Brendan shifted on his bench to see behind him and saw Samantha walking towards their table.
Simon and Owen stood up.
'Come on, Simon please!' Brendan begged him. 'She's turned a new leaf.'
'Yeah, right…' Simon grunted before picking up his tray. 'If a person had a photo of the devil in one hand and a photo of Samantha in the other, they wouldn't tell them apart. They're absolutely identical; she is the devil in person.'
'Now that's being heartless,' Brendan said watching them move to a table behind him.
This time Samantha did not sit in front of him but at his side.
'Hi,' they both greeted each other.
They sat for a while in silence. Brendan noticed that she had not collected food from the food counter. 'Aren't you hungry?' he asked her.
'No, I'm okay actually,' she answered him. They sat again in silence for about twenty seconds.
'About the money,' he broke the silence, 'Simon's dad will be delivering it to your house this afternoon.'
'So that means I'll be counting it today,' she said now forming a smile.
He had not realized that he too had been smiling. 'Did Fred bother you yesterday after I left?' he asked her.
'No…do you think he's okay?' she asked him with grief in her voice.
'I don't know but even if he was he'd probably get the death penalty anyway. He killed too many people.'
'But he's my brother,' her eyes sparkled with tears. 'Do you know how long I've searched for him? I never stopped since his disappearance and then he suddenly appears only to be taken away from me again?'
'I know how much you love him but you're ignoring the fact that he nearly killed you and he could be coming back to try again.'
'I hope he comes back… I miss him so much already, Brendan.'
Brendan looked aside hopelessly. He knew she had no idea that her own brother wanted to sacrifice her life to the Finch.
'Our parents arrived yesterday,' she informed him. 'They refused to believe me when I told them that Fred had returned. I couldn't tell them though, that their first born and only son is wanted for murder. But they'll obviously find out sooner or later.' A tear flowed down her left cheek.
Brendan wanted to wipe the tear away with his thumb. That would be a gentleman thing to do. But that would be a little too forward. They were hardly friends. So he watched the trail the tear had left on her cheek, accusing him of neglecting a poor girl in pain.
He said, 'Samantha: all that your brother did isn't your fault. He chose the path he took; to murder harmless and defenseless people, and he can never take it back. You on the other hand are a young, beautiful and bright young woman. You have a pure heart and a promising future ahead of you. Our lives don't choose us, we choose our lives. No one forced Fred to do the things he did. He chose to do those things himself with no one breathing down his neck, and since now you've seen his true colors you should know that he's not the brother you once knew.'
She covered her mouth in astonishment at the words that Brendan had just spoken. She removed her hand from her mouth. A smile was wobbling on her face. 'Those are the last words I expected to hear from you,' she said looking directly into his eyes. 'All this time I've treated you like dirt yet as hard as it was for me to admit, I knew that you were a nice guy. I tortured you but deep down there was a part of me which admired and envied you.'
He began to blush. 'Admired? There's nothing to admire or envy about me. I'm just a regular guy.'
'Not to me you're not. A person that's gone through as much as you have has a lot to be admired for. Some people would tend to ignore the fact that you are much more than a survivor.'
'Survivor?' he asked her raising his eyebrow in confusion.
'Yes, a survivor. You have no available birth parent but that doesn't stop you from being who you are; "Brendan the survivor". '
'I think I prefer "Orphan boy" to "The survivor"!'
They both laughed.
'I'll give you advice for free,' said Samantha. 'I heard this from my father, he said; "The future takes no sides either good or bad, you just have to accept what it may surprise you with." '
He gave her a pleasant nod. 'Thanks.'
'Thanks again for your help with Fred. I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you.'
'No problem. If he bothers you again just tell me and I'll send him back into hiding again.'
'I was also wondering, Brendan, if you could uh…If you could…' She paused.
'If I could…?' He waited.
'If you could join us for dinner this Friday…If you don't already have plans?'
His heart began beating fast. He had not seen this coming. Dinner? He wasn't used to this kind of "thing". 'Sure,' he said finally. This answer was not pondered over but he did not want to let her down, especially after what her brother had put her through, 'why not?' he added.
Her smile spread, 'so…tomorrow at seven?'
He nodded.
She stood up and left, her smile showing no signs of termination whatsoever.