Niko’s Eye

Chapter 16

"Redefinition."

Alejandro.

Alejandro had asked Isis to drive in a bid to resist the urge to drive her to his house, instead of dropping her at home.

He had no idea that she did not know how to drive.

There’s no turning back now.

He jumped into the passenger’s side without opening the door and probed Isis to get into the driver’s seat.

They sat in silence for a long, awkward while.

"Sooo...you don’t even know how to put the key into the ignition I’m guessing?"

Isis jumped and fiddled with the keys as she tried to find where the ignition was.

Alejandro let a small smile curve his lips.

You’ve got to be kidding right?

"Wait, right here."

He leaned across Isis, smelling the fear on her breath and letting his arm lightly brush against her thighs.

He clenched is jaws and cursed in his head.

Focus Alejandro, focus.

He slid the key into the ignition and straightened up, back into his chair.

"Right," Isis laughed nervously. "What’s next?"

"First start the car. And then hold the hand brake and push it down to put it in a neutral mode or else the car will jump."

He explained to her, pointing out where everything was.

She nodded and did as she was told.

"Then, hold down the clutch as you put the car in the first gear. The clutch is closest to your left foot. When you’ve put in the gear, lift your foot off of the clutch and place it on the accelerator. That one is closest to your right foot. And I’ll guide your hand with putting in the gears".

Isis bit her bottom lip and tried to follow up on the instructions as best as she could, all while keeping a really focused face that amused him.

"Good girl..this is the first gear," he said, as he placed his hand over hers, guiding her.

She hummed in acknowledgement.

"You’re doing great. What controls the car is the wheel. You gotta listen to the engine so you know whether you should put it into the next gear, based on how long you’ve got your foot on the accelerator. The brakes is in the middle."

She’s really smart. No questions whatsoever. He thought to himself. And the ride is smooth. Impressive.

Within the next 35 minutes, they were outside of Isis’ home.

But she got carried away and passed her house by a few blocks.

"Stop right here Isis! Where are you going?"

She mouthed an ’oops’ and hit the brakes so violently that they were thrusted forward.

She let out a breath and closed her eyes. Then she looked over at him and smiled, broadly.

"I did it! I drove! Thank you so much Alex!"

She leaned over and threw her arms around Alejandro’s neck, hugging him tightly.

He couldn’t help himself.

He gently broke the embrace and cupped her face in his hands, kissing her passionately.

After what seemed like forever, she finally moved her face away from him and gathered her things.

"Can I walk you?" he asked.

She smiled at him, and nodded.

Isis.

Isis had been s**t scared the whole time, sitting up in her seat in the most attentive manner.

The longer she drove, the more relaxed she became.

Wait a minute, this wasn’t so bad.

The only thing that always threw her off a little was the presence of other cars on the road. They were so intimidating but she kept her focus and squinted ahead.

She didn’t have her glasses on and it was 8pm already.

She was going to brave the darkness.

In no time, they were in her neighborhood.

She had accidentally passed her house and found it really funny.

After she had thanked Alejandro excitedly for teaching her how to drive, he had kissed her.

She was getting hot again.

And even though her hair was wet, she felt the heat in her bones, causing her to gently shy away from Alejandro’s kiss, in a nervous sweat.

She frantically gathered her things and attempted to get out of the jeep when Alejandro had asked her if he could walk her home.

As they walked past the palm trees a couple of blocks from her house, hand-in-hand, they spoke about their day and reminisced on what happened when they were caught parading naked on the road.

"You’re really crazy. Them batty man heads were grossed out!"

Alejandro chortled in his baritone voice, sending waves through Isis’ body.

And then he stopped in his tracks as he set his eyes on something that was behind Isis.

God, I hope that’s not my mother.

She slowly turned around and saw a silver-gray Mercedes S600 parked in their driver. That’s not mom’s car. We’ve got a visitor?

And why is Alejandro moved by the sight of this car parked here?

Before she could speak to ask him what was going on, he said, "But this is Sergio’s car."

"Wait, you know him?"

He gently moved her out of his way so he could walk over to the car and examine it better.

"Yes, this is Sergio’s car. He’s the Mayor of this town, and my business colleague too. I’m the one who personally got him this car to show my gratitude towards him for doing business with me."

Wait, what? Now we went around giving away free cars? As well as dresses I guess.

She flushed at her thoughts and stormed towards the house as it dawned on her that her mother’s lover was in their home. Again.

