Chapter 4

Lisa

___

He was drowning 

     

Now, promises are made to be either broken or kept. It was my time to keep mine by jumping in the pool and save him. Deep down my heart, knowing he was the only person I had, who cared for me and whom I cared for, and he was my everything.

     

"Help!" He begged for help, looking defeated since he was drowning. But I was there for him.

     

"I'm coming," I assured him as I jumped into the pool and begun to swim towards him. He was seven years old, very young, but determined to learn how to swim. "I got you." I held him on his waist then swam back out of the pool.

     

"Breath, please, Breath!" I laid him on the ground then began to give him compressions in case he had swallowed some water. "Come on!"

     

It startled me when I saw he wasn't moving. I realized things were not okay, and I needed help, "Mum!" I yelled, facing back in the house. "Mum help, please... Come on, Joe, breath!"

     

My eyes were wetting, staring at my brother, nearly dying because of me. I leaned to his chest, and his heart was beating, barely. I turned around and saw dad running towards us with mum behind him.

     

"Help, please!" I cried, looking at dad as he knelt beside him then started to pump his chest.

     

"What have you done!" He yelled at me as he continued to help my brother.

     

"What happened?" Mum asked on her arrival. "My son!" She cried, also kneeling. I was already crying, and seeing how serious it was, I just stood then decided to walk away.

      

"What were you thinking!" Dad shouted at me again when he saw Joe wasn't waking up. Then I remembered seeing in a movie what one had to do. I ran back and started to breathe into his mouth as I pinched his nose. After three tries, he inhaled deeply jerking up then spat some water. He started breathing too fast, then opened his eyes. I grabbed him, hugging him tightly, but dad pushed me aside then picked him up.

"Are you okay, son?" He asked, patting his hair.

     

"Yeah. What happened?" He asked, looking at me with a smile on his lips as if nothing just happened. "Are you crying?" He asked me, but I shook my head.

     

"The next time you think of swimming, don't dare involve my son in it!" Dad vociferated.

     

"Calm down; they were just having fun." Mum tried to defend me, but dad turned to her.

     

"Fun? Not with him!" He yelled then started walking back inside. I turned to him as he disappeared then saw my older brother walking towards the pool.

     

"You always put Joe in trouble! He is seven, you fool!" He yelled at me, making me back away, afraid he would slap me.

   

"Leave your sister alone, Mike!"

     

'MIKE!'

    

I jolted up, pushing my blankets off me. There was a loud sound of some music playing in the room, which wasn't giving me time to think of what was happening. I looked around first to familiarize myself with the area, trying to understand why 'Break up with your boyfriend' was all I was hearing.

    

Rubbing my eyes, I lifted my pillow, and a phone was under it, playing Ariana Grande's song. Then I remember it was my ringing tone. Someone was calling me.

    

I grabbed it quickly before it went off then answered with a yawn escaping through my lips. "Yes?"

    

"Five fucking times! Why weren't you picking up?" Rae's voice shouted, startling me. I remembered the dream I had woken up from which was giving me goosebumps.

      

I mean, how can I dream I was teaching a small boy how to swim then he suddenly started to drown. Okay, not only that, in the dream, He was my brother together with another rude tall man, probably of 26 years old — faces I had never seen in my life.

      

Yes, we were in a costly and fancy house, and we looked like a family, with mother, father, and children. Ignore that, the dad and mike hated me like fuck.

     

'Dammit!' I cussed.

     

"Did you just curse as an answer?" I heard a loud voice ask on my ear, making me remember I was on the phone.

     

"Oh...hey?"

     

"Wow...so, like I just asked you how Ares is, and you won't answer me. What is wrong with you? Are you having wet dreams?"

     

"Having wet what now? Stop giving me some stupid lectures and tell me why you weren't picking calls yesterday!" I spat as I pulled myself off the bed.

     

"Oh...I wanted to get everything off. I'll be coming in the evening." She slowly answered.

     

"Where are you?" I asked since I had to know so I could take Ares there. We had a planned surprise for Rae.

     

"The beach house. But don't tell anyone, not even Ares." She commanded, and I just rolled my eyes.

     

"Sure. We miss you. We thought something had happened to you." I had to get ready so that we could leave. Now that I knew where she was.

     

"Something like knowing my future husband was a drug trafficker. Do you have any idea how-"

      

"Shut up, Rae! Just...just wait until he explains."

     

"Well, fine. But so you know I was so mad at him that I got so drunk and things didn't go very well." She said.

     

"What things?"

         

"I'll explain. Just don't tell Ares. I got to go." She hung up the call leaving me just staring at my phone in surprise.

