Redemption

Chapter VIII

On a cold morning in June, Renato went with Safiye to the cemetery where her parents were buried, on their death anniversary. She began her speech differently at how she was planning it on the last stage of winter, at the cafe where she met Renato. "You already know what I have written, and the effort I made, you also already know who Renato is because I know you watch over us as guardian angels. But you also know how everything is down here, and how I need to speak, even if you already know everything..." Safiye introduced Renato and explained to her parents the happiness he has given her. She mocked how it was hard to adjust to the routine at first, referring to the days he yelled at her, but looking at it as a momentary stage that they easily overcame, and with only taking them a few weeks to adjust and not a year as everyone says.

Whenever she squeezed his hand when speaking about him, or telling an anecdote, he turned to look at her with a smile and kissed the top of her head. But his mind wasn't focused on her speech. Renato had partially lost his tranquility the moment they arrived at her parent's grave. The concrete angel had lost its white color as the paint cracked and peeled off to the ground, a strange liquid that was added to the statue, gave the appearance that it had dried blood over its face and clothing as if it had cried. But what unsettled Renato the most, was how the face of the angel had the shape of sorrow, and how it fitted the voice on his head that already began to lament the death of Safiye as if she had died.

He squeezed Safiye's hand to remind himself that she was next to him, and she corresponded her gesture by taking a pause from her speech to look at him. He leaned down to give her a small kiss but when he looked forward one more time, at the distance between tombstones and bushes he spotted Billy for the first time in the morning. At first, he didn't understand why Billy made himself visible, but when Billy took out a knife from the inner pocket of his jacket and moved the tip over his neck with a macabre smile, Renato understood the message. He could feel the beating of his heart through his whole body, his hands turned cold and needles climbed from his toes to his hair. He was afraid for the first time since he was an adult, but he wasn't afraid for himself but for Safiye.

Renato was still learning to love. He was still in transition from what he used to be and what he was becoming. He was capable of worrying for Safiye with honesty, since he didn't want her to suffer any pain, nor sadness, not even inflicted by him. But it was still natural for him to equally think from a selfish perspective, and he wouldn't allow Billy to take away the only friend he has ever had, and the only person that has ever given him love. "Rey," Safiye spoke, and in her facial expression it was evident how she had called him more then one time, "Are you okay?" She said, "Yeah," He said, giving her a gentle smile, "Just a little dizzy, probably because we skipped breakfast," He winked, causing her to blush and laugh, "Let's go home," She said.

Renato told himself numerous times that he was aware of the situation, and that he shouldn't be afraid nor surprised. He repeated to himself the agreement he had made on his mind, how he knew to defend himself and Safiye, and how he was capable of killing Billy before he could even reach Safiye. But the image of the lamenting angel popped in his mind, with the lamenting voice that had begun to torment him. Lost in his thoughts, he couldn't perceive Safiye's mood change, when just the previous day he would have noticed it immediately. It wasn't until she dropped a glass of water that the shattering sound caught Renato's attention from the living room. He ran to the kitchen with the thought that Billy had broken through the window, but he found Safiye kneeled on the floor picking up the pieces with her left hand, and with a cut on her right hand.

He approached her and helped clean the pieces. She apologized believing she has done something wrong, he looked at her with confusion, "For what?" He said, his careless attitude was enough for her to understand that she was apologizing for something she shouldn't feel any guilt, "Nothing" She said, shaking her head, and he stared at her for a few seconds with a soft smile, before concluding picking the pieces. He took her hand in his and after revising the wound and seeing it was almost a simple scratch, he cleaned it for her and covered it with gauze. Sitting on the table, across from one another, he observed her melancholic eyes and how her head dropped to the side, over her right shoulder.