" Isis, wait! "

Alejandro leaped forward in front of her and calmed her down.

"Don’t barge in there like a mad dog okay? This situation needs you to be calm and rational, or else people will start dying." he said, smilingly, causing her to smile too.

She nodded.

"And please call me once I’m home. So I can save your numbers. I gave you my card and you most probably shoved it up your ass."

Isis started laughing.

"Take care of yourself."

He kissed her forehead and left.

She stood on their porch, staring after Alejandro as he disappeared around the corner, back to his car, which was parked blocks away from her house.

She felt sorry for having made him walk all the way there.

She turned around and carefully turned her key into the door’s keyhole, making sure to minimize any noises and creaking of their wooden door.

As soon as she was in, she stood still for a minute so her eyes could adjust to the total darkness, but also so she could hear any noises that were necessary to catch.

She headed for the stairs and stopped at her mother’s room.

She knocked on the door.

After a while, her mother came out looking disoriented and slightly embarrassed, making sure to hold the door close to her face so Isis wouldn’t see whatever or whoever was in the background.

Nigga, really?

Aisha.

Aisha heard a knock on the door.

"I think Isis is home." she whispered to Sergio. "Quickly, under the bed!"

She made her best attempt to appear normal and fixed her hair, put her gown on and went to go and open the door.

Indeed it was Isis.

She held the door close to her face in fear that Isis would see anything incriminating in the background.

She put up her act and in her best voice, tried to sound genuinely concerned.

"Where are you coming from at this time of the hour?"

Isis looked at her boredly and said, "From the same thing you’re doing with Sergio over there."

Isis hovered her finger over her mother’s head, as if pointing to whatever was behind her.

Aisha was dumb-stricken.

She choked on her words. Her fear being as ubiquitous as sunlight on a cracked and open road.

She felt naked, her insides feeling as if there was nothing there, nothing to need feeding, nothing to have need of anything at all.

Her insides contracted, feeling cold.

Her heart exploded into her chest, she had clammy skin and began to hyperventilate as she leaned onto the wall for support.

She tried to find the words to say but Isis had looked her up and down, turned on her heel and left.

She slowly closed the door and turned to see Sergio in front of her, already dressed and ready to leave. "Detected."

Alejandro.

He hadn’t noticed that he had driven on the way to his house, with a smile on his face.

He shook his head violently and slapped himself.

What is happening to me?

He didn’t understand. He had never felt this way before, so he had no means of characterizing his emotions. He didn’t even know what to make of them.

He had always been an unsmiling, unruly, broody, cold and self-centered man.

But ever since he met Isis...No.

This can’t be happening. I am still Alejandro Xylon Dominic. I can’t let it happen.

He hadn’t even given any concrete thought to his s****l appetite that whole day except for admiring Isis’ assets, and he didn’t understand if it was because he started to lose interest in Isis or s*x, altogether.

But how’s this making me want to draw closer to her? In a more, noble manner...

What the f**k Alejandro?

He placed his left hand over his mouth as he steered left, into his street, still pensive.

Alejandro was in denial. He was unaware that he was his own worst enemy and the only thing he had to do was to let go of himself.

His thoughts did not want to dislodge themselves, no matter how many times he shook his head or slapped himself.

He parked his car in his garage, in front of his black Mercedes CLA class.

Which reminded him of Sergio.

He had bought him that silver-gray Mercedes together with the yellow jeep he was in, that very same day.

He had looked at all of his cars and couldn’t find one modest enough to take Isis out with. Just imagine the trouble you willingly put yourself through for a girl.

He violently shook off his thoughts and reverted back to Sergio.

"That old toad messed up my plans. That is why I’m in this mess now. He gave Isis an opportunity to get closer to me, throwing me off completely of my game!"

"f**k-s**t!" he yelled, as he punched the steering wheel.

He’ll have to pay.

For what exactly? Because of your sincere concerns about your devilish missions or because you cared that he was part of the reason why Isis was hurt?

He sat still and listened to his heart beat faster at the thought of Isis.

Isis.

Isis threw her backpack onto her bed and walked into her bathroom, staring at her face in the mirror.

She started to cry, placing both hands in her hair and holding them there.

There’s so much happening in my life right now. God, which way do I go from here?

Her mother was an adulteress and her heart had started to vibrate for someone.

It can’t be love.

She felt overwhelmed, walking over to her shower and opening the water.

She had stripped and walked in, her thoughts trailing off with the hot water, as it pricked her back and camouflaged her tears.

