"Doesn't he care about the rules? Of course, he must be used to rule-breaking, so rules might not matter, but at least he should care about the lives of others, if not his." I thought furiously as he made a U-turn right in the middle of the highway. Luckily no vehicles were within distance to cause an accident. I just hoped that he checked the road for cars before the swift swerve. My heart was pounding in my ears and I knew this was causing an adrenaline rush in me and I was strangely excited, no matter how scary the situation seemed.
But then as he sped towards the highway exit, I began to worry about why he was in such a hurry and what on earth his aunt could have told him to make him this much concerned.
"Calvin, for god's sake, tell me what happened?" I demanded, no longer able to bear his silence or the sudden change of events. "I know, something happened, right?"
No matter how hard I tried to get something out of him, he would not reply. Instead, he wove through the traffic, once in a while pressing the car horn like a mad man and I decided to give up questioning further. The thought that all of this could well be an act to scare me for his amusement, crossed my mind more than once. But Calvin looked all too serious and focused on reaching the destination he had in his mind as soon as possible that I forgot my own paranoid concerns.
After almost crashing into the back of other vehicles a few times, an exchange of curses between Calvin and other drivers, and the beeping of the horn almost every other second, he pulled in front of a set of elegant wrought iron gates. But it was opened only after he had yelled at the guards a few times to 'open the goddamn gates' on top of his lungs. The anger was evident in all of his actions. Right then, he could have well passed for the devil's son. The nerves on his temple were throbbing and his handsome face was distorted by rage. This side of his, which he had not shown until now, scared me and I shrank back in my seat without realizing what I was doing. And now foolishly so, I could not care less about where we were heading to.
He drove in through the gates before they were even fully opened and I squeezed my eyes shut as if I expected the car to collide with the gates. When I opened my eyes again, I was able to calm myself down a little as we had stopped at the front porch of a mansion and Calvin had already turned off the engine. Within seconds he had got down, slammed the car door shut, and was already heading up the flight of stairs, leading to the front double doors.
Without knowing what else to do, I quickly got out of the car and rushed after him meekly. On the right side of the doors, there was a glittering gold board attached to the wall, bearing the name of the house owner in cursive writing -The House of Marian Jennifer Beaufort. So, my guess had been right all along, Calvin had just come here to check on something with his aunt. Was she all right? I felt concerned and wished everything would be fine.
Calvin pounded on the doors rapidly until a maidservant opened it to see who it was. She only opened an inch, looking frightened, but then quickly opened the rest, spotting Calvin. The young maid seemed to want to know who I was, but she did not question, probably sensing that the young master was about to explode. She helplessly looked around as Calvin demanded to know where his aunt was, directing the question at particularly no one and anyone. I was right behind him, feeling so very uncomfortable in a place, where I knew I had no business in being, except the fact that I had nowhere else to go as he had already taken me far from the capital.
Suddenly he stopped in his tracks as we both heard a man and a woman arguing heatedly. I recognized Uncle James' voice immediately and I felt as if I was stabbed in the back. and I was falling into a whirlpool of emotions. Until just now, I did not totally believe Calvin's story. I did not dare to believe my beloved uncle was far from what he pretended to be. I had prayed that it was only the way Calvin saw things and not what they actually were. But now things were starting to prove to be different from what I had imagined. My knees buckled at the realization and I found myself gripping Calvin's arm for support. He looked at me for a brief moment and I somehow noticed that he looked concerned or even worried about me. Maybe it was regret for bringing me here, but I was in no situation myself to understand the complicated human being that was Calvin.
Despite the commotion and him being a jumble of emotions right then, he quickly asked a maid to take me somewhere to sit down, but I did not want to sit and wait. I wanted to know what was happening and ignoring the maids, I rushed after Calvin when he headed towards the study, following the voices.
"What the fuc*, James?" Calvin yelled, boiling with anger as he stormed into the study, where a young woman -who was probably Calvin's aunt- and my Uncle James were arguing.
The two were within inches of one another, screaming into their faces. The woman looked as if she had cried a lot, her eyes red-rimmed. And by looking at the mess she was, she must have pulled her hair in frustration. Her makeup was smudged too. Uncle James on the other hand looked less messy, but his eyes were bloodshot too, but it was certainly from the fact that he had lost his temper as there was no trace of crying or any tears being shed.
