"You need to tell me everything."
I slowly lowered myself down to the ground, resting my back up against a tree and sitting Bella down between my thighs.
She curled herself into a ball, her arms wrapped around her legs as if she was trying to hold herself together.
"My mother died giving birth to me, so I was raised by the other women in the tribe. My brothers were older and were already off hunting most of the day and often times I was forgotten about. I did learn most of the important things, like weaving and gardening, but I never was able to cook well. When I was given to my husband, our first night together he wanted me to make his meal…and I didn't know how. I…I went out into the jungle and gathered some seeds and plants. I didn't know…I promise I didn't know," she pleaded, her dark eyes shiny with tears.
In all of my time with her, I had never seen Bella show so much emotion.
"As was customary, I prepared his plate first, but it become obvious soon after that something was wrong. He said his throat burned and by the time I came back with the Shaman, he had started vomiting. It took two days for the poison to kill him. After he was dead, the headman wanted to have me beaten, but it was your mother who stood up for me. It was such an easy mistake…yet so very deadly. In place of being beaten, I was given the name Bella, as punishment. It is to remind me and anyone who hears it of what I have done."
I was silent as she finished recalling her horribly painful past.
I gently eased my arms around her trembling shoulders and pulled her so her head rested on my chest.
It was no wonder she worried I might not want to claim her.
"Bella, thank you for telling me what happened. I didn't know. But you need to know that nothing you can say will affect the way I see you. You have been kind to me and to my mother. My hesitance in claiming you has nothing to do with you. I just wanted…time." I sighed, my voice faltering as she snuggled her face against me.
My body reacted to how close she was, the warmth of her breath against my skin and the weight of her body on mine, but my mind was spinning relentlessly.
I knew how it felt to have a parent desert you.
I also knew that it was only a matter of time before I had to leave.
I had a life at home…my father and my siblings would miss me.
I couldn't stay here…no matter how much I wanted to.
When it came time for me to go, how could I possibly leave Bella if I claimed her?
Once I took her body, it would only be a matter of time before she took my heart.
:( I took a few liberties with the poison. Castor plants don't grow in Venezuela...but yeah...they do in my mind.
Tomorrow...