Niko’s Eye

Chapter 29.

"Got You."

Alejandro.

Alejandro sat in his office as he stared out the window, unsure of what step to take next.

Firstly, get a secretary who’s a man.

He made a few calls and the first deed was done.

He opened his journal and made a note.

Then he remembered the drama.

Isis. Her mother. Having to confess his crimes to her. And turning himself in.

Everything in that order.

God, give me the strength.

He made a mental note to get home and sit Isis down.

He also thought of the woman who kept tugging at Isis’ clothes, at church. Her face was really familiar.

And church.

He couldn’t believe that he was a newly baptised brethren who now had zero tolerance for things that would harm his soul.

Isis seemed to have started remembering a few things. And that unsettled him a little bit, but the old Alejandro would have probably began plotting her death.

Not this one.

He smiled at his thoughts.

The mirror was now kinder to him. Every time he stood in front of it, what he saw was pleasant and soft.

He thought of the man he used to be.

Every time something frustrated him, he sinned to relieve the tension either by s****l immorality or something that God forbids. The Bible he had been given had taught him a lot of new words, a whole new world.

He learnt that, as a human being, there is always an opportunity to take frustrations out on someone or something else. Or refuse to.

It was as if the devil tempted, yet God was asking for him to be strong enough to "hold that ball" without passing it to another. He was asking Alejandro to help in stopping the pain and the hurt.

In any given moment, there is a choice for kindness or coldness. Alejandro could either build his angel self or his beast self. He was determined to choose with wisdom, to choose with heart.

The natural beast is always an ally of the light, natural animals are that way. Yet in our world of myth the cold blooded animal, the beast, has become the symbol of the worst a human can become. And so, when we apply this word to humankind, it says that they lack empathy, that their brain is underdeveloped in certain essential capacities. One can learn to love. One can grow capacity for empathy. One can change into an ally of the light. All you need to do is put in the work, make kinder choices in each moment - and the living moment is all you ever have. Beasts can take any form, yet they chose to become so with choices for coldness and callous deeds. As such the deed to their soul is mortgaged to the evil force. They become the leasehold property of Satan, never owned outright, but those leases can be a very long time.

As he thought of the reverend’s wise words, he also thought of his blessings.

When you acknowledge your blessings it sets hope free within you, and that my friend ignites passions and creative solutions, ideas that can make our world a better and sweeter place.

I can’t say that I am perfect now, but I became kinder. A lot of people around me are much happier; every relationship got better, and healthier. We love more, laugh more.

It was a road to redemption - one act of self control at a time, replacing the bad, with the good, by walking each simple step on God’s road, upon a love so pure.

Redemption is the light that finds you after the despair of guilt.

When remorse wrecks you and you would do anything to make amends, that’s when He finds you and tells you it’s alright. God tells you that you can be more, you can be better, you can walk in His ways. You learn a little bit at a time to live with more love and less judgement. You learn to accept that you’ll never be perfect and you’re only a small cog in the machine that is the world, yet He loves you and your part is important. He takes your sin away, leaving you clean and whole again.

Alejandro had found grace.

Isis.

Isis sat in the same place that she would sit in every single day ever since she got out of the hospital, - in the rocking chair, beside the window, in her bedroom.

Her lack of memories were beginning to frustrate her. She wasn’t getting accustomed to a blank canvas in her mind.

The world was too colorful for that, she thought.

I’m sure that my life was colourful too. Or maybe it wasn’t. Where are my parents? Grandparent? Kids, if I have any? Friends? Family? My life? Why isn’t anyone visiting me? Apart from this Greek god looking Australopithecus Africanus.

She felt hot tears threatening her placid facial expression.

The amnesia Isis had, was not cute or romantic, like in the movies.

Everyone that was in her life, was just a brief slide of the same scenes, scenes she knew nothing about, because they were new. She needed old scenes. Scenes that would help her make sense of the new ones.

She got up and took down all of the suitcases that Alejandro had said contained all of her belongings.

Maybe she could find some photographs, a birth certificate, an ID, or a diary.

She found a box, about the size of a shoe box.

Just as she was about to open it, there was a knock on her door. Startling her, and causing her to drop the box to her feet.

She cleared her throat.

"Coming!"

Hurringly making her way to her bedroom door, she opened it, to find Alejandro on the other side.

"Isis, we need to talk."

Sergio.

After what seemed like an eternity of champagne and confessions, Sergio excused himself and headed to the bathroom.

As he closed the door and locked it, he took off his velour sweatshirt and removed the wiring that was attached to his chest.

Gotcha, Aisha.

He gently folded it up neatly and pressed a button on the sides of the wristband that he was wearing.

It flicked open and exposed a small storage for delicate things, such as the wires that Sergio was carefully placing into it.

He pushed the little flap back down and secured the wristband into place.

Looking into the mirror of the bathroom, he smirked and turned around to push down the lever on top of the toilet seat.

You can’t use the toilet and not flush, right?

Grabbing his sweatshirt, he made his way out of the bathroom.

As he lifted his gaze, he found Aisha, fast asleep.

Thank you Jesus for champagne.

Just in case she was pretending, he cleared his throat and said, "Babe, really? I went to go and get ready for you and you fall asleep on me? That’s not fair. Anyways, I’ll call you in the morning. Sleep tight."

He contemplated kissing her forehead and ended up doing it anyways.

With Aisha, you never know. This harridan got all sorts of tricks under her sleeves. Can’t have her finding out anything in her pretense.

He grabbed some chocolate-covered strawberries and popped them in his mouth as he put his sweatshirt back on.

"Bye, love."

Hussy.

Alejandro.

"Yes. I was a murderer, a liar, a franion, a womanizer, a cad, a brutal, dishonest and libertine man. But that was before I met you. And God."

Alejandro looked at Isis as she stared at him, with a blank expression on her face.

He didn’t know what that meant but he had to carry on, regardless.

"In the prime of my career, I got involved with a mining contract that put me in a very compromising position. And this is where you come in. Because of my brute nature and greed, I failed to read the contents of the contract and follow it up to the tee. It saw me forfeiting the lives of many innocent people, including...your father. I was really young and stupid, and I didn’t..."

He saw Isis slowly standing up from her chair.

Eyes still fixed on his.

"Isis.."

He swallowed hard as he awaited the worst.

He closed his eyes.

Suddenly, he felt her touch on his shoulders.

"It’s okay. You’re only human. You’re redeemed now. So, who am I to judge you or to refuse to pardon you, for harming other people and possibly ending my father’s life because of your prudish mistakes. By the way, did you know my father?"

His eyes flung open and he let out the breath he had been holding.

Her touch was infectious.

I cannot go back to a life of sin. I can’t commit s****l immorality.

He cleared his throat, which also cleared his thoughts.

"Uhm, no. I never knew any of the people that died that day. But, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about me. And, I’ve been thinking about turning myself in to the authorities for all of the atrocities I’ve committed."

All I’ve ever done is ’make people pay’. Now, it’s time for me to pay.