Chapter Twenty Nine

Chapter 29

“I have an idea,” the voice of Lilith called out, snapping the attention of Dimitri and Vanessa towards her.

“Lilith, how did you get there? Aren’t you supposed to be on your way to your mum’s?” Vanessa asked, her eyebrows raised as she addressed Lilith who responded with a nonchalant shrug.

“Mum isn’t back from her convention yet so I still get to spend a few more days with Jay,” Lilith answered, the melodious sound of her voice filling up the silence in the living room.

“Anyway, what’s this idea that you have?” Dimitri asked, kneeling to her eye level which elicited a playful scoff from her. Lilith walked away from them and made her way to the chair she sat down crossed leg, causing Dimitri and Vanessa to share a curious glance.

Vanessa shrugged in silence, not knowing what Lilith had up her sleeves.

“Would you please tell us your great plan?” Vanessa asked, sitting beside Lilith and stroking her hair gently.

“I can’t just give you information for free. Aren’t they training you to join the Mafia ring, Vanessa? You should know this,” Lilith stated, eliciting a series of laughter from Dimitri. Vanessa also chuckled and admired not just Lilith’s innocence but, her smartness as well.

“You’re right my darling cousin! Well here you go,” Dimitri muttered softly, his voice laden with remnants of laughter as he handed her a two Euro bill.

“I’m twelve cousin, two dollars can’t even get me a cup of ice cream,” Lilith lamented dramatically, eliciting another round of laughter from both Dimitri and Vanessa.

“Alright there little one, here you go,” Vanessa offered, handing her a twenty Euro bill. Lilith stared at the money and hurriedly grasped it from her hand.

“Would you please tell us the idea you have come up with?” Dimitri pleaded, pinching Lilith's little cheek playfully which elicited a gentle chuckle from her.

“Fine! If Jemima and Jay don’t want to see each other, then don’t tell them about it,” Lilith suggested with a playful shrug and stood up, attempting to walk away.

“Not so fast miss! You need to elucidate,” Vanessa urged, staring at Lilith and waiting for her to give clarity.

“For the love of all that is pure, I am only twelve. I do not know what elucidate means,” Lilith groaned, sinking further into the chair while Dimitri sighed in exasperation.

“You want me to believe that you don’t know what pure means?” Vanessa asked, her hand placed against her forehead as she locked gazes either Lilith.

“No, I do not have any idea as to what elucidate means!” Lilith deadpanned with a huge grin spread across her face.

“For goodness sake! Would you two drop it and Lilith, please tell us about your great idea,” Dimitri queried, his expression grim now. He was becoming agitated by the animosity between Jemima and Jay and he wanted to get them together again by all means, even if that meant taking advice from a twelve-year-old.

“Alright, Mr. Grumpy pants! Well, you can get them out of the house but they don’t need to know they are going to see each other. Just lure them out of the house individually. Jeez, do I have to tell you everything? You guys are the adults here right?” Lilith stated, looking at the rolls of bills on her hand. She was excited about the money she had made from Dimitri and Vanessa.

They both shared a knowing look and glanced at Lilith who was carried away by the money in her hands.

“That’s a good idea,” Dimitri uttered in astonishment, pride etched on the corners of his face as he looked into Vanessa’s eyes.

“Of course it is. Now if you’ll excuse me, some of us need to get our beauty sleep,” Lilith stated, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she strode gracefully out of their presence.

“Such a kid!” Vanessa mused, and the corners of her mouth twitched humorously.

“So how are we going to implement the idea?” Dimitri asked with a shrug as he propped his elbow on the armrest. Vanessa tapped her chin in contemplation and furrowed her brows as she tried to think of what to do.

“Here’s what we’d do…” Vanessa whispered out the intricacies of her plan, leaving Dimitri momentarily in awe at the wisdom of his fiancée. As they mapped out their plans, the sun set and gave way for the moon to rise which allowed it to cast its glimmering light through the window and propelled shadows from the objects in the room against the walls.

The curtains swished gently from the cool breeze that surrounded the ambiance of the living room, providing momentary respite from the tension that had filled the house in the past few days. They soon settled into more casual conversations and laughed heartily as they retold jokes and allowed the love they shared brew between them, the cacophony of insects creaking and trees swaying served as a beautiful background symphony to the the hearty conversation Dimitri and Vanessa were having.