      

Her life is confusing. Well, just like mine!

~^~

    

The whole drive to the beach house, Ares looked so tauten. Probably from the fact that he had some explanations to make, or maybe he was scared of Rae's reaction when she sees us while she just said I shouldn't mention it to anyone.

    

"Are you gonna park here?" I glared outside through the window, and we were a mile away from the beach house.

    

"Um. We can't drive-in. She will notice us." He switched off the engine then heaved a sigh.

    

"Should I wait here?" I bite my lip then started tapping my fingers on the window.

    

"The fuck! Get off. We have a surprise to make."

    

The sound of my heart as we approached the house was probably of Rae's when she see Ares surprise for her. Ares was carrying flowers and then the bangles I gave him.

     

He looked excited and nervous, a feeling I understood since he didn't know what her reaction towards everything would be.

    

We entered the house tiptoeing. My camera was on for a video that I was going to post on IG and YouTube. Who knows, people out there might love to see how a daughter of the prime minister gets surprised.

    

"She is not--" I tried to whisper, but Ares shut me up.

    

"Shh. Just follow me. She might be upstairs." He whispered too.

     

I just nodded then followed him from behind. The house wasn't that big, only two rooms upstairs; one master bedroom for Rae as the owner of the house and the other for guests like me. Her father gave her for her 20th birthday.

     

Ares went straight to the room. He stood by the door then looked at me. "Ready." He whispered, and I just nodded, ignoring that I was the one supposed to ask whether he was ready.

     

He twisted the doorknob to open it but stopped when we heard someone in the guest room. The person was mumbling, and we guessed it was Rae when we heard her laugh. Probably on a call.

     

I signaled Ares, and now we were walking or rather tiptoeing to the guest's room. We stood at the door. First, Ares giving me a knowing look and I just shrugged then whispered. "You got this."

     

As Ares opened the door, my eyes remained focused on the phone I was using to shoot the video. It was displaying his face, which held a surprise as if he was the one being surprised. I waited for him to say SURPRISE, but he wasn't saying anything rather than he just dropped the flowers. 

         

It hit me that I never looked at Rae, and that was when my eyes shifted to her. One look at her, and I stopped the video.

    

She was on the bed, holding a white bedsheet to her chest, naked underneath. That was not a problem as to whom she was with, Noah, her ex-boyfriend.

    

I felt like running, but I couldn't move my legs. It was as though my heart was walking out to leave me alone amid the awkward silence.

    

After a minute, Ares never said anything; instead, he turned and walked out.

    

"Ares...Ares." Rae called as she ran after him, where I also had to follow since my paths never met when it came to Noah. "Ares, please. It's not what you think." She was sobbing.

    

He reached the door and paused, thinking he would stop and at least listen, he never did. He opened the door, ready to run out. "Ares!" I called but was answered by how hard he slammed the door.

    

Rae never followed him outside as her butt was almost exposed, and she was mostly naked.

    

With my sweating palms, I wiped them on my jeans then turned to her. "Rae...I am--"

     

I got a slap that shut me up. I shut my eyes and felt like I deserved it. But again, no, she was cheating on Ares. "I didn't know you were with him! I wanted Ares to surprise you, Rae!" I explained as I faced her again.

    

"I told you not to tell anyone, especially him!"

    

"How was I supposed to know this was what we were to find! Rae, you hurt him!" My eyes were wet as I yelled at her.

    

"He also hurt me, Lisa! He hurt my feelings, and I needed to get over it! I needed to do something!" She walked towards me as if she wanted to attack.

    

"Oh. Really?" I gave a sarcastic smile. "And all your tiny stupid head thought was to CHEAT on hi-" I bitterly spat, but again she slapped me.

    

"Don't dare!" She also stopped when I slapped her back.

    

"Enough! Don't dare slap me again!"

     

She never expected I'd slap her, maybe because she was my boss or something along those lines, but I did. Which, of course, started a fire I was not going to put out.

     

She furiously held my hair, spinning me around to make me fall, but I was strong enough not to move. "You lousy thing!" She shouted, still fighting me, but I was not fighting back this time. "Who do you think you are, you ugly monster!"

     

I was stronger than she thought, but that didn't stop her since the next thing I saw was her picking a flower pot, and in a second, she planted it on my forehead.

     

"Rae stop-" I knew it was Noah's voice, but my head was now spinning, some pieces of my eyeglasses, which had broken cut my eyes, and I was in immense pain.

     

My face was soaking with blood.

     

Blood was dripping down, and I knew I wasn't strong enough to bear its sight, I felt the back of my head hit something hard with a loud sound as I fell on my back.