Verona

" All she wants is your money, Dad."

" Stop yelling! She's already heard u!"

" I don't care! Let her hear me, yes, it's way much better! All she cares for is the way she looks, her hair, her dresses and all that stuff. And she's so much younger than u! How can I open your eyes once and for all? Damn it!"

At last, silence. I heard my heart beating madly, as if it were a thunder ready to explode out of my breast. " Why can't this morning be different? I've tried so hard…" So this day brought nothing new, nothing better. As I got out of the bed I heard him shouting in the hall:

" U're not welcome in my room. I thought u knew it. So stop tidiyng it and mind your own business!"

I stood in front of the mirror and combed my hair. " U have to look smashing tonight, to bring him to your feet. If u did this to his father, how come u failed to succeed with a teenager? U are strong and can bewitch him." So I got dressed, checked my nails again and then knocked at his door. He opened and was about to speak, but I was so close to him that his eyes met my breast and his face softened its features. His nostrils moved with the sweet wave of my perfume. For a moment he closed his eyes and then blinked a few times, as if wishing to wake up from a dream.

" Listen, I perfectly understand your wish to protect your father. Believe me, my intention is not that of interfering between the two of u, nor to eat his money up…"

" Really? Hm… coming from u… I truly doubt it."

"I'm no monster, u know. I do have a heart, though it's so difficult for u to understand."

" I know this type of game: trying to bring me on your side, fooling the ennemy , so u can live peacefully."

" Is that what we are for each other? Ennemies?"

" I'm afraid there's no other option."

" Well, then… I did my best, believe me."

" And won't give up doing your best, I know. My young and beautiful mother! What? Aren't we son and mother now? U should pay me a visit at school, u know. I'd like them to envy me. Now, I've got some business to do. Would u mind leaving me alone? Enjoy your breakfast with daddy."

I was speechless again. I almost crawled downstairs." What on earth does it take to have his heart?" A. was still sitting at the table, with a sad expression on the face. I put my arms around his shoulders and smiled, as he turned to greet me. " Is it just my impression or are u joyful today?"

" Very joyful, darling. Why shouldn't I be?"

" Well…did u hear anything? I mean… Nothing! Forget it!" I continued to smile happily.

" Are we still going out tonight?"

" Of course we are."

" D. is coming with us, right?"

" Hope so. Do u want him to come?"

"Yes, I do. We're a family now." My voice trembled a little. Suddenly,I felt my cheeks burning.

"Are u alright? U flushed. I hope it's not the flu."

" Oh, no, really, I'm fine. I was thinking of tonight, u know." He smiled. "Darling, do u mind if I ask u something…well…I wonder…do u happen to know if…if D. has a girlfriend?" He frowned. After a short pause he gave me a bright smile: " Well… how should I know about these things? I guess… there was this girl, Laura, I saw her once. She was beautiful, u know,long hair, pretty face… he told me she had chosen him from one thousand boys." He laughed and as he did so, I felt like many small needles had suddenly pierced through my heart. It was as if they had been thrown there with his laugh. " Well", he went on, " that was a few months ago. He hasn't spoken a word of her ever since."

" I see".

I was sitting on our bed and the window was wide open, yet it seemed like an inner claw resting on my chest, making me choke. I jumped to the window and breathed deeply.

They were waiting downstairs. I reached the top of the staircase and looked at them. D. turned his eyes on me and had a brief twinkling. As I came near , they were gently wrapped in a perfume cloud. " Wow, u're gorgeous!"

" Pretty much like always." D. went outside.

" What is he doing?"

" Waiting for us outside, my princess. Kiss me!"

" Not now, I'll spoil my make up. Let's go!"

We stepped outside and something awkward happened; I still startle while remembering it. Without pretty much knowing what I was doing, I turned round, my face in my hands. " Hey, mum, are u alright?" Mum! He called me mum. " This is Laura, my girlfriend. I thought it would be nice if she went out with us. Hope u don't mind."

" Oh, no, not at all. Hello, Laura! Nice to meet u."

" Hello, Mrs. … can I call u Verona? It's such a lovely name!"

