The Red to My Grey

by William Dudley Berridge Tuckey

  “That’s enough girls. I’ve had all I can bear with this derailed idea of a joke. Nami. Johnson, the man you seem to admire, he’s a very strong, capable man. He’s intelligent, reliable and perceptive, but only because he strived to be this way.”

  “Hmm what are you saying?” She seemed a little confused and fidgeted with her hair as she listened.

  “I’m saying Johnny has a history with the Naem family that he’s not exactly proud of. Believe it or not he used to date Celia a few years back, probably only a year before he finished high school.”

  “Dad, why would you tell her that?” Celia screamed.

  “Because she’s family now and you were picking on her, so it’s only fair, right? Now, as I was saying, Johnny used to be quite the troublemaker. Fighting, stealing, blackmail and whatever else you could think of, he probably at least had a hand in it.”

  We all listened as he rambled on about some of the times we had together with Johnson back in the day. Nami had a smile on her face and it didn’t seem like her crush was going to disappear either after all the newly found admiration she had for him. She then asked what changed the delinquent Johnny to the dependable Johnson.

  “He met a girl that could meet him halfway. She has her own mix of troubles, but she’s just as strong, if not stronger than him as a person. Johnson realised that he needed to step up to keep up with her so that way he could be by her side. He proposed to her a week or two ago. I’ve never seen him more nervous, ha-ha-ha.”

  “What’s this lady’s name?”

  “Her name’s Sabrina; she’s pretty and doesn’t really stand out too much, not like Johnson,” I answered casually.

  “Okay I’ll keep that in mind. Can I be excused from the table?” Sophia nodded and Nami went down the hall.

  “She really is your daughter. Curious, beautiful and well-mannered just like her mother.”

  “Jason, stop that. You’re making me blush.”

  “Among other things?” he spoke dirty to her and within the next three seconds everyone had excused themselves from the table. We all went to the lounge room and we watched some cheesy sitcom. I can’t remember what about. It had both Dad and Sophia laughing hysterically while lying on top each other on the tiny couch. Angel and I sat on the floor. I was reading a novel and she was scrolling through my phone, reading an article she found on some website.

  After about an hour or two of idly passing the time, I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I opened the door and closed it behind me without thinking. I went up to the basin and as I peered into my reflection in the mirror, I saw Nami, naked, fresh out of the bath and I couldn’t tell if she was dripping with water or nervous sweat. She went to scream as she stared at me with her jaw hanging open. I threw her a towel and looked to her face.

  “Don’t even think about it, you put yourself into this situation. There’s a lock on the door and you could have said something instead of hiding in the bath,” I scolded her knowing if I didn’t, it would only mean trouble for me in return.

  “Gulp. Um how much did you see…of me?”

  “All of you,” I answered bluntly trying to keep my cool.

  “All of me?”

  “Yes, but I’m sure if we both stay calm and walk away from this, everything will be fine…” and as I said that, she screamed. I let out a sigh and a moment later we were both being flamed by Celia. After the commotion, I called it a night and that was basically the end to a long dramatic day. Kitten stayed the night in Celia’s room. Sophia and Dad were as shameless as ever echoing across the house as per usual. Nami made the guest room her new one and when it reached midnight I went and got my present for Angel.

  “Angel.”

  “Yes? What’s that you have behind your back?”

  “Happy birthday, Angel. I know it might not be much. Thanks, well, for being you.”

  Her face lit up with excitement and she threw her arms around me.

  “Thank you so much! Did Mama tell you?”

  “Yeah, yesterday afternoon ha-ha-ha,” I tried to laugh that fact off.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. It must have been a lot of trouble to find something on such short notice.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Go on and open it.”

  She opened a small velvet-lined box with the anklet inside which she immediately put onto her wrist only for it to fall halfway down her forearm. “Huh?”

  “It goes around your ankle, but never mind that. Look at the colour of it.”

  She looked to her arm to see the silver anklet had turned to a scarlet red. No surprises there though, red was her colour after all.

