The Cries of the Butterfly - A LOVE STORY (71 page)

“Stop it, Wolf!” Rochelle snapped. “Do not talk about things you don’t understand!”

“Oh yes, I understand now, I understand all too well!” He glared at Grant. “It
is
you behind all this! Art wouldn’t dare to…”

Rochelle took a step forward. “You don’t know a thing, you stupid man, so shut up!” She turned to Grant. “You need to rest now. Let me help you to your room.”

Grant smiled. “I have not become an invalid yet, Roch.” He got to his feet.

But Wolf blocked his way. “You’re not leaving before you promise me you’ll stop this madness. It’s gone far enough. Let’s have some quiet now.”

“
Your
madness has gone far enough!” Rochelle hissed. “Quit now and let Uncle Grant get some rest.”

Wolf joined his palms to Grant. “Things have stretched to the extreme. Let it rest now, sir.”

“We shall discuss this tomorrow, okay? I am not feeling too well right now.” He began to go around Wolf, but Wolf blocked his path again.

“I want a pledge from you first!” Wolf rumbled.

“WOLF!” Rochelle shouted. She seized his upper arm and pulled him.

But he continued to ignore her. “No! First promise me you’ll pull the petition back.”

“It is Art who filed, not me,” Grant said. “I did not know a thing until a short while ago.”

“Lies! All lies! You knew…you knew all too well!” He shook his forefinger. “The whole fuc…world knows how you shamelessly used your powers to keep Savannah and me apart all this time. And you still won’t let go!”

Rochelle pulled him with both hands now. But Wolf was a strong man.

“You stay away!” he shouted at Rochelle. “Haven’t you seen what this man has done to me? Haven’t you seen it first hand?” He turned back to Grant. “You’ve done your utmost to screw my life and you call me your son? Sweet shit, how could I have ever loved you?”

Rochelle seized his collar and spun him around. Then she let go—she slapped him hard across the face. And she slapped him again.

“You despicable bastard! How low can you descend? Do you know who this man
really
is and what all he has done for you? DO YOU?”

“Rochelle!” Grant whizzed in a fierce whisper.

But Rochelle wasn’t to be hushed any longer. “It was
him
all along who was supporting you. It was
him
who sent me to you each day, so you would be looked after. It was
him,
through me, who empowered Maddy so you could covertly visit Robin in the hospital each night. It was
him,
through me, who provided you inside information to help you stall Robin’s adoption by various people. It was
him,
through me, who gave Savannah a handle over Ian Cass. It was
him…
HIM…THIS MAN HERE!

“Not for one second did he ever act against you in all these days! Through me he supported you totally. Where do you think a spineless drip like me got all my strength from? It wasn’t me…it was
this
man who was talking and acting throughout. Remember the night of your suicide attempt, when I took you to Dias Apartments and castigated you? That was not me. In truth, it was this man’s words I was communicating, words that put new life into you. It was
his
strength that was working through me. It was
him
who sent me to rescue you when you were attempting to take your life. He had you followed, in case you got into trouble…and then his men dropped me at the beach that night. If it hadn’t been for him, you would’ve long been a portrait on the living room wall.

“This man it was who though deeply shocked at Savannah’s truth put aside his hurt and decided to support you blindly. Why? Because he loved you so dearly. Every step of the way, every second of the day, this man was quietly helping you. Without his support you wouldn’t have gone anywhere. You know what he told me? He said, “Rochelle, I hand you Wolf. Look after him, he is my most precious jewel.”” She shook Wolf hard. “THIS MAN HERE…THIS!” Her face was glowering.

“You want to know how Uncle Grant prevented Mr. Cass from adopting Robin? Oh, please let me tell you. Once, in their early twenties, these two great friends got drunk in Mr. Cass’s house. In a state of boisterous abandon, Ian Cass shed his pants and showed his best friend the strange markings on his private parts.” Her voice dropped a notch now. “Uncle Grant passed that info to me and I relayed it to that woman of yours. Mr. Cass never went to any whore ever. He was and remains a truly moral man. But that the revelation of a secret he thought only he knew would at least create doubt in the public mind and discolor his impeccable image made him succumb to Savannah’s blackmail. This man here, who hasn’t betrayed a soul in his life, now betrayed his dearest friend. Why? Because he loved you so much and wanted to help you any which way he could. He spent sleepless nights after that, his conscience rioting with itself, but he bore it stoically.” She paused for a quick breath.