" Of course. U can call me by my name."

"U know, Verona, D. told me many things about u."

" Did he?"

" U look just as I imagined u would."

Just as she imagined I would! Who the hell did she think I was? Her mother-in-law?

"So how old are u, Laura?" A. asked while pouring wine for all of us.

" I'll be eighteen next month, in December."

" That's nice. The same with my son. Speaking of December, this winter will definitely be marvelous. I mean, judging by the way it snows. Tomorrow the snow may be as high as our door latches."

" Don't talk like that! I already feel a shudder over my spine." He put the fur over my shoulders protectively and hugged me. D. and Laura ate from each other's plate like two turtle doves. "If u won't let me live in peace with your father, then why should I let u enjoy it? U won't see me defeated!"

The evening was cold and full of soft big flakes. We drove Laura home and she kissed me on both cheeks. D. was very good-humoured all the way back, just as I had never seen him before. He was a charming lad and could make u feel really good if he wanted. He laughed and joked with us and we reached home in high spirits.

A.'s feet were cold just as mine. The lights in the fireplace had long faded away and so I got out of bed as cautiously as I could and wrapped myself in a soft fur. Suddenly the dark mirror gave me my image back and I felt dizzy at my own glimmer. I opened the door carefully and went out in the hall, still trembling, trying to relieve my cold hands at my chest. The next thing I knew was that I pushed his door open. He raised his head and looked. " I'm cold. Please, take me into your hands." So he got up slowly and let my fur slip off me. I felt his soft hands caress my breast, his wet mouth on my nipples, breath against breath. " Don't cry, baby… ssh… don't cry." Never had I experienced such overwhelming tenderness as in that short moment. He was different. Where was his arrogance, where were his enormous pride and his mordacity?

His side was empty in the morning. I stretched my hand for it and felt a paper rustle in my fingers. It was a note: " Forgive me, Verona, however selfish it may sound, it was a terrible mistake. I shouldn't've taken advantage of u. I was a jerk. U belong to my father and I love Laura. I hope u will forgive me."

I wandered through the house like a ghost the whole day long. The maid was so scared that she thought I might fail any time. On hearing my husband coming home, she hurried to the door. " The lady is sick. She is sick." A. hurried to our room and took me in his arms. He covered me with kisses and asked a hundred questions. " Stop it! Will u stop it? It's… it's D. It's D., it's D., it's D."

" Calm down, Verona. Relax, calm down. What do u mean it's D.?

" He…" I bit my fingers with trembling lips.

" He what? Did he do something to u?"

" He raped me. D. raped me." I feared he might tumble down, so pale was his face. He fell on the bed as if suddenly having his legs cut off. He put his forehead in the shaking hands. His whole head was shaking.

" D. …D., my son, D. , u mean?"

" Yes, D. , your son. He raped me." He rushed out of the room without any other word. I remained there for hours, in the top of our bed, my kneels at my mouth. I heard them quarreling downstairs. I heard cracked glasses and the maid's frightened scream. At last, the sound of a furious car. And then A. entered the room again, totally exhausted. " What did he say?"

" He denied it."

" Is that all? He denied it? Just this? Nothing more?"

" Nothing more. I asked him a thousand questions and he kept saying he didn't do anything. I wish he had a car accident."

Two days passed without any news from D. We were all like pale ghosts, sick and worried. It had been snowing all the time and everything was engulfed. On the third day in the morning police was at our door. His car had been pulled out of the frozen river. That night I put my head in his lap and my hands around his knees. " I know u will hate me for the rest of your life, still I have to make this horrible confession. I wouldn't be able to live without letting it out. I don't know what will come out of me and I guess I don't care any more. I lied to u. It was I who gave myself to him that night. I couldn't bear it when he told me he had been wrong and it would never happen again. So I got angry and lied to u. U are free to do whatever pleases u with me; throw me out or better kill me. No matter how my life will be from now on, I can hardly call it a life."

He didn't throw me out; and I was too coward to punish myself. And yet I still believe that D. got nothing less than what he deserved.