seeing the world with colors and sounds, and not in darkness and tears. It was hard. But I tried, alone.The music ended, and while another one didn't start, I sat on the bed, catching myself for looking through the closed window. Outside, on the other side of the garden, another house stood up, and from it I could see open windows and lights on, the sound of the barking of a big dog in the backyard, and the characteristic sound of punches in a punching bag that I knew was in the room where I had a total view of where I was sitting on the bed.It was Colton's house. And where I was looking was the window of your improvised gym. Something he set up as soon as I moved to the house next to his, and when he realized that I would not always go to my physiotherapy appo
Colton said something, but I knocked on the window and closed the curtains, extremely upset and even more shaken. My television stopped in the last song, and to tell you the truth, I wasn't interested in listening to anything else at all. I decided to really sleep, wait for the next day of more pretense and medicine, and then sleep again. That was my routine. Was there a better life than this?I had to have all the trouble to go to the kitchen to get water because I was too dumb to leave a jar in the room, so I crawled through the rooms barefoot and very cold because of the winter that was coming, and that depressed me a lot. Before I loved snow, now I hated having to freeze my ass to go to work, and then go back to an equally freezing house.I was reflecting on how suddenly it seemed so boring to be an adult when my doorbell rang. I couldn't avoid the bad omen that afflicted me. I remembered what it was like in the first months I moved... As my house was always visited by police offi
In a nutshell, one could describe Colton as something irresistibly annoying. In the past, he had been the one I never considered attractive. Not for lack of beauty. For real content. Colton was very serious. There were strange quirks. And I didn't like strange people "I mean, except Suzane. And he annoyed me in ways that no one would consider normal. He didn't even have to be talking to me, actually. We almost never talked. Only, as director of the Marketing department of Suzane's company, I had to deal with him a little too often. His sector was the one that hired the most young apprentices, so he always came to my office to collect resumes and give me those he found most attractive.Since the day I started working at the company that was my father and that was bought by Suzane, Colton has shown himself to be the kind of man who can be genuinely educated and a gentleman. And these two characteristics were not possible to be found in any man. That's why he annoyed me so much. His cour
Because I could say a lot, but I couldn't deny that Colton's help didn't just make my mother's spine not try so hard to have to carry me around the corners of the house, but that I also didn't let myself totally fall into that darkness that took over my chest just for his company. Colton was good at everything. And that annoyed me too. He could sing like a true poet. I could make jokes that left me breathless. And he could brighten my eyes every time he took off his shirt or dressed in an apron to cook for me. But I felt that even if I was naked in front of him, he still wouldn't look at me with desire.Not because he thinks we should start a relationship before having any sex. But because he saw me in my worst state. He carried me on his lap when I couldn't feel anything but pain in my spine or legs when trying to walk. He wiped my drool when I couldn't breathe through my nose and had to sleep with my mouth open. He put me under the shower "still in clothes" to take cold showers when
Colton, on the other hand, made me realize how uncomfortable he felt when imagining me with other people. Especially after everything we went through together. Of all the overcoming of our greatest fears. He didn't admit that he wanted more than my friendship. And I had so little courage to assume that I had a great curiosity to know how deeply he could know me in bed. But the respect he had for me also attracted me in a more intense way. I knew that if you ever let me get carried away and let him between my legs, it wouldn't be just once. Colton was not the kind of man who let himself escape. I was sure of that. He was too reserved, and that was one of the best in sex.So my plan was to make them fall in love with each other and that I could get on with my life, without either of them. Because I wouldn't know how to choose. And also because I already had too many problems to deal with troubled relationships. I wanted tranquility in my life. And neither of them seemed like the kind of
The nightclub was crowded that night.It wasn't difficult for that to happen, though. Everyone knew that that place was only filled with regulars by the numerous illicit activities that occurred between the parts illuminated only by the lights that flashed from time to time with colored kaleidoscopes. All the regulars ended their night with good debts in their pockets, enriching the owner of the place, who almost never mingled with those who used their establishment to hide their atrocities for money from the police and the rest of the world.That night, however, the owner of the establishment had left his room on the upper floor of the nightclub, and had taken the trouble to join two other men as arrogant and unnecessary in appearance as this first. All of them were being pampered by the women who worked at the nightclub, because the men allowed there were only the security guards and those who prepared the drinks.Women of all colors and ages walked back and forth in a few clothes.
