Sleight of Hand [Show 'em Who's Boss #1]

16: Anthophobia

"Higher, Ebony!" exclaimed Mary as I pushed her on a swing at the park nearby Jakob's house. I did as she asked but didn't push her much higher. I was terrified that she might fall off, or that she might even jump off the swing. Mary appears to be an adorable young girl but don't underestimate her. She can be just as reckless as me at times.

"Are you looking forward to tomorrow morning, Mary? What did you ask Santa for this Christmas?" I asked.

She hesitated for a moment before replying.

"Can I tell you what I asked for? It's not like making a wish when you blow the candles out on a birthday cake, is it? When you can't tell anyone else otherwise your wish won't come true? If it is then I can't tell you 'cause I really want this thing for Christmas," she replied. I smiled.

"Yeah, you can tell me what you asked for. The only reason you wouldn't get it is if you ended up on Santa's naughty list and I'm certain you won't be on there," I reassured her.

"I asked Santa to stop Jakob from getting hurt again."

Her response made me angry at Jakob again. I could live with him constantly letting me down but I wouldn't stand for it when he repeatedly breaks Mary's heart. She's just a little girl who doesn't understand what's going on. It's not fair on her for him to get home late every night covered in blood and bruises.

With a sigh I stopped pushing Mary on the swing and sat on the one beside her. Mary looked over at me, slowing down on the swing now that I wasn't there to push her higher.

"I'm not sure Santa can get you that for Christmas, Mary, but I promise you that I will try my best to look after him from now on."

That was when I saw Jamie again. He was standing at the edge of the park in amongst the trees. What is he doing? Had I gained a stalker? Immediately I suggested that we go home and Mary agreed. We arrived at Jakob's house finding something completely unexpected: Jakob home from work on time without a single injury. He answered the front door for us, holding two bunches of slightly wilting flowers with the price sticker still attached to the patterned plastic cover.

"Flowers for my two beautiful girls," he explained, handing a bunch to Mary and the other to me.

Mary bounced up and down in excitement which made a few petals fall off the cheap flowers. I tried not to reply to Jakob with a sarcastic comment at the 99p flowers because I didn't want to ruin Mary's happiness as Jakob frequently does. Mary offered to put my flowers in water for me and I agreed, handing my flowers to her. She rushed off into the kitchen.

"That's not a good enough apology yet," I whispered to Jakob once Mary was out of earshot. "She deserves more than just flowers, don't you think? Perhaps an explanation would suffice?"

"Are you talking about Mary? Because I'm getting the impression that you're talking about yourself. Either way, neither of you will be getting the explanation you hope for."

I grabbed the collar of Jakob's shirt rather roughly and pulled his face down to my level.

"Look, I don't care if you give me an explanation or not. You need to stop upsetting Mary though. She doesn't deserve to be let down in life at such a young age. So don't you dare come home late at night beaten up again or else I swear I will beat you up myself Jakob Darke," I threatened in a whisper just in case Mary could hear me from the kitchen.

Jakob pulled out of my tight grip and then forced me up against the wall.

"How about we make a deal here? I'll stop all that when you forgive your father. Shall we shake on it?"

"Why bother? We both know that neither of those things will happen. You're too stubborn and I can hold a grudge for an eternity. Now I suggest you let go of me before Mary walks out of that kitchen and sees just how violent you really are," I spat.

He loosened his grip and I shoved him off of me. I started towards the kitchen to help Mary out with the flowers.

"Tomorrow's your chance, Ebony. Start forgiving your father and I'll change my ways," Jakob called after me.

Christmas day was as awkward as I'd expected. I brought Eve, Mary and Jakob along with me and my father had invited Uncle Steve (it was obvious that Uncle Steve now knew about me threatening my father in his office by some of the comments he made over dinner). The six of us sat around the dining table making very little conversation as we ate Christmas dinner. The only one who seemed to bring life to the rest of the table was Mary. She kept making little comments that would make us laugh or she'd try to spark a conversation with one of us, mostly me and Jakob though.

After we'd eaten my father asked me to help him clear up the table which was obviously just a ploy to get me away from people so that he could talk to me. As much as I wanted to say no I didn't because it would cause a scene and I really didn't want to ruin Christmas for Mary. She didn't need to see us all arguing in any circumstance, but especially over Christmas.

I stacked half of the plates and led the way to the kitchen with my father following close behind. As soon as we were out of the room he began talking.

"You're not armed this time, are you?" he asked. I didn't respond so he just continued. "I forgive you for threatening to kill me, Ebony. That bullet you shot just inches from my head is forgotten. I just want us to be a family again. Will you try to forgive me?"

"Imagine this situation is reversed," I began. "If I had planned the deaths of hundreds of people then you'd consider me a murderer, wouldn't you? No matter how hard you tried to view me differently I'd still have that label on my head. How long would it take you to forgive me, father? You wouldn't be able to forgive me instantly, would you?"

He shook his head.

"I wouldn't need to forgive you at all. No matter what you do, Ebony, it can never be wrong in my eyes because there's no way you could ever be as bad as me. Plus I love you and always will. A father can never truly stop loving their child."

"If that's the case then why did you throw a strop when I said I wanted to leave school and start working with you?" I asked.

"I did that because I've always wanted to keep you away from my world. Now that you know about my business not only do you hate me but you're also a target. My rivals will do anything to get information on me and now the best way to do that is through you. How else do you think your mother died? They got her and they could easily get to you."

"You said she died in a car crash after having an argument with you?" I asked. He was beginning to confuse me with the sudden mention of my mum.

"She did. That argument was so similar to the one we're having now. I'd kept the truth hidden from her too and as soon as she found out she began to hate me. A few days later she went missing and then after that she had a car crash and died. At first I thought she had left me because of what I'd done but then I realised that if she was leaving me she would have taken you with her. I hired a private investigator and they discovered she'd been kidnapped and questioned by one of my rivals. When they found out that she didn't know much they let her go but then caused the car crash that killed her so that she wouldn't speak of her kidnapping. I won't let the same thing happen to you, Ebony. You're safer here with me than you are at Jakob's house."

"Okay first off I can't believe that you kept another secret from me, especially one about my mum. Secondly, I'm not my mum though. I'm tougher than her and so is Jakob. So it is safe enough for me at Jakob's house and I don't plan on coming home anytime soon. If you'd just give me a little more time and space then I honestly will work on forgiving you but it's not going to happen immediately and it definitely won't happen if you don't leave me alone. Now I suggest you finish the washing up on your own."

And with that I stormed out of the room and returned to the dining room. In that moment I wanted nothing more than to leave but I put on a smile and carried on for Mary's sake. I didn't stop thinking about what he'd said about my mum though. It was yet another secret he'd kept from me for all these years. I wondered if there was any more he'd been keeping? There probably were and perhaps one of them had something to do with that torn out page in the folder.

★★★

Anthophobia: fear of flowers