I stopped at the threshold to the study, I could not possibly think about crossing that. It did not seem nice no matter what. I desperately wanted an explanation from Uncle James for the last time to see if he had a good reason for what he had done. But I remained there, wishing that Calvin had done the same.
At the sound of Calvin's voice, both his aunt and my uncle had turned around, looking extremely uncomfortable. Both of them seemed to have spotted Calvin first and Marian's jaw dropped as she hurriedly tried to wipe away the tears, smudging more mascara all over her face. Then Uncle James' eyes looked past Calvin, landing on me and he walked up to me, paled and looking shocked. I was immobilized and at a loss for words. I wanted to demand an explanation, but I could not.
I could hear Calvin talking to his aunt in the background. I was not focused well, but I could sense that he could not control the harshness in his voice, despite trying to soothe his aunt.
Finally finding my voice, I began to talk to my uncle; "What is going on here? Is it true that you abandoned her (I pointed at Marian) when she got pregnant with your baby? You might think this is not my business, uncle, but I adored you ever since I can remember, not knowing you were capable of doing such a monstrous thing to a woman you pretended to love." I knew my voice was cracking and high-pitched and so full of emotions.
Uncle James tried to calm me by holding me by my shoulders, but I shrugged away. Uncle looked sad at my reaction and for his sake, I tried to calm down, taking slow breaths. Crossing my hands in front of me, I waited for his answer.
"Look, all you said is true. I know I did something bad. But I came here to ask her forgiveness and maybe to get back with her. But she isn't letting me. Please, give us some time to talk things through. And then perhaps, you will see me as the same uncle I was before. For now, please get back to the palace. I will talk with Jenny's nephew and you can go back with him if it was him, who drove you here." Uncle James said flatly.
He seemed resigned and somewhat sad. And I wanted to give him and Marian a chance to try before I was to judge any of them. But as I was not yet ready to leave without figuring out if Uncle James really was as half as good a person as I used to believe, I decided to wait in the parlor.
As I turned around to walk back, I heard Calvin saying firmly that he would not budge, and Marian trying to urge him to leave and get back home safely, just like Uncle James tried to reason with me a moment ago. I knew that like me Calvin would not resort to leaving just yet.
"You should fuc*ing leave, you bastard." I heard Calvin burst and I stopped in my tracks, suddenly nervous as to what might happen. I did not like the way he addressed my uncle, but I was in no position to say anything if uncle was indeed as bad as he said. When I heard the door being slammed shut, which was followed by Calvin's shouts to open the door and let him in and Marian's concerned voice pleading him to wait a little and to give the two of them some more time, I turned on my heels and headed to the parlor quietly. I was too afraid to see Calvin's reaction if he were to find out that I had been listening to what just happened.
Soon after I sat down on a wooden chair in a corner, Calvin too entered the parlor, his hands in his pocket, head hanging down and his eyes shooting laser beams. I stiffened in my chair, but luckily Calvin did not acknowledge my presence. I was too nervous and preoccupied with thinking about Uncle James' and Marian's situation to deal with him and I was selfishly relieved when he started pacing up and down the small space, deep in thought.
Both of us ignored each other during the wait. The silence that fell over us was gloomy beyond words and I felt time dragging away slowly. And sometime later, we heard a defeated sigh from Uncle James as he stormed past the parlor and headed towards the front doors. Before I had a chance to run up to him and inquire about what happened, Marian followed. The look on her face already told me that things had not gone well.
Marian walked up to Uncle James and placed her hand on his back lightly. She looked sad, but much more composed now. "I will see you out, James," she said without meeting his eyes.
"Why-?" Uncle James began, but he was cut short by Marian.
"I have no other choice. You made me this way." Marian sighed.
James shrugged away her hand harshly. His facade of sorrow gone in a whim and I was suddenly crestfallen and ashamed of myself for believing that there was a chance for things to work out between the two and that I would be able to see Uncle James in a good light again.
"I'm leaving Cordelia tonight and will never come back. Don't you think, I'll come back to you like a puppy. You'll suffer a lot, Jennifer and then you'll remember what I said." Uncle James barked and went straight to the doors, grabbed the handle, and threw them open without waiting for a butler.
