Whispers on a Wind Chapter 5

“My mother says you’ve just finished your law degree,” Pa Nyia said as soon as they started walking outside.

Brandon smiled. “Yes, but I hate being painted with that brush.”

“Oh?”

“It makes people afraid of me. They all think lawyers are liars.”

She laughed, feeling suddenly comfortable. “You’re not the first. I suppose the first lawyer didn’t really set a good example, did he?”

“I suppose not.”

“So what kind of brush do you like to be painted with?”

Brandon stopped walking and then he took her hand. He pulled her into his arms and turned her around to face her house. “You see your house? Do you see the line of the exterior of the frame of the door? The way how the light plays on the bricks when it shifts? It creates a shadow of light and dark. I love buildings. Each brick, each stone, has a secret that is hidden inside the cracks. When set right, it creates a flow of endless beauty.”

“Wow, I have never heard of anyone describe bricks in that way before. Why don’t you do this for a living?”

“I do. I own a construction company.”

Pa Nyia turned to face him. “You’re amazing.”

He smiled and leaned down to her. “No, you’re amazing.”

She pulled away. “But I’m nothing.”

“That’s exactly it, Pa Nyia, I’ve never met anyone like you. The women I do usually meet always try to impress me with some brave thing they did. Not you. You simply are just you. I can’t begin to tell you how thankful I am for that. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to have a conservation without worrying about stepping on any toes.”

She smiled. “The same here, Brandon, thank you.”

Giving Brandon a kiss on the cheek good-bye, she watched him drive off. Feeling happy that for once her mother didn’t send her a failed suitor, she walked into the house to put the flowers on the table away. But when she arrived in the kitchen, she found Nxtoua already sticking the flowers into a vase. She watched as he looked up at her with a darkness she never knew before.

“Did you have fun?” he asked.

“Yes, I did. For once mother didn’t fail me.”

“I’m glad,” he said as he finished putting the flowers away.

She took the vase and set it on the living room table. When she turned around, Nxtoua was standing there with the same glare in his eyes. She backed up as he came closer to her.

“What did you two talk about?” he asked.

She laughed. “Why would you want to know? It’s my life.”

“Well, seeing as how you always run to me to protect you, I thought I’d ask. I just want to make sure the man keeps his paws off of you.”

“Paws? He didn’t even touch me.”

He raised his brows. “Really? It didn’t look like that to me.”

Pa Nyia laughed. “Were you spying on me?”

“I don’t trust him.”

“Look, Nxtoua, he’s a good guy. Unlike most of the men mother sends my way, this man actually has a brain and can think of words to say without upsetting me. If it works out, I may get to plan the wedding of my dream after all.”

She watched as his face remained emotionless. She knew what she was doing. She wanted to prove that Nxtoua had some sort of feeling for her. But when he didn’t answer her, she realized perhaps her thoughts of him that way were wrong.

“Dream weddings are always a good thing to achieve, aren’t they?”

Pa Nyia watched him walk off and she settled down on the couch. Did he not care? Last night when she had that dream of them making love, she woke up in a sweat, almost as if she’d been running a marathon. Her heart was pounding and she’d ached for him. She’d ached for parts of him that she shouldn’t have. She closed her eyes and could almost feel his fingers on her skin, the way he’d touched her in her dreams. He’d held her like he could hold her forever and whispered words that made her cheeks blush. Then he kissed her like a flower that needed to be deflowered…slowly. When he finally brought her to the edge of madness, he’d stopped long enough to hear her whisper her need of him. Only then did he bring her to the brink of explosion only to capture her lips in a heated kiss again. When Pa Nyia opened her eyes, Nxtoua was staring at her, his hands on either side of the couch, leaning toward her. Her breath caught in her chest as his lips pried open, an invitation for a kiss. But when she leaned forward, he backed up. Then he knelt down, put his hands on her inner thighs, and spread them apart. The touch made her gasp with such exquisite pleasure, it almost burned her. He positioned himself there, in front of her, and cupped her face. Ever so slowly, he took her lips and when she felt him began to suck on her bottom lip, it was as if she was finally alive. Every part of her came to life, adding color, adding soul, as he kissed her. When he pulled away, he caught her chin in his hands.

“Don’t you ever let me catch you near him again. Or the next time when I kiss you, it won’t be with you sitting like this. I know you dreamt about us. I know because I did too. If you disobey me, the next time you will not feel it in your dreams. I will make it a reality,” Nxtoua warned as he caught her lips for one last time before leaving.

 

Late in the evening, Pa Nyia came down the stairs to grab a glass of warm milk when she saw her father sitting at the dining table with his head in his hands. She hadn’t seen him since he hit her a few days ago. He’d left the house. No one cared to bother where he’d gone, but something in the way he looked made her walk to him. She laid her hand on his shoulder and he looked up. The moment he saw her, he broke down and grabbed her waist, crying. Despite her feelings for him, she held him as he cried.

“I’m so sorry,” he sobbed.

She let him go and pulled a chair. When she sat down, she found that he’d somehow aged in his years since she last saw him. “Where have you been?”