  “That’s amazing! Where’d you find this? Was it expensive?”

  “I found it in the central district and the cost was no worry. I’m just happy you’re happy.”

  “I’m lucky to have someone like you,” she said softly.

  “Na I’m the lucky one,” I petted her head and we went to bed for the night. I had a smile on my face and for once, I was feeling at ease.

  Chapter Six

  I woke up the next morning to ready myself for work when Angel grabbed my hand and pulled me back to bed.

  “Look, I know it’s your birthday, but we still have responsibilities. I can’t just up and not go,” I reasoned with her only to be stared at with a fiery gaze of determination. “What’s got into you? What’s that look for?” I asked as she handed me my phone and demanded I call in sick. “Geez, alright I guess, Johnson will probably figure out why I’m not there.” And like that I was roped out of work for the day. We both didn’t wake up until around nine am after drifting back to sleep. We had breakfast in the kitchen while Dad ate toast, he was dressed and ready for work. I know it may be hard to believe but he works in real estate, a steady ten to five job with weekends off. Sophia was scrambling across the lounge room trying to tie her hair up properly all while squeezing into a short but practical looking dress that she struggled to zip up from behind. She carried an apron over her shoulder while she was hastily readying herself. Angel gave her a hand while I stood in the doorway between the two rooms.

  “You got a job, did you, Sophia?” I asked her, barely awake still.

  “Yes, I’m the head chef at the Pavilion Night Club.”

  “Why are you getting ready now, then?”

  “It has a restaurant that’s open through the day. What can I say? They loved my cooking; it pays well too.”

  “That’s great, Mama. I’m glad you found something you enjoy that makes use of your talents,” Angel said cheerfully as she fixed Sophia’s long black hair. Our parents understood why we were taking the day off and didn’t really say anything. Nami on the other hand was overjoyed when she found out after she stumbled into the room with bed-ragged hair and wearing a long thin shirt that seemed a bit much for a little girl and showed off more than we needed to see. Once she came to her senses a bit, she wanted to impress us, so she started making a cake. Angel and I sat at the table, drinking coffee while enjoying each other’s company. Nami made a mess of the kitchen once Dad left for work; though the process wasn’t pretty for the benches and the pantries, the cake inside a tin ready to go into the oven looked reasonable enough and when it was done, its aroma was strong but appetising. We helped her clean up while the cake cooled and then she shooed us out the room while she iced and decorated it.

  “We help her and she boots us out, kids these days, am I right?” I complained without really meaning a single word.

  “She just wants it to be a surprise. She’s so cute when she’s serious, sort of like you.”

  “Yeah I guess,” I responded slightly flustered.

  We sat in the lounge room for only a moment until we heard Nami whining and sulking. We peered around the doorway to see Celia licking some of the fresh icing from her finger while Kitten fidgeted with the child’s hair, so she couldn’t stop them.

  “You make great cake, little girl. I guess I should be calling you little sister instead from now on,” Celia teased
while enjoying the icing.

  “I’m not that smaller than you! Hands off the cake, it’s for Angel’s birthday.”

  “Fine whatever. I’m sick of everyone lately anyway. I thought I could talk to you and maybe, just maybe, have a little fun.”

  Nami went from annoyed and bratty to innocent and adorable to manipulate her. Celia could see right through her and her patience already began to run thin.

  “Cut the crap,” she scolded her.

  “I’ll behave,” she replied, submissively.

  After a few minutes of silence while they watched her finish icing the cake, she came out and said it.

  “So, you two are—” But before she could say another word, Celia hushed her with her hand over her mouth after dashing across the room.

  “It’s not like that we’re just really close is all,” she answered rapidly.

  “Yeah sure, sure.”

  Without realising, Celia shook her by the shoulders as she panicked trying to convince her otherwise. Kitten nodded quietly in the background disproving her hastened rant under a face of red and sweat. I looked to my side to see Angel had disappeared; she decided to act. She pulled Nami into her arms and stared at Celia with an intimidating gaze that made the heart tremble and the soul quiver in fear. Celia stuttered at the realisation she had been freaking out and it was plain to see she felt like she was being punished for it.

