As Long As I Have You // A. Ghale

Dinner Time

Ten years ago, I was fourteen. I was just a little girl who missed her daddy dearly. Mom was always home, and had to leave for work occasionally. But Dad, he went on long trips. Trips that took months at a time, once even an entire year.

"When is Dad coming home?" I ask my mother, who was cleaning dishes while I sat at the kitchen table. I didn't know what he did as a job, but it must have been very hard. At first I thought he was in the army or something, but then I read a letter he had written to my mother that said otherwise. I had memorized every single word by heart. One day, the letters stopped coming and we both knew.

"I'm not sure, but it might be soon." She says, wiping off the last dish. She then walks over to me and gives me a hug. Why won't she just tell me what I already know?

The letter had once said;

Dear Julia,

I'm in Kyrat right now. Things are not doing so good. The Golden Path is doing well, but I'm getting a bad suspicion about Pagan Min.

He's not a good man, his intentions are not good. I'm trying to capture the throne for the Golden Path, but I'm afraid our chances are running quite slim. Mohan and I are trying to finish them and their royal bullshit.

Please take care of Delilah, I may not make it back this time. I'm sending all my love to you both. Tell our daughter I love her. I have to go now, but please do as I say.

Love,
Gilead

But, here I am. Stuck in Kyrat, sitting right across from the 'suspicious' Pagan Min himself. There was a man sitting on the left side of the table going by the name 'Paul DePleur' and another who I don't really know. He's just kind of there. Sitting right beside me is the Ghale himself, Ajay. He definitely looked like Mohan, from the descriptions my father had once given me.

He had deep brown eyes and hair to match. A clear, tanned face with slight stubble, and he had that look that all Ghale's had; the 'what-the-hell-are-you-doing' look. You could tell he looked angry, flustered and straight up upset.

"Now, your mother on the other hand...she understood me, she knew me in a way no one ever did." Pagan says, licking the ashes contained inside of Ajay's urn. Which I'm assuming is his mother's. It makes me sick the way he thinks it's okay to do that. How disrespectful can you be?

Ajay gets up from his chair, clearly agitated at Pagan for doing such a disrespectful thing. I didn't blame him, but Paul made him sit down for his own safety. Pagan was dangerous, my father died at the hands of the man sitting right in front of me. He hadn't been able to escape him, but I sure will.

"The last time I saw Ishwari was...years ago. She told me she loved me," Pagan speaks, observing the urn, "Women, no offense Delilah, they can do that. They can tell you they love you in the moment and mean it. Men? On the other hand, no, men only really love you in hindsight. When too much distance has built up." He wasn't lying at all, it was true. All the men my mother dated only wanted her for one thing. She trusted them and they just betrayed her trust, again and again. But, what was Ishwari doing with a man like Pagan? Why would she abandon her own husband like that? There were so many thoughts inside my head, maybe it was just curiosity of Ajay's past that fascinated me.

"So, when your mother decided to flee to the United States with you on her hip, I couldn't help but blame myself." Pagan says, grabbing one of his forks and standing up. Slowly making his way to the man to my right. I noticed that the man began to shake slightly, like he was about to die or something.

"Then I realized...it wasn't me. It was the fucking Golden Path!" Pagan yells, stabbing his fork harshly into the man's back. What the hell? I look over at Ajay, who looks just as terrified as I do.

"Fucking terrorists ruin everything! Did no one ever teach you it's rude to text at the table?" Pagan gets close to the man and starts slapping the man's hand to grab his phone.

The whole thing was absolutely insane! I couldn't believe that my father was dealing with this man. It's no wonder why he never came back home. Pagan probably had him killed and I wouldn't be surprised not one bit. This asshole has no conscience whatsoever.

"Leave him alone!" I yell at Pagan, and he just looks at me. I give him a harsh glare and he tells his puppets to take the man downstairs and interrogate him. Leaving Ajay and I alone at the table.

Ajay grabs his mother's urn and looks back at me. We were both still shocked at the way Pagan was to people and the whole situation was just unbelievable. What the hell was going on around here? A part of me wanted to go home and forget about the whole 'getting back at Pagan' thing I wanted. It didn't seem as worth it anymore. Was I really going to risk losing my life for some petty revenge plot that might just get me killed?

"Lets get the fuck out of here. Right now." Ajay says, and I don't argue whatsoever. I did as he said, and we walked downstairs and saw the man tied to some sort of electric wall. Like something out of a saw movie.

"Holy shit." I mumble under my breath. The man's hopeless screams filled the room, along with Paul ranting about how Dr. Phil had made some sort of 'impact' on his life and way of thinking. Ajay and I find a door and slowly and quietly exit the door, only to be caught by a man with black hair tied in a pony tail.

"Ajay Ghale. My name is Sabal, I'm with the Golden Path." The man tells us and then he locks eyes with me. I knew exactly who he was. The man my father taught to fight.

"Delilah. I've heard so much about you. It's wonderful to finally meet you, sister." Sabal says, slightly smiling. It was nice to see someone who isn't a complete lunatic talk to me in Kyrat, other than Ajay.

"Let's get out of here, shall we?" Sabal says, and Ajay and I follow suit. I didn't know what was outside that door. But it did not sound friendly.