The Sin of Love

Chapter 4

The weeks passed and looked quite the same. A rather pleasant routine had set in and Sam and Julian had some opportunities to chat when they were alone, especially on Fridays. In fact, that particular day, Julian didn't leave school with Rosalie, who could not leave work on time, but with another mother, Ms. Moreau. She accompanied Julian to his street, then the boy had only 700 feet to go to reach his building. It was unusual to see such a young boy coming home all alone, with his own key, but in this quiet and uneventful little village, distrust wasn't customary. Especially because it was only a matter of minutes, Rosalie would arrive about 15-20 minutes after Julian. The first time, Sam had looked around every minute. This situation bothered him. But after two or three times, and seeing the boy completely relaxed, he became more confident. Moreover, these little walks were beneficial to him. Sometimes he would ask Julian just to walk a few feet down an adjacent street, or into a shop, which allowed Sam to further expand his "world" and dispel the fog of his daily life. Thanks to this, he could sometimes, at night, wander the streets. He liked to observe the world, and its darkness, as if to take comfort in having left it. In the past, he had walked for a long time, in all the territory open to him, had seen souls in pain, people completely drunk, couples in love ... When he saw two young people embracing, he thought of the naivety of one, gullibly, believing in something as futile as true love. The proof was right in front of him: Rosalie was separated from Julian's dad, and the story seemed to have ended really badly for the little one, to such extent that he never saw or talked about him. According to Sam, love was blind, yes, blind: We no longer saw the lies of the other, we let ourselves be enveloped by a pink mist as opaque as that of the streets that were forbidden to him. And all of this, in the end, to bring only suffering. He was believing that even couples together since a long time, stayed with each other out of habit, being afraid of being alone. True love was a myth because love was really just the worst of all sins.

Rosalie's kindness was seen by Sam as weakness, a fragility that you shouldn't have as a mother. The more Sam got along with Julian, the more he resented this mom for not taking more care of him. Indeed, even if Rosalie took time for meals and trips to school, the times spent playing with Julian were rare. She used that free time for sewing, making phone calls. Occasionally she would go to "her room" and paint for an hour or two. Julian didn't seem to have any animosity towards his mom unlike Sam, who was upset she didn't take more time for this child who seemed inherently exceptional. Meanwhile, he thought about opening Julian's eyes by angering his mother, therefore he would make the boy do something stupid for the very first time, a trick he had already thought about since the first days with him.

***

One day during which Steve had pushed Julian in the mud "for fun", the boy was quite upset to see that his mother hadn't reacted much to this news. When they got home, Rosalie turned on the bath water, and asked the little blond to undress while she put away the two or three groceries she had bought. Julian was evidently depressed about having to take a bath.

- You know what would be really fun?- Sam called out to Julian, pointing at a vial. - A bubble bath!

- Do you think the water will no longer be dirty? - Asked the little boy who was looking at his muddy forearms.

- We'll have to put a lot of soap today!- Sam smirked mischievously.

The little boy then took the bubble bath bottle and poured a reasonable amount into the tub, which was slowly filling. Sam expected much more soap, since he wanted to cause a tidal wave in the bathroom to make mom snap and finally reveal her true nature.

- Oh, I read there that you have to pour half a bottle per bath, - he lied, pretending to read the label. - You can put a lot more!

Julian didn't think any longer, he trusted Sam and really needed a fun bubble bath after a long day. He poured most of the bottle under the amused and delighted gaze of the dark-haired man, then began to undress, back to the tub. Sam, who saw the tank in the background overflowing with foam as the water barely filled more than half of it, tried to hold in his laughter and keep a serious demeanor. When Julian took off his second sock, he noticed the foam on his feet and started panicking. He grabbed the foam with his arms to put it back in the tub, without stopping the flow of water, which was obviously useless considering the astronomical amount of foam that was already overflowing.

- Help me Sam!- he called out.

