“What do I do?” was written explicitly on the facial expression Johanna made at Brandon, while caught in the awkward embrace of her estranged sister who she had not seen in years. Strangely, she didn’t feel like she had missed her sister. The evil, sinister smile worn on the face of Katarina left Brandon in the oblivion of how to rescue his wife from the awkwardness.
Johanna and Katarina were the only two daughters of their father. Johanna’s childhood had been a bit boring, as Katarina was never there to play with her or be of help when needed. Katarina preferred to bully boys around rather than play with her little sister. Right from childhood, Katarina had a tendency of leaving stations where she might be needed. She was lazy at doing chores and taking responsibility and that was evident in her previous marriages. She never wanted to be responsible for anything and that had made her move from one husband to another. Johanna always wondered if her sister would ever find love and settle down.
It had been ten years since Katarina left. Johanna suffered a miscarriage when she fell down her the stairs and lost the baby. “Sorry, you lost the baby,” the doctor said, as Johanna laid in Driftwood Hospital.
“It will all be fine,” Brandon said as he held her hands in his. Johanna wished her sister had been there throughout her stay at the hospital. She only came in the first few days and she later left without saying a goodbye. Brandon, at the request of Johanna had called her a million times, but she wouldn’t pick up. She turned her phone off and since then Johanna hadn’t heard from her, except when she wrote a letter without her address at Challis’s birth. She was the only family Johanna had left, but Kat never seems to include her in her agenda or schedules. Being a freelancer was her specialization.
Kat had separated from her second husband barely a year after they got married. Kat was over him before marriage, but he wanted a baby and Kat wasn’t ready to nurture one, so she ran away when his mother came to town. Johanna heaved a sigh of relief when Katarina finally let go of her.
“So, how have you been, sister?” Katarina asked, as she turned and went back to sit on the bed. Johanna stared at her for a while and was about to speak when Brandon heard the door downstairs open and then suddenly an abundance of noise. It was Bryant who brought the kids home.
“Who’s home?” Nicola shouted when she noticed that the front door was already open. She didn’t get a response.
“Mom?” Martino shouted as he made his way up the stairs. Ginger scampered up the stairs to see who was home. Ginger got to the bedroom door where Brandon still stood and sat next to Johanna, staring wildly at Katarina. He then started to growl, he didn’t like whom he saw.
Johanna scolded Ginger and the angry dog went to sit at Brandon’s feet with a wild look on his face. His eyes never left Katarina. Kat made a face at him, which made him stand up and ready to attack. Brandon squatted to pet him and he wagged his tail as Brandon tickled. Ginger sensed that something was a bit off and that the situation was uncomfortable, but he had to obey his master.
“I’m over here kids,” Johanna called out to the kids to come upstairs. She sounded angry, already tensed. “Mum, Dad” Challis shouted as she ran into the room.
“That’s my baby!” Brandon said as he squatted to hug the Challis. Martino and Nicola also hugged him in return but left their mother alone, when they noticed she was angry. They were ecstatic that their parents were back.
They all stood behind their parents looking at the other strange woman, they wondered who she was. They didn’t know if it was right to ask their parents. Challis looked over to her father and tugged on his jacket and asked, “Who is this daddy?” Brandon felt there was nothing to hide about his sister-in-law. He picked up his little one and pointed at Kat.
“That’s your Aunty Katarina.”
“Aunty Katar– ” Challis tried calling her name, but couldn’t.
“I know, a mouthful, huh? Let’s just call her Kat. That’s if she is okay with that, are you?” he asked, as he turned to look at her. Katarina laughed out loud as she rose up from the bed.
“I have been called worse, so Kat is fine,” she responded. Little Challis smiled at her newly introduced aunty “Hello, Aunty Kat” she said as she waved at Kat. “Hello, my little niece,” Kate said, as she walked over to carry her. Martino and Nicola were surprised that Johanna hadn’t told them about Aunt Kat’s visit. They heard about her from their mother and had seen the letters she sent on Challis’ birthday. They knew she was the one to be missing in action, but details about her and her life were so hidden from them.
