The Brothers....Their Story Continues

Chapter Thirteen

Efe was not the type of person to dictate or judge, he wanted his brother to have a good time, that's what this whole trip was about, but there was always a fear that he would let something happen to his kid brother. The responsibility of looking after him had been laid upon him just days before they left home. His mother had made him promise, almost on his life, that he wouldn't let him meet with an undesirable situation. He wasn't quite sure what she had meant by an undesirable situation, but she had trusted him to take care of his brother, and he wasn't about to  let her down. 

"Kadir, where have you been, I have  tried to call you a hundred times." He eyed his brother, not wanting him to see the relief he felt. Kadir was a little confused, "Efe, I thought you wanted me to go out and have a good time,...isn't that what you said." Kadir returned a look of defining, a defining of who he was, or really who he wanted to be. Yes Efe was 5 years older than him, but he was still 21 years old and not a child anymore. He tilted his head to one side, " Well, that's what you said, so that's what I did, and I guess my phone ran out of charge. That's why I didn't hear my phone." He went below to put his camera away, but Efe followed, " You didn't answer the question, where were you." The demand for the answer was a little stronger, as his voice took on a more offensive sound. " I was worried, and you want to be flippant about it, that's really not like you." Kadir knew he had upset his brother, " I'm sorry Abi, it just didn't occur to me to call, I thought you would be out partying somewhere anyway. You didn't call me last night, and I was worried." Efe shifted his eyes away, knowing he was right, " Ok then, new rule.....we both have to check in with each other if it's getting late. Ok, is it a deal." He looked with  relief at his brother, and hug his neck. He could never stay mad at him...

"Ok, I rented a bike and took my camera and went on a ride along the cliffs, I stopped and took some pictures........and then I had an accident." He glanced toward his brother quickly then looked away. " Well, I caused an accident, I didn't get hurt. I stepped backwards on the trail in front of another rider and caused then to have a wreck." His mind reliving that traumatic yet delightful incident. Efe could see the slight smile on his brothers face, " Kadir, were they hurt badly, did you take them to the hospital. I knew something bad had happened." He sighed, shaking his head. " No she was fine, just a scraped knee, but....I did help her home." Kadir smiled, raised his eyebrows and gave his brother a wink. " You helped her home,.....Efe repeated, " So that's where you've been all day, at this woman's house. Kadir, why didn't you at least call me,....I might have been able to give you some pointers." His face lit up and he slapped his brother on the back. Kadir looked at him, " Hey, we just talked and she fixed dinner, we ate...and I came home." Efe threw his hands up in  the air, " What, you spent the whole day at her house and nothing happened, yep....I need to give you some pointers." He said, shaking his head. 

Kadir knew he would react like this, that was one reason he hadn't try to call him. " Look, we talked, she told me about herself, I told her about me, it was a nice time. But....she is coming for breakfast in the morning." He let a smile spread across his face. " And you will be on your best behavior, please. Don't embarrass me in front of her." He pleaded with his brother. Efe agreed, but deep down inside he was hoping he hadn't expected to much out of this relationship. "Ok I'll be the model brother, but we're taking off after breakfast. Kadir felt a stab in his stomach, " We are, why so soon, I thought you wanted to party here for a while." He'd hoped to be able to spend more time with Nicolette. Efe glanced at him, " Well I think we have spent enough time here, and it's a long way to Sardinia, so after breakfast we'll shove off." Kadir always hated it when he took over the role of boss, or trying to be like his father. "Well, what if I'm not ready to leave yet, maybe I  want to stay another day or two. Why do you make all the plans and decisions, without even asking me." Kadir spit the words out of his mouth like fire. Efe stopped quickly, " Look Kadir, you might as well get use to it, on this trip I am the boss, and we will leave tomorrow after breakfast. In a couple of days we'll be in Sardinia and you will have forgotten all about this girl." 

Those words hit him like hard, who did he think he was, telling me my feelings. " Abi, I'm not like you, without a heart. I don't just casually and disrespectfully encounter the opposite sex. I'm not a one night stand type of person, or in our case, a one hour stand." The words flew out of his mouth without control, and before he knew it, and he regretted them the minute he said them. But it was to late. Efe hesitated, not even looking around at him, " Is that what you think, that I disrespect the women that I see. Tell me, what do you think being disrespectful is, I have never been with a woman that didn't want to be with me, and I have never forced a woman to spend time with me if she preferred not to. Just because we didn't continue together on a month to month, or day to day or even a minute to minute relationship doesn't mean it didn't respect who I was with." His voice strained and low. The thought of Paola entered his mind, he did regret the incident with her, and he did think he disrespected her. But he had been upfront with her from the beginning in the fact he wasn't looking for a long term relationship. She was the one that refused to respect that, she insisted on spending time with him, forcing him to lie at times. 

Kadir immediately apologized, " Efe I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I know you don't disrespect woman. It came out wrong." He stammered around trying to recover from his blunder. His brother nodded his head, as if to accept what he said, and went below to his cabin. Kadir sat alone for a while, thinking about all the stories his Dad had told them about him and his brother Emre. How they hadn't grown up together, and how it had caused them to be rivals in life. Even though they have since made peace with each other, the road that it took them on almost destroyed them. He didn't want that for him and Efe, and he was truly sorry for what he had blurted out in anger. He would let him cool off for a while, then try to mend what his hurtful words had harmed. 

If their was anything in life that he was jealous of, it was his brother

The perfection of him, the confidence he had......

"The last thing I want to do is hurt him" he thought.