- And how am i supposed to?- replied the concerned, passing his hand through the foam.

Sam found the little boy's demeanor adorable and surprising at the same time. Usually, the Animus would have turned to his Friend, grumbling, calling him a liar, blaming him. But Julian's face was completely devoided of anger. Instead, an expression of panic and haste was displayed, almost making Sam feel compassionate. Almost. Julian's mom came up behind the dark-haired man and got through him to enter the room.

- Julian !! What the- oh !!

She slipped on the foam on the floor, catching herself with one hand on the sink, yet fell on her butt. Sam couldn't help but laugh at the fall but still remained attentive. He expected the expression of anger in all its splendor, a volcano of fury, so much Julian's mother seemed exhausted a few hours ago. Maybe she was going to cry nervously? Ah a single mother ...

"It was necessary to think before taking the decision to break up, ma'am!" Sam thought. "Raising a child on your own is no easy task."

Rosalie stood up and tapped the tub faucet to turn off the water, then struggled to her feet and peered at her clothes. Then, to Sam's and possibly Julian's surprise, she laughed nervously, leading her son with her. She took a large load of foam in her arms and completely covered Julian with it, who hastened to pick up bubbles on the ground to throw it back at her. They both laughed during this improvised foam fight, to the point that Sam, surprised, also laughed with them. Rosalie put lather on her hair and chin to create a long beard.

- Ho-ho-ho! - she said with a loud voice, - you were naughty, Julian Daniel, you are going to be punished!

She rushed over to tickle him, and Julian's laughter echoed throughout the apartment. Then, restoring calm, she put him in the bath, removing most of the foam with large towels. Once the little boy cleaned from head to toe, Rosalie wrapped him in his bathrobe and asked him to go and dress in his room until she finished cleaning. Julian did so.

- Sorry mom,- he said just before going through the door,- I didn't want ...

- It's okay honey, go put on your pajamas, you'll catch a cold.

Julian scampered to his room, but Sam didn't follow him. He was deep in thought. This mother had not reacted at all as he expected. It was almost the first time that a reaction from a parent had surprised him so much. He felt frustrated, he hadn't been able to observe the amount of anger he was expecting. He thought that watching this exhausted mother mop up the foam that was left on the floor and furniture, he would derive a kind of satisfaction, a feeling of justice, but it didn't. He might have been satisfied to see her cry or snap, but she just cleaned it up with a neutral face. Sam then thought that she might be different from other parents. He shrugged, thinking that the laughter that broke out earlier was probably nervous and that she couldn't stay strong forever. The rime would come when she would yell at Julian. He was about to go to his Animus when he saw Rosalie getting up and taking off her long sleeves t-shirt. She probably wanted to put on some dry clothes. He arched an eyebrow doubled with a smirk and told himself that since he hadn't had the expected anger, he could just feast his eyes on. Indeed, despite the fact that he no longer felt desire, he still took pleasure from time to time, observing the curves of young women, moms, or babysitters. The women's body, he was crazy about it during his lifetime, and had taken advantage of more than reasonably. Lust in all its splendor. He leaned back against the half-open door, watching Rosalie taking off her tank top, but what he saw immediately chilled him. On her lower back and on her hips, she had bruises, at least five different ones. Sam noticed that the marks weren't the same shade, meaning they weren't all done at the same time. When Rosalie took off her pants, he could see at least 7 more. He looked away, not wanting to see more. He then saw Julian, wearing his Spiderman pajamas, approaching.

- You forgot your slippers, - Sam stammered, - go put them on or you'll slip!

- Okay, - the little one answered obediently, walking towards his room.

Sam had the reflex to send him back to his room because he didn't know if Julian was aware of these multiple bruises and didn't want him to see them. He swallowed and gave Rosalie one last look before she pulled on a pair of pajama bottoms and a cotton robe. What exactly had happened and why did she have these bluish marks almost all over her body?