Behind the Lens (Behind the Lives) (53 page)

Corey
felt a sudden breath of hope. “Is she alright, I mean, does she have brain
damage or anything like that?”

“It
depends on what you consider damage. She’s even stronger in the body than she
was before, but...” Kara breathed out, “...her mind isn’t right. She claims to
see things, tells me that she’s God’s soldier, that she talks to him and sees
his angels. She was always religious, but not to the point of lunacy. The
doctor claims the bullet damaged her brain, causing her to have these
‘visions’. Prior to yesterday she was in a mental institution, still should be,
but she escaped.”

Corey
covered his mouth, muffling a sob.

“Kara!”
Beth yelled. “You didn’t hafta tell him that!”

Kara
glared at her. “My
sistra
is alive, which means that Sledge might
survive too. One step at a time, one gift of hope, that’s all I can offer
Corey. I’ve seen many different outcomes in the hospital where Marina
recovered. Some patients had to learn to walk again, others had trouble with
their speech, while some became empty shells, and a couple went crazy like my
sistra
.
However, I did see a few who weren’t so damaged, and if Sledge is one of those
lucky ones, all he’ll retain is a scar and the trauma of being shot, which
could mean he jumps every time a car backfires or cries out in his sleep,
reliving the attack. Deal with it, like I dealt with Marina’s recovery, because
if you don’t you’ll lose him regardless of whether he’s dead or alive.”

“How
dare you?” Beth snapped. “My brother needs support and kind words, not cruel
ones telling him to deal with it.”

“What
I say is not cruel, but giving him false hope is.”

“You’re
wrong. Right now all he needs to hear is that Sledge will survive. One step at
a time, not an avalanche of information to confuse and upset him even more, so
keep your opinions to yourself.”

“They’re
not opinions, they’re facts, and if you can’t see that I’m trying to help your
brother, then you’re an apathetic witch who can’t see past your own
selfishness. You’re more in love with yourself than anyone in this room.”
Screwing up her face, Kara pushed to her feet, looking like she wanted to spit
on Beth. “I still can’t believe you ran out on Dante when he was lying
unconscious on the floor. He could’ve died! I stayed with him, because I love
him with all my heart and soul, whereas you ran. You didn’t even show up at the
ambulance. He woke up calling out for you, and went into a panic because you
weren’t by his side. And you call what you feel for him
love
? You don’t
know what love is, you narcissistic witch!”

Beth
reared up; her whole body taut, readying itself for an attack. “My brother wuz
screaming! So don’t you dare judge me!”

“I
don’t judge, I see the truth, and what it tells me is that you don’t truly love
my man, otherwise you’d be sitting by his side right now instead of arguing
with me.”

“Dante’s
not your man, and I wuz comforting my brother!”

“All
you’re doing is yelling at me, and it doesn’t change the fact that you’re still
over there while I’m here next to Dante.”

“I’m
in the same room!”

Kara
shook her head, distaste colouring her features. “You might as well be a
thousand miles away, because your divided attention speaks for itself.”

“I
don’t have to constantly hold Dante’s hand to show how much I love him.”

“And
that attitude is why I’ll win him back and you’ll go from one man to another,
not understanding why they leave you.”

“You
left Dante all those years ago. How’s that love? You broke him, I fixed him,
and you’ll see, I’ll marry him and give him everything he wants.”

Kara
snorted out a laugh. “You’re beyond stupid if you think that, especially since
he’s already married.” She yanked down the jersey she’d been given by a nurse,
revealing the top of her tattooed breast. “My tattoo and Dante’s are our wedding
rings.”

“That’s
rubbish, they’re just tattoos.”

“Not
when they were done right after Dante and I took our marriage vows.”

“What?”
Beth gasped.

“You
heard me.” Kara smiled. “Dante and I have been married for almost four years
now.”

“You’re
lying, he would’ve told me.”

“He
forgot because he was drunk at the time, but whether he remembers or not, the
law does, which means he’s legally
my
husband.”

Beth
shook her head. “No.”

“
Da
,
so you’ll
never
win him in the end.”

“You
tricked him!”

“I
did no such thing. Alcohol lowers inhibitions, so he did what he really
wanted.”

“That’s
an outright lie. You damn well know people are reckless when they’re drunk,
Dante the worst offender.”

“People
do reckless things when they’re in love too.”

“He
doesn’t love you anymore.”

“Then
why did he fuck me at the party, unprotected and in front of everyone, choosing
me over a woman who looks like you?”

“What?”

“What,
what, what? Is that all you can say?”

“You’re
lying!”

“Ask
your brother, he saw it all.”

Beth
turned to Corey. “Is this true?”

“He
wuz forced to have sex,” Corey said.

“I
didn’t rape him,” Kara said loudly. “He took me.”

“I
didn’t say you did,” Corey added. “But like you, he didn’t have a choice.”

“No,
he
did
. Sandra was presented to Dante, but he refused her, grabbing me
instead. That is a choice. He loves me, he loves Beth not.”

“He
made love to me the night before!” Beth yelled.

“Wrong
terminology,
draga
.” Kara sneered. “You’re confusing sex with love. What
he did to you was a fuck, what he did with me was love.”

Beth
rushed at Kara. The other woman took Beth head on, slashing out with those long
nails, but Beth didn’t back off. Instead, she punched Kara in the face, making
the woman stagger backwards into the bedside cabinet, then before Corey could
blink, Kara leapt on Beth with a war cry, taking both of them down, the fight
more vicious than any male one he’d witnessed, which said a lot, considering
he’d seen Tama fight.

