Redemption

Chapter XV

In the morning, Safiye received a message from Mel, in which she invited her and Renato to go to the book club meeting she organized for the same day. Safiye looked over at Renato finishing getting dressed, and when he returned the look, he commented how her face has always been easy to read, and motivated her to tell him what she had in mind. She told him about Mel's invitation, and asked him if they could go with her, and move their date to the next day instead. In seconds, she thought about using the fact that she hasn't spoken to Mel after her emergency as an excuse to convince him of going to the book club meeting, but even though he didn't like crowds, without hesitation he agreed and even commented that it was going to be equally fun, but he only agreed because it meant he had one more day and night with Safiye then what he was planning. His reaction took her aback, and in a blink she felt guilty for expecting any other reaction from him. "Thank you, Rey!" She exclaimed, and after giving him a quick kiss, she answered back to Mel, and left with Renato to campus.

They were the first to arrive, and Mel was the only person there. She cited Safiye thirty minutes earlier since Mel had figured that Safiye would be expecting some answers to the many questions she left her with. But Mel was barely getting to know Safiye, and aside from asking if she was doing well and if everything was fine, Safiye wouldn't dare to question, knowing well how uncomfortable can be when someone asks about personal tragedies or events. She hugged Mel when greeting her, consoling her even before her narration, while Renato only shook Mel's hand and told her how he hoped she was doing well. It confused both of them when Mel laughed, and said that everything was fine, and that the emergency was as tragic as hilarious. Renato had to hold back his growing smile by looking at Safiye's surprised expression.

They sat on the grass and Mel began to narrate how her little brother's birthday was during the start of the summer break, and that they celebrated a small party in which they only invited family. She said how her little brother has always been fascinated with superheroes, and that the theme of the party was about the topic. Every gift he received was related to the theme of the party, and her uncle had the idea of giving her little brother the suit of his favorite superhero, thinking that he could wear it for Halloween. The kid was excited to incarnate his favorite hero, even wearing the suit before Halloween, and adopting his personality while saving his stuffed animals from fictional danger. It was all innocent and beautiful until a day Mel's mother had to receive a call from her father, and in a split of a second he climbed to the window of the second floor, and jumped from the window thinking he could fly as the hero.

Because Mel chuckled at the innocence of her little brother, Renato and Safiye corresponded with a smile, assuming he was fine. Mel confirmed how in fact he was fine since he broke the surface tension of the water from the swimming pool in the backyard, and that he only dislocated his ankle when his feet reached the floor of the pool. "Called adrenaline or whatever he was able to swim and come out of the water," Mel said, and told that the reason she was busy to contact Safiye before, was because she was taking care of her little 'knucklehead.' Safiye shook her head and said how it was fine and that she understood that certain circumstances in life can take away a great amount of time from someone.

At the end of their conversation and when they filled the silence with silly comments about movies, more people arrived. After waiting for a few minutes in case someone was late, Mel officially started the meeting, that was mostly for enjoyment, and to share with one another about their summer reading, rather than to talk about a specific book or topic. Nevertheless, someone commented that the reason his favorite book was so special to him was because it dealt with the topic of redemption, and his comment started a debate among the group, and transformed what was a general conversation just for fun, into a serious debate in which everyone expressed their ideologies.

Renato ignored what everyone spoke, while Safiye listened carefully with respect at every single perspective, no matter how different or similar they were to hers. When it was her turn to speak, she expected to receive the same respect, and even though she got a little nervous, having a number of people looking at her direction in silence, she spoke with serenity her view. She explained that redemption is possible because love and mercy exists, that there is a process the person must go through but that there was always 'a light at the end of the tunnel' something she meant but metaphorical and literally. A guy raised her voice and commented to her how she was the more mistaken one, and that redemption didn't exist at all, that what some people do is outrageous and that they didn't deserve any light at any point in the existence but to remain in Hell eternally. Not only Safiye, but Renato, and some among the group where thrown off with the hate the young man spoke with, "People suffering, caused by any other human, doesn't last for eternity, why should the punishment be eternal, shouldn't there be an end as well?" She said, "My pain hasn't end, and I bet if your parents were murdered you wouldn't be saying what you say right now" The guy practically yelled, "My parents are death, and I understand your pain," She said with her voice breaking and holding tighter to Renato's hand for strength, who began to move his hand up and back her back to tranquilize her. "So I understand your pain," "You wouldn't, unless they were murder as well, or did they, did you forgive who killed your parents or something? Because that's the only way you can have the right to speak what you speak," He interrupted, "My parents weren't murdered, they died in an accident but I have seen how some have learned to forgive with the help of God, and I hope to have that same blessing if I ever need it. I'm really sorry for your loss, and I'm sorry if I said something that might have made you feel uncomfortable but I respect you and I expect that same respect back," She said calmer, but the young man stood in rage and left.

Mel uncomfortably dismissed the book club and apologized with Safiye, and Renato reassured her that it was the other guy that had misbehaved and overreacted when all she did was give her opinion like everyone else. But Safiye shook her head and told him to not see it as 'misbehaving' or 'overreacting' but a natural reaction for the pain the guy carried, and asked him to not judge the guy for it, "At the end a person can only give what they carry within. Plus outside factors have clouded him as well. God will help him find the path to peace, and we have no right to judge him for not finding it yet, he will find it in the proper time he needs it." Her comprehension inspired the trust back in Renato, after seeing how the young man reacted and the way he questioned her, he feared the possibility of losing Safiye's love after she learns about what has happened to him. But she had shown a greater spirituality than he had seen before, and he felt secure that once she learnt about his past to its fullest, she would feel the same comprehension towards him.

Back inside their house, Safiye dropped her shoulders and the forced neutral face changed to one of sadness. As Renato noticed, he hugged her in silence to comfort her from what happened, "You don't think I said something wrong, right?" She asked him, looking up at him, "No, not at all, I think you have a very beautiful point of view, you never mentioned before," He said, guiding her to the couch to sit together still holding hands, "Well, I think those things are not a good topic of conversation, they can be very controversial and lead to accidents like the one today," She said, "And the other reason I don't talk about it, is because I don't believe anything should ever be force to anyone, just like it came to me through my mother and life, it would eventually come to others in some form. Everyone has the right to believe in what they wish to. Every path that is base in love leads to God," She added, and he was fascinated, she was even greater then he first thought, and he began to believe, that she wasn't human but an angel, taking her role as his guardian earlier, even before death, to assure him that he was walking the right path. Renato leaned forward to make the tip of their noses touch, and squeeze their hands while looking into each other eyes, feeling in his heart what she described.

After showering together and laying in bed facing the other, while holding hands under the bedsheets, Safiye found inspiration to declare her love for him by looking at his eyes. She promised to love him for the rest of eternity, that under any circumstances she would be there to protect him and adore him, and if there ever came the day that she couldn't take away his pain with her love, she asked for the angels in Heaven to do it for her. Tears sparked in the verge of his eyes and with a broken voice he spoke, "You promise?" "I promise" She assured him, with tears breaking through her eyes as well, "Oh, don't get emotional, you are making me cry," She joked, and both laughed through their tears, "I don't want to sleep tonight, I want to enjoy each second of this night with you" He said, as she pushed him to lay over his back and sat over his waist, "Then let's stay awake all night" She said, and leaned down to kiss him gently. Throughout the rest of the night, they merged their bodies and energies one last time.