  “Woah, what’s with your eyes? I’m sorry. I-I went too far, just stop looking at me like that.”

  “A-Angel, you’re going to ruin it! Wait outside please!” Nami then forced her outside. I could tell seeing her that way had also made her uneasy, but it was her pride that was the main culprit behind her behaviour. She sat next to me against the wall and looked at the ground aimlessly. I put my arm around her and brought her close.

  “Never thought I’d see the day when someone pissed you off.”

  “I feel kind of, really bad.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure she understood you were just being protective. It’s your birthday, enjoy yourself a little okay?”

  She nodded and kissed me on the cheek without saying anything. Nami called us back into the kitchen a moment later to face a well-decorated cake covered in strawberries and white icing. It was lined with nineteen candles burning faintly. Nami then threw her arms around Angel wishing her a happy birthday. She tied her incredibly long hair back to blow out the candles. Kitten picked up on this inconvenience almost instantly.

  “Hey, your hair’s pretty long,” she stated anxiously.

  “Well yeah I guess it is.”

  “I did hair dressing for a course in high school, so I could cut your hair. It could be a present for you if you want.”

  Angel happily agreed to her offer for some time later in the day. As we all sat around the table and enjoyed the cake, winds roared outside, and the sunshine of the early morning vanished behind a wall of ominous clouds. Thunder crashed and bellowed amidst the clouds. Nami poked her head outside the window to see the darkened sky only to jump and smash her back against the top of the frame as a sudden strike of lightning illuminated the sky around the city. Angel dragged the girl to her side and closed the window.

  “Probably best we stay inside and wait for the storm to pass,” I suggested while looking down to face Nami. We put some of the cake we had left over in the fridge and as we were cleaning up, Angel dropped a plate from being startled by a sundering roar of thunder. We all looked to her as she stared at the broken plate.

  “Oh oops, don’t worry I’ll clean it up,” she grabbed a dustpan and bent down to sweep it up when suddenly her forehead dribbled blood onto the floor.

  “Woah, are you okay?” Celia asked in a worried tone.

  Angel put her hand to her forehead to try to stop the bleeding, but it just leaked onto the other side through her fingers. I grabbed her other hand and quickly rushed her to the bathroom.

  “She’s fine; some glass must have chipped her forehead is all,” I rushed an excuse before I disappeared down the hall with her. I spent the next hour in the bathroom holding a cloth to her head waiting for the open wound to close itself."

  “I don’t know why I’m like this. I’m trying not to worry anyone, but I suppose I have to slip up sometimes,” she said while looking deep into my eyes with her blood red eyes.

  “I just wish I could fix this; no one should spend their birthday behind a closed door licking their wounds.”

  She rested her pale cold hand against my face and smiled as blood dripped down her face from accidently loosening the cloth from the wound. I rushed my hand back on it immediately after noticing.

  “With you taking care of me, it’s really not that bad…never leave me, okay?” The way she said it I felt like I didn’t have any other choice. I let out a sigh and washed the blood from her face; the wound had closed. I started to calm down.

  “I’m not going anywhere; if I did, you’d be someone else’s problem…I can’t have that now, can I?” I held her chin up with the edge of my enclosed hand and she bit down as I went to move it away. She looked at me with a mischievous smile in silence and I gave her my hand, but she fell and pulled me into the bath with her.

  “What are you doing?” I asked as she climbed over me.

  “Brings back memories, doesn’t it?”

  “Not without this it doesn’t,” I kicked the tap and freezing cold water drenched the both of us. She gasped while I laughed hysterically. A fresh pair of clothes and a flooded bathroom later we went down stairs to check up on Nami. She was eating some more of the cake out of stress and it was kind of painful to watch. “That’s enough cake for you; eating like that I’m surprised you keep your figure.”

