No Ordinary Love, Part 3, chapter 216
216
“Ville, Sweetheart?” the boss found us in the office and wanted to have a word with us.
“I’m going to bed,” George said and left us alone.
The boss calmly waited for George to be out of ear’s reach before he spoke.
“Is everything ok?” I asked him.
“Now it is,” he nodded and without leaving us in wonder he continued. “For the past couple of days Klutz had people following you and watching your routine here.”
His words instantly made me nervous.
“What do you mean? Why you didn’t tell us anything?” I asked confused. “Is that what you’re supposed to do?”
“No,” he simply replied. “My job is to keep you safe. And that’s what I am doing,” he pointed out. “I didn’t tell you because there was no danger whatsoever. They were just observing to see if there’s any crack in my protection system and if there’s any way to get to who they want.”
“But there isn’t any crack, right?” I needed reassurance. Knowing that Sweetie took my hand and squeezed it gently. Yeah, I needed to stay calm. She knew that.
“We made one on purpose,” the boss said. “We wanted to see what they’ll try, who they want to get to and why. We caught one of the Klutz’s guys tonight. He was after Ema and Ana. I came to tell you this so you can decide what to do.”
“What does that mean?” I had impression like he’s asking us if we want to kill that intruder.
“Do you want us to let him go or call the police?” the boss returned. “Or you want me to call the police for you? I’m not a hitman, Ville,” he added like he read my thoughts.
“Oh, good,” I said in relief and Sweetie chuckled.
“You can call the police,” Sweetie said to the boss. “But we’ll wait for them to give them statement so we can press additional charges. It will just work as one more proof in Nik’s and Ana’s case.”
“We ran the initial check of the guy,” the boss said. “He’s one of the main people from Klutz security.”
“Is that official?” Sweetie asked.
“Yeah,” he confirmed.
“Excellent,” Sweetie was pleased. “Let’s call the calvary.”
We remained downstairs until the police came. We didn’t go to see the intruder. Sweetie thought it’s better that way. We saw just his shadow as they put him in the police car before they drove him off. We gave our statements, the boss and his boys gave theirs. Others weren’t woken up but the next day a police officer came to get their statements in the morning. He also informed us what they learned so far about the guy and just confirmed everything that the boss had already told us. Intruder was officially linked to Klutz. Ha wasn’t talking but police put two and two together, it’s not that hard. Also, the entire event made Rhianna more than happy.
“He just sealed his fate,” Rhianna commented chuckling. “What a stupid ass.”
Of course, Nik and Ana were very upset hearing about the intruder. But pretty soon, when they heard the full, detailed story by the boss himself about the trap and catching they calmed down. Seriouslly, the boss did the entire thing without putting any of us in any danger. He really wasn’t joking when he had said he takes his job very seriously.
As the day of the trial was approaching, everybody was growing nervous. Everybody but Sweetie. She was calm and not worried at all. She kept saying she’s absolutely sure that case is already won.
“Aren’t you worried about Ema?” I asked her.
“No, there’s no need for her to testify,” she replied. “Everything rests on the lab findings that according to DNA results Klutz is 100% her father. She’s just a living proof of everything Nik and Ana have to say. Rhianna found few reports from few different doctors that support their claims about abuse. Plus, if he’s not guilty why did he sent his gorilla here? Trust me, it’s sure thing.”
“You’re the one who always says there’s no such thing as sure thing.”
“Ok, it’s 99% probable,” she returned with little grin.
“But he’s a big dick, when the media…”
“There won’t be any media because they have to protect the little ones involved,” Sweetie cut me off. “You’re actually wondering how will this affect them as a family, right?” she paused but she already knew the answer. She looked me in the eyes and put her palms on my hands. “Nik’s moving somewhere. He’s stronger than he can possibly think. Obviously, he’s tired of his past dragging him down and keeping him from actually living his life. It’s just a matter of time he completely finds a closure to all that mess.”
“But what about Ana?” I shrugged. “You know about that guilt he talked about.”
“Yeah, but I also know that they’re very close. They talk, they love each other. If you’d ask Ana whether she’d prefer her brother spend his life with her and never had a family of his own and truly be happy or if she’d love him to leave her and have it all I’m pretty sure she’d opt for the second option. Ana’s not selfish. She’s a good girl who up until now has chosen to remain dedicated solely to her daughter. Maybe that’s how it’ll stay forever maybe it’ll change. We’ll see. But anyway, when they survived as a family all these years, this surely won’t break them. This is just a little step for them. It is hard but not as hard as everything that lead to this,” she ended.