People
rushed in, the hospital workers parting the women, ripping their vicious grips
from one another, hair being lost and clothes torn in the process. Beth was
dragged out of the room, while Kara was pushed up against the wall by what
looked like an orderly, a large man dressed in white.

“Get
your hands off me!” Kara yelled.

“Only
once you calm down,” the man said, holding her arms behind her back.

“How
can I calm down when that woman attacked me? And now you’re attacking me!”

The
man let go, although his body remained tense, ready to grab her again. “Please
leave of your own accord,” he said, “or the police will be brought in.”

Kara
shook her body out, then walked past the man and sat back down next to Dante,
taking a hold of his hand. “I’m not leaving my husband, and if you want no more
fights make sure his mistress doesn’t return.”

“My
sister didn’t know he wuz married,” Corey said, finally snapping out of his
stunned silence, the fight a total shocker. “And Dante doesn’t even know he’s
married.”

The
orderly shook his head, like they were all whack-jobs, then left the room
mumbling he was going to quit, leaving Corey and Kara alone with Dante.

“You
do know Beth won’t give in?” Corey said to her.

Kara
turned her intense gaze on Corey. “I know, and I intend to fight her all the
way, because I’m
not
letting Dante go a second time. He’s my past,
present and future, whereas Beth will be nothing but his past.”

“You’re
sure of yourself.”

“
Da,
your sister won’t get him back.”

“No,
I meant you’re full of yourself, and Dante has a say in things.”

“He
can be moulded, and I’m not being arrogant, I’m just determined. If you love
someone you fight for them. Simple.”

“You’re
blind if you believe that. Dante can’t be moulded, and Beth’s not the only one
you’ll be sharing him with. He’s addicted to sex. I’ve seen how he acts round
women. You,
and
Beth, won’t be enough for him.”

“Dante’s
a little boy who craves love. Give him that and he won’t leave, and if he needs
sex with other people, I’ll be there with him, making sure he knows who loves
him after he comes inside of someone else. He’ll have the best of both worlds
with me. But Beth’s not a sharer, she’s too selfish for that.”

“She’s
not selfish! And Dante wuz just fucking you at that party, not making love.
You’re a short-term hump, while Beth’s the type of woman that men wanna marry.”

“No,
mali
, Beth’s the type men want to divorce.”

“I’m
not a
mali
, and stop insulting my sister!”

“It’s
not an insult if it’s true.”

“Then
this isn’t an insult: You’re a whore who men only wanna fuck, not marry.”

“You
forget: I
am
married.”

“Okay,
I’ll rephrase it. You’re a whore who has to get men drunk to marry you.”

“Your
childish remark shows you’re too young to understand these things, plus you
don’t understand Dante like I do. If he didn’t love me he would’ve used a
condom at the party. That is something I’m certain of.”

“I’m
not childish!” He lifted his chin up. “I understand love and fucking plenty.”

Kara
smiled. “Has anyone told you how adorable you are when you’re trying to sound
like an adult?”

“I
am
an adult!”

“No,
you’re a sweet, precious little boy who’s just started to experience life.”

“And
you’re a slag who blows dildos when there’s no cock.”

Kara
shook her head. “How can someone insult me like you do, yet I find it sweet? No
wonder Ant wanted you and no wonder you turned Sledge gay. I’m sure many
straight men have questioned their sexuality around you.”

“Don’t
mention that arsehole’s name again!”

“Sorry,
mali,
it just slipped out.”

“And
I didn’t turn Sledge gay, he wuz already inclined that way.”

“I’m
not so sure about that, you’re just an erotic little creature.” Kara cast her
eyes on Dante. “Like he is, just not the little part, but regardless, sexual
preference doesn’t always come into play with people like you and Dante. You
two rouse strong emotions, whether they’re wanted or not.”

“I
do not.”

“Unintentionally,
intentionally, it makes no difference, people see, they want, they take, some
fail, while others succeed.”

“I
haven’t had that many people interested in me.”

“That
you know of, and you forget I was at that party too.”

“I
didn’t forget.”

“No,
I meant that you forgot I saw everything, saw how people looked at you, whether
it was in lust or the urge to cuddle you. You excite people with your looks,
with your sweetness, and you’re also forgetting that two men fought over you,
one even kidnapping you, and don’t tell me off because I didn’t say his name.”

Corey
frowned. “But I don’t understand it; I’m skinny, have cancer, which has left me
hairless, and I’m pale. That’s not attractive.”

“You’re
not pale; you have the same skin colouring as I do.”

“Pale,
like a European.”

“Oh,
so you want to be dark like your
sistra
?”

“Yes.”

“I
don’t see why. Your skin tone is as beautiful as hers, and you being skinny
just makes you look fragile, which coupled with your looks is an attractive
quality, especially for certain men who like to control as well as ones who
have an urge to protect. I have a feeling Sledge is a protector, whereas Satan
is the one who likes to control, to declare his dominance over a smaller
creature.”

“You
talk weird.”

“English
is a second language for me.”

“Not
your accent, the way you put things. That dominance shit over a smaller creature.
That’s just crap. Who speaks like that?”

“Obviously
me, and it’s not
crap
. Often bigger people take smaller ones, because
they can’t fight back. It’s nature. You see it in the wild too, where a lion
takes down a weaker creature.”

“That’s
different, they’re after food.”

“Hunger
and sex: two powerful motives for action.”

“It
still doesn’t make sense someone wanting me sexually. I’m fuckin’ bald. Only
muscular or big guys can pull that off, I just look like I’ve been in a
concentration camp.”

“No
you don’t. I’ve been in a concentration camp and—”

“Bull,
you’re not old enough.”