Silence And Submission (Editing)

Midnight Visitor

After dinner, mama came to my room. She was furious.

"What's wrong, mama?" I asked her. I was worried she was angry at me like my uncle Vincentè was.

"I had to deal with Vincentè. I heard from Rosario that he upset you."
She sat down on my bed and folded her hands on her lap.
How did Rosario find out about the confrontation?

"I wasn't upset. I was just shocked."

"Well, he won't bother you again."

I lay my head on her lap and she run her fingers through my hair.

"I think it is time for the family to put aside all pretenses concerning you and the business. If Antonio has seen you, then we must get you out of the country." She said.

"I don't want to leave. I've spent my entire life away from home."

"He's a bad man," mama said. "He killed your father and I'll be damned if he took you too."

Her soft perfumed hands lured me to the edge of sleep with their soothing motions.

"Don't send me away again, please."

"One week," she said, "that's all I'll give you. After that, you'll be sent to Accra. You'll be safer there."
She left me dozing off.

In my dreams, I saw myself watching the De Laurentis mansion burn. I couldn't do anything to help even when the screams of my family pierced my ears.

I woke up gasping for breath, the bright orange flames and the scent of burning flesh still clear in my mind.

"Do you know that you make the silliest faces when you sleep?" A deep voice said.

I swallowed a scream when the dark figure of the intruder melted from the shadows and stepped into the moon light streaming into my room through my ceiling to floor window.

"Hello, little mouse," he said.

Antonio.

He was a dangerous man. It was in the way he moved, like a wolf stalking its prey. It was in his dark eyes as he stared at me intensely as if contemplating several ways to end my life. It was in the way his full lips curled up in dark amusement as he watched me tremble beneath his stare.
How he managed to find his way into my room, I did not know. But I was certain whatever he was looking for, he wouldn't find it with me.