“You know,” I began with a little smile. “Ana did talk to Ema about that night. Nik told me.”
“See, that’s what I call progress,” she heartedly smiled. “How did it go?”
“Very awkward but they talked.”
“Good,” Sweetie nodded. “Listen, try not to be suspicious about the trial around them, especially around Nik. He trust’s you too much. If he sees you doubting it, it’ll just make him feel worse.”
I listened to her advice and followed it. I even was trying to give Nik more space but that wasn’t so easy. I tried to keep myself away from his room but eventually he’d come after me. If I wasn’t doing anything that required privacy he’d stay. So maybe, he wasn’t in need of being alone.
The night before the trail, when everybody was supposed to be upstairs and sleeping I was on the terrace on the second floor, smoking, sipping wine, strumming my Silvester, enjoying the the warm spring night’s pine scent.
“Hey?’ Nik’s voice came as a whisper from behind my back.
“Hey,” I replied glancing over my shoulder.
“Mind if I join you?” he asked shyly. “I promise you won’t even know I’m here.”
“Then what’s the point in you being here at all?” I returned as a joke, he grinned and slumped in an empty chair. “Wine?” I offered taking the bottle and handing it over to him.
“You working on something?” he said taking the bottle.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged still strumming. “I’ll know for sure if something sticks with me tomorrow. Otherwise, I’m just giving my fingers some practice.”
“Sounds nice,” he commented.
“Mhmm,” I agreed.
“That will make a nice song.”
“That had already made a very good song,” I pointed out. “And it’s not mine.”
He kept himself quiet for next couple of minutes till I finished the song. And right before I began the next melody I asked, “You couldn’t sleep?”
“No,” he shook his head and I nodded. “Ana thinks maybe we should move when this is over.”
“But you don’t want to,” I concluded.
“It would be like running away, wouldn’t it?” he asked back.
“Or you can see it as a fresh start,” I returned.
“That’s the problem, I don’t,” he weakly grinned. “I can’t run away from who I am, right? So what difference does it make to leave?”
“I can’t answer that one,’ I said when I realized he’s expecting me to say something.
“What would you do?”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged as I stopped playing and put down my guitar. “I’m not in your place.”
“We both ran from Norway to Sweden to get away from him. He showed up there we came here. Then he came here, too. I don’t know if that’s coincidence caused by his shady businesses or maybe he’s been keeping an eye on us, I don’t know. I want to believe it’s coincidence,” he shrugged.
I lit myself a cigarette and listened.
“Ana, however, she thinks this will label Ema,” he continued. “I get that it’s possible but… that fucking name will stick with us no matter where we go. There’s always going to be someone who will figure it out, make the connection, pry and find out.”
“That’s always a possibility,” I had to agree.
“Yeah,” he nodded. “And then I come to think about you guys. You learned the truth and you didn’t turn your back so there must be more people out there like you, right?’
“Definitively, yeah,” again an agreement. “I know quite a few people that certainly don’t give a fuck about the past.”
He nodded seeming pleased that I had confirmed his thoughts.
“Remember the story of how Sweetie and I met?” I asked him and he nodded. “Well, back then, many of my friends were like how the fuck can you live with someone and know nothing of where she comes from, what she does in her life, her friends, anything, you know. Well, I’m pretty sure that if you’d ask them how they feel about it now, they’d say they’re more than glad that I didn’t care about what they think, that I had listened what my heart was telling me. So, if you ask me it’s very simple. Should you stay or should you go? What does your heart tell you?”
“Well, that’s the problem,” he replied. “I don’t want to be away from them, but I don’t want to leave either. See the dilemma?”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “What else are the reasons for this or that option?”
“I like it here,” he shrugged. “There are some good friends here…’
“Hey, wherever you or we go we’re still be friends, you know,” I pointed out. No matter how much I liked this guy it wouldn’t be fair to lead him into thinking that distance will change anything.
“I know,” he confirmed. “I could also get a job here. I just kind of got used to living here.”
“Ok, and reasons to leave?”