Nicola couldn’t get her eyes off Kat. She felt a strange connection to her, as though they were really related by blood. It seemed as though she was really looking at her older self. She was aware of her adoption into the family, but never for once felt left out, as it wasn’t really spoken of in the household. The relationship in the family would make it hard for anyone to believe she was adopted. Nicola never felt a need to look for her real parents as other adopted kids did. Johanna was the best mother she could ever have wished for. She was afraid that if she found her real parents, it would cause a drastic change in her life that was now at its best, following Brandon’s recreation. She guessed that Kat could be aware of the details of her adoption. Johanna wouldn’t tell her, no matter how many times she asked. It was around the time of her adoption that Kat had disappeared.
Kat also looked at Nicola intently and affectionately, as though they knew each other, as though there was a special bond between them, closer than the usual aunt-niece relationship.
“Here you go,” Kat said, as she gently placed Challis on the floor and went over to hug the remaining kids.
“You must be Martino,” she said as she hugged him.
“Hope you don’t fight in school anymore. Johanna and Brandon wondered as to how she knew, questioning themselves with their face. She had been going through stuff in their room. She saw the letter that was sent by the school to summon Martino’s parents because he had a fight with a classmate.
She got to Nicola and said, “Look at you, you have grown into such a smart, young woman. I couldn’t have imagined. I saw you last when you were only a wee baby. At that time I was in the middle of a difficult situation, so I had my own problems, but trust me, I would have loved to see you grow, all of you.”
Nicola got angry when Kat called her a “wee baby.” “Could she be my mom?” she thought. Ginger growled at Kat the closer she got. Brandon thought it would be best if he took the dog outside before he causes something ugly in the room.
Bryant was seated on the sofa as he scrolled through his social media accounts. He smiled when he saw Brandon come down with Ginger.
“Hey man!” they both said almost simultaneously as they greeted shoulder to shoulder.
“How was your stay at the cottage?” Bryant asked with a smirk on his face while shaking Brandon by the shoulder in a joking manner.
Brandon laughed, “Hey man, stop. It was great actually. Thanks, buddy.”
“Anything for you. What’s up? Is everything good up there?” He asked, looking curious.
“Oh, It’s nothing. Johanna’s sister, Kat is here visiting,” Brandon answered. He held on tight to Ginger’s leash, who still struggled to go upstairs.
Bryant was about to light a cigarette when he heard Kat’s name. He lifted his head with a concerned look on his face. “What is she doing here?” Bryant asked. Brandon gave him a confused gaze “Hey man, everything is good. She is my wife’s sister. What’s the concern?” Brandon asked. Bryant continued to light his smoke, but Brandon snatched it from him. “Don’t smoke in the house. And why are you concerned about her presence?” asked Brandon.
“Sorry, man. It’s just that – she disappeared for about 18 years and suddenly comes out of nowhere…poof!”
Brandon shook his head in agreement “Yes, but it’s all fine. I will try my best to handle this well. Join me in taking Ginger outside before he causes a fracas up there. I don’t know why he was growling at Kat,” Brandon said. Bryant put back his cigarette into the case. Brandon carried Ginger outside, “Come on, Ginger. Don’t make me ground you,” he said jokingly.
Ginger played fetch with Brandon and threw the stick far, hoping Ginger wouldn’t be able to find it. Brandon and Bryant watched Ginger run towards the end of the yard and come back with the stick in his mouth.
“Hey, Bryant. Do you remember the river behind your cottage where we used to fish?” Brandon asked after throwing a stick again for Ginger to catch.
“Yeah, we should go there soon.”
“It’s deserted already. It’s almost a thick forest now with tall grasses all around. I intended to take Johanna there, but was disappointed when I got there,” Brandon replied.
