Make Love Not War

Chapter 3

Iah made some tea to calm my nerves and my stomach. With everything going on, I couldn't eat. I kept seeing the picture in my head of my house on fire. Thinking about what my parents had done to die the way they did. We live in a small town that is part of Aphgard City, TY. My father, Luciano Cringe, was a business owner. He got and owned the local bakery fair and square. He took over for my grandfather after he passed away from pneumonia when I was five years old. A year later, my grandmother passed away too, but of loneliness. My mother, Lilah Cringe, was a stay-at-home mom, even though she helped my father run the bakery sometimes. Everything was going well. I have just graduated from college with a degree in accounting. I was doing my internship at the bank in town. The owner, Mr. Loyd Soloman and my father knew each other and their families had been in this town for years. He told my father that as soon as I graduated and turned twenty-two years old I had a job at the bank as an intern until I learned the ropes. Like I said, everything was going great until yesterday.

I snapped out of my thoughts and Iah was walking into the kitchen talking to someone on his cell phone. He looked at me and silently said get ready. I didn't know what he wanted me to get ready for, so I stayed on my chair and waited to see what else he would say. Boy, this man is bossy and can't stand or sit still for anything. As soon as he walked into the kitchen again, I jumped off the chair, and he waved at me to follow him. We were speed walking, and he finally got off the phone. He knew questions were coming, but before I could say anything, he said:" We are going somewhere to meet someone important that can help us out. Now, Iah is starting to know how my mind works a bit because he said very fast right after; don't ask any more questions, you will know all when we get there. We went down some stairs and at the back of the house there was a beautiful black car. Now I really started questioning if Iah was rich or not, but i only smiled and didn't say anything else. It was already getting dark, so we left his house in a hurry and went through the woods until we reached a road I'd never been on before. I just enjoyed the ride and looked out the window, absorbing the view and asking more questions in my head.

We must have been driving for a few hours because I didn't notice I had fallen asleep, and it was totally dark outside now. I turned and looked at Iah, and he only gave me a small side smile. Are you okay there, sleepy head?, he said to me. I said, sitting up straight, I was fine. I started asking, how long have you been driving? Iah said, about three hours. We only have about twenty minutes to go. Okay, can I at least know where we are going? He said, we are going to see someone special to me in the next city over. I asked: What is this city called? He replied: Arcadia Moon Flats. I said; never been there or heard of it. Iah laughed and asked: Have you ever left town for a trip or vacation? I laughed so hard. I answered, I have never left for any reason whatsoever. I even went to college in town and that was the farthest I have ever been from home. Well you are going to like it here, Iah said. We are here. I smiled and couldn't believe the place we were pulling up too. It looked like a private hotel or the mayor's house.

We pulled up to the giant doors and there was a man dressed in black waiting for us. When we got out of the car, the man said: Welcome home Mr. Koray, shook his hand and took his car keys. Who was that? I asked. Iah answered: He is Hakan, the butler. Walking in the house, I froze at the door. Iah asked: What's wrong? I whispered to him, I wasn't dressed adequately for this place. He grabbed my hand and pulled me with him and just said: don't worry. We walked through another set of doors and there was a lady standing there with her arms open and with a big smile. She said: Son, you are home. In my head I said ‘SON’. I knew he was rich and didn't even say anything, and now I feel embarrassed to be in the presence of the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. She was walking towards me and said: Who is this young lady who is accompanying you? I looked at my hands and put my face down. Then Iah came close to me and said: Mother, this is Noel, the person I told you about. Nice to meet you. I am Noel Cringe and I bowed to her. She said: please don't bow, a simple handshake is fine. Nice to meet you Noel. I am Iah’s mother, Lucia Koray. Welcome to my house. Let's go get something to drink in the kitchen and talk. We followed her to an enormous kitchen. My house could have fit in here three times, I thought, my mother would've loved it.

We entered the kitchen and Mrs. Lucia asked me what I wanted to drink. I told her a glass of water would be fine. She gave me a look like I had said a bad word. She asked me: Have you ever drunk anything more than water? I told her: No Ma’am, I don't drink alcohol. Well, water it is then. Iah had already made himself something without hesitation. Something called Bourbon on ice, and he handed his mother a glass as well. She handed me a glass of ice water and I said thank you. Mrs. Lucia started talking after finishing her glass in one gulp. So, darling, let's start from the top. What happened? I put my glass of water down and started telling her what happened the night Iah found me and rescued me from the men following me. Everything I found out on the news about my parents and all types of law enforcement are looking for me. They had said my name on the news and even had a picture of me. My eyes started to water again and I couldn't talk anymore. I put my head on the kitchen counter and started to cry hard again. I picked my head up and started babbling away. Why? Why me? I have never hurt anyone in my life. I don't even know who would want to hurt me or my family. I'm nothing, nobody now. I have nothing; no family, no job and no future. What will I do now? In an instant, Iah was next to me holding my hands. Please don't cry any more Noel, I am here to help, he said.

I wiped my tears and started apologizing again. Mrs. Lucia came over to me and put her hand on my shoulder. She said: It's going to be okay, you can stay with us until we find out what's going on. I jumped off the table and said: No, I can't impose on you either. I can't have anyone else die because of me. I couldn't take it. I need to go home and start anew. I'll go to the police and see what I can do. Iah grabbed me by my shoulders and said: Noel, listen to yourself. You can't go home. There is no home to go to. Did you forget? And the police. I don't trust them at all. They are all crooks in that town, starting with the mayor. I slammed my hand on the counter and said: So what do you want me to do, Iah? I have nothing. How can I do anything? I can't even prove who I am. His mother said: Calm down, let's not get ruffled up. Let's eat dinner, relax and we will come up with a plan. She rang a little bell she had on the counter and an older lady appeared out of nowhere. She told her: Aylin, please take Mrs. Cringe to get freshened up and ready for supper.