“Are you mad?”, I ask him for the third time since we have left Ruarc’s house. Sia hasn’t spoken to me since then, brooding, eyes fixed on the road before him. I wonder if he stole this car as well. He is driving with only one hand, and the car smelt of Sia, leather and Anita. He doesn’t answer, just puts on the radio, to block out my voice. That means he is mad. But he has no right to be! I was simply enjoying myself with Ruarc, just as he was enjoying himself with Anita. Despite the unwanted sound, I still shouted so he could hear my voice over the sound. “Fine. Don’t answer me. It’s not like I care.”
“Get out.”
I wince at his harshness. I hadn’t even known we had reached the cabin and I get down, my arse asleep. Sia slams the door of the cabin shut, throwing the car keys on the table. I’m guessing he didn’t steal it then. Seriously I am pissed with his behaviour.
“Will you stop behaving like a child?”, I yell.
He blinks, as if he is surprised, I am still talking to him.
“I don’t even want to start with you,” he says with so much venom, I shiver. “Go and rest. We meet Eloive in the morning.”
*******
“What the fuck are you doing here? And who is this bitch you’ve brought to my home?”
I wince at the insult. I look at the place he had called home. If somebody had told me that Ruarc’s son, lived in a shitty building with broken windows, peeling walls, ivy snaking up the pipes, I wouldn’t have believed them, but it is the truth. That poorly maintained duplex is Eloive’s home. And I must say, he doesn’t look far off from his home.
His dark hair is spiked up with dirt. His lips are cracked, and I feel the need to give him moisturizer. His shirt has holes in it, and so do the jeans that hung low on his hips, revealing a clean waistband of boxers. I bet that’s the only clean thing he’s got on him. His feet are bare, toenails dirty. He is tall and lean, but the muscles are there. I eyed him again, his grey eyes fixed on Sia. Responsible. Sia called him responsible.
Sia narrowed his eyes. “Any more of that and I will be washing your mouth with soap.”
Eloive rolls his eyes, leaning against the dirty wall, crossing his arms.
“Bitch, fucker, asshole, fuckwit, sod it,” he muttered off, before looking at Sia. “Should I continue? ‘Cause it has been a long damn time before anybody washed my fucking goddamned mouth,” he punctuated each word knowingly, and Sia clenched his jaw. I have to give it to him, for making Sia mad.
“I’m not in the mood for this,” Sia said, grabbing my hand, and walking past him, into his house. He lets go of me, and drops his arse on a ratty couch by the wall.
Eloive chuckles, as he shuts the door. “Yeah right. Enter my house like you fucking own it.”
I take in the living room. The walls are bare, not even a single portrait of a painting in sight. There’s an orange bulb dangling from the ceiling, which lightened the room. The couches all have holes in them, and the battered table which Sia has thrown his legs on is situated in the center. No television, only three doors that lead somewhere else. I do wonder if Cecilia could be hiding in any of those three doors.
Eloive grabbed the cup of hot coffee he left on the table, my nose tickling at the smell. He goes to his stand by the door, and sips at the coffee like it is not boiling hot. Like come on, I can practically see the steam from here.
“Where is Cecilia?”, Sia asks, and I watch Eloive, gauging his reaction.
He freezes, his hands squeezing the cup of coffee. Maybe I am right. Maybe they are lovers after all. Eloive recovered his cool.
“I’m not saying shit until you introduce me to this stranger you have brought into my home.”
“She’s not a stranger.”
“Yeah, I know. Sidechicks, whore, mistress whatever. Who is she?”
Why are they talking as though I am not in the room?
“Crinka,” I answered, not trusting Sia and the words that were about to come out of his mouth.
Eloive narrowed his eyes. “I wasn’t talking to you bitch.” He turns to Sia. “Is this how she is? Putting her mouth is other people’s business. How do you stan…”
Sia cuts him off. “That’s not enough Eloive. Answer my question. Where is Cecilia?”
He rolls his eyes and I know that if Sia was not in the room, he would spill his hot coffee on me. “Am I, her keeper? Why does everyone think I’m her keeper or something?”
What did he mean by everyone? Was someone here before us? Sia locks eyes with me and I can tell he’s thinking the same.
“What do you mean by that?”
Eloive continues drinking his coffee.
“Father was here last night. Asking about her. It was really annoying.”
Ruarc was here last night? But I was with him last night. How is that even possible?
“Ruarc was here?”
Eloive hissed. “I don’t consider that man as father and you know it. He is no father to me and he will never be.”
What happened between them that made Eloive disown his own father? If Ruarc is not his father, then who has stolen his position?
“Then who was here last night?”
Eloive shakes his head. “And you say you care about me? I can’t believe this.”
I feel for him. He might try to act all tough, living out here alone, but he is just a lonely teen.
“We can deal with your feelings later. Who was here last night?”
Furious, Eloive throws the cup of coffee at Sia. The hot coffee spills on him but Sia doesn’t flinch. The styrofoam cup falls on the ground and I rush quickly to Sia’s side, looking him over. As usual, he pushes me away and I stumble backwards, hurt. Eloive watches all this in silence, grey eyes calculating.
Sia frowns at him, inspecting the burns on his skin. “You know what would happen if I report you to your father. The burns are proof.”
Eloive scowls. “He won’t believe you. For all he knows, those burns could be self-inflicted.”
What the hell is going on?
They don’t say anything for a while before Eloive breaks the silence.
“Massa was here last night, asking about her.”
