Margaret Smithfield pushed open a rickety old door and ushered him inside. Marcus noticed a tiny room where three children were sitting on a bed and studying. A scared Cara peered out of the tiny kitchen at the corner and her eyes widened with horror at seeing none other than Marcus Donnelly there at her doorstep. She hadn’t expected him to come all the way here after everything that had happened. When Aunt Maggie had informed her of his presence, she had expected him to leave when she refused to meet him, but he hadn’t. He came to her house instead.
“Cara, Mr. Donnelly really wants to talk to you,” said Aunt Maggie. Cara came forward after wiping her hands, her eyes avoiding looking at Marcus. Why was he here when she had nothing to do with him? Did he too think that she was the thief? Had he come to search her house?
Marcus stood with a grim expression on his face. Aunt Maggie looked from one to the other and decided to leave them alone to talk. The children gaped at the strange man and at their sister.
“Why are you here, Mr. Donnelly? I really don’t know where the jewelry is. I have stolen nothing,” she cried agitatedly. Adam and Liam stood up, going towards their sister. They were suddenly scared of the man who was making their older sister cry. Vera ran inside the bedroom and peered at all of them. Marcus’s jaws dropped, and he just stood inside the tiny space, his face reflecting a strange emotion as he stood and watched her.
“I know you haven’t,” he said, his voice echoing within the close confines of the tiny space. Cara was stunned that he actually believed her when no one else had.
“You know? You believe me?” she squeaked, wiping her tears away. Adam and Liam too breathed a sigh of relief at seeing their sister calm down finally.
“Yeah, I scolded mom for harassing you with no proof. She should have intervened and stopped Pam there and then. I’m sorry for everything that you had to go through, Cara. If I would have been there, I wouldn’t have allowed this to happen,” said Marcus, his face mirroring the guilt he felt in his heart. Cara was speechless and stared at him with shock and disbelief.
“Oh,” said Cara with wide eyes, looking at him awkwardly,
“Are you done fighting, Cara?” whispered Adam. Cara looked down at him sheepishly and nodded.
“Then shouldn’t you ask him to sit down? He’s been standing for ages,” he prompted, making Marcus’s lips twitch with amusement.
“He doesn’t want to sit here,” she whispered back with wide eyes, checking the shabby furniture. There wasn’t a single proper place where he could sit.
“Oh, I very much want to. I’ve been driving for hours,” said Marcus, his eyes dancing with amusement. Liam gestured towards the bed that he shared with Adam.
“You can sit here. We try to keep it clean. Although no one comes to our house ever, Cara still freaks out if there’s a speck of dirt anywhere around the house,” confided Liam. Marcus laughed and sat down on the bed, to Cara’s horror.
“Thanks, buddy. I’m Marcus. What are your names?” he asked the two boys. Vera felt brave enough and walked out to inspect the strange tattooed man who had come over to their house.
“I’m Adam and this is my twin, Liam. That’s our little sister, Vera. Why did you come to our house? You like Cara, don’t you?” asked a curious Adam. Cara was horrified at Adam’s little speech. Before she could warn Adam to her immense horror, Marcus nodded at her brother. Cara couldn’t stop the blush that crept up stealthily to her cheeks, and she rushed towards the kitchen to hide. She was busy making lunch, but with Marcus sitting there, how could she concentrate on the food?
“Does she know?” asked Adam in a whisper so that Cara couldn’t hear him. Marcus shook his head slowly, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
“Yeah, it’s wise not to tell her now. You’ll get rejected unnecessarily,” mumbled Liam, making Marcus’s eyes go wide with curiosity. He wanted to ask him why he was so confident that his sister would reject him, but Vera’s whisper caught his attention.
“How do you know he likes her?” whispered Vera into Adam’s ears. Marcus was really enjoying it all. He could hear everything they were discussing unknown to them. He could see Cara in the kitchen with a flushed face, trying to keep herself engaged just to escape him. Did she seriously think that he would leave so soon?
“Why else would he come to our home? Obviously, he likes her,” whispered back Adam. Vera’s eyes widened, and she gazed back at Marcus with interest. She decided that Marcus really might be interested to know that Cara was upset a little while before he arrived.