"I would never sanctify my brother," I guaranteed in a cold tone, although I smiled. "I never told you exactly who Jonathan was, did I? “Osman shook his head, so I sighed. "Jonathan has always been very temperamental. Complicated to deal with. He never introduced us to girlfriends. At least, as far as I can remember. Then he came up dating Suzane Johnson, and at the time of dating, he was aggressive and abusive. He almost killed her, and when he couldn't, he made everyone go against her. The few who supported her made my father and brother pay. But those people had no idea that they ran an entire country. So, even when my brother was presumed dead, and even when my father lost his fortune, they continued to have power over each of us.”"We knew about Suzane Johnson," Osman confessed, watching the sun set on the horizon. "But we didn't know what she could have represented in Saltuk's life. As far as we understood, he was only connected to a woman from his past, and we all knew that he
"When that happens, and if it happens, I'll be ready "I spoke in a tone of triumph, opening a smile without showing my teeth. Aslan's hatred flashed in his eyes and he looked at me as if he were really looking into the eyes of a venomous snake. "You can come after me, because I will always be waiting for you or anyone from the Red Brotherhood. I don't need the police on my way, Aslan. I don't need to work for someone specific, I can take care of myself. I'm more than you think. I became something much bigger that night when you decided to take one of the best people in my life. That night, you determined that I would be your worst enemy. And here I am. I'm not a God. I'm not a ruler. I'm not a person who rose from the dead, as my brother claimed to be. I'm just the one who ended up with a Brotherhood that survived for decades. I am the one who goes after each one of you to condemn you. You will remember my name. You will know what I became that night. And when the day comes, you will
The little boy gave a wide smile, nodding with energy. I walked away from your house, feeling the looks of those poor and desperate people. Watching the children walking freely on dirty puddles and the countless elderly people who sneaked through the open doors of their wooden houses to see that group of foreigners marching away. An entire population that was hidden by the tyrants and dictators who thought they were the owners of their lives.At that moment I really understood my purpose to stay alive.The Red Brotherhood was like the barracks in which I was staying with the American army. The place was located in an open and isolated area, with no houses around, no factories or any impression that people could easily access. In fact, it was necessary for a small boat to travel through the waters of the river that crossed the city to reach that islet on which the barracks remained erected. While the boat in which Osman and I were cleared the waters of that river, with small droplets r
My brother got involved in it because of his thirst for revenge. He made Suzane and I get involved up to the neck in that whole story. I judged and condemned him for being part of a terrorist mafia. I never noticed that I did that to other people myself. And I had just repeated the story by dragging that family to the same bottom of the pit where I was. Not all the excuses in the world would be enough to explain what I was putting them in.“What does your necklace mean? "Asked the little boy named Can. I took a look down. Lately I only remembered the pendant when I imagined that the police would be aware of each of my steps by the little tracker they arrested there. I almost didn't remember that I got it exactly on the last night of Mikaela Johnson's life. I divated for so long that the little boy even thought I wouldn't answer anymore. "I don't want to sound uneducate. I thought you knew about altın yılan's tale.”"The tale of what? "I questioned in a low voice. The boy's father was
The little boy translated, and at this point one of the young people on the couch became more rigid, as if the mention of the police aroused some peculiar kind of interest among them. Perhaps the word in its translation was something that demonstrated authority, and not a specific position. And that they could be understanding that people of a very special and powerful nature could have taken me to their country. The chance for them to think that I could be something worse than the Brotherhood was very great. I took a deep breath to avoid stuttering when I needed to talk again. The little boy finished translating and was silent. It was the lady closest to the arm of the couch who said a few words to him."They want to know what our people need," said the little boy, so he interrupted, because his grandmother kept talking and pointing to the space on the roof. Would they really be so bothered just because I fell? I wonder if they didn't understand that for that, I would have to have a
"Do you think you can reach the next window? "Murmured Osman, his voice sounding no more than a warm breeze against the cold wind. I nodded, but I hesitated. “Great. Remember the training on the climbing wall. Imagine that you are still using the safety equipment. Imagine that there is a mattress down there, waiting for the moment when you will fall. Everything will be fine, Penelope. Just jump. I'll be here if something goes wrong. I promise to pull you.”“Miss Maxwell? "He called Aslan once again, with a note of laughter in his voice. He knocked on the door, with such a slow movement that I knew very well that he was having fun with the situation. Of course he loved that game. I had learned from my father and my brother. The only one who seemed less aware of how to play like that was myself. "I need to say that it doesn't matter where you are. We'll be there. Everyone in this city respects us. Everyone knows that the Brotherhood rewards its allies and torments its enemies. Even if y
"I had to learn everything again after my accident," I said in a low voice. "I had to learn to breathe, walk, talk, and move. So that must have been why the training with the police was better to do. I'm still learning, but the difference is huge. I really feel like a person prepared for any situation. From an extreme cold to an endless race. Even though I have to depend on the firecracker for almost everything, I'm still better than I was in basic activities. Not to mention that my reflexes are much better now. So he was right. It's easier to learn everything when you've forgotten how to do it. That must be why they considered my brother as a God. It was not because he came back from the dead, but because he reached a level of lethality that no one alive has achieved. But I did it. And I think that's exactly what they expected me to do.”"Perhaps, but in relation to the children and his brother, it's all true," Osman said, nodding absent-mindedly. He let out another heavy sigh. "Ther
The arrogance of the leader name of the Brotherhood would be his downfall. He never thought that the police would appear, even more so in large quantities. He never thought that a simple auction "which always took place on days of the week known to people" would cause the police to invade the place. Of course, it would not take long for his sources to inform him of what happened, but, by then, hopefully we would have released the kidnapped children. Aslan had no chance. And worst of all, he left his soldiers and friends, or brothers as they were called, alone. He didn't set up an escort outside to see if they would be okay. He didn't send people to watch the sales and make sure nothing went wrong. He left the people who trusted him the most without any protection. And the strangest thing about all this is that they still remained faithful to that rotten Brotherhood.The police easily surrendered the members of the Brotherhood in that hall, and managed to arrest all the rich who were w