Family Reunion (88 page)

"I live as I please! To hell with what you and others think! I have no royal image to uphold! When I did all in my power for the pride of him who made us, it was never recognized! It was only, E-sa – that brought forth the song of praise! To hell with what all may think, I care not!"

Lena shook her head in saddened puzzlement. "Why do you despise me so Ashtaphere? Why am I to blame for things that were not my doing? How can you hold me respon-…"

"Why? How? You dare to stand and ask me such questions! When our father spent his praises on one who did nothing to be worthy of his praise! You! A lowly woman who has done nothing but pass through the loins of his precious Aurelia! I am glad the bitch is dead…I hated her too!"

Lena gasped, hurt from his words. "How could you say such a thing about my mother? Did she not love you as her own long before I was even born?" He strode from her, putting distance between them again. "What knowledge has an unborn seed?! You know nothing of what you speak! I wish not to discuss her! She is dead, leave the dead rotting! Had you joined in her in death, I would now be what I deserve to be! As first born, I should have been prince. My mother was the first to give him sons! Yet she was his second, until your mother's death made her his first! Weak frail and nothing! She only bore him a weak useless female, who cannot rule but can only have what is ours passed to another! Me…the first born, saddled with babysitting you! Guarding you, as if you were a priceless jewel of some sort." He stewed in what he felt was unfair. "Hearing praise of you day in and out! Ha!" He eyed her up and down. "Does our father sing your praises now?! Now that you have returned with a white man as your head, as your lord! How could you unite yourself with a white man?" He spat at her feet, Lena jumped back, shocked at his rude act. Her eyes conveyed her thoughts, that he must be truly crazy. Until he'd said that, she could only stare in disbelief, but at his words a retort was forced from her. "You?! How can you ask me that? When it was you, who sold me to them!"

"And oh how you have suffered because of it I see!" He snidely remarked.

"Seems to me that I did you a favor. After all, I am the one
who has suffered for it! My entire life has been a living hell! All because of you! Because of you, this is what I have become. This is what I have been reduced to! You owe me! You owe it to me to make up for the wrong that has been done to me!"

"I owe you!? That is absurd! I owe you nothing! I came here to talk to you, that we may speak in hopes of repairing what lay between us. You are my brother; I have no desire to see us against each other! I want things to be as they should between us Ashtaphere." At her words, his expression changed, becoming thoughtful.

"If what you say is true ... prove it, take me to this land where you come from…this… America, that I too-…"

"No Ashtaphere! I cannot! I will not! America is no place for you now! Life would be more than difficult for you there. I will not be the one taking you to such a place!" She immediately responded.

"You can go there and survive as you did, but I cannot!?" He charged angrily. "You, a small, insignificant woman – if you can survive it for the better, then this is a place I wish to go! Take me there, and all is forgiven."

"Ashtaphere there is nothing I should be forgiven for! I will not take you to America ... more than half of our people are slaves there. Those that are not slaves, struggle with difficulties just to survive. I will not be responsible for adding you to the list."

"This white man, your lord? Does he not have money? If he is married to you, then he can help me! Bring him here that I may talk to him."

"No…I will not! That is my final word on it."

Ashtaphere stood glaring at her as his eyes narrowed. His expression changed and became menacing as his chest rose and fell with deep breaths. If ever there had been doubt of his contempt for her, there was none then as he sneered. "Then get the hell away from me! Go back to your white man! I don't need you! Nor your petty attempt to needle my guilt! I have no guilt! Go! Remove yourself from my sight! You -
disgust
me!"

"My God Ashtaphere! We are flesh and blood! I am your sister, you my brother ...I don't want us-…"

"Lena! That's enough! Come away from him!" Lena flinched, startled as she spun to see Manny, Mike, Joe, Catamon and three of his men standing behind her as her husband walked towards her.

"Yes! Le-na!" Her name was a mocking sneer. "Leave from before me. Your white master has commanded you!" He said, glaring heatedly at Manny as he came up beside Lena.

