/
The uproar was pitched through the open windows and made its way into Kyle’s ears beyond his tightly sealed bedroom door.
“Hey, Mrs Etman! Come out now! Right now!”
Kyle slowly raised his tired body. The man’s thunderous yelling and whale-like voice was not a stranger to his ears.
“…Uncle Bill?”
Kyle sprang out of his bed in surprise. He hastily walked to the window and witnessed a quarrel between Bill Remmer and a housekeeper at the front door.
“What kind of commotion is this?” Mrs. Etman appeared with a haughty yell.
“Mrs. Etman, are you the damned thief? Is this an act that can be committed by someone who has been revered as a noble? No matter how much you hate Leyla, how could you do this?!”
Kyle, who was rushing towards them to break up the brawl, suddenly stopped like a dead person in his tracks.
Thief?
Why did Uncle Bill mention the thief?
To my mother?
Kyle stood frozen in a conundrum as Bill spewed forth an implausible gruesome story in a fit of anger. His body suddenly became like a stiff board as he listened to those unbelievable utterances.
“No-Nonsense… How could he accuse my mother of such a heinous crime…”
Mumbling blankly, Kyle lurched out of the room. He made his way down the stairwell in stumbling steps.
He couldn’t take Uncle Bill’s persecution towards his mother, no matter how angry he was about the theft incident.
“Did Leyla say that?”
Mrs. Etman asked sharply after Bill stopped screaming.
“Good grief, how could she slander me like that…..”
“Does Leyla look like a child capable of telling such things?”
Bill shouted out in tears when Kyle was about to step out to the front door.
“If Leyla told me, my heart would not have been ripped asunder like this!”
“If you want to create a scene by uttering nonsense, go back now! Before I call the police!”
“Do you dare to call the police?! Do you think you can bring the police when the postman saw your cousin being taken to the police station?”
“… Wh-what?”
Mrs. Etman staggered. She took a step back.
‘Please, mother.’
Kyle prayed as he looked at his mother’s back.
‘Please say no, you’re not the culprit, say that it was just a slander’.
Mrs. Etman kept mum, but her breathing was labored. Due to fear, her grip on the railing started to tremble.
Kyle waddled towards his mother.
“Mother.”
Mrs. Etman was stupefied. Only after hearing his pained voice, she noticed her son’s presence standing behind her.
“That was not true, right?” Kyle grabbed her arm. “It was just a misunderstanding, right? Tell me. ?”
Kyle tried to laugh but failed. It was painfully obvious that this moment was real, yet a dense fog seemed to shroud his head.
For him, the last couple of days were hellish. He visited, coaxed, and begged many times, but Leyla refused to change her mind. In his profound sadness, time was slipping away.
Kyle had nonetheless pinned his vague hopes. His father, who went to Ratz, had already paid Leyla’s portion of the tuition. He believed everything would be fine as long as he could persuade Leyla and assure her. So he planned to visit Leyla this evening and cajole her once again;
‘If marriage was too much of a burden, then how about an engagement? Let’s go to college together while we’re engaged.’
Engaged…That was enough for him.
As time passed by, he believed that Leyla’s feelings would grow into that of a lover. Thus, they would live happily ever after.
But now….
“Mother!”
Kyle gasped as his voice was stymied by tears.
Mrs. Etman froze and gazed down at the railing. Her face was pale and her lips were zipped tightly.
That moment, Dr. Etman arrived at the scene. He got out of the car alongside two police officers. Mrs. Etman’s legs buckled when she saw them and collapsed on the floor.
Dr. Etman begged the police to allow him to approach his wife alone. Strained expressions were plastered on his face.
“I’m really sorry, Mr. Remmer.” He went towards Bill Remmer first and took off his hat. “Even if I had ten mouths, I have nothing to say. I’m sorry.”
Kyle’s eyes welled up with despair as he watched his father apologizing repeatedly.
“As you can see, the situation is dire now, and it seems difficult to have a proper talk. Can I meet you and apologize again after things have calmed down?”
“… Let’s do that.”
Bill Remmer furiously wiped his tears and nodded his head. As he stepped back, the officers came forward.
“Why did you do that, dear?” Dr. Etman’s gaze fell coldly on her crouched wife.
“No. It’s not what you think…..”
“Daniel is at the police station. He confessed everything. You bribed him.”
As soon as that name escaped from her husband’s lips, Mrs. Etman’s lips clamped shut. She had nothing to say to defend herself.
“So don’t try to lie to me, Linda.”
“Dear!”
“Are you going to pretend that you accept Leyla and do things like that in the future? You are not just my wife, but also Kyle’s mother!”
Dr. Etman eventually lost his temper. An uncontrollable surge of fury he couldn’t suppress anymore distorted his face.
“It’s all your fault!”
Mrs. Etman lashed out irately as she cried.
“Why? Why the hell did you allow Leyla to wreak destruction on my life?!”
“What kind of rubbish are you spewing now that you’ve committed such a crime?”