“Really, have the Johnson’s stopped cultivating there?” asked Bryant. “They probably missed civilization,” he added jokingly and they both laughed.
“I saw Sophie last weekend, she asked of you,” Bryant added.
“Who is Sophie? Is that the woman you said I was seeing?” Brandon asked curiously.
“No, Sophie the club’s bartender,” Bryant replied.
“Oh, How’s she doing?” asked Brandon.
“You won’t believe it. She is pregnant already. She finally found love,” Bryant said as he threw a stick for Ginger.
“Whoa! Unbelievable. That’s what I have been saying. You too should look out for love again and stop wasting time with all these girls at the club. You aren’t getting any younger man,” said Brandon.
“Old? I’m still young, can’t you see?” he jumped up and exercised, as a football substitute would do when going into the game. They both laughed heartily and Ginger ran over to join the amusement.
Johanna heard the two men chattering in the front yard and walked towards the window. She watched Brandon laughing handsomely and heartily. She remembered the moments they shared at the cottage. “Thank you, Bryant,” she said silently.
The kids laughed as they saw the pictures of their mom when she was about three years old with two of her front teeth missing.
“Hey mom, is this you?” Martino asked, pointing at a page of a photo album. Johanna smiled as she continued spying on her husband. Kat walked over to her and was almost blinded by the shimmering of Johanna’s ring.
“So, what do we have here? Nice ring, Jo. Is it new?” Kat asked.
Johanna realized she hadn’t removed the ring and then used the opportunity to announce to the kids and her sister, “Hey kids, Brandon and I are getting married again.”
The news threw a fit in the air. “Whoa!” The kids shouted. Nicola ran over to her mom and said “Congrats mom.” Challis bounced on the bed, shouting “Yippee, Yes! Mom is getting married again.” The kids were so happy. They could then go to school and debunk the rumors that their parents were separated, which had made them a laughing stock in school. But the aura of happiness didn’t seem to have an effect on Kat. Although she smiled and acted happily, she wasn’t. “How on earth?” she mused. In anger, she had dug the keys of the front door into her palm and caused it to bleed. “Congratulations, sis!” forcing a smile.
Martino looked up from where he was updating his Facebook status. “Aunt Kat, your hand is bleeding.” Kat feigned ignorance and dropped the key “Oh my, how did it happen? I am such a klutz. Jo, where is your first aid kit?” she asked. By reflex, Nicola rushed to Kat “Geez! Let me take you to the bathroom and treat the cut.” Nicola couldn’t tell what prompted her to say that, her mom could have done it. She took Kat to the bathroom.
Johanna was uneasy, she looked worried. She knew Kat better than anyone else and understood that she could injure herself if she gets too worried by anything. “Was is my news or there is something else troubling her? What made her return in the first place?” she mused as she watched Nicola take her out of the room.
“Yes, it’s all done,” Nicola said after she bandaged the cut. Katarina couldn’t think or feel the pain of the cut, as all her concentration was on Nicola who passionately wrapped it. She remembered how small the girl was when she had last seen her. She was a baby, hardly three months old. “Such a beautiful child,” she thought to herself.
“Johanna was lucky to have found another baby to adopt shortly after her miscarriage,” she thought to herself. It was about 2 years after her miscarriage, but still lucky. Johanna was always the lucky and more loved one out of the two. She had it all. Lovers masqueraded her as friends, a husband and children. “What a perfect life,” Kat thought to herself.
Nicola waved her out of her thoughts “Hello? All done!”
“Oh, Thank you Nicola,” Kat said as she patted her back and made a curious remark.
“Your eyes look exactly like mine, they are the same shade of green. You must make the kids at your school envious,” Kat said laughing.
Nicola didn’t find it amusing, but it was the truth. She saw it too. Their eyes were exactly the same. “Were other kids really jealous?” she wondered but didn’t seem to have noticed if they were.
