Ginger Roy

**Los Angeles**



"I'm fine, Dad, and the baby is too, so you don't need to worry, okay?! We love you, and as soon as we have some time, we'll go to Columbia. Send a kiss to Mom." I smile and end the call, saying goodbye to my dad, my other hand pressed against my belly, smoothing it while I watch Roy and Baby on the balcony, both looking worried.
Roy had been like this since around 8 PM when he got a call and stayed in the office for a while. As soon as Baby arrived after her husband dropped her off here before going to work, the two siblings went out to the balcony and have been whispering there for over two hours.
"What do you think those two are hiding from us, love?" I murmur to the baby, glancing at Roy and Baby.
I slowly get up from the couch and walk toward them without taking my eyes off the two, heading their way. Jonathan turns his face toward me as I approach the balcony door, looking from his face to the anxious blonde, who avoids looking into my eyes again.
"So, which of you is going to tell me what's going on?" I ask them and return my gaze to Jonathan.
"It's all good, love." Roy walks over to me and kisses my forehead. "You should go lie down, Gim, get some rest."
"If it were up to you and Baby, I'd be resting all the time, love." I raise my fingers to his chest and smooth them over it. "I'm pregnant, Roy, not dumb. Something happened, and you two are trying to hide it from me."
I shoot a questioning look at Baby, who gets up and walks to the balcony railing, avoiding looking me in the eye again.
"Did something happen to Jon?" I turn my face immediately to Jonathan, worried they might be hiding something about the skinny guy. I can't control my affection for him.
"Jon is fine, Gim, nothing happened to him," Baby says quickly, letting me see her long blonde hair swaying as she shakes her head negatively. "Nothing happened; everything's fine..."
"Then why do you both look like someone died..." I ask, letting out a sigh, and I raise my eyes to Roy's blue ones, noticing the worried expression on his face as if confirming my question. "Oh my God, did someone really die?!"
I take a step back and distance myself from him, looking anxiously at Roy and Baby.
"Not someone we mourn." Baby turns and walks to me, holding my face in her hands. "But yes, someone died."
"Baby!" Roy scolds her, giving her an angry look.
"Gim has the right to know," Baby replies, not taking her eyes off me.
"Who died?" I take a deep breath and hold her arm. Roy walks across the balcony to where his sister is, looking out at the Los Angeles night.
"Gim, let me sit you down, baby." She smiles at me and turns us, leading us to the chairs on the balcony.
"I'm going to ask for the third time, who died? And I want an answer. I'm pregnant; I'm not made of crystal!" I take a deep breath and look at her. "I can handle news like this..."
"Freire." She delivers the news all at once, taking a deep breath and silencing my words.
"Shit!" I whisper, sitting down in the chair, closing my eyes, needing a second to process.
"She hanged herself in an apartment in New York." Baby squats down, locking her eyes on mine. "She was using a false identity and living there under another name."
"How did you find out?" I turn my face and see Roy's back. No one knew Freire's whereabouts since the day Jonathan kicked her out of Sodoma. "Who notified..."
"The police!" Jonathan answers without turning to me.
"The police?" I mumble, softly. Christ, Freire was an unbearable, snobbish woman, an obsessive bitch about Jonathan, but she wasn't the type to take her own life; she was too narcissistic for that! "I don't understand..."
"Freire left a note, revealing her real name and writing Jonathan Roy's name, asking them to inform him about her death because she was going to be with Mina." Baby clenches her lips and crushes her fingers on my knees. "Even in death, that bitch had to find a way to ruin his life."
"My God!" I raise my fingers and rub my cheeks, taking a deep breath, not believing she was really capable of killing herself. But that's not the only thing that confuses me... "Why was she using a false identity? Had she committed a crime?"
"We don't know; the truth is that all this took us by surprise." Baby gets up and hugs herself, looking at Roy.
"That second name she mentioned in the note, who is it?" I ask quietly, feeling lost. "Who is she..."
"Mina!" Roy replies, serious, his voice heavy with hoarseness.
"And who was she?" I look at him, still clueless about who it is.
"A submissive who drowned in a bathtub; she belonged to Freire," Baby murmurs, looking at the ground. "She was a young girl. I think if I ever saw any trace of humanity in Freire, it was when her submissive died."
As I listen to Baby telling me about Mina, I keep my eyes on Jonathan, seeing his rigid posture, turned away from us, breathing heavily, his shoulders moving with each inhalation, letting me know that something wasn't right in this story.

"I was trying to contact Czar, but he won't answer his phone. Roy thinks he must already know about Freire's death. The Russian had been looking for her for about two weeks, I think..." I turn my eyes to Baby and absorb all this information. "I'm going to try calling Sieta now to see if she answers; she's Czar's cousin, and you’ll like her when you meet her when we go to Moscow."
"Are you also going to Moscow?" I ask Baby.
"Yes, Sieta asked me to be one of Czar's witnesses before the council on the day of his trial." She takes a deep breath and exhales slowly, walking out of the balcony.
I slowly get up, watching Baby walk away before going to Jonathan, standing by his side.
"What happened to her?" I ask softly, looking at him.
"She killed herself, as Baby said..." I raise my hand and hold his, making him look at me while I shake my head.
"Mina, what happened to her... I know you. When Baby talked about the girl, you got nervous."
Jonathan takes a deep breath and turns his body to face mine, placing his hand on my belly, a dark cloud looming over his head, making him look worried.
"Freire was ordered to kill Mina," he says seriously, not raising his eyes to meet mine.
"Oh my God, are you telling me she killed her own submissive?! Who would order something like that..."
"The council of Sodoma. It wasn't just any submissive, Gim." He flares his nostrils as he breathes and closes his eyes.
"It was a life. Are you telling me the council ordered the death of a person..." I step away from him and take a step back. "Tell me you weren't part of this, Roy!"
Yes, he was. I see the answer in his eyes when his blue irises open and stare back at me.