“What are you both still doing up?” Jemima’s voice shattered the tranquility they were enjoying, disrupting the moment between the two lovers.

“Jem! Oh my goodness, you startled me!” Vanessa remarked, placing her hand across her chest as she glanced at Jemima.

“Sorry, I didn’t think I’d see anyone downstairs. I wanted to get myself something to drink,” Jemima replied, wrapping her robe tightly around her body.

“We were just having a conversation that’s all,” Dimitri offered, his hand rubbing Vanessa’s naked knees soothingly.

“Right, I’ll just grab the drink and leave you two alone,” Jemima muttered, stifling a yawn as she walked into the kitchen. She grabbed a bottle of vodka and drank straight from it. The drink burned the insides of her throat.

“Still can’t sleep?” Vanessa questioned, causing Jemima to snap her head towards her. Jemima wiped the corners of her mouth with the back of her and scoffed.

“Well, what do you think?” Jemima queried, carrying the bottle of vodka as she exited the kitchen.

“I know you just said you were going to see a therapist just to get me excited but you should consider it though,” Vanessa urged, still insisting on Jemima seeing a therapist.
Jemima rolled her eyes as she gulped down the vodka like it was water, her feet echoing against the polished floor as she made her way back to her room.

“Here we go again!” Jemima grunted, a burp erupting from within her as she entered her room. Vanessa followed closely behind and watched as Jemima fell to the bed, her grasp still firm around the bottle of vodka.

“Okay, if you don’t want to go to a therapist that’s fine but I need you to talk to someone. Even if it’s me! You’re bottling a lot of things up and you could explode,” Vanessa reasoned, her brows etched in worry as she sat down beside Jemima. Jemima sat up and gave a sly smirk, chugging another round of vodka.

“You want me to talk about my problems with you so you can ridicule me and make fun of me like Jay did? Or tell me no one would ever see my worth as Ava did? I don’t trust you, Vanessa, I don’t trust anyone!” Jemima stated, her breathing becoming heavy as the pain in her heart became thick and palpable.

Vanessa’s face morphed into pity, her empathy also palpable towards Jemima’s situation. Her friend was hurting and there was nothing she could do about it.

“You have carried this burden around for twelve years Jemima, does it not make you weary? Is it not time you perhaps let it go? I see you every time you’re alone and lost in thought, your mind wanders to that incident that happened twelve years ago and the pain and torture become evident in your expression. You can try to hide it but it still shows Jem, it does!” Vanessa said, tears falling from her eyes as she tried to empathize with her friend.

Jemima closed her eyes in an attempt to still the raging storm within her.

“So what do you want me to do Vanessa?” Jemima murmured, the words barely audible as a single tear fell from her eyes. She hurriedly rushed to wipe it off but was stopped by Vanessa.

“First, start by allowing the tears to fall. It’s not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign that you are stronger than your battles, it’s therapeutic too,” Vanessa advised, shrugging playfully as Jemima chuckled. A tear fell from her eyes, then another and before she knew it, her eyes were like a waterfall and tears wouldn’t stop streaming down her face. She sobbed so hard and rocked back and forth, the pain in her heart only lessening by a beat.

Vanessa patted her back and collected the bottle of vodka from her.

“Talk to me Jem. Let go of your anger and hatred for your family and find peace. Only then would you feel fulfilled,” Vanessa coaxed but for some reason, it only seemed to aggravate Jemima’s frustration.

Jemima shrugged off Vanessa’s touch and looked at her incredulously, “You are only trying to get me to talk so that you can feel fulfilled yourself because you somehow feel guilty for abandoning your sister in the hands of your negligent parents.”

Vanessa’s eyes widened in shock, astonished by Jemima’s utterance. There was a truth in what Jemima was saying but it didn’t mean Vanessa did not hurt nonetheless.

“Jem, I know you’re hurting but it still does not give you the right to talk to me in that regard,” Vanessa warned.

“It also doesn’t give you the right to treat me like a charity case just to get rid of your guilt!” Jemima deadpanned.

“Jem, I…”

“Leave!” Jemima ordered, causing Vanessa to stand up and stare at her in disbelief.

“You can’t be helped!” Vanessa whispered before turning her back to leave.

“You want to help huh?” Jemima called out, halting Vanessa in her tracks as she slowly turned to face Jemima.

“Yes!”

“Find Violet Valerian! Find Vincent Valerian! Find Ava Valerian!”