“Cara was crying when she came home. Did you make her cry, Marcus?” asked Vera, sitting beside Marcus. Marcus looked at the young girl, who was a carbon copy of Cara, only younger. His heart clenched seeing how innocent these children were.
“No, my family did. It was a misunderstanding and I’ve cleared it already,” said Marcus. Vera nodded in appreciation.
“I’m glad that it’s cleared. I hate to see her cry,” said Vera.
“So do I,” said Marcus. Vera smiled and held out her hand to him for a shake.
“Friends?” she asked shyly. Marcus was touched to have such a little friend. He shook her tiny and delicate hand firmly. He shared a very good rapport with his niece Alexia, and these children were almost as old as she was.
“Friends,” he said with a smile. Liam and Adam too placed their hands upon theirs.
“Friends,” they chorused. Cara rolled her eyes and thought of a way to send Marcus away. She was getting distressed and was dying to know what they were discussing in a hushed-up tone.
“Cara, I’m hungry. How long will you take to serve lunch?” asked Liam, clutching at his stomach and going into the kitchen. Cara’s eyes flew towards Marcus, whose eyes seemed to be glued upon her. Why wasn’t he leaving already? She nodded at her brother.
“I will,” she said, switching off the flame and going towards Marcus to see him out so that they could eat in peace. She had cooked nothing special and he would never be interested in eating with them.
“Umm, can I get you something to drink?” asked Cara with a fake smile on her face. Marcus raised an eyebrow at her in disbelief.
“Yeah, coffee would do fine,” he said, looking amused. He knew she was trying to drive him away.
“We don’t have coffee, Marcus,” said Vera.
“But we have linguine and ham today. You know aunt Maria gave Cara work. She bought nice food items for us,” said Adam excitedly. Cara looked at her hands, knowing that she didn’t tell them she had received no payment from the Donnellys. She had to go to Kingston Club and beg Carlton for money. She would pay him back tonight after her performance.
“Can we eat Cara?” he asked excitedly. Marcus’s jaws dropped, and he simply stared at Cara, not understanding a thing about what was going on.
“Yes, go, serve yourselves,” said Cara with a sigh. The children rushed over to the kitchen and Cara looked up at Marcus with expressionless eyes.
“Thank you for standing up for me, Mr. Donnelly. I don’t think I want anything to do with your family anymore. Goodbye,” she said, turning away. Marcus didn’t expect her to dismiss him this way from her life. He caught her hand to stop her.
“Look, I’ve already apologized on behalf of my family. You came away without taking your payment. So I want to give you the money you’ve worked so hard for,” he said, taking out his wallet to take out the money.
“No, I don’t need it. Hire an investigator to look for the jewelry instead,” she said, trying to break free of his hold.
“The jewelry has been found. It was with Lucas since Sienna had left it carelessly on the bed. They unnecessarily worked up such a drama about nothing. Please, Cara, I insist you accept the money,” he said earnestly.
“No, I want nothing to do with you or your family. I had to miss my performances at Kingston Club because of this work. That is my only source of livelihood. I didn’t earn a single cent for the last two days. I had to beg my co-worker for money so that I could place some food on the table today for my family. Please go away, Mr. Donnelly. I don’t want your fake concern. I don’t want your pity,” she said, wrenching her hand free of his hold. Marcus stood transfixed on the spot with a shocked expression on his face. He did not know that they were so poor. He saw the children serving themselves some pasta hungrily, and the realization drew that she had to beg someone for money to buy it.
“I don’t show fake concern. I came here to give you what you have earned. Throw it away if you don’t need it,” he said. A streak of lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a loud rumble of thunder. He placed some 100-dollar bills on the bed and walked out into the storm that was brewing up on the horizon. Although it was afternoon, the sky had darkened, blocking all the sunlight, and it was dark and dismal all around. Cara stared after him, wanting to stop him till the storm died down and offer him some lunch, but she knew he wouldn’t want it. She watched him walk out of her life with a deep sadness in her eyes, maybe for the last time in her life.