Massa? Eloive considered Massa to be his father? Wow.
“Massa? He doesn’t know where she is?”
“I think he was lying. I think he was here to prove a point and fool you all.”
“So, you’re indirectly saying Massa knows where Cecilia is and is only playing dumb?”
“Was? I think she ran away from him, for some unknown reason.”
“She might come here so be on the lookout.”
“Even if she comes here, I’d send her away. I don’t want to get in trouble because of her.”
“You won’t,” Sia assures him. “I give you, my word.”
Eloive snorts. “You gave me your word three years ago and you didn’t keep it. If you keep giving me your word, you won’t have anything to say to Anita when you two are alone.”
He knows about her too? Gah why do I even sound surprised? He knows her sister, so yeah. But what happened three years ago?
“I wasn’t myself three years ago so I wasn’t able to help you.”
“Bullshit! Utter and complete bullshit! You always told me that family comes first yet you abandoned your family for an outsider! For Anita!”, he yelled.
Sia flinches. “She needed me more than ever. She needed me and I couldn’t fail her.”
“No. I needed you more than ever Nasia yet you failed me! Bloody Anita had people to take care of her but I had no one! Nobody! Before I was taken away, I watched my caretaker die! She was the only one that cared about my sorry arse! Yet the man you called my father slaughtered her in front of me just to weaken me! Where were you at that time Nasia? Where were you!”
Eloive was breathing hard from all the yelling. My heart went out to him. He is nasty because he has been through a lot. Sia was no longer relaxing on the chair, sitting forward.
“I didn’t know. Ruarc told me she was involved in an accident.”
“And you believed him like the fool you are. Confuckinggratulations Nasia. You deserve an award Nasia, you really do. Oh, I know. What about World’s Best Uncle?”, he asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Sia was letting Eloive call him Nasia? I think he lets only few people call him that. Eloive is really mad and I’m sure whatever Sia did in the past broke him.
“I am sorry.” Sia whispered. “I’m sorry.”
“Give your apologies to someone who needs it. Maybe to the girl you pushed away like she meant nothing. Now get out of my house Nasia. Get out!”
“I’m not leaving until you tell me where Cecilia is.”
“What part of I don’t know where that bitch is, don’t you understand?”
“Any of it. All I had to do was mention her name and your coffee was out of your mouth.”
“That’s because her name leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Believe me, I don’t know where she is. The last time I saw her was three years ago. I don’t even know what she looks like now.”
“I’ll send you, her picture. Call me if you find her.”
Yeah right. Like he will do that.
“I’m not promising you anything Nasia.”
Sia rises to leave. “You’re lying.”
Eloive clicks his tongue. “What if I am? Whatcha gonna do about it?”
Sia’s gaze hardens. “Can you not be like this right now?”
“This? Tell me dear uncle, what exactly am I like?”
Rude, annoying, bratty, prissy, was all what Sia wanted to say. I mean it was written all over him. But Sia knew better and settled for a sigh, running his hand through his messy locks.
“It’s important I know where she is. So, can you please just cooperate? Put the past behind us, and help me find her.”
Eloive looks hard at Sia. “If I cooperate, what’s in it for me?”
I raise my brow. So, the guy likes to bargain huh?
“What do you want?”, Sia asks tiredly. It’s good to see someone stepping on his toes.
Eloive stroked his chin, as if to be in thought. “When the time comes you will know. She was grieving her mother’s death when I saw her. I offered her no words of consolation.”
“Why?”
“It was because she had a mother and I didn’t.”
He leaves us, going to goddess knows where.
“He is badly hurt. Damaged beyond repair. How could Ruarc do that to his own son?”
Sia smiles sadly. “Ruarc has never accepted Eloive as his own. I don’t know why though, but it has always been that way.”
I would take it upon myself to know why and when I know, if I ever will, I would unite them together.
“Do you think we should leave him alone? I don’t think we should though.”
Sia looks at the door which Eloive used to leave, sighing. “Eloive likes his solitude. Right now, I’m at a loss of what to do. I’ve tried my best to be there for him, but complications keep occurring. Nobody has time for him. Everybody has been doing their own thing, that they forgot he exists. Only Cocci, Massa and I still care”.
“He must be crushed. That must be hard for him.”
“He has learnt to handle it. He has a hard time opening up and things have been difficult since we found out he’s dyslexic. And you know what that means, being unable to read, for someone of his caliber.”
I can imagine. A prince’s son. Unable to read. “But wait, Icelanders can be dyslexic?”
Sia flicked my nose, chuckling. “Hey just because we’re so awesome doesn’t mean we can’t be sick. Eloive was so depressed, he was barely eight when he tried to commit suicide.”
I gasped. “What? How? What did Ruarc do about it?”
“Ruarc caused it. I saved him before it was too late. Eloive resorted to self-harm before he clocked ten. No number of therapists can fix him. He’s a puzzle missing his own pieces.”
Self-harm? That must explain the tiny scars I had seen on his wrists. Anger swells up within me and it is directed at Ruarc. I hate children, but Eloive was too young to go through something like that.
“It seems like Eloive and I are alike. I didn’t have anybody either. I had my first shift alone. Sleepy Joe took it upon himself to finish what my mother couldn’t but he didn’t succeed,” all thanks to you, I wanted to add, but settled for, “I am lucky to be alive today.”
“No, you’re not.” His smile is sadder. “You had luck. Eloive didn’t. You are alive, Eloive is only a walking corpse.”