Until He's Gone

Chapter Five

You only know my story
You don't know my pain
You don't know I've risked my life
Just to see you again
•●•●•●•●•

After long moments of silence, the prisoner lifted his head, narrowed his intense green eyes, and stared at me thoughtfully. I tried to ignore him, but there was no way out of that. I shivered from head to toe, and began thinking of the secret places where we hid knives and guns, and that perhaps I'd use some of those.

What was he thinking about?

  "Are you scared?" he finally uttered, as if reading my mind. He had a deep authoritative voice which had surprised me somehow.

I gasped and replied succinctly, but quickly, "No, why should I be?"

  "Thought so," he commented and smiled; still staring.

  "Are you the escaping French prisoner?" I asked, trying to make sure of my thoughts as I sat on the sofa facing him. Damn you Lily, you're pretending not to be scared! I thought you were better than that.

His eyes twinkled with guilt as he looked at me and nodded yes. I raised an eyebrow offensively.
Did I really feel like insulting him? No Lily, that's not the girl you were raised up to be.

Suddenly, he asked, "What's your name?"

  "I'm Lily," I answered, then asked him back.

  "I'm Kevin," he replied with a smile, "Thank you for letting me in. I know you could've not done that."

I returned the smile, nodded, and said "Don't thank me."

   "Are you alone here?" he asked looking around the room curiously.

I nodded avoiding any further discussion with a prisoner, but he just went on, "My parents are dead and I live with a step-mother. Edith is her name."

I looked at him to indicate that I was listening.

  "Would you bother letting me explain to you why I was sent to jail?" he asked me.

  "Why would you tell me that?" I asked. And why would I care? , I wanted to add, but eventually didn't.

  "Perhaps, you'd try to understand me. I really need someone to listen to me," he said sadly. However, I wasn't able to tell whether I could trust him or not.

  "Okay, go ahead. I'm listening," I agreed.

He sighed and cleared his throat, "When I was born, my mother was diagnosed by a severe disease. She died when I turned three years old. My father wasn't able to raise me up alone, so he married Edith to take care of me. However, she did every single thing except protecting me, especially after my father had been killed in war."

He stopped and took a glance at me to find me pressing a frame to my chest and listening quietly. I froze and felt my heart throb as I tried hard to avoid eye contact.

He then continued, "I have led a heart breaking life ever since Edith had forced me to kill a wealthy merchant, steal his gold and money, and give them to her."

  "Kill and steal? Were you a lunatic?" I interrupted startlingly and sarcastically. He was a murderer then, and that only made me terrified rather than understanding.

  "No, she was. I was only ten, and I didn't know what was right and what was wrong. I had no scruples," he immediately answered as he ran his hand through his hair nervously.

  "What happened then?" I asked like a young innocent child trying to figure out what the hideous world hid from me.

  "No one revealed my crime. People assumed that the merchant had died because of a heart attack; the usual belief, you know," he answered, "However, Edith is the greediest woman you'll ever find on Earth. When she demanded me to murder another lady, a year later, I refused. After refusing, she went mad at me and kicked me out of the house -yeah, my own house," he continued sadly.