“God have mercy, no father can love a child more than this man loves you. Even I’m staggered by the sheer scale of his affection for you. When you were away at my parents’ apartment, this man couldn’t sleep. A man who shut down the moment his head touched the pillow, now couldn’t sleep a wink all night. Because he missed you like hell and worried about you to death. This man here! And this man here, renowned for his self-control and poise in the severest of situations, became almost hysterical when he saw how badly you had hurt yourself that day when you came to the Home with Maddy. He so badly wanted to grab you and take you in his arms. But with an effort that tore him apart he somehow held back and feigned indifference. He wanted to rush over to the police lockup and take you away from there, take you home, but again he someway held back. Oh, how it killed him to check himself. But he didn’t trust himself not to lose it, so he kept away from the police station. Then for days on end he remained silently tortured, hurting deeply at your injuries, unable to do anything about it, feeling so completely limp and useless. This man here, the most powerful man in the nation reduced to this! THIS MAN HERE….THIS, THIS, THIS…!”

Wolf looked at Grant, stunned. The middle-aged man’s face was tired. A big ball of something formed in Wolf’s chest. He grinded his jaws together, but it was no use. Overcome by violent emotion, he threw himself on Grant and held him in a tight clinch, and he began to sob uncontrollably.

.

A
half hour later, with Grant gone to bed, Wolf and Rochelle sat cross-legged on the tiled floor alongside the swimming pool. The waters shimmered in the pale light of the night sky.

“Why didn’t he support me openly?” Wolf was asking. “Why did he have to do it all so clandestinely?”

She shook her head. “No, he couldn’t be open about it. People think that because he holds the highest office of the land and is so popular, he is the most powerful person in the nation. That’s simply not true. It’s only a myth…an illusion. He is not so powerful at all.”

“What do you mean?”

“There is someone who is far more powerful than Uncle Grant. Someone who can have him removed from office in a wink. This man holds the real power in the nation.”

“What! … Who?”

“Art,” Rochelle said simply. “He holds the real power.”

“Art?” His amazement showed on his face.

Rochelle nodded soberly. “Art, yes. He’s the real power in New Halcyon. He’s the real God, the undercover God…much like his tribe elsewhere in the world in all of these renowned democracies,” she said. “It is Art’s money that funds all of Uncle Grant’s expenses, from the gubernatorial campaign, to his daily bread, especially as he won’t accept a salary as President.”

“Come on now!” Wolf was genuinely amused.

“It’s true, Wolf. Uncle Grant does not have anything. In the same way that the house was bequeathed to Art by Uncle Eric upon his death, so was the company. Art owns hundred percent of Butcher Organization.”

Wolf gaped at her.

“Of course, Uncle Eric dearly loved his younger brother. He didn’t want Uncle Grant to be bothered with such mundane matters like money and property, instead wanted him to concentrate undistracted on the social work that he cherished so much. Uncle Eric would take care of all his material needs. And he did—Uncle Grant lacked for nothing.

“So while bequeathing everything to Art, Uncle Eric also expected him to keep caring for Uncle Grant and the others. Which Art has done so far.” She sucked in a quick breath. “But Art is also a strongly opinionated man, who revels in the power that money brings him. He has strong views on how life should be run, and has intense likes and dislikes, loves and hates. And he doesn’t brook people disagreeing with him, far less challenging him. He ruthlessly uses his power to force his views and it is not limited to just business. His money funds the various charitable institutions and other important organizations like the Church and Art sees to it that he has a major say in how everything is run. He is very insistent that…”

Wolf was shaking his head.