“Nowhere,” he said as he wiped his eyes. “I’m so ashamed of myself, Pa Nyia. I’m sorry I hit you. I was…I was embarrassed.”

She looked away. “I could never hate you, father, even if I wanted to.”

He took her hands and she looked up. “Can you ever forgive me? I’ve been so selfish.”

“Why don’t you love my mother? She’s so easy to love?”

He swallowed hard and wiped his eyes. “How do you love someone when all your life you’ve wanted someone else? We weren’t in love, your mother and I. I married her because I didn’t have a choice. I married her because one night while drinking, we did something we never should have done and it resulted in something else.”

Pa Nyia frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“You.”

She felt her throat go dry. She watched as her father stabbed the heel of his hands into his eyes. When he removed them, he was crying again. “I was in love with someone else and so was she. We were at a party, drinking, having fun and being teenagers. Never did I expect anything to happen. But it did and a month later, she approached me with the news of her pregnancy. What was I to do? My father would have killed me if he knew I didn’t take care of my actions. He didn’t raise me to abandon things. So I swallowed everything and asked her to marry me. She refused and wanted to raise you alone, but I wouldn’t have it. In the end, her parents gave her no choice and she gave in.”

Pa Nyia felt tears come to her eyes as she thought of the situation her mother was in. She felt as if everything she knew in her life had been a lie. It was a lie! She was suddenly finding things out little by little about her own parents she never knew about. She watched as her father sobbed and she felt her heart die a little.

“Why didn’t you love each other then? If this was the path you both choose, why hurt one another? Why hurt me? I’m innocent!” she cried, suddenly angry.

“I never meant to hurt you. I love you.”

She stood up, crying. “You could have treated me better in all this, father. You owe that much to me when you decided to take responsibility for me!”

“I’m sorry!”

Pa Nyia shook her head and walked to the patio door. She opened it and went outside. The moon outside hung low, lower than she’d ever seen it before. She fell to the ground and started sobbing. She almost fell when she felt strong arms wrap around her. She expected Nxtoua, but when she turned around, she met the eyes of someone else. She stood up so quickly the man lost his balance. She backed up close to the pool and when he came into view, she gasped, as she recognized his face.

“Jack?” she asked.

Jack Hagan, one of the many suitors, stood before her dressed in black. He looked unreal in his black outfit and then she realized she was alone out here with no one to see or hear. When she glanced back into the kitchen, her father was no longer sitting there. Jack had tried to pursue her, but after many uninterested dates, she’d call him off. He wasn’t her type, she said, and then she remembered what she also said. She’d called him slow, immature, and ignorant.

“Hello Pa Nyia, I am glad you remember me quite well. As you can see, I’ve done nothing but obsess about you since you so rudely pushed me out of your life,” he said.

“Rudely? You weren’t the man I wanted. A girl has to have standards, Jack.”

“But you’re not just any girl. You’re the girl. All I have done since then is wonder how I would get you to myself.”

“You’re crazy!”

“Ah, another talent to add to my list.”

“It’s not a talent; it’s a curse.”

Jack’s face broke into anger. “Be careful, Pa Nyia, don’t push me.”

Pa Nyia turned and ran in the opposite direction when he caught her by the ankles and she came crashing down. Her chin slammed into the ground and she bit her lip. She tasted blood as he forced her on her back. He straddled her and held her wrists together, binding them with rope.

“This time when I get you to where I want you, no one can help you and you’ll be  mine!” he cried.

“Let me go! Help me!” she cried.

He slammed his lips down on hers and then sealed her lips with a tape. When he stood up, his jaw was slammed by a fist. He tumbled over and Pa Nyia sat up as Nxtoua came into view. When Jack opened his mouth to argue, Nxtoua slammed his fist into his mouth again. But Jack surprised him by bringing out a knife and slashed his belly. Pa Nyia screamed out as she saw blood seep through Nxtoua’s shirt. Jack kicked Nxtoua in the calf and he fell over. When he was down, he came to Pa Nyia, dragged her to her feet and shoved her off into the pool. He turned around to meet Nxtoua’s fist and he stumbled over. Nxtoua kicked him a few times in the ribs and the last time, the crack of the rib was heard. Jack lay unconscious as Pa Nyia fought for life in the pool. She’d managed to take the tape off of her lips, but her hands were still bound together. She heard Nxtoua jump in and pull her to the side where he untied the ropes.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

Through tears, she held him. “I thought he killed you, Nxtoua. I was so scared.”

Nxtoua laughed weakly and then he pushed her to climb up and out of the pool. When Pa Nyia made it out, she heard the sound of water splashing and turned around to find Nxtoua had fainted.

 

Lane was sitting next to Nxtoua when Pa Nyia walked in with a basket of food. Nxtoua was sleeping on the hospital bed with a bandage over his stomach and an IV line attached to his left arm. Two days had gone by and Nxtoua hadn’t regained consciousness. He’d developed a fever and an infection in his wound. Cops had arrested Jack and Pa Nyia pressed charges against him. He was held in the county jail where he was waiting for trial. Lane looked tired and fragile next to Nxtoua, who even though sleeping, looked too huge for that small hospital bed.

