Madness

Chapter 5

~ Hate is blind, anger is deaf, and
he who takes revenge on it is in
danger of drinking a bitter drink. ~

It was a tender, sweet kiss, so slow that I had time to prepare and close my eyes. He almost seemed to ask my permission to kiss me, to touch me. In his insecurity, he weakly squeezed my waist. He pulled away slowly. He smiled at me and looked into my eyes.

"Do you want to go home? I think you're tired."

The car ride was silent, even though Steve held my hand the whole time. When we got home, I saw the fiery red-haired woman waiting for us at the front door. At the sight of Steve, she opened her arms to him with a radiant smile on her face.

"My darling, welcome home! Where have you been all this time?"

"I was showing Arte around the town. "

A little less coldly than the night before, the woman looked into the car and smiled at me.

"I'd love to get to know her better! Come in, dear."

She led the way into a beautiful modern living room: the floor was all marble, as were the ceiling and columns flanking colossal windows covered only by white curtains. Two white sofas were flanked by black geometric patterns. The room was truly immense. There was a staircase with a deck chair and a huge egg-shaped lamp. There was a table in one corner, ready to receive any guests that came. The furniture was perfectly chosen to emphasize the pale color of the walls, but the shelves were filled with tacky bric-a-brac that had absolutely nothing to do with the decor. She sat me down and offered me a glass of vodka.

"Where did you two meet? "

"At the university, Jo, in the class I teach."

"How sweet! It was at the university that his father and I met. And you asked her on a date?"

"Yes, I invited her to stay here to get to know one another."

"I'm looking forward to getting to know her as well."

I felt a little embarrassed to be with them. They both seemed to have great complicity and intimacy as if they were mother and son. I felt like a third party as they began to talk to each other. I leaned against the door and rolled my eyes when I finally reached my room.

"So you have a meeting with the Witch of the West!"

I turned sharply. I saw the boy approaching with his arms crossed over his chest. Blinking to recover from my surprise, I was taken aback by the words.

"She didn't... she didn't seem so bad to me."

"Don't be under any illusions, she's an angel in disguise when she's really a devil. That's the problem with people. They pretend to be what they're not, wearing a mask and hiding their faces."

"You're very angry with her!"

He shrugged at my statement, leaning against the glass of the huge window.

"Mutual hatred, I suppose."

"Do you hate her because she is your father's wife?"

"Yes and no."

"Maybe because you think she is a replacement for your mother."

He turned quickly to look at me as the silver rings dug into my skin. I regretted my remark. I realized that my question was too personal for a person I had known for less than a day. I lowered my head with a flush of embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"That's ok, it might be, who knows. She jumped in without asking and stayed without permission. That's how it works."

He crossed his eyes with mine and I noticed that they were scrutinizing mine carefully, as if they wanted to dig into your soul. I thought they were not very different from his sister. The boy looked as if he was about to say something, but an arm around my waist made me jump and made me turn around quickly.

"Hey dear, I was looking for you. Dinner's ready, are you coming?"

I nodded. I looked at him strangely when I saw Douglas standing still, looking out the window.

"Isn't your brother coming too?"

I saw Steve staring intently at Douglas. Douglas returned the look with a cold stare before he answered me without looking away from his brother.

"He's not coming down to eat with us! Shall we go?"

I watched his brother return to his room and I followed Steve, confused.

The dinner that followed was very tense. I noticed Steph's animosity towards Joanne, which was mutual, and her annoyance at her older brother speaking lovingly to their stepmother.

"Tell me, dear. What year are you in?"

"Second one."

"Oh, so you have two years to go."

"Yes, I remember when I was in college. Those were wonderful years!"

"You've always been this family's pearl, Steve."

Joanne shook his hand while Steve smiled happily at the woman's compliments. Steph looked at them both with such a piercing hatred that her look could have put a hole in their head.

"Thank you, Joanne. I am pleased to add luster to the good name of Diamond."

"Not like your runaway brother who dropped out of school and never even got an educ..."

"Don't talk about him!"

At the venomous call of her stepdaughter, the woman fell silent. I saw her eyes glazed with rage, her hand clutching the tablecloth, her knuckles white from the force she used to grip the cloth, and her parted lips showing the whitest of teeth. She looked like a wild animal that had been undermined.

"Steph, chill out! She's just being a truth-teller. He has no degree, no job, no culture..."

"So your measure of a person's worth is a piece of paper that can also be bought? Don't you want to know a person: his ideas, his life, his problems, in order to be a judge of him? Would you rather put your trust in a measly piece of paper?>>.

"If you don't have a degree, you have nothing."

"Not even a family, it seems."

Steph got up angrily and went upstairs, interrupting the game of looks. Joanne rubbed at her temples while Steve took his head in his hands and shook it in a disconsolate manner.

"You will have to excuse my stepdaughter, but when it comes to her brother she becomes very sensitive."

"She cannot see clearly, they are so close she cannot understand that Douglas cannot do as he pleases simply because of his name."

"Maybe she only wants to help him."

"Help him? Honey, he doesn't need help. He just wants to have fun behind my husband's black."

The sour woman spat. I felt the urgent need to answer her, but the ringing of Steve's phone interrupted me. The whole time Steve was on the phone, Joanne and I remained silent. We didn't even look at each other.

"Pardon me, my father has a meeting in his office. Good night, my love!"

I started to turn to greet him, but he was quicker than I expected and kissed me. Joanne gave me a grim look before getting up and leaving me alone. As I retreated to my room, I heard screams and objects breaking. Then there was an incredible silence. I closed my eyes, but immediately opened them again when I heard sobbing coming from one of the rooms. The urge to leave was enormous, but I controlled myself that night, letting sleep dominate.