Nightfall came and the kids were still having a chat with their newly found aunt, except Nicola who was helping out her mother with preparing dinner. ”Dinner is ready!” Johanna shouted, calling everybody to the kitchen table.
Brandon and Bryant stood up from where they were playing video games. They did that a lot but in Bryant’s home. Kat came down with the kids.
At the dinner table, the adults were suspiciously silent but the kids chattered away. They made loud laughter and Ginger made noises for attention. Challis passed him some snacks from the table.
Johanna looked up from her food and noticed that Bryant’s gaze was focused on Kat and wondered what it was about. It looked uncomfortable as if something was on his mind. Bryant was once married, but had several issues with his marriage, according to what she was told. She never met his wife, but she heard she wasn’t such a great person and didn’t make many appearances amongst the parties Johanna used to have in her home.
“Does anyone want dessert?” Johanna asked.
“Yes!” everyone chorused as she finally broke the silence amongst the adults and Kat offered to help. Brandon noticed Bryant had been silent since they settled to eat, “What’s up Bryant? Want to go out for a smoke?” Brandon asked. He didn’t smoke but Bryant did and he looked like he needed one. Kat came around with the dessert for the kids and Johanna cleared out some of the plates. She inadvertently spilt some juice on a phone that was on the table. “Oh, my!” she said, as she picked it up and took it to the kitchen. The phone was waterproof, so it was fine. Johanna switched on the phone to check if it was functional. She went through the photo gallery and found a picture of her sister with Bryant.
“What?” she thought, as she checked for the details of the picture, it was dated the previous year. That was around the time Bryant’s marriage failed.
“Was she the wife that never made an appearance? Was she so close all this while? How did they meet? All these questions among many other thoughts flooded Johanna’s mind. She walked perplexed to the hallway where she could see the kids talking to Kat. She leaned against the doorframe holding Bryant’s phone. She muttered in low voice to herself “Kat, what have you got yourself into?”
The kids played for some time before they fell asleep in the living room. Nicola carried Challis in, while Johanna carried Martino to his room. Challis woke up while Nicola was putting her in bed “I want Dad to read me a bedtime story,” she protested aloud. “Dad, Challis wants you to read her a bedtime story,” Nicola called out to her father who was in the living room. “Okay, you can go to sleep now, Nicola,” he said as he got to the entrance of the room. ”Now, which story do we tell?” he asked with his eyebrow raised. He added, “Let’s tell the story of Jack and the Bean Stalk.” She fell asleep before he got to the end of his tale. She loved that story, especially the part where Jack shouted, “I will slay you and then jumped on the neck of the giant.” She would giggle and shout in excitement when Brandon mimicked Jack in saying those words. After Brandon had watched Challis fall asleep, he stepped out quietly from the room to meet Johanna. They both came downstairs, where they met Bryant seated in the living room silently. Johanna took her sister into the dining room, and Brandon decided to have his talk with Bryant in the living room.
Johanna couldn’t mince words when they both settled in their chairs. She had forwarded the picture to her phone. She brought out her phone and displayed the picture as she gave the phone to Kat. “What is this Kat?” Kat saw the picture and raised an eyebrow unbothered. It was as if she expected it.
Katarina looked away from Johanna’s face and didn’t respond to Johanna’s question. “Kat, won’t you answer me?” Johanna said.
Out of frustration she then retorted, “Okay, I will answer you. Well, that was a past I would rather forget about and I hope you do too. I didn’t make a far journey back here for the likes of him. He is completely out of my life. He was too much trouble for me and I don’t plan to make the same mistake again,” Kat replied.
Now, she was upset and turned to look away, again. Johanna was left in a tight situation, not sure about how to respond to all that Katarina had said. “Was she right? Was she trying to put the blame on him? Could there be more to this?” she asked herself. All these thoughts played through Jo’s mind, as she drank the cup of water that was on the table. Kat always knew of the perfect way to end a discussion she didn’t want to be involved in.
