Chapter 9: Misunderstanding
Evelyn put on her seatbelt after checking her precious cargo was safely strapped to the seat beside her. Everything seemed much more beautiful today in Evelyn's eyes. The sky had never been so blue; the sun had never shone so brightly, the people had never smiled more radiantly. As she pulled out of the hotel driveway Evelyn felt happier than she had done in years, she finally felt safe. The journey to Sands' house took no time at all. She pulled up outside the porch, and her happy feeling faltered, something was wrong. She pulled the key from the ignition. Why did her heart begin to beat faster? What was wrong here? She had just stepped out of the car when she heard footsteps tearing towards her. Around the side of the house Nino appeared with sheer panic written on his face. He tore over the brown grass and skidded to a halt in front of Evelyn.
"Senorita," he said breathlessly, manners intact even now, "Please...you have to help..."
"What's the matter?" Evelyn asked and she saw her own fear reflected in Nino's dark eyes.
"Senor Sands," said Nino urgently and he pointed to the side of the house, a gesture which Evelyn did not understand.
"What happened? Where is he?" asked Evelyn ready to help whatever Nino told her.
"He's not here senorita," said Nino and suddenly he switched to Spanish gesticulating wildly with his hands as he spoke.
"I can't understand you," said Evelyn trying to remain patient while fighting her own panic. Nino seemed incapable of English now he was so agitated but Evelyn caught words such as "gone", "missing" and "dangerous." She grasped Nino's shoulders firmly and said clearly, "Show me." Nino nodded wide eyed. He grabbed Evelyn's arm and pulled her with surprising strength round the side of the house. Evelyn had never been round there before and was surprised to see a garage with peeling painted doors wide open.
"See senorita," said Nino, "It's gone!"
"What's gone?" asked Evelyn hoping Nino would be able to answer in English.
"The car," said Nino frantically, "And Senor Sands."
Evelyn was driving down the road which ran parallel to the busy market place. Her eyes scanned the crowd of people, it was near impossible to locate one individual but somehow Evelyn knew Sands wasn't there. Evelyn had learnt from Nino that he had heard Sands' car start but thought nothing of it, not knowing then which car was making the noise. By the time Nino had realised it was too late, Sands had driven away and now Evelyn was looking for him. Nino had been morbidly convinced that Sands had already suffered some terrible accident and it had been Evelyn's duty to calm him down before commencing her search. Nino's fear had had a marked effect on Evelyn, every time she drove round a corner she was convinced she was about to see a horrific vision of an overturned car but the road was always empty.
When Evelyn returned to Sands' home Nino came running down the steps to meet her but both their hopes were dashed, neither of them had so much as seen Sands. Evelyn wanted to go back out but Nino insisted she stay, she had not eaten a thing all day. Nino and Evelyn sat on the porch trying to force down their food but neither of them were hungry. Their heads turned at every noise but Sands did not appear. Evelyn could feel a ball of panic in her chest rotating and growing as time crawled slowly on. Nino's eyes were looking oddly shiny as he pushed the food around his plate unenthusiastically.
"Has he ever done this before?" Evelyn asked.
"No," replied Nino, "He has not even looked at his car since the Day of the Dead."
"Day of the Dead?" Evelyn asked. She knew it was a Mexican festival of some kind but what significance did it have for Sands?
"Si," said Nino sadly, "The day they stole senor Sands' eyes." Evelyn shivered as she remembered the story and what lay behind Sands' glasses. Nino looked out into the night.
"Poor senor Sands," he said, "Out all night."
"We won't find him in the dark," said Evelyn although she knew that if Nino wanted to go out she would too but Nino was realistic.
"I know senorita," he said sadly, "I hope he's alright. He's done so much for me."
"You mean with money?" Evelyn asked.
"Si," said Nino looking up at her, "My family now owns a big house and they have successful business." He looked proud of his family's achievements for a moment before sadness covered his young features again. "But senor has done lots for me also; he is teaching me English and plenty of other things he knows."
"That's good," said Evelyn resisting the urge to let all her mounting feelings convert to tears, "But couldn't you learn that stuff at school?" Nino shook his head.
"The school is too crowded, it's too hard to learn anything," he explained, "Senor Sands is much better teacher." Evelyn smiled.
"Do you love him Nino?" she asked.
"Si," replied Nino with touching honesty, "Do you?" Evelyn looked out into the darkness.
"Yes," she said, "Yes, I do."
Nino kept falling asleep for a few minutes at a time so Evelyn decided that they should both turn in. She slept in the guest room as usual but this time she could feel Sands next to her and see his shadow in the doorway. Twice she woke expecting to see Sands beside her but there was nothing there. Sands had not returned.
The sun had only just crept above the horizon when Evelyn resumed her search. The streets were still empty; her car was alone on the roads. Nino had told her that Sands' car was black so that was what Evelyn was looking for. She headed out of town, she wasn't sure why exactly, probably because she had searched the town's streets the day before. Her car drove through the desert, sand flying from each wheel like a mini sandstorm. The sky was a dusky pink and visibility was medium at best but Evelyn could just about make out a dark shape in the distance. As Evelyn got closer she saw it was, as she had so dearly hoped, a car. She approached cautiously her eyes picking out the letters on the number plate and comparing it to the one Nino had given her, it was a match.
