Chapter 22 Cat out of the Bag

"What are you even talking about? How can you possibly have done that? You were only a child."Brenda countered him.

Dave lifted his head from his folded arms, resting his chin on them, he looked so lost in the past… "He was ok from what I knew of him, when I was much younger; you know before, I… he died." He stuttered, and then cleared his throat before he continued. "He came home one night drunk. And my mum was trying to ask him what made think resorting to the bottles would solve their problems."

Brenda listened, he own eyes pained from seeing him this broken.

He sniffled and continued. "He started with a verbal assault on my mum, and then progressed to physically abusing her." Dave was so lost in his dark past, that he didn t even notice the passage of time.

All the while Brenda listened to him wishing she could help alleviate his pain.

"It got so bad that she would not be able to stand for days." He took in a deep breath. "Then one day I couldn t hold it any more. The pain was much for her, and I knew I had to defend her, if only I knew it would turn out this way." He groaned again

Brenda kept caressing his back in a comforting manner, silently urging him on, knowing that recounting the past could relieve him of the pain he carried.

"Then on that night, I woke up to sound of my mum screaming and my Dad was over her choking him. Suddenly I couldn t take it no more; it was like I was possessed by another being. I remembered the anger of all the emotions I felt, then I took a pestle and hit him on his …" his voice broke and he wept not able to bring himself to complete his sentence. "But I m sorry, I m so sorry, I didn t mean for it to happen that way. I just wanted him to stop hitting her all the time." He paused, shaking his head in regret.

"The neighbor must have heard, and called the police. But mother would not allow me take the fall so she said she did it in self defense. And since it was only the both of us that knew the truth, no one countered it. Mother was to be tried, but got sick in police custody. And her health gradually deteriorated after that. She died the day your father accused me of stealing from him.... on your birthday, I was detained, and was not there when my mother finally passed on. This was why I hated you or pretended to, because I had to blame someone. I blamed myself, I blamed you, I blamed your dad, sometimes, I even blame God. "

"Wow!" Was all Brenda could say; thinking how this was too much for an adult to handle, much less a young boy of fourteen? "I m very sorry, I wished I can undo all these, you can t even begin to imagine how sorry I feel right now." She sniffled, reaching for the Kleenex on the table; she wiped her eyes and blew her nose." She handed one to Dave, who took it, muttering his thanks. "I only wished I could say same of my Dad." she enunciated. "I mean… giving the role he played. I felt so ashamed right now."

Dave scoffed "Oh trust me he played more than that!" He wiped his eyes, crushing the Kleenex in his hands. He said through clenched teeth. "I found out he was the one that duped my Dad, making a drunk and a molester out of him."

"What?" Brenda asked incredulously.

"Yes, that was what I was told." He stood up his body taut from anger. He walked a distance away from her, still crushing the unfortunate item in his hands like it was the enemy.

"Are you, sure? I mean who told you that" in spite of herself. Brenda felt a tiny bit of loyalty towards her father. Where are all these coming from? It s like I don t even know who he is, if this is true, Dad you have really gone too far. But she stood from her reclining on the arm of the chair still wallowing in doubts. She felt the need to defend him "Dave, I sincerely will not appreciate this allegation against my father. I think you should know your facts. What you are implying he did… if that was true is a punishable offence and it s against all what an upholder of the law stands for."

Dave smiled in derision. "You really think I will make that up?" he rounded up on her, his anger pouncing in full force. He took menacing steps towards her.

Brenda was scared of the sudden change in his demeanor… she stepped back till her rear leg touched the sofa she was previously seated. She raised her eyes to look at him. He was so close she could see his pupil. Men! He s got great eyes, exclusive of the anger that shimmers in their depth; laced by another emotion akin to desire, need for her? She was afraid alright, but not of Dave but of herself. She was holding herself against the storm in his eyes by a shear thread of will power, afraid if she plunged in and might drown in their depth, and wouldn t want to be rescued. Her fear must be evident in her eyes. He gently reached out, caressed her lips with his thumb.

"Are you scared of me, Brenda?" Dave whispered close to her lips. "Gosh! I promised never to do this, giving your fiancé and all, but here you are deliciously irresistible.

"I don t have any f…." Before she could complete her sentence, his lips descended on hers, pouring all his emotions into the kiss.

Brenda closed her eyes and latched to his shirt front like a leech to a skin, whose livelihood depended on holding on. "I don t have a fiancé" she whispered against his lips, finally able to get out when they stopped assaulting each other s lips.

"What"

"I don t… have…" she was saying but he interrupted her.

"I heard what you said, I was just surprised" he chuckled "And is that an invitation to continue"

Brenda released his shirt front but pushed against his chest instead.

Dave laughed out loud, he backed away. "Okay, I m never a fan of taking an unwilling partner" he teased.

Brenda walked past him, putting a distance between them, mortified for behaving so wantonly. She prided herself for the prim and proper kind of lady, but with Dave, all the prim and proper crap fly out the window. She had practically begged him to keep kissing her. She closed her eyes in frustration. Without turning back to him "Dave… please, leave."

"Okay I will leave, but I promised I won t make a move to kiss you again until you asked me to."

She heard him walk to the door. But the door didn t close immediately, Brenda was tempted to look at him but she maintained her stance, her back to him. Finally, she heard the door close gently after him. She waited before turning back to the door. "Argh!" She screamed her frustration at the door and threw a pillow at it.

***

Ella called Brenda immediately she got back, but her phone was switched off so she decided to call her brother instead. She hasn t heard from any of them since the night she asked Dave to pick Brenda up.

"Excuse me Josh, I have to call my brother," Ella said to Josh, as they sat to lunch in a restaurant in town. Both of them have become an item since their night at the club with Brenda and Greg. They have gone on several dates and Josh has proven to be a real good spot. Although he hasn t said anything to yet but it was obvious he liked her and Ella must admit that she like him too.

"Is everything alright? With your brother I mean" Josh asked her, obviously concerned for her.

"Yeah, everything is alright with Dave but I m not sure about Brenda, she seemed to have a run out with her Dad. She left the house, and her apartment is not ready yet, so she literarily had no place to go."

"Really. Poor Brenda" he empathized

"Yeah, I sent my brother to help her out and I m yet to hear from both of them." She tried Dave s phone again, but his phone was engaged. But she left him a voice message. Ella placed her phone on the table. "Dave was probably in a meeting. Sometimes I feel he worked too hard." She said worriedly

"Is it such a bad thing to work hard?" Josh queried, jokingly.

"Not at all, I mean I work hard too. But he s kind of obsessive about work. I think his work- compulsion is psychological." She provided, trying to understand his compulsion to work so hard.

"What has his working hard got to do with his psychology? "Josh asked confused.

"He s obsessed with working hard to make money so that he can provide for me, and I think that has something to do with guilt."

Josh laughed. "Now, you lost me Ella; will you quit psychoanalyzing your brother? In fact I didn t know you studied psychology too"