“I don’t believe it,” he cut in. “Art may have his faults, but he isn’t remotely like the way you’re describing him. I haven’t seen a quieter, more self-effacing person in my life. We had a fight tonight and it ended up in me slapping him, but he barely raised his voice. And now you’re telling me all this? So okay, the two of you weren’t compatible and it fell through, but…”

“You forgot that he hit me the other day?”

To that Wolf had no answer.

“Most people get deceived by his demeanor, Wolf. But underneath lies a hardboiled heart. In that sense, he has taken after Uncle Eric. Don’t get me wrong—somewhere deep down they are good people. Only they don’t take any sort of dissent well, however small. They must rule—if you allow them that, you’ll lack for nothing. Ask me. Art dominated me completely and I virtually became his slave, meekly obeying his every wish. He has the knack of quietly engulfing you.”

“You’ve been anything but meek in the last couple of months, girl,” Wolf smiled.

“Uncle Grant…credit that man,” she pointed out. “That man revived my soul. He gave me the strength that I never thought I possessed. He gave me enough courage to leave Art and think about a fresh life. Until now, it was his voice, his strength, talking and acting through me. But today, this is
me
talking, Wolf. For the first time ever. Thanks to this beautiful man, I’ve finally tapped my inner resources…I’ve finally found myself.”

Wolf rubbed his forehead. What a day this was turning out to be! First, Robin’s emergency, then the news Art was Robin’s father. Now all this.

“So if Dad didn’t fall in line with Art’s wishes he’d kick him out of the house, is that what you’re telling me?” he said. “I won’t believe that.”

“Nothing so dramatic or overt, Wolf. After all, Uncle Grant did gift his half share of the house to Art. But outside of the house, he would slowly and very surely suffocate him. For instance, he would let Uncle Grant know that he can no longer finance his next election…”

“Oh, surely, Dad can find finances from other sources. People love him. They would contribute liberally.”

Rochelle sighed. “Butcher Organization is not just the biggest company in the world, Art is also a key stockholder in most other major companies in the country. More significantly, he is the chief financier for them. Many important people are in his debt. So if he quietly passed the word around, all doors would shut for Uncle Grant. There is another thing: as you know, Uncle Grant is also a trustee of many of the charitable institutions. But if Art didn’t want him, Uncle Grant would no longer be there. Art funds all these charities too.”

“I still don’t believe Art would do any such thing. Not to his own father, not to a man as remarkable as him.”

“Then you don’t know him at all. It was he who was the
real
force behind preventing you from marrying Savannah. Not Ian Cass, far less Uncle Grant. Mr. Cass is Art’s front-man, his puppet. In the same way that I spoke Uncle Grant’s words, Ian Cass spoke Art’s. In truth, it was Art who was calling all the shots all the while.

“For Art, the family name is everything and there is no way he can reconcile to having someone in the clan who was once a…you know. It would be a fatal blow to his image and he can never allow that. If Uncle Grant had supported you openly on Savannah, Art would have destroyed him. Woe befall anyone…
anyone
…who would tarnish Art Butcher’s image in any way.”

“Why did Mr. Cass agree to be Art’s cheerleader? Isn’t he Dad’s best pal?”

“For the same reasons, Wolf. It is basically thanks to Art’s benevolence that Mr. Cass is a trustee of many a premier institution. Moreover, Art had hinted that if Mr. Cass supported him on this issue, Art could consider backing him as the next President of New Halcyon. Mr. Cass has this burning ambition to be God of New Halcyon once, though he wouldn’t say so openly given his close friendship with Uncle Grant.” She twisted her mouth. “Do you know something else? Art’s power and influence extends far beyond New Halcyon. For example, he has a large number of US Congressmen and Senators, both GOP and Democrats, in his pocket, for he secretly funds them. And in return, they clandestinely further his business interests in the USA. There is also word that he covertly funds many important politicians not just in the USA but all across the globe. He isn’t the richest man in the world just for his business acumen. So for such a powerful man, anything is possible, Wolf. Uncle Grant is but small fry in comparison.”