Bryant was sipping the beer Brandon offered him when Brandon brought up the issue about his failed marriages, which surely wasn’t good for his appetite. “So how are you and Irada? I noticed you don’t talk about her as much these days and now this...”
Brandon’s voice trailed away, as he wasn’t sure if he should continue the discussion. He glanced at the dining room where Kat and Johanna were having their talk and saw that Kat looked angry, and then he continued. Brandon brought out his phone from his rear pocket and opened the text message Johanna had sent him and placed it on the sofa next to him. Bryant looked at the phone and was surprised to see a picture of Kat and him. "He knows. Oh my god, she told them. That bitch. Fuck,” he thought to himself.
“Listen, that was a huge mistake, you have to believe me. As for Irada, well, she was my first mistake and Kat was my second. I did not mean to, man. I know how much this would cause a problem between us, but I did not mean to.” Brandon looked on, astonished. “How would it cause an issue between us?” he questioned himself. He looked at Bryant who was now gulping down his beer.
Bryant had the last drop of his drink and dropped the glass on the table in a careless manner, almost causing it to break. He then stood up, picked his car key and made for the door. After taking about two steps, he turned and said, “Look, I’d rather not rehash a past I ashamed of. I got to go.” Said Bryant, as he headed towards the front door. Brandon wasn’t sure if he saw tears on Bryant’s face. “What could be so serious about this issue?” Brandon thought to himself. Bryant walked out of the house in tears. He looked defeated. He was burning deep down, but was ashamed of sharing his problem with his best friend.
Kat also reacted unbelievably to the issue while Johanna sat down speechless. “Little sis, I know you are really worried about me, but I don’t want to talk about all that had happened in my past. It’s all gone now. I just want to concentrate on the present, and that is getting to know my nephew and nieces. I want to be the aunt they never had. I came back here to find work and that will take me a few months. I would be staying at a hotel for the meantime, though, it won’t be ready to check-in until tomorrow,” Kat said in one breath. “And I hope I am welcome to spend the night here?” she added.
“Sure,” Johanna replied in a jiffy. At least now she knows why her long gone sister was in town. “Let me go prepare the visitor’s room for you,” Johanna said as a ploy to save herself from the speechlessness she found herself in. She couldn’t have imagined that Bryant was actually married to Kat at some point in time.
Johanna got the room ready and left a couple of dry blankets for Kat to choose from. She decided to let the sleeping dog lie and questioned Kat no more. “You can go into the room now and sleep,” Johanna said when she got down the stairs.
“Okay, I’ll do that after sending this text.” “All right, Goodnight,” Johanna said as she made her way up the stairs again. “Can’t there just be an elevator?” she thought as she carried herself up.
She opened the bedroom door to meet Brandon who just got into bed. She looked tired and worn out. Brandon held her hands in concern “What’s wrong?” he asked. “I am fine. I’m just a little stressed,” Johanna replied. “What a day, huh?” Brandon said as he chuckled, causing Johanna to smile. Johanna stared at Brandon’s eyeball intently. “Something in my eyes?” Brandon asked jokingly. He combed her hair with his left hand and said, “Let’s just hope everything else goes swiftly and without further issues.” Johanna nodded in agreement and wanted to lay down, but Brandon drew her back “No, No, No! You have to take a shower first,” Brandon said. “Honey, I am too tired for that,” Johanna complained.
“Okay, let’s do this. I would give you a shower if you are too tired to take one yourself”
“Really? Okay!” Johanna replied, brightening up. She tugged off her dress and took Brandon’s clothes off as well.
After the fun-filled romantic shower, they both went to bed. “Tell me the bedtime story you told Challis,” Johanna said as she placed her head on his chest. “And why is that? Are you a juvenile?” he asked sneering. “Tell me!” she protested. “Alright, once upon a time…” Brandon began. And just like Challis, before he could finish the tale, she fell asleep.
