Take A Knee
“Zorah?”
Sidonia knocked on the bedroom door of the room Icaro asked the housekeeper to take Zorah to when they’d arrived at the estate.
She pulled it open, “I didn’t know if you were staying here or not.”
“We’re not. Vodingo’s family runs the vineyard. You’re here at the farm. We’re leaving in a few minutes. I wanted to check in with you before they separate us.”
“I’m fine, Sidonia.”
“You’re not, Zorah.” Sidonia said quietly. “What can I do to help?”
“Can you take me back in time so I could have run away on Sunday when my uncle first told me of this insanity? I should have run far, far away.”
“He would have found you because we weren’t prepared, Zorah.” Sidonia whispered, “but if you need to run away, we will find a way. We can prepare and plan.”
“I can’t watch a woman die like she did today, Sid,” she felt the tears again. “They all sat there, and it was so normal for them all. Even the old people didn’t flinch. They hated me by the way.”
“His grandparents?”
“Yes. The nurse’s family gossiped about me and told the nurse all about me grinding on men in clubs and how I was a bastard child. The nurse told Avaline’s grandparents. They hated me instantly. The nurse was going off when she was questioned as to what she was doing gossiping, and she said I was unworthy of the Lucchesi name and Icaro didn’t even hesitate.” She made a shape of a gun with her fingers and pretended to draw it from behind her, “he simply pulled his gun out and bang.”
“Holy shit.”
“She wasn’t even lying, though Sidonia. She was talking truths, and he shot her and then they were talking about dealing with the rest of her family. I tried to get out of there. I ran but despite it being a little house in Rome, the yards were all gated and locked. I couldn’t get out. Then Avaline gave me some crap about how Icaro has bloodlust because we haven’t had sex yet.” She shuddered with the notion.
“Hey,” Sidonia took her hand in hers, “it will be okay. We’re going to get through this, together. I love you.” She hugged Zorah tight running her hand up and down her back softly. “I love you, Zorah. We’ll get through this.”
“Sid, it’s time to go,” Vodingo’s voice from the door interrupted the conversation.
“Whatever,” she flipped her hand at him and looked Zorah in the eyes. “No matter what. I’m with you.”
“I know. I love you too, Sidonia.”
“Now, Sidonia.” Vodingo called again.
Sidonia started to walk past him with her chin held high and then she paused and shocking Zorah completely she turned back to her husband and kneed him in the balls. Vodingo dropped to one knee clutching himself.
“What the fuck?” he groaned in pain.
“Stop talking to me like I’m your pet, you ignoramus.” She wiggled her fingers at Zorah who was wide-eyed, “bye beautiful.” Sidonia whistled all the way back to wherever it was she’d come from.
Vodingo slowly got up to his full height, shaking his body out. “Damn it, Sid.” He covered his mouth as if he wanted to say more. He looked at Zorah and cleared his throat, “please don’t take her from me.”
“If you want her to stay with you, Vodingo, then you better convince her not me. I don’t control Sidonia. I am not her keeper. You’ve been in her life two days, but I’ve known her twenty years. She deserves the world, Vodingo and so far, all you’ve done is blow hers apart. Stop talking to her like she’s your possession.”
“This is a difficult life, Zorah and –”
“And we didn’t ask for it. We’ve never heard of it. We didn’t even know it existed. We are good girls, simple women who wanted simple lives where we worked in the day and prayed for true love at night. Our entire worlds have been shaken and you with your machismo and arrogance demand us to bend to your world, yet you make no concession for ours. I suggest this evening while you’re holding a bag of frozen peas to your balls, you get your bible out and read it. Start with Colossians three nineteen and then maybe google some other ones to read.”
“Zorah,” Vodingo sighed, “we’re not trying to upset you.”
“You’re not trying to comfort us either. You were embarrassed because I demonstrated a human reaction to an inhuman event and the elders of your family got their hackles raised. You don’t think I’m worthy to be the Lucchesi bride, the one for Icaro and even he is ashamed of me. Well, if it makes you both feel better, I’m feeling plenty ashamed too.”
“Zorah,” Icaro’s voice spoke with exasperation from behind Vodingo. He clasped his friend on the shoulder, “Vod, your wife is already in the car waiting. You can go. I’ll take it from here.”
“Zorah, please, whatever you do, I beg you not to take her away.” Vodingo shot her one last pleading look.
“As I said, if she leaves it’s not going to be because of me, Vodingo.” She turned her back on the man and moved to the small overnight bag which was sitting on the end of the bed. Ignoring Icaro, she dug through it and found a pretty night dress and thin robe. Not tonight. She moved to the closet in the room and found it full of Icaro’s clothing. She found a t-shirt and a pair of well-worn basketball shorts with a drawstring. She couldn’t picture him wearing either, but she didn’t care.
Taking care to keep her body turned away from him, hiding her nudity, wanting very much not to encourage him to touch her in any way, she wriggled into the t-shirt and shorts. She removed her bra through the arms of the t-shirt, but she kept her panties on under the shorts.
“You look cute in my clothes.”
She didn’t respond. She lifted the bag off the bed and paused as she looked at it. A recollection of him telling her the quilt on the bed was one his mother made him. Such a normal thing, a handmade quilt and yet, the thought of crawling under it made her want to cry.
Why did everything have to feel so complicated?
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