Ashtaphere eyed him up and down
with such hatred; Manny knew that there was no chance of him showing the least bit of regret. Lena turned pleading eyes up to her husband. "Manny please, I wanted to speak to him alone." She implored softly.

"And you have, long enough. Let us go…now…you don't have to beg anyone for anything! ‘Least of all,
him
."

Ashtaphere hawked and spit in Manny's face.

Lena gasped and turned to her brother. "How dare you spit in my husband’s face!!"

Manny snatched her back with one hand, as he glared at Ashtaphere, Lena passed him her hanky so that he could wipe the spittle from his cheek. Mike was incredulous and stepped up. "You spit in my father's face!?"

Ashtaphere laughed from him and looked back at Manny. "Take your
whore
…and get out of my face…
white man
."

"Mike!"
Lena screamed his name, Manny grabbed him. "He is your uncle…let it go." Manny pushed him back towards the litter.

"Mike, Manny please…let's just go." Lena begged, now ready.

Catamon walked up and stood between them and Ashtaphere. "Esa, to the litter, go." He eyed his brother down. Manny took a deep breath, turned and helped his wife back to the litter, shaking with anger, but he would not retaliate, nor would he let his son. Mike walked to the other side to calm down.

"What are
you
gonna do? Little brother?!" Ashtaphere sneered.

"You, are the shame of us all." Catamon returned, backing away he turned, as if daring Ashtaphere to try him.

"I cannot believe it." Lena whispered from within the litter.

"Dismiss him from your mind. He wants all in life given to him. Your lord is right, you owe him nothing!" Catamon assured her as he, Manny, his sons and men prepared to depart.

Ashtaphere took extreme offense against his brother's statement; he began yelling at him as they made their way from him. "Catamon! Who in the hell are you?! To say such a thing before me! You are no better than I!"

They ignored him as they walked away. "Catamon! Who do you think you are!? I am more your brother than she your sister! Even you came below me! Catamon even you are below me!" They walked on, refusing to rise to his words. He began yelling even louder. "Do you hear what I say!? I – me – Ashtaphere Maeldo, Should have been prince!! All should rightfully come to me!! It was my right!! She took that away from me!! Hear what I say!! She took that away from me!! Do you hear me Ceś alena Huebana! This is all your fault!! You ruined my life!!" He continued to yell.

Moving to the center of the path, bellowing like a mad man for all to hear through the village with his fist raised to heavens, turning this way and that. "You ruined my life – you hear meee!!" Many witnessing him backed away in fear, viewing him as someone demonically insane voicing insanities.

Lena had doubled over in the litter, her hands covering her ears as his voice followed them, trying to block him out.

"Ceś alena!" Catamon called her name brusquely. "Wipe him from your mind! He is no more! He is more than dead!"

Lena sat humiliated that her husband, be subjected to him. Spat on by him. That her son and Joe should see him that way. She wiped at her eyes, accepting it, accepting that he must no longer be. She sat back in her litter and inhaled several calming breaths as they made their way through the village, finally out of hearing distance of his bellowing. Coming towards the end of the village, with Mike and Manny up ahead of the litter and Joe on one side, Catamon on the other, they all stopped because Manny had frozen before the litter.

Looking to see why, they all witnessed Rory standing in the doorway of a hut with his shirt off under one arm, his shoes in one hand, the other hand holding his pants front as he fumbled with their closing. He was trying to disengage himself from the clutches of a young woman looking to be somewhere in her twenties. She was holding him as she gave him the last of a night’s pleasure with a lingering goodbye kiss.

Lena, who was struggling to shake off her encounter with Ashtaphere, sat up staring through the mosquito net to see her son in such a way. The young woman who held him finally broke the kiss; she smiled up at him as she asked. "Yah'come agin Ro-ry, I'ah wait fo'you. Dis please yah'fo Amina t'be here fo'you?" Rory smiled at the dark beauty with a nod of his head, flexing his brows mannishly, unaware of the audience behind him. "Oh yes, Amina pleases me well. I'll be back tonight, you wait for me okay?!"

