Constantinople's Cherry

II - 19. Yeniden birleşme

The woman then aimed at her and Eda kept her hands up. "I haven't done anything." Eda tried to keep her cover, playing innocent and dumb.

"Anything but sleep with our harmers you disgusting slut!" The woman put the gun on Eda's forehead.

Eda swallowed, heart hammering like a drum in her ribcage.

"Give me one reason I shouldn't shoot you ??" The woman demanded, Eda's eyes stung as she breathed fast.

"Serkan..." She let out in a trembling whisper.

"Keep my brother's name out of your dirty mouth!"

Eda flinched, there was no way she was getting out of this without blowing her cover, and all of Cenk's men were probably taken down, so she made her choice and in a swift rapid motion she was trained for, she took out her own gun from her waist and aimed it at Naïri Baltayan.

Naïri's eyes widened and she tightened her hold on her gun, her gaze hardening with hate.

Seeing the scene, her crime partner aimed his gun at Eda too, they were two against one and Naïri aimed at Eda's forehead.

Eda swallowed feeling the cold end of the pistol on her skin. The same forehead Serkan had kissed so tenderly in farewell.

She aimed at Naïri's chest even as the man stepped forwards and pulled the safety ratchet of his riffle, ready to shoot Eda.

"Serkan's alive!" Eda let out and Naïri froze, a hand halting her partner and stopping him from shooting.

"I told you to stop using my little brother you monster. You know how to use guns now ? How many innocents Armenian lives did you take with this gun ? My brother was innocent, he studied in Europe with grand thoughts of equality and tolerance, he thought people like you could be befriended. How naive and foolish he was..." Eda saw the pain in Naïri's eyes as she grabbed her chin and put her gun to her jaw.

Eda didn't falter and pressed her own gun tighter into her.

"I will shoot you and cut you to pieces if you dare!" His partner warned her, riffle aiming again.

"Serkan isn't dead if that's what you think." Eda said emotion filled in her eyes, Naïri spoke of him in past tense.

"Even if he isn't, how the hell would you know that of all people ??' Naïri demanded and Eda breathed.

"He got back to me, he had my address. Naïri I know where he is." Eda searched her eyes, seeing utter pain burried under anger in her pools.

"You're lying and playing games, you're buying time, why should I believe you ?" Naïri doubled down, her finger trembling against the trigger she wanted to pull.

"You split from him at the port, I know. I know what they did to the village, to your community, I know about your parents. Serkan told me Naïri." A tear rolled on Eda's cheek.

"You're fooling me, you have no proof Serkan told you all this, you're speculating." Behind her anger, Eda could see an absolutely lost and destroyed woman, her heart hurt to imagine everything she went through.

But she could also see she was beyhond reason, she could actually shoot and kill her.

"I do." Eda said, raising her left hand in the air, where the flower ring shone on her ring finger.

Naïri recognised her mother's ring and her chest constricted. Flashes tormenting her bleeding heart. Anahide had given it to Serkan in Mardin, right before the soldiers took him. She touched the ring on Eda's finger and her eyes filled recalling her mother's deceased body they had to abandon on a roadside.