He was through the doors and had slammed them shut after him, when Marian let out a sigh again, shifting my attention from the shock of what just happened. Realizing that she should be feeling hollow and much sadder than any of us, I went to her. As if just woken from a stupor, Calvin rushed to Marian's side too and helped her to a chair.
She sighed again before saying; "He hasn't changed one bit since then and I know he never will."
I was at a loss for words. I guessed there was nothing that anyone could say to take away the sorrow Marian should be feeling right now.
I barely had time to notice when next to me Calvin's hands balled. And shaking with rage, he sprinted through the doors, going after my uncle. Marian was already on her feet and hurrying to the door and I followed her quickly, praying that nothing bad would happen.
By the time we were at the bottom of the stairs -probably around thirty seconds after Calvin sprinted out, Uncle James had Calvin in a headlock. Before none of us could reach them, Calvin had slipped from his grip and was attacking James. Marian screamed at both of them to stop, but it only fueled James' anger and he grabbed Calvin from the front of his shirt and hit him in the face.
"Let go of him, uncle." I pleaded, trying to grip Uncle James' fist to avoid him from hitting Calvin again.
My uncle had been beaten severely too and his clothes were muddy, which proved that either he had been pinned to the ground by Calvin or he had tripped in his rush. But at that moment, I could not pity him. He had done a wrongful thing and even hurt Marian's feelings again after a long time of absence. On top of that, Calvin was in a worse state, he had a black eye and now his lips were bloodied as well.
"Please, stop this and go," I tried my best to convince uncle as tears pooled in my eyes.
When finally, he released Calvin and pushed him to the ground to stop him from coming after him, Marian rushed towards her nephew. The look he gave Marian when she bent over Calvin and started scolding him for starting a fight, made me worried that he might cause a scene again just to inflict more pain on Marian. So I stood in between my uncle and them just in case and urged him to leave quickly as he had already done enough. I was so relieved when he made up his mind to get in his car and speed away, that I released a breath that I did not know I was holding.
I walked back to where Calvin was still sitting on the ground and looking ahead without blinking. The anger still had not seemed to have left him. The sight of him -beaten and bloodied, made me look away. And for some reason, I felt pain inside me and it was doubled by the thought that he had had enough love in him towards his aunt to begin a fight that would leave him battered.
Calvin spat blood out and winced as he tried to move his right arm, which only caused his aunt to turn away, wiping tears that threatened to spill out of her eyes. As if she had had enough, she headed inside, saying that she would call the butler to take care of the mess that has become of Calvin.
After she left, I walked up to Calvin and offered him my handkerchief. "Here, wipe the blood on your face, will you?" I said softly, I was too concerned about him to be frightened by his rage. When Calvin did not take it nor even look at me, I knelt beside him and started to gently dab at the blood dripping from his cut lips.
His head jerked to face me and his eyes widened with confusion as to how I was reacting to his state. Then he composed himself and muttered a 'thanks', which was barely audible. I could not help but smile at how awkward he could be sometimes.
At the sound of the front doors being opened, Calvin glanced back, and seeing that the butler was heading towards us, he quickly got on his feet, wincing a little.
"Calvin, don't be hard on yourself. Let him treat your wounds." I tried to reason with him as I too stood up, nonetheless.
"We're leaving," was Calvin's firm reply to what I said, which made me worried again.
With that, he grabbed my wrist and dragged me along with him to the car. Then as if sensing that I was about to tell him again to get his wounds treated, he even opened the passenger door for me and almost pushed me in. Having no other option, I got in and sat in silence as he roared the engine back and drove towards the gate. There, he stopped for a while just to command the guards to call him straight away in case 'James Ferguson' returned. Then he rolled back his shutter and sped out.
"He probably wouldn't consider coming back anyway, if he has at least a drop of decency in him," Calvin said to himself as we were driving further away from Marian's mansion.
I remained quiet, despite the fact that I wanted to say something to try and soothe his anger. But I felt that this was too personal for him and if I said something it would enrage him. After all, he was angry at Uncle James and he was part of my family. If Calvin ever found it hard to see eye to eye with me, I would know that this was the foundation on which his dislike towards me would be built. And if that were to happen someday, I hoped that I would remember that underneath his cold facade, deep down he was just like any of us.