Chapter Thirty-Three: Confession

"What are you doing?" Gia jumped away from me at the sound of his voice, straightening herself to appear nonchalant. I let out a breath I wasn't aware I was holding. My eyes turned into slits when she smiled at me, which I returned with a scowl.

Jackass was looking at us with a perplexed expression on his face, which looked a lot better than it did on Valentine's day. He had a huge bruise on his jaw, and the cut above his eyebrow was stitched. I can't believe I did all that. He was standing by the door that led to the backyard, with baby blue swim shorts on and nothing else. The bruise on his stomach was larger than the one on his jaw, and I was overwhelmed by the wave of guilt that washed over me. It didn't give me any pleasure seeing him like this. In fact, I felt like shit.

"Oh, Nia and I were just having a chat about Valentine's day." The sweetness in her voice made me nauseous. I guess I finally caught up to what just happened because when I took a step back from Gia, it wasn't out of revulsion. It was out of fear.

"It's Azania." I whipped my eyes to meet his in shock. Did he just...? I averted my scrutinizing gaze to Gia, who was blinking stupidly like a deer caught in headlights. He did.

"What?" her question was sharp, yet her face was smiling. "Her name is Azania. She has explained to us why we need to address her correctly." He took a few steps inside, flickering his eyes to me. My breath caught in my throat. He's defending you. I kept my eyes on Gia, who had not said anything. The smile had not dropped from her face, but she had stopped blinking, giving me chills. And a split second later, she moved, her features soft when she looked at me. "Of course, pray forgive me child. Bad habits are hard to shake off."

I didn't want to show her that I was afraid. That was what she wanted. But I wasn't going to act like nothing is wrong either. She blamed me for my assault. I wanted to stop feeling sorry for her, but I couldn't. I had to remind myself that she's also a victim of that psychopath. Jackass was looking at me intently, probably trying to read my mind. Gia was looking at him look at me, and that was when I realized I had been standing here with these people for far too long. Go around the fucking house next time.

"I'ma leave. Bye." I stepped around Gia and headed for the door; my eyes downcast so as to not look at him. I hadn't taken four steps when he spoke, asking me to wait. I cocked my eyebrow at him, looking at him but not really. It hurt to look at him. I felt so ashamed by what I did. I was afraid I would start crying if I looked.

"Your dad asked me to take you to the doctor, for your knee. Your coach wants to know when you'll be back on the court." I frowned, why would my dad ask him to take me? They haven't spoken much since the assault. Dad was still mad at him.

"Why would he ask you to take her? Why couldn't he? Or her friend? Or her boyfriend? Why does it have to be you?" this time, I looked right at him as Gia asked her 50 questions. His face softened whenever he looked at her, I noted.

"He's not here, and I am. He wanted her to go with an adult." But it's a Saturday. My dad would have told me, otherwise he would have asked Ayanda's mom to take me since he thinks I slept over at her house.

"So, why can't she go with Cedric, or that nurse they hired? Why does it have to be you?" she had her face scrunched up in confusion, as she tried to answer some of the questions she must have swimming in her head. Jackass spared me a glance, and I took the hint. I told them I was going to my room and stopped right outside the door so I could hear what they were saying. I needed answers too.

"I have taken Azania to the doctor before, and you never said a peep about it. What's wrong?" stealing a peep, I saw that he had his hands on her shoulders, keeping her at arm's length so he could look at her.

"I just don't understand why you have to be the one to take her." The sweetness was back in her voice, her eyes round and shining. "But why is it a problem if I take her? G, that girl went through hell and back because of me. Why not me?" I pressed my back against the wall, trying to steady my breath.

"I went through hell and back too but you're not rushing to be my aid." Was she crying? "You put yourself through hell and back when you invited him into my fucking house. Don't start that shit with me. You have turned down every single one of my attempts to help you, and I won't allow you to make me feel bad about wanting to help Azania. I can't believe you're making this an issue. You know how much her father means to me." I should have minded my business. I should have gone to my room like I said I was. This was highly inappropriate, but my legs refused to move. After a few moments passed and nothing was said, I risked a peep to find them locked in a stare down. Jackass had his back to me so I couldn't see his face, but Gia's stone-cold face was enough to let me know what she was seeing on his. And suddenly, her eyes snapped to me, giving me a fright. Time to leave now.

The cottage was empty when I opened the door, as expected. My dad was hardly home on weekends. He used the time to play golf with his colleagues and clients. Thinking of my dad, I wondered why he would ask Jackass to take me and not tell me. I should call him and ask, but I wanted answers from Jackass first. I deposited myself on the couch and took out my phone, wanting to talk to Ayanda. She answered on the 3rd ring.

"Bitch, where you been?" she demanded over the receiver. I put the phone on loudspeaker because I knew she'd shout eventually, and I respected my ears. "You tell me. Did my dad call?"

"Nope. I guess he trusts you now. Which is great because I think my mom would have ratted you out. So ... how was it? Did you fuck?" I couldn't stop myself from laughing. Of course, that's what she wants to know about. "Well ..." I trailed off, knowing it would drive her crazy.

"You stop that! Tell meeee." She whined. And I'm about to tell her about what happened when Kevin and I got into bed in the early hours of this morning, when the door to the cottage opened, to reveal a Jackass dressed in black jeans and plain white tee, boots on his feet. Does he ever stop dressing like a fuckboy?

"I'll tell you later chomi. I have to go. Love you." Ayanda reluctantly said goodbye and we hung up. Jackass came to sit in the loveseat opposite me, depositing his phone, keys and wallet on the coffee table between us.

"I have a confession to make." He said, putting his elbows on his knees. There's something about seeing educators slumping that amused me. "Confess."

"Your dad didn't ask me to take you to the doctor." I knew that. He would have told me if they were speaking again. I cocked my head and looked at him curiously. What is going on? "I wanted to take you to a car show for your birthday, and then teach you how to drive. I would still like to do that, if you would like." He held his gaze on me as he spoke, probably searching for clues on my face. I was dumbfounded. I didn't know what else to say but why.

"I haven't had someone take an interest in cars ever since I stopped racing. You like cars, yet you can't drive. It offends me. And although I have taught someone how to drive before, I have never taught anyone how to drive like me." He flashed me a crooked smile, and he almost looked shy. I was speechless. I have been begging my dad since I was 15 to teach me, and he had given up after one lesson. I liked cars, sure, but did I like them enough to want to drive one like a race-car driver? Yes, the fuck I did. But something was still not clear to me.

"Why did you have to lie to Gia about it?" he sat back in the couch, running a hand over his face. "Gia would skin me alive if she found out I'm back on the racetrack again. Even if it's just for teaching." I did not doubt that for a second.

"She doesn't want me anywhere near you." I retorted, frowning as I remembered our conversation earlier, and their conversation after that. "Gia is going through a lot right now. She –" he stopped, realizing what he was about to say. "Blames me for everything. I know." I didn't mean to sound sad; it was just hard to wrap my head around the fact that she was blaming me.

"Gia is complicated, Azania. I don't want you to take any of it personally. It's just years of abuse from that piece of shit that has her brain all fried. I am trying to get her the help she needs, but she refuses every attempt. I know it is unfair but ... please, be patient with her. She'll come around. Hopefully soon so we can make sure he never gets out." He looked so defeated, making my heart jerk. I didn't want to care for Gia. It was her twin brother who did this to me. But she was condoning it. And Jackass was being patient with me so I guess I could give his wife the same courtesy. I mumbled a whatever under my breath, feeling annoyed by the compromise.

"So ... driving?" he prompted, looking excited again.