  “Huh, oh, I, ah I mean it tastes so good is all,” she responded as if she didn’t even notice she was eating more of it. Angel covered her mouth while trying not giggle. “What? What’s so funny?” she asked as bits of cream were wiped from her mouth.

  “You’re just so cute. I might have to eat you instead next time we have cake,” Angel said with her eyes pulsing with lust.

  “Please don’t look at me like that; you look so hungry, it makes me nervous.”

  Kitten walked into the room with a pair of scissors in hand and a spray bottle in the other. I decided to go up to my room and take a few moments to rest while Angel had her hair done, but it was only a few minutes until there was a knock on my door.

  “I’m coming in,” Celia entered my room which was a shock since she hadn’t been in there since we were kids.

  “What’s up?” I asked calmly trying to hide how surprised I really was. She showed me her hands, she unwrapped them to reveal her scars. I felt bad for her and somewhat guilty.

  “I think I hate Sophia…” she said softly while bandaging them back up. I placed my hand over them to stop her.

  “They’re healed; you don’t have to wrap them anymore.”

  She then suddenly slapped me across the face and stared me down without another word from her mouth but her eyes watered, barely holding back her tears as she sat down on my bed next to me. My face stung and jaw throbbed from the pain. I wasn’t angry though and despite being able to remember how sore I felt, I also remembered that it didn’t bother me in the slightest. I was more worried for her sake.

  “Celia…” She hushed me before I could say another word. I went to say something once more and she aggressively told me to shut up. I spoke regardless of that and asked her a question. “Why are you in here and not out there having fun?” She didn’t answer me and kept her eyes to the carpet. I gave her a few minutes and she decided to respond.

  “I just miss when this house was quiet, when the most trouble it would ever come to see was my fault, nobody else’s. I-I think I hate this new family.”

  “So, you came to confide in me. Celia, I know they’re a handful, but they’re good people. They may act up, but they’re there when you need them.”

  “You say that but all they do is take. They live her
e and do nothing but flirt, scheme and keep me up at night. You and Dad do so much for them and say they’d do the same for you…I feel like they would just run away.”

  “If that’s the case we’ll deal with it if it comes to that,” I said coldly. I don’t think Celia ever got over her feeling of loss when it comes to her hands; she still wraps them to this day, sadly, unable to come to terms with it.

  Around one o’clock the storm showed no signs of letting up, water streamed down the windows and the roads were already almost submerged. We sat around trying our best to relax as the roars of thunder would make us jump at every crack. Amidst the storm we heard a knock on the front door. I opened it to see Sophia with an umbrella overhead and a shopping bag by her side. She skipped into the lounge room, her clothes were dripping wet, she shamelessly stripped out of them. Wearing only a small crop top and skin-tight shorts, she ran to the fridge and helped herself to some cake as well as cracking open a can of rum. A can for herself and she threw one to Angel who looked to her slightly confused.

  “Mama? It’s barely past noon. It’s a little early for this isn’t it?” Sophia giggled to herself with a smitten expression on her face. She handed Angel her birthday present and hugged her tight.

  “I love what you did with your hair, gorgeous; it suits you perfectly,” she complimented her while running her hands through her hair. Her long black hair was cut back to her shoulders and really shined for how dark it was around us. It was long as the day Angel and I had first met in the house. Looking at her from that moment to back then, it was hard to believe she was the same person. Sophia hugged her daughter tighter, clearly it wasn’t just Angel’s birthday that had her so giddy.

  “I can’t keep it to myself any longer. Jason proposed!” She then chugged back the rest of her drink and then let out a breath of relief. I think it was the happiest any of us had ever seen her. Her giddy smile and her blushed face, even to the rushed pace of her voice made it obvious that she was unimaginably excited. Nami supported her mother completely and shared in her excitement. Angel and I tried our best to be happy for her, but to us it was extremely awkward. The thought of being step-siblings after becoming so close as lovers…it was painful for us to think about. Celia on the other hand didn’t hesitate to show her disapproval. She walked away with her arms crossed and averted her gaze from all of us.