“Just Ema and Ana,” he shrugged. “But then if the bastard gets locked for the rest of his life…”
“He will,” I interrupted.
“… they won’t really need me protecting them. And it’s not like I did much in that area anyway,” he shrugged.
“Hey, protection isn’t always a physical thing, you know,” I pointed out. “sometimes it’s also giving a good advice, being a shoulder to cry on, showing some compassion, understanding. It’s also, about protection on mental level. Sometimes, that’s more important.”
“Well, I’ll trust you on that, you’re an expert,” he joked.
“If you say so,” I smirked. “Though I think I’m just a wanker actually.”
He chuckled and shook his head.
“I hope I’ll see that side of you one day.”
“Just stick around and you won’t miss it. You’ll probably get sick of it, too,” I grinned.
Soon after that, he asked me to play couple of songs. We stayed up until we emptied the bottle then we finally went to bed.
Tomorrow we were all at court. Ema already knew everything. She heard it all so many times before and according to Nik, she’ll be ok. It won’t shake her up. As he sadly said, she’s too much indifferent about it. On the other hand, Kai wasn’t like that. We wanted to leave him back at home with Anita and Kari but he refused. Said how Nik is his friends, too and cleverly used our own premise that one supports his friends no matter what. We talked to him, told him what he’ll hear, still it didn’t change his mind. He was deeply shocked with the story. He cried and had tons of questions but remained firm about decision to come along. So, we had no choice.
It was a closed trial, no press, no media inside the court but outside of it was a completely different story. We all came through the back entrance, protected by the boss himself and few of his men so we felt more than safe. Inside the courtroom only family and friends present. And that seemed to be just us plus Klutz’s very young wife, no child around.
She sat right behind her husband, seemed very confident, even defiant when she for a brief moment glanced at our direction. Well dressed with taste, for sure, looking like a proper model wife for her successful husband. Such a damn perfect little wife, that I felt sorry for her. she was either totally oblivious of who her husband really is, or simply she didn’t care. I couldn’t decide.
Not until, later when as the trail was rolling off, and more and more testimonies and proof was presented exposing her beloved husband for a monster he truly is. She wasn’t shocked at all, or she just was a good actress. Then I didn’t pity her any more. She looked at Nik and Ana with so much hate as they were telling their shocking stories that it made me wish to go choke her, shook her hard and ask her is that what she wants to become one day? Would she like her daughter to come to her one day and say ‘mom, my dad made me pregnant’? For Christ’s sake I’m a guy and I deeply empathize with all the girl of this world that were raped at any point in their life. I’m a man yet I couldn’t help but feel tears in my eyes as Ana was retelling how her father used to come to her bed every night for years and years in a row, to rape her and beat her severely if she’d try to fight him off. This new wife of his just seemed to be more infuriated with Ana’s words. Like Ana had deserved it all, like she asked for it. Like it was ana’s fault. What the hell was wrong with this woman?
“Stop staring at her,” Sweetie whispered to me. “It’s not why we’re here.”
I nodded and averted my eyes but not for a long. When Ana talked about the last encounter with her father, the night when Nik finally joined her, my head turned back to despicable woman again. When Rhianna was done with Ana, the judge ordered a ten minute break and we moved to the hall.
“You were very brave,” I said to Ana who managed somehow to remain sane during her entire testimony. She cried but didn’t go bezerk. Those were silent tears. Ana seemed like someone who keeps a lot for herself. Nik was holding himself good, too. Sweetie and I moved a little from Nik, Ana and Rhianna so they could talk. We stayed closer to the little ones.
“I know you’re mad, but we’re not here to hate others,” Sweetie said as again she caught me staring at the enemy.
“I can’t help it,” I instantly replied. “I just can’t stand it here,” I said lighting myself a cigarette and smoking it hungrily.
“Everybody chooses for themselves,” she calmly said cupping my face so to force me to look at her. “She chose and nothing will change that. Nothing. And it’s her that will have to live with it,” she paused not letting go of me yet. “You have too much of good in yourself to waste it like this, over nothing.”
“Over nothing?” I repeated.
“Yeah,” she nodded looking very assured as her face changed from calm and concerned into cold one. “Person without a grain of compassion and humanity isn’t a person but a big empty nothing.”