Brandon struggled to have a good night’s sleep; he tossed and turned around in bed until he woke up, with a fright. He woke up breathing heavily. Again, he found himself in his resurfacing memories, but this time more scary and wild. He saw himself in a laboratory, speaking to the man he saw before but who now had a name. “I am Dr. Gellar. David Gellar” the man said. “Are you listening to me, Second?” Brandon nodded his head in a positive response. “Today’s lesson is about urges and how to resist them,” Dr. Gellar added.
The aim of the lessons was to humanize him as though he wasn’t human. As if he was a machine, different from the Brandon his family knew. Dr. Gellar continued his lecture when suddenly another doctor appeared. He looked fiery and sounded angry as he spoke, “David, put an end to the teachings, it’s time for the test. You are taking too long,” he said angrily. He reached out to collect the USB from David. David wouldn’t give him the USB, so they struggled with it. A gunshot went off and David fell to the floor. The strange doctor then took the USB from his hands. Dr. Gellar’s eyes were focused on Brandon, he was trying to communicate one more thing to him but couldn’t. Brandon looked at him closely, but couldn’t decipher what he said before his eyes went blank. Brandon’s shoulders shuddered as his eyes met with the other doctor and suddenly he woke up.
Brandon’s wife beater was soaked in sweat. “What kind of a dream was that?” he asked himself, as he stood up from bed to get some water. He walked down the stairs still wondering, was that a dream or a memory? He was confused. He got to the kitchen where he found Kat who sat at the kitchen table in her black lace, silk nightgown, working from her laptop with an earpiece in her ears. She didn’t hear him come down the stairs until he stood before her in his drenched wife beater, which had made him look more attractive than she had thought him to be. “Sorry, did I wake you up? I had an urgent matter come up for work and that’s why I am down here,” she said. He shook his head in disagreement “No, you didn’t wake me up. I just couldn’t sleep well. I came down for a drink of water.” “Okay then, help yourself,” she said. He took a bottle of water and poured some for himself, and some soda for Kat “I think you should have this while you work,” said Brandon.
“Oh, thanks,” Kat replied.
Brandon saw Ginger sleeping in his dog bed soundly, with his long ears dropping on the floor. He smiled and pointed, “I guess we are the only ones who can’t sleep, huh?” he said jokingly.
“I guess so,” she smiled as she took a look at the dog.
“It’s nearly 4:45 am, what could be so urgent for work and can’t wait till the morning?” Brandon asked as he sat on the stool opposite of Kat. “It’s nothing too serious, the CEO of the company I work for will be in town for a campaign meeting today, and I was placed in charge of his security. I have to make sure all logistics for his security are in place. Sounds huge, right?” she replied.
“Yeah. But I believe you are up to the task,” he added as a compliment. “I’d better get back to work,” Kat said as she excused herself. “Sure, I’m going to go try and get some sleep again. I will see you in the morning,” he said as he turned to leave.
He took more water from the bottle before he returned it into the refrigerator. He noticed that the light in the basement was on and turned it off to save power consumption. The bills had gotten exorbitant, relative to the meager paycheck of his wife.
As he walked up the stairs, he stopped dead in his tracks. He held on to the railings of the stairs, as he felt weak in his body, his eyes felt heavy as if little currents of electricity went through him. What’s going on? He thought to himself. His feet could no longer endure his weight and his knees became too stiff to bend. His hands trembled and the glass cup in his hand fell and broke on the floor of the stairs. Kat couldn’t hear, as she was too busy answering her work calls on her earpiece. Suddenly he felt a strangeness wash over him and he heard a voice in his head ordering him to kill “Chairperson Stan Barktin of Berkshore Affiliates.” The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn’t tell where he had heard it prior to that time. “I will upload your protocols,” the deep, coarse male voice said.