“Has he made any progress?” Pa Nyia asked.

“No, nothing.”

Pa Nyia set the basket down. “You should eat. You look tired.”

Lane shook her head and reached for her son’s hand. “No, I’m fine. I had an apple earlier.”

Pa Nyia pulled out a chair and sat down. “He’ll be all right, Lane. Have faith.”

Lane looked up at her with tears in her eyes. “You don’t get it, do you? He’s my life. Without him, my life doesn’t work. He is the only person who ever did what he promised he would do. He promised to never leave me and he’s held onto that promise. I can’t let him go now, not like this.”

Pa Nyia reached for her hand. “Lane, nothing is going to happen to him. Give it some time. He’ll wake up. He will because he knows you need him. He will never go back on his promise.”

“After his father left, life has been so hard on us. No one knows the trouble he goes through to protect me. He’s my savior.”

Pa Nyia watched as Nxtoua lay sleeping soundly. She gave the woman another pat on the hand. “Why don’t you go on home? Take a hot shower and eat a real meal? I’ll take care of Nxtoua for the time being.”

A little after ten, Pa Nyia woke after falling asleep to find the bed empty. She sat up, dazed and confused, as she searched the room. She was alone. She got up and walked out of the room to the nurses’ station. It was empty and she returned back to the room to find Nxtoua getting into bed. She closed the door and he looked up.

“Where were you?” she asked.

“I could ask you the same. Didn’t you promise my mother you’d look after me?”

She opened her mouth to argue, but stopped. “You heard us? You were awake?”

“I was.”

She crossed to sit in the chair his mother had sat earlier. “Where were you?”

“I was in the bathroom. A man’s gotta  pee.”

She laughed. “I woke up and you were gone. I went to look for you. Why didn’t you wake me? I could have taken you.”

“I can go just fine, thank you.”

She reached for the blanket and pulled it over him. When her hands reached his, he grabbed her wrists. She looked up at him and their gaze met, and held. She felt her heart beat faster as the area where his hand held her burned. Thoughts of their shared passion made her feel everything she felt when he made love to her lips. She swallowed, hard, and looked away.

“Don’t do that,” he said.

“What?” she asked as she released her wrist from his hold.

“Don’t try to be brave. You know you want this as much as me.”

“Weren’t you the one who said we couldn’t be together? I’m only trying to do as you asked of me.”

He caught her hand and she looked up at him. “I know what I said. I take it back. I don’t want anyone touching you. I’ll take any risk there is to have you.”

“Are you really saying that or is it the medication talking?”

“I’m not on any medication.”

Pa Nyia reached over and touched his cheek. “Thank you for saving me.”

“I wanted to kill him.”

“It’s a good thing you didn’t. He’s already going to pay for what he did.”

He shook his head. “It’s not enough.”

“I don’t want to talk about him. I want to talk about us.”

He smiled and pulled her closer to him. He inhaled her scent and reached up to touch her lips. Pa Nyia smiled and leaned down as he kissed her softly. When she pulled away, he reached up and touched her cheek.

“You know, I never thought I’d ever feel this way about anyone. All of my life, I’ve ran from that because I’ve been afraid that I’d be like my father,” he said.

Shaking her head, she replied, “You’re nothing like your father. You’re better than he is. You’re here while he isn’t.”

“But I’m his blood.”

“That doesn’t mean anything, Nxtoua.”

She smiled and leaned down to kiss him again as the door opened. Both look up as Lane and Iris enter the room with their faces in horror. In their moment of passion, Nxtoua’s hand was on Pa Nyia’s left breast and Pa Nyia had her hand on his torso. The picture could be interpreted a thousand different ways.

“What are you two doing?” Iris asked as she slammed the door.

Pa Nyia straightened as she removed Nxtoua’s hand from her chest. “Nothing.”

“Nothing? That was nothing!” Lane cried.

Iris grabbed Pa Nyia’s hand and led her out of the room. As soon as they were outside, Pa Nyia jerked her hand free from her mother’s hold. The look on her face told her more than she needed to know. This relationship wasn’t going to be approved by anyone especially her mother. Iris was steaming mad, her pupils were dilated and her nostrils were flared. Pa Nyia turned her gaze toward the opened door leading to Nxtoua’s room.

“How long has this been going on?” Iris asked jerking her back to stare at her.

“What does that matter?”

“What does that matter? Are you listening to yourself?! You let a man who cleans our lawn touch you!”

Pa Nyia watched as a few nurses turned toward them. She grabbed her mother’s hand and dragged her further down the hall where they were more discreet. “Lower your voice. The whole floor can hear you.”

“Exactly, Pa Nyia, the whole floor. How can you do this to yourself? I mean, Nxtoua is a good man, but for a husband? Are you blind? He works for us! His mother is our maid! Doesn’t this ring a bell in your mind?”