Then she let go off me leaving me to think about what she had just said and I hated her in that moment for the effect she so damn well knew she has on me. She so fucking knew what she needs to say and how to say it to make my state of mind change. Not because she wants it, but because I will feel wrong to prolong the state I was in. What Sweetie actually said was ‘get focused on your friends that need you, you moron. Don’t feed monsters with your hate for that’s their food.’ I pushed myself from the wall and walked over to the bench where she was sitting with the kids. When I put my skinny lame ass next to her, she glanced at me for a brief moment, inspected my face very shortly then smiled. Yes, she was content and proud and all I could was shake my head a little in ‘I don’t believe you’ way with a little smirk as I put my arm over her shoulders and pulled her to kiss her hair.
“Love you,” I whispered to her peeling my lips from her hair and she nodded. Then Nik, Rhianna and Ana joined us. “How are you holding?” I asked him.
“I still didn’t kill anyone,” he said with a sigh. “Ri, says maybe we won’t even get to me.”
“That would be good,” I said more to myself.
“No,” he replied and looked me in the eyes. I said nothing, didn’t ask a thing but I understood. It was his closure. Get on the stand and tell his side of the story. He somehow needed to do it. And of all people in this world I had to understand and accept it.
“Ok,” I nodded. “Then just tell Ri, to call for you there.”
“I did,” he returned. “I… I also told her to do whatever it takes to make me show myself,” he paused as I put my hand on his shoulder in sign of support. “I want him to see.”
“Ok,” I nodded and he tried a smile but failed.
It was more than obvious, he wasn’t quite sure about that but something was just forcing him to do so. I just hoped he was aware that maybe it won’t have the effect he wishes it will. He didn’t need another disappointment.
Then they called us back. The bastard’s attorney focused on trying to make Ana look like lowlife, whore. He kept forming his questions as conclusions which gave Ri so many opportunities to protest and object and judge to verbally slap him for that. It was obvious, they had nothing. Plus, Ri had prepared Ana so good that Ana was immune to low blows and knew how to avoid them. I remembered how it was for me when I was sitting there just in another room in this institution. Ri was literally training me how to avoid being trapped and giving the other side opportunity to twist the facts and used them against me. For example my drinking habbits back then could easily present me as someone who has a huge problem, loses control when drunk and turns aggressive if pushed to the limits. And all that could’ve been enough to make the jury believe I’m capable of hitting a woman or even worse. Yeah, law is a shitty, shady business in itself. That’s why you find a good lawyer like Ri. Best of her class and with apprentice’s practice at big sharks. Of course she’ll devour the competition with an appetite.
Then Ana left the stand and Nik was called to take it. He seemed calm but I knew he was picking on his nails violenty hidden from anyone’s eyes. Question after question, he answered anticipating the moment when Ri tactially led the other party to ask if Nik has any proof for his claims to abuse.
“Well Nik?” Ri simply turned to him and nodded. Nik slowly rose from his seat, and began to take his shirt off. As his skin came into the light everybody present gasped. Everyone but just few of us who already saw it.
“Is this enough?” Nik asked holding his head high with hurtful pride. But he wasn’t looking at that pathethic fucked up bastard of his father. He looked at his real family. His sister, her daughter, Sweetie and me. I nodded at him silently saying how much I admire his brave act and he nodded just a bearly noticeable nod.
Ri let him stand half-naked like that for a while as she added the report from the doctor that supported Nik’s account of the events. I watched the jury that didn’t really know what to feel or think at that moment. Some couldn’t even look at him any longer. Yes, it was that scary. But not for me. For us, his friends it was sad he went through it. But it didn’t make him any less great person that he truly is. And in that moment, I briefly forgot Sweetie’s words and my head began to turn to that cold-hearted woman again.
“Don’t,” I heard a familiar whisper and felt a well-known touch of silky hand squeeze mine lightly and it was enough to make my eyes go back to Nik.
He put back his shirt and Ri’s part with him was over. When the judge asked if the accussed want to question Nik there was a little delay. Naturally, I looked in the direction of that bench. Lawyer was talking extremely fast but inaudible for my ears. When for a moment he turned his head away from Klutz it seemed to me that I had caught a deafeat on his face. Still, he got up and approached Nik. Nik jutted his chin inhaling deeply.
And then a sudden twist.
“Your honour, we wish to change our plea to charges.”