Brandon squeezed his eyes closed in pain, and suddenly the pain subsided as he found himself on the rooftop of a building downtown. He looked around but couldn’t define what had happened to him. How on earth did he disappear from his house? Where was he? He looked down beside him and saw a silencer with binoculars attached to it. He had never seen such a lethal weapon except in movies. He never received any training, of which he knew of, but his body seemed to have received a military type of training. When the man in his head plugged the USB into a machine, it was as if it was connected to his brain and information concerning his target was uploaded. “What is happening to me?” he asked himself as he awaited his target, but he seemed to have lost control over himself. He laid on the ground with his legs separated. He was dressed in a leather jacket, army pants, sunglasses and a beanie. He saw all through his eyes, but there was nothing the human Brandon in him could do.
Kat had set all logistics and protocol for her boss and was beginning to get tired of staring at her laptop for over three hours. She closed it and decided to go back to sleep. As she walked up the stairs, rubbing her eyes, she saw pieces of broken glasses, which she almost stepped on. It was the glass Brandon was drinking from. She looked up the stairs but couldn’t see him. “How could he be so careless? Could he have dropped it on his way to bed?” she asked herself. That sounded irresponsible, but she decided to let him sleep and to give him a beating of words the following morning. She went back to the kitchen to get a dustbin and cleaned up the broken glass so that nobody would inadvertently step on it. She placed her laptop on the table in her room and collapsed on her bed. “Oh geez! I’m fucking tired,” she mouthed to herself.
Johanna woke up to life at the sound of her alarm around 6:45 am. She slammed it off as it rang the second time. She turned over, thinking she would see her husband. She rubbed his neck and felt that it was really hairy. “Did he grow so much hair overnight?” she thought. But was stunned when she opened her eyes to see Ginger, who licked her face, having rolled up on Brandon’s side of the bed. “Morning Ginger,” she said. She laughed at her early morning romance of Ginger. She got up from the bed and walked towards the bathroom “Brandon?’ she called out. “Ginger, have you seen Brandon today?” she asked the dog which gestured no for an answer. She wondered where he had gone so early in the morning. She took Ginger downstairs to feed him his breakfast and get some coffee too. She made herself a cup of coffee while Ginger was busy with his breakfast; she turned around and saw Kat, who tiredly walked into the kitchen, her eyes red. She hadn’t gotten enough sleep.
“Good morning, Jo,” Kat said pleasantly, but sounding tired. “Morning. Have you seen Brandon?” Johanna asked. Kat nodded her head, “Funny, I was going to tell you he needs to be more careful and responsible. I saw broken glass on the staircase on my way to bed. That was after he came down to the kitchen to have some water. He took the glass of water upstairs, but I found it broken on the stairs when I wanted to go catch up on my sleep,” Kat replied.
“Oh! I’m sorry, something must have been wrong,” Johanna said, defending her husband and went back upstairs to get her phone and check on the kids. Martino has been already up, but gaming on his desktop computer. Nicola chatted with her boyfriend with her headset on. She didn’t hear when her mom walked up behind her.
“So, are we keeping secrets now? Why don’t I know about him?” Johanna was startled when her mother suddenly showed up and removed her headset. She then gave out a little laugh and responded, “Morning mom, I just met him a few weeks ago. I was planning to tell you eventually,” she said nervously. “No problem, get up and go wash up. You still have all day to chat with…”
“Billy. Billy is his name,” Nicola responded. Johanna left the room to check on Challis, who was still sleeping. She texted Brandon asking “Morning dear, where are you?”
Brandon received the text at about 7:00 am where he stayed in position waiting to execute his target, but he had no time to message her back. He waited for Stan Barktin to come out of his presentation. He was ordered to end his life. Brandon looked over to his side, a couple of buildings away. He saw a man dressed similarly to him with a rifle aimed at him. The voice in his head further threatened, “If you fail to kill Stan, that man will gun you down.” Brandon got scared, but the machine-like Brandon laid down still, unmoved.
Johanna and Kat brought their coffees to the living room, turned on the TV with low volume. Kat tuned into a news channel where the news of her boss was being aired and increased the volume a bit. “CEO of Berkshore Affiliates, Stan Barktin has completed his presentation and is on his way to the home company here in Chicago located at Mirabel Solutions Capital,” the newscaster reported.