Her thoughts were twisting and turning, suffocating her with their whispers, confusing and angering her, but yet they were her abditory.

She didn’t know what she’d do about her mother, or about Alejandro.

She decided to let her heart lead.

As she got out of the shower to dry herself, Isis made a mental note to gather everything that belonged to her father in hopes of drawing closer to him, even if he was no longer present. She didn’t want to forget him like her mother had done. So she’d thought it perfect to rediscover his legacy and keep his memory fresh in her spirit.

She got dressed in her pyjamas and made her way downstairs, not caring what her mother had decided to do with the statement she had made.

She glanced out of the kitchen window, and noticed that the silver-grey Mercedes was gone.

Pobre idiota.

She walked around in the dark carefully, placing her hands in front of her, for fear of bumping into something, and hurting herself.

She was on her way to her Mami’s room, in desperate need of her grandmother’s cuddles.

Aisha.

Sergio had walked out of her room, almost as if the gravity of their affair had finally dawned on him.

But she knew better.

He felt guilty for the graver mistakes that they had both committed in the past.

She decided not to dwell in her thoughts.

But she felt numb.

Walking into her bathroom, fazed.

Aisha stood there, sunken eyes staring back at her. The makeup was gone from her face, her hair was frizzed, and she was clad in her red lingerie and black gown, wet from the sweat of her hyperventilation, showing off her chubby midriff and too-tight sleeves.

She fell forward, catching herself on the porcelain sink and bowed her head, shoulders shaking. A sense of deja vu swept over her, as the ghosts of her past paraded around her and within her, a sneaky reminder of all the nights she had spent here with Sergio, even when Archimedes was alive.

Archimedes had once caught me with Sergio.. And now his daughter.. That’s why I had to...

She struggled to keep breathing as her entire body seemed to sag with exhaustion and numbed agony.

She stood on the brink of something she couldn’t describe.

The weight of everything seemed to press down on her shoulders and she struggled to take, even a single step forward.

It was too much.

She had heard Isis leave her bedroom and go downstairs.

She thought about all of the years where she hid behind the image of a ’good Christian woman’ to go on pleasing her flesh, unnoticed.

She knew that history would repeat itself, and she could not afford to lose everything she had worked so hard to build.

"I can’t let Archimedes’ brat ruin everything I’ve built. When push comes to shove, Aisha Kasmira is always the last woman standing." she said maliciously, as she gazed at her own reflection in the mirror.

I’ll take care of her later.

Isis.

Isis gently knocked on her Mami’s door and walked in without waiting for a response.

She creeped under her Mami’s covers and snuggled towards her.

"Isis?", her Mami queried, worryingly.

"It’s me," she whispered.

Isis’ Mami took her arm from behind and wrapped it around herself.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Isis removed her arm from around her Mami’s waist and got out of bed to go and switch the light on.

She had tears streaming down her face.

Her Mami reached to her bedside to grab her glasses, and she put them on, sitting up and asking Isis what the matter was.

"Mom is sleeping with another man. This is the third time I’ve caught them. Just now, he was in her room for the second time this week and I saw them together."

Her grandmother looked away, and sat silently.

She looked like she was the one who had been caught cheating.

Isis squinted at her grandmother and walked closer, towards her.

"You had known about it this whole time, hadn’t you?"

Silence.

She put her hands up and scoffed, turning to leave.

"Isis."

She stopped in her tracks, right hand still on the doorknob.

"Your mother is a very, very evil woman. You need to pack as many things as you possibly can and leave this house. Go to Zainab’s or better yet, somewhere she’d never find you. After your father found out about her infidelity, he just disappeared and I just want you to be safe, in case she had anything to do with his death. She’d do anything to keep her reputation in tact. I know she feels threatened by the fact that you’re aware of her dirty secret."

Isis swiftly turned around to face her Mami, evidently shocked.

She opened her mouth to speak but the words would not come out.

Suddenly, her grandmother got out of her bed and walked around to the other side of her room. She opened her cupboard and moved her clothes to the side, revealing a safe.

She punched in some numbers, opened the safe and retreated a wooden box, about the size of a male’s shoe box. A male with really big feet.

Alejandro’s feet perhaps?

"Take this." she said, as she placed the box inbetween Isis’ hands.

"These belonged to your father. He left them for you. It’ll help you with whatever research you’re going to want to do."

She looked at Isis’ dead in the eye and said, "It’s time."

Time? Time for what?