“No. It was all your fault! As I had already said, I disliked her from the beginning! I would not have come this far if you had just listened to me back then! If it was not for you, I, I…….”
A loud sob escaped her mouth, and the hands covering her face soon became doused with tears.
With a sigh, Dr. Etman roused his sobbing wife. The officers showed their respect for the notable doctor by letting him bring his wife inside the car.
Kyle stood motionless, watching the nightmarish scene with his eyes wide open.
Before long, a thick layer of dusk began to cloak the blue yonder, and he had not yet awoken from that hellish dream.
Kyle shut his eyes in the dazzling dusk of the twilight.
He wished the entire world would be buried in a blanket of darkness.
It was his only hope at the moment.
*.·:·.✧.·:·.*
“Uncle, please don’t cry.”
Leyla gently placed her handkerchief on the table. Bill, who had been staring at his beer glass sternly as if it was his enemy, lifted his head in bewilderment.
“Crying?! Who is crying?”
Although he vehemently denied it, Bill wiped the wet corners of his eyes with Leyla’s handkerchief.
His untouched food had cooled on the plate, but no one was urging him to have the meal. Both Bill and Leyla were mindful; they couldn’t eat.
While Bill gulped and emptied his glass, Leyla leaned her gaze at the table’s edge. Her face looked drained.
Leyla was unaware of what had occurred until she heard the words of comfort from Arvis’ employees, who came to the cottage. Mrs. Etman was unlikely to divulge the incident on her own, and she also kept her mouth sealed. Nevertheless, everything about that day was eventually disclosed.
Leyla had no clue who had informed the police about their private talks. That day, the old tea shop on the outskirts of town had no other visitor except for her, Mrs. Etman, and a stranger.
‘Who leaked the rumors then? Who the hell is he?’
Leyla could not even make a hazy guesstimate, no matter how hard she thought about it.
Whatever the case, one thing’s for sure; she had inflicted an irreversible wound on Kyle. She had broken his heart which she wanted to protect. Mrs. Etman was taken to the police station by several officers accompanied by Dr. Etman. And Kyle was there witnessing it all.
“Leyla, don’t cry.” Bill put down his glass and handed a handkerchief to her.
“Crying, who’s crying?”
As Bill did a while ago, Leyla stubbornly denied and wiped the corners of her reddened eyes.
“Sorry. I don’t know about the world out there, but I encouraged and pushed you till you suffered painful things like this.”
“If you say that, Uncle, you’re going to make me upset.”
“Marriage is… Yes. I’d rather not let you marry. Right, it’s better like this.”
Leyla stayed quiet, but she nodded her head deeply. Her lips glistened faintly as she smiled, dampened by her tears.
“But, I want you to attend College, Leyla. Dr. Etman had already paid for your tuition, and returning the money to them is the same as me paying for your tuition. College has nothing to do with Kyle.”
“No.”
“If you need something like a house or boarding house, I’ll give you more money. My finances might be a bit tight, but don’t worry, I’ll work harder to cover all of your living costs……”
“Uncle, I will go to college, ” said Leyla. “I am not giving up. But, not now.”
She reached out and held Bill’s hand. “I’m going to be a teacher.” she added. “I’m going to save money and retake the exam once I’m able to afford to study in the Capital. That was my original goal and dream. It was just that the shortcut blinded me for a while, but now I’m back on my track.”
“But you can’t just give up after what you’ve been through. You have already been accepted into College.”
“Don’t you believe me?” Leyla smiled peacefully, “Even if I take the exam again, I believe I will still pass it. At that time, I will be accepted with a higher grade to qualify for the scholarship. You will see.”
“Leyla, my dear….”
“Uncle, didn’t you tell me? I’ll become a good adult. So please trust me one more time.”
‘This good child, what should I do with her?’
Bill opined that it would have been better if she had cried, rather Leyla laughed merrily. She seemed to have no idea that her smile had ripped a hole in Bill Remmer’s heart.
‘And Kyle, what should I do with you?’
Bill’s shoulders began to shake as he couldn’t control his overwhelming mixed feelings. He hurriedly dropped his head, not wanting to show his pitiful state. His thick, hot tears streamed down his face and dropped over the table.
“It’s okay, Uncle.”
Leyla rose from her chair and approached him.
“I’m really fine.” She hugged him with her petite arms. “Really. I don’t want to punish Mrs. Etman. It’s fine now that we’ve got our money back.” Leyla comforted him with a gentle voice and patted him on the back.
‘What should I do with you?’
Tears threatened to spill from his eyes as his hard-strangled words seared from his throat.
Bill nodded as he wiped away the tears.
He judged what she did to be unpardonable. Bill, however, felt uneasy the whole time after he saw Mrs. Etman collapsing in front of him and Kyle looking so pale. Linda Etman was Kyle’s mother, regardless of how wicked she was. To Leyla, she was like a second mother, as she was the mother of Leyla’s precious Kyle.
“Let’s do that. If that’s how you feel, then I’m fine, Leyla.”