She nodded. As he turned to sprint off for the palace he stopped cold in his tracks to see the amused face of his brother, the stern face of his father and almost choked on his own saliva as he sucked in to see his mother staring at him agape from the litter.

"Um-…?" He started, quickly jumping to one foot, snatching his shoe on, then the other, as he rapidly searched his mind for an excuse, grabbing his shirt from under his arm he pulled it down over his head, stuffing his arms into the sleeves.

"You started to say something? I think you left off at…Um?" Mike taunted in humor. Rory fixed a momentary scowl on his brother who thought this situation obviously funny.

"Rory! What were you doing
in that woman's hut!?" Lena asked shocked, knowing even without asking.

"Um...um...I was sightseeing the Island. I got lost, she was showing me the way back... you know, to the palace ... bu-u-ut, it was so late, I was lost so long, tha-a-at…? … I was - overcome with exhaustion! I couldn't make it back, so-o-o she brought me here... you know, to rest, and now that I have, I can go back to the palace - I'll just, go with you all." He smiled nervously.

Mike couldn’t hold it back if he tried, he roared with laughter from such an obvious bold faced lie, he couldn't wait to get him alone.

Manny stood glaring at him with one brow lifted, "Em hm, well, let's go, and since you seem inclined to getting lost, perhaps it is best you stay within the palace. After all, we wouldn't want that to happen again would we?"

"Yeah, we wouldn't want you to get lost again,
lil'
brother." Mike simpered.

"Manny, I do believe it's time you had a talk with your son... lost indeed!" Lena announced disapprovingly. Rory turned red and grinned up at her. "Really, I got lost." And Mike added, "And undressed. And-…"

"Mike!" Manny called his name, cautioning him.

Mike grinned winking at Rory as he fell in beside his father. They continued on their way to the palace when Manny mumbled to him from the side of his mouth as they walked ahead out of Lena's hearing. "When we leave this island, I would like to leave knowing that we've not left behind any little ... red head Rory's."

"Red head Rory's?!" Rory repeated the statement in surprised confusion. "Yeah, that is how they come about you know. I would advise you to have a care where you leave your seed, seeing this willingness you have about sharing it." Manny gave him a stern look behind the warning. Suddenly his expression changed as he felt Morris again slipping into him.

Manny and Lena lay in each other's arms early on the morning they were to leave. Hope, Joe, Rory and Sandra had already sailed for America four months before, with the date for Sandra’s trial approaching, Joe needed time to meet with Charles Wilson and prepare for the case. Francis and Leon enjoyed their stay there as well, having eventually come upon the Island for the visit, two months earlier, they too left with Mike and his family. It was then time to leave. Manny and Lena had enjoyed the luxury and leisure of the Island, having taken long walks along the beach hand in hand, settling into married life as they hoped and prayed it would always be.

It was the best honeymoon Lena could have hoped for, one
neither of them would ever forget. As for Manny, true to Lena’s words, he'd grown restless and was ready to move on. He wanted to take her places, just the two of them and crew aboard the Princess.

He wanted her to see the many ports he'd visited on his travels, which prompted the question he eagerly placed before her. "Where love, where shall we venture next?" He asked, coming up on one elbow to lean over her with his head resting on his knuckles, his other hand on her stomach. "There is of course all of Europe, France, Paris, Italy, Rome and Venice, oh Lena, how you would love Venice. Come to think of it, perhaps Spain. The list goes on - you only need to tell me where is to be our first stop." He finished, feeling elated, refreshed and eager for travel.

Lena reached up and caressed his cheek, she was hesitant to answer. Manny took her hand and pressed her palm to his lips, kissing it. "Come now, what will it be? Have I given you too many choices?"

Lena shook her head; she knew where she wanted to go but was reluctant to say, observing his wanderlust raging strong in his veins. Manny, after having known and loved her for as long as he had, saw the reluctance to being honest, in her eyes. With a smile he went down and kissed her lips, then rose, "Tell me what you want Lena. Not what you think I want to hear." He coaxed gently.