Visage

'I don't, Aunt Janice. Believe me, if I did I would tell you.'

'Maybe you're thinking that you can keep her safe but she's in danger, Sin. She could hurt someone, or herself.'

'When I last saw her she looked pretty fine to me,' he mumbled angrily.

'And when was that?' She asked now eyeing him closely.

'I saw her not too long ago...' he noticed her look getting more and more suspicious, '…before she escaped,' he concluded.

'Sineas, I thought we talked about this. You do not see your mother without me.'

'I'm sorry, Aunt Janice but this is my mother. I have every right…'

Smack!

She had slapped him clean across the face with her left, just below his right eye. His face burned with pain. He had felt the flesh on his right cheek shift to the left from the force.

She shot up onto her feet. She was fuming, her fists clenched shut. She looked in the opposite direction, her right hand pointing towards the stairs. 'I think it's time for bed.'

He immediately got up and headed for the stairs, leaving Aunt Janice standing in front of the couch. He could feel her gaze piercing the back of his head while her fingers twitched furiously away.

He got into his room and slowly opened the door. He closed it and leaned his back against it, staring into the darkness. He went for the bed, taking his clothes off at the same time leaving only his trunks.

'Rough day?'

'More or less.'

'How long are you going to keep this up, Sin?'

'Keep what up?' he asked at the same time sliding in and pulling the covers to his chin.

'This mask? This visage you're trying to sell people?'

'I still don't know what you're talking about.'

'I'm talking about Janice, Clarissa…basically everyone.'

'Does your story have a meaning or is this going to be one of your therapy sessions?'

'Stop hiding your feelings from everyone, Sin. No one can help you with your problems if you won't tell them what they are.'

'I told Jacob, but the quack thinks he knows better than everyone. All psychiatrists do; prancing around with their holier-than-thou attitude, claiming to be able to fix other people's problems when their homes are going through worse.'

'I think I agree with you about Jacob being a self-righteous and warped copy of Ghandi. Janice is a bad idea too…'

'It's Aunt Janice!' Sineas hissed. 'How many times do I have to remind you?'

'Even after she almost slapped you into a comma downstairs?'

'She…she just lost her temper,' Sineas replied.

'Really? What about the broken vase? That night with the muddy shoe…or that…'

'You're making noise,' Sineas grunted submerging his entire head under the covers.

'And what about Clarissa?'

'What does she have to do with this?'

'Do you trust her?'

Sineas became quiet. 'Yes,' he said.

'So that means you'll be taking her to the park tomorrow?'

'I guess so.'

Pause. 'Do you reeeally trust her?'

'I already said yes, didn't I?'

Another pause. 'Do you love her?'

There was a much longer pause. He shifted to his left. 'Good night.'

*

Saturday had finally arrived. Clarissa had called Sineas at eight in the morning and informed him that her parents had gone out to work and would arrive some time around 4 to 5 P.M. in the evening. The weekends were actually when her mother worked for extra hours because that was when people had enough free time to get their hair done. Sineas had told Aunt Janice that he was going out to take a walk for a couple of hours. She bought it. He instead boarded a taxi with the money she had given him for lunch and picked up Clarissa just outside her house. And here they were, walking along casually on one of the paths in the park. The air was cooler than usual and there were a lot less people than the previous weekend.

'I hope I'm not going to get you in trouble because of this,' Sineas said.

Clarissa laughed. 'Nonsense! Don't be silly. Anyone could see that my parents are being too overprotective. It's like they're trying to baby me until the day I die. Anyway, enough about me; how's your aunt doing? I hope the news about her sister hasn't left her shaken.'

Sineas looked into Clarissa's eyes. The sincerity they possessed was remarkable. He answered her, 'Don't worry about it. My aunt's the strong type, she's fighting through it.'

'But are you?' she asked him moving a little closer to his side.

'Am I what?'

'Fighting through it?'

He smiled and directed his eyes ahead, in the direction of a couple that was walking slowly in their direction. They were holding hands, the woman's head resting on the man's shoulder. They looked happy. Sineas grinned. 'Wherever my mother is, Claire, I'm sure she's doing fine. I know she is.'

She noticed his expression. She looked ahead and saw the couple, now at least ten metres away from them. She twirled around languorously. 'I hope this day never ends,' she said before she clutched Sineas' hand in hers.