Unhinged Love

Chapter Three

Hellen, the youngest daughter of Haran, was a beauty to behold. She had coils of leaf-brown hair with raptured blue eyes. However, she had darker skin than her elder sister Charity, even though their resemblance could be mistaken for twins.

The two always walked together; they were in the same class despite their age difference. They completed each other from childhood and rarely had friends apart from themselves.

Evenings were ordinarily chilly. Charity preferred to visit the river and watch fish swimming. That was the ultimate satisfaction she needed. She would wear a denim jumper, ideally fitting her slim body. If anything was troubling her, that was the place to find her. She was attracted and fascinated by the river. Her breasts grew with pleasure, rose, and sold with a sigh.

It was an acute ecstasy feeling, exhilaration, a sensation, almost like pain in her skin. It only came to her as she watched the snaky movement of the river and heard the river's throbbing.

Hellen, on the other hand, did not like streams. She wanted to play with the horses. She was a hardworking girl. Hellen would join workers in collecting food for the animals. The first time she went into the water, she was pushed by her elder sister. She was mad that she refused to talk to her for a week.

Later on, things changed. Hellen would accompany her sister to the river, but only sometimes.

One evening, after watching the fish for about an hour, Hellen stayed behind abnormally. Charity was the first to start leaving.

She was always meditative. That day, she looked at her younger sister and entered her world. She knew something was troubling her. Hellen was never chatty and would hardly share her thoughts with Charity. It was hard getting a piece of information from her.

Earlier in the morning, she had tried to ask her what was troubling her. She had been a little off for the past weeks. What could be the matter with the young girl? What was gnawing her spirit? Charity wondered as she stared at her.

Hellen got off her position and rushed towards Charity as if she had just remembered something. Her elder sister watched her patiently.

"Can I tell you something?" Hellen opened up.

"Anything."

"Promise me you will tell nobody."

"Tell me what it is, and then I will decide," Charity replied, chuckling to relax her sister. But the sister was in no mood to laugh. She gave Charity a look that made her comprehend things were worse than she thought.

"I think I'm in love with Oliver." Charity could not believe her ears. Oliver was like their brother. When his parents died, he was barely two years old. They lived with him from then until recently.

Their mother did not like Oliver because he was reviled. She thought the young boy had come accompanied by his curses. Moreover, he started doing well at school, better than her daughters.

When they were young, they played several games. The most common was 'playing house.' Oliver would be the father, Charity the mother, and Hellen the child. They all enjoyed the game until one day, Oliver and Charity kissed. After that, they rarely played it because they started becoming emotional.

"But he is our brother. You know Dad and Mom will not consent to it. Especially Mom. You are aware she sent him away, arguing he is cursed." She emotively counseled her sister to back down.

"I know." Someone other than Hellen was the one to take a U-turn. Once she set her mind on something, convincing her otherwise was the hardest of tasks. Perhaps she got this from her mother.

Charity looked at her sister with empathy. The least she wanted to be was to be an unsupportive sister.

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. Well - " Hellen paused as if carefully choosing what to say next.

"Is Oliver aware?"

"No."

"Why don't you tell him and see what he thinks?"

"I will do that." That was a good idea. First things first, she was going to find Oliver and talk things out with him. Charity clasped her arms. The two remained locked in each other's arms like babies. The hug felt warmer that day as they whispered words of affirmation to each other. Charity felt closer to her sister than she had managed in recent weeks.

The following day was a Saturday. Hellen woke up quite earlier than usual to find her boyfriend. She wore a short-body corn dress and oversized tops with spandex leggings. Hellen braved the cold, even though it bit her skin.

Oliver no longer lived with them. Hellen's mother despised Oliver very much. He lost count of how many times the mother tried sending him away. She would deny him food when her husband was not around or send him to eat and sleep with workers.

One day, Oliver came back from school quite earlier than the rest. He was feeling nauseous and had a light headache. When the mother saw him coming, she rushed and asked disdainfully.

"Even school?"

"I'm sick."

"That's only a pretense." She did not believe him and quickly added, "Go tell that to the bed you left unspread." That day, Oliver woke up quite late, forgetting to spread his bed. As he went in to take care of the bed, the mother smacked him from behind.

He stumbled on his way but quickly regained stability. They argued for a few minutes, and the mother had had enough. She went for Oliver's clothes and threw them outside, yelling, "Go die."

He had no specific place, but he also had enough. He wasn't to come back again. Even if Haran came for him as he would normally do whenever he was sent away, he was not to give in that time.