GOLDEN RULE

The First Rain of the Year

The rest of the day passed by uneventfully. Sila and I had become even closer. As I walked to Yağız's house, I was lost in my thoughts about the day, but the drizzling rain distracted me. I stopped walking and looked up. The rain was slowly picking up its pace. I gently spread my arms to embrace it. The first rain of the year was pouring down on me, and I continued to rejoice in the rain, gazing at it.

Suddenly, a honking sound from behind startled me, and I turned around nervously. Ateş was in the car, looking at me with a serious expression. I exchanged a brief glance with him, not knowing when he had arrived, and then without hesitation, I stepped onto the sidewalk and continued on my way. His black car passed me by and continued on.

I lowered my head and hummed a tune as I walked towards Yağız's house. When I arrived, I knocked on the door and waited for him to open it. He opened the door shortly after.

"Come in," he said and immediately went inside. I followed him and saw him packing his belongings into a small bag.

"Are we going somewhere?" I asked.

"You are staying here," he replied, heading to the backyard. I followed him.

"What do you mean, 'You are staying here'?"

He started digging the soil in the backyard and took out a bag from the hole he dug.

"This is what it means," he said, standing up and looking at me. "I'm leaving, and you are staying."

I walked towards the front of the yard and blocked his way, feeling worried. "Where are you going? Are you leaving for good? Will you come back?" I said rapidly, without taking a breath. Taking a brief pause, I added, "Don't go."

"Hey, calm down, okay?" he said, trying to comfort me, gently patting my arm. "I have a mission, a secret mission, so don't ask questions. I'll be out of town for a few days. One of my students, the one I told you about, will take care of you while I'm away."

My eyes widened like saucers. "Ateş?" I asked, disbelievingly.

"Yes, have you met him?"

"Partly, sort of... No... I guess," I said, shaking my head.

"Anyway, behave yourself. Do whatever he tells you, okay? Nothing will change in my absence. I'll be back, and when I return, be ready like a bomb!"

"How is that possible?" I asked, furrowing my brows. "How can he train me? What does he know?"

"If you want to know what he knows or how he'll train you, it's better to start right away. You can begin with changing your clothes," Yağız said, as a flat voice came from behind. Of course, it was Ateş. I turned around to look at him.

Then Yağız started swinging the keys in front of my eyes. "These are spare keys, they might come in handy. Ateş has them too," he said.

I took the keys he handed me, and Yağız winked before heading to the parked car in front of the house. I followed him.

"When will you come?" "I'll come in a few days. Is your arm healed?" "A bit, yes... Sort of." "Great, you have a match in two weeks," he said and got into the car and drove away. "Ugh," I sighed and turned around. Ateş was nowhere to be seen. I walked towards the backyard. There was no fire. When I looked around, I noticed a square post-it note on a tree. I picked up the note and read what was written on it. "I told you to change.," it said. I rolled my eyes, crumpled up the note, and threw it aside. "Great, now we're talking with papers," I muttered to myself. I went home and put on one of Yağız's sweatpants that I thought would fit me. Just as I was about to go to the backyard, my attention turned to a post-it note at the door, identical to the previous one. "Pay attention to where you step," it said. "Ah... Now we're playing riddles, huh?" I said to myself again. As I stepped out of the door, there was another post-it note on the ground next to my shoe. "Yes, we're playing a riddle game, but this is a different kind," it said. I looked around, nobody was there. Did he hear me and write this, or did he predict what I would say? Putting aside the question in my mind, I put on my shoe. "Okay then, let it be as you wish..." I said and continued towards the backyard. Everything seemed normal in the garden. Remembering the note that said "Pay attention to where you step," I proceeded cautiously. My eyes were searching for something, but there was nothing. I continued to move forward. When I heard a cough, I screamed and jumped in place. "You scared the life out of me," I said. "If you're afraid of a cough, you're in for a tough time," he said knowingly. I rolled my eyes. "I wasn't expecting that," I said and changed the subject. "You said to pay attention to where I step, but everything looks normal." He laughed. "And you believed that?" he said and laughed again. "Ah..." I rolled my eyes and started to move away. As I took a step, I heard a loud 'snap' sound from the ground. I widened my eyes and looked up. A bucket of icy water fell on me along with the branch of the tree. "It's cold..." I said to myself. I turned around. The fire had stopped, and Ateş was looking at me with a mocking smile. "Hasn't Yağız taught you? The Golden Rule is to never trust anyone!" he said and laughed again. "And here's my Golden Rule: Never be careless..." he said. I rolled my eyes and went inside, with Ateş following me. "What does Yağız use to keep warm?" I asked. "Yağız doesn't need to keep warm," he said. When I turned to look at him, he raised his hands and continued, "He doesn't need it... And you shouldn't either..." "Like I'm going to be kidnapped and thrown into an icehouse, right?" I said in a sarcastic and annoyed tone. When there was no response from him, I looked at his face and asked, "Are you serious?" "It's possible, the barons here usually use this method, so you should be prepared. That's the purpose of your training, to be prepared for anything. Anything can happen at any moment," he said and entered another room. "What have I gotten myself into?" I wondered. I shook my head and took a deep breath. I caressed my arms to keep warm. At that moment, Ateş came out of the room. He put the clothes I was holding on the table and said, "Take these and put them on. I'll be in the car to drop you off," he said, and as he left, he added, "Lock the doors and come." "Lok dı dooorz en kam!..." I said angrily. I put on the clothes that were too big for me and locked the doors. Ateş was waiting in the car, but instead of getting into the car, I started walking towards the house. When I did, Ateş honked the horn. I continued walking without looking back. Ateş slowly followed me in his car. "Are you going to get in the car, Asel?" he asked. "My name is Aselya." He laughed, clearly annoyed. "Aselya, get in the damn car," he said, and when I stopped, he leaned out of the open window and said, "Why should you trust me?" "Just a while ago, you trusted me." "And then I learned my lesson, Ateş. The Golden Rule is to never trust anyone." "That was for your training, you know that," he said. I could have argued further, but I was freezing. I took a deep breath and got into the car. The air conditioning was turned up to the maximum. I rested my head against the window and started watching outside. When we arrived home, the car stopped. "Goodnight," I said and opened the door to get out. Just as I was about to step out of the car, Ateş grabbed my arm and turned me towards him. "Don't roll your eyes at me again," he said and let go of my arm. "Goodnight..." Despite what he said, I rolled my eyes and got out of the car, forcefully closing the door. I'm sure Ateş was very angry. Who doesn't love their car, after all?... When I entered the house, nobody was around. I went up to my room. Ela was sleeping. I kissed her on her bangs and took my diary from under the bed and started writing as I did every day. When I felt sleepy, I put my diary back in its place. As I was about to turn off the light, I heard the sound of the front door, followed by my mother's voice... "I'll check on her," she said angrily. I quickly turned off the light and lay in bed. After covering myself, I pretended to be asleep. My mother came into the room, kept the light on for a while, and then turned it off. "She's here, asleep. Inform Palaz," she said as she closed the door. Then I heard my father's voice from downstairs. "Okay, I'll message him now. I don't feel like calling and talking to him. Ordering him around... Pain in the ass..."