“That’s my boss, the CEO of the company I now work with,” Kat told Johanna as she pointed at the television. She then went on to count the men she had hired to guard him. It’s my job to keep him safe. “Hmm. I see,” Johanna said, not sure of the right way to respond. “So, is he all good and safe now?” Johanna asked. “Yes,” Kat said, proud of her effort.
Brandon looked at Stan through the binoculars that were attached to the silencer. Then he was getting a clear view of the target and waited for the time he would have a perfect shot at him. Stan got to his car and stood by the open door to wave at the supporters and spectators at the event. Brandon was about to pull the trigger when he heard a voice in his head again, but then it wasn’t the coarse voice of the no-name man, it was that of Dr. Gellar, soft and soothing. “Sometimes in life when things are the most difficult and you need to decide what is right or wrong, you should consider what the implications of your actions are going to be. Take charge.”
Brandon closed his eyes and muttered, “Thank you.” He took his hands off the trigger and the human Brandon took over. He leaned back into position and pointed the gun around at the man stationed to kill him. He let out a shot, which almost killed the man. He missed, J-Dwag backed up just in time.
J-Dwag came back, wanting to shoot at the target, but Brandon fired another shot, which hit him on his left shoulder and caused him to topple over. Brandon was confused about what to do. He grabbed all the stuff and fled the building. He wasn’t sure if anyone or the news camera spotted him, he just left the building hurriedly, afraid. He ran to the alleyway behind the building and to his surprise he saw his car. He dumped everything he carried into the car’s trunk and sped off. He breathed so hard and kept wondering how the car had come to the building. He checked the safe in the car and saw his wallet in there and thought of what to do, in order to avoid the suspicion of his family.
He got home to meet everyone awake and Johanna prepared to make breakfast, but Brandon walked into the house carrying a bag of Mystic Munch takeout for everyone. “I’m home,” he shouted in a melodious manner as he walked through the door. Mystic Munch was located in the city, which was about a thirty-minute drive from where they lived. “Welcome dear, you went to get food? Thank you very much,” Johanna said as she went over to meet him, giving him a kiss. The kids ran down at the arrival of Mystic Munch.
Everyone settled down at the dining table to have breakfast. Barely starting her meal, Johanna received a reminder text from the hospital that she would be resuming work that day, and a timetable of her shift followed. She almost lost her appetite at the sight of the text; she was having fun at home. She had taken the leave of absence to take care of Brandon, but he was in a better place now. She wished the leave could go on forever, once her wages would be paid.
After breakfast, Kat grabbed a few of her things and said, “I will come get the rest of my stuff when I am checked in.” Martino protested, “Aunty, don’t go.” She squatted and gave him a hug “I wish I could stay, but I have to get myself ready for work, you know?” she said as she waved goodbye to the kids and got into the company car that was on standby for her. The man seated at the right side of the car, dressed in a black suit and a dark shaded glasses turned to look back and said, “Morning ma’am, the meeting went well, Thanks to your plan.” Kat responded, “Okay, good, let’s go.” As the car made its way down the street, Johanna’s car left the driveway and she was off to the hospital for a double shift. “I will be home late. I have to stop by the grocery store for a few things. Take care of the little ones, Nikola,” she said, kissing her husband and leaving for the door.
Brandon was a bit tired and decided he was going to take a nap, “I am going to get some more sleep,” he announced. “Me too,” Challis shouted. “Can we go over to Jane’s place? We would be back soon,” Nikola asked. “No problem, but you must be back in no time,” Brandon said as he took Challis and Ginger upstairs.
Brandon watched as Ginger and Challis fell fast asleep. She looked so innocent and that helped him to keep his senses in check. What happened earlier had scared the life out of him, but he managed to overcome it. He promised to overcome whatever else was coming his way.