Evelyn stopped the car a little way away. If Sands was nearby he would have heard the engine cut out so he would know someone was there. The last thing she wanted to do was appear threatening. She got out of the car and walked closer to Sands' vehicle. It seemed to have come to a stop of its own accord meaning that Sands had not, as Nino had so gloomily predicted, had some terrible accident. She could see it was empty from quite a way away so she prepared to look around it. She wanted to call out or make some noise to supplement the crunching of her shoes on the dark ground but for some reason she did not dare. The silence was so absolute that it seemed forbidden to shatter it in any way. Evelyn edged round the car her heart in her mouth. She did not hear him approach; the first she knew was the sound of a gun being cocked.
Evelyn span around. There was Sands, his face set in an expression of determination, standing in front of her aiming his gun directly at her heart. Evelyn resisted the temptation to put her hands in the air.
"It's me," she said instead, "It's Evelyn."
"I know," said Sands simply without emotion. He did not lower his gun. Evelyn told herself to keep calm; Sands wouldn't shoot her, right? Right now she wasn't so sure.
"I came to see if you were alright," she said her eyes trained on the gun. Why hadn't he put it down yet? Sands said nothing at all.
"I was worried about you," said Evelyn a slight quaver in her voice. There was a slight pleading note to it too which did not escape Sands' notice. He gave a derisive snort.
"I was worried," Evelyn insisted, "How did you manage to drive all this way without...?" Sands' hand shook ever so slightly and Evelyn saw the gun wobble a fraction.
"Fuck you," he spat, "As if you care."
"Of course I care!" cried Evelyn reacting to his aggressiveness.
"Then why did you leave me?!" Sands shouted. Silence. He had said it. He had admitted he cared and he hadn't meant to. The silence stretched on painfully.
"I never left you," Evelyn said in a small voice, "I was coming back." Sands said nothing; his face was registering no discernable emotion.
"Did you think I wasn't coming back?" Evelyn asked realising she had caused all this and if anything had happened to Sands it would have been her fault. Nino had neglected to tell her this. Sands lowered his gun feeling a strong rush of self-hatred. Evelyn dared to take a step forwards but to her surprise Sands raised the gun again.
"Don't you come near me," he said viscously, "Just fuck off." Evelyn backed away with tears in her eyes, where was the Sands that had held her in his arms?
"Please Sands, I..."
"Fuck off!" he roared and he fired the gun. The bullet soared past Evelyn's right shoulder, it didn't touch her but it hurt her to the core.
Evelyn wasn't to know Sands had shot to miss but she sincerely hoped that was the case. She was sitting in her car, she hadn't moved an inch and it had been three hours now. She wanted Sands to know the truth but didn't work up the nerve to approach him until another hour after that.
Sands couldn't remember whether he had heard Evelyn's car leave or not, he reckoned she must have left by now. It was hot so he was sitting in the shade of his car. His throat was dry but he couldn't think about thirst or hunger now. He hated himself, that was the simple truth. He turned his gun around in his hands slowly until he heard the soft footsteps coming towards him.
Evelyn sat down beside Sands; she had placed her heavy parcel a little way away. Sands had no reaction to her presence at all. He sat motionless, gun still in his hand. Evelyn was relieved to see it wasn't pointed at her. She sat for a minute and then very gently she touched Sands' hand, wrapping her fingers around it to let him know she cared. Sands did not pull his hand away; instead he just looked even more miserable. Evelyn snuggled closer to him until, to keep his balance, Sands had to put his arm around her. He did so with obvious reluctance.
"I don't like being dependent," he said in a pained voice.
"Everyone's dependent on someone," said Evelyn.
"I've got used to being dependent on Nino, I could replace him if I had to. But if I become dependent on you I won't be able to..." He broke off but Evelyn knew what had been about to say; he wouldn't be able to replace her, she had the funny feeling he would not have been able to replace Nino either but her thoughts remained internal. She turned and kissed him. She could feel his need for her and that just made her want him more. She leaned over so she could kiss more deeply but Sands pulled away so he could voice the question that was hurting him so badly.
"Why did you leave?"
"I'll show you," said Evelyn and she got up.
"Show me?" asked Sands.
"Uh huh," said Evelyn with a smile, "You see, the reason I left was because I had been waiting for the right time to give you something, I thought yesterday morning was the right time but...anyway, I told you I was an artist, I made you something." Sands looked a little confused.
"Wait here," said Evelyn, "I'll go and get it." Sands heard her walk a little way away and then stop, when she walked back she seemed to be a lot slower. Evelyn carried her gift over and placed it beside Sands glad to put it down. She took both of Sands' hands in her own and placed them onto her present.
"It's a statue," she explained, "Made in stone." She began to guide Sands' hands over it slowly as she spoke.
"It's a mother with her baby," said Evelyn, "She's holding the baby to her, protecting it from the rest of the world." Evelyn directed Sands' hands all over the statue. It was completely smooth, all curved lines and hollowed areas. Sands found he did not imagine what it looked like, he didn't need to.
"Wow," he said quietly his hands continuing to play over the cold stone.
"I'm glad you like it," said Evelyn.
"And it's for me?" Sands asked.
"Yep." Sands smiled, a cold, tired smile which reminded Evelyn that he had been out all night. She touched Sands' face with her finger and found he was cold despite the warm sun.
"Come on," she said, "Let me drive you home."
A/N: To all my reviewers, I appreciate each and every one of your comments. Some of you have unknowingly helped me decide on further chapter details including parts of the ending, which isn't due for quite a while yet, so thank you!