Moonlit Scars

Demir

"The only downside thing here is that they seem to be a bit old", Levent said, taking a sip of his champagne. "But the one in the backless blue dress is pretty enough. You think I should hit that?"

"No", I said without looking up. "Emine will knock you out if she finds out that you're hitting on one of her friends"

"Plus she's married, look you can see the diamond on her finger even from this far", Ferit commented. He squinted at Levent. "Why are you thinking about going after these women, anyway? You have plenty of girls at your beck and call"

Levent scowled. "Why do you think? Because I'm bored!" He said. "It's a Friday night. I should be at my club, trying my luck at the cards, wooing beautiful girls and drinking..." He shot a disdainful look at his drink. "...not champagne. But I'm stuck here making small talk with women who can't seem to look past their tea cups and fake nails!"

I cracked a smile at that. Ferit looked towards the heavens.

"Stop being so dramatic", he said. "You can keep it in your pants for a few more hours. Look at Demir, he's been standing there looking at his phone for almost an hour. Follow his suit"

I snorted. "I'm avoiding my brother. He's been signalling at me for some time now. I'm not going to rescue him from those women. Birds of prey look more merciful than them"

A child's laughter pulled us out of our discussion. I looked towards the garden. Duman was sitting at the porch table with Lalam and Burak on either side of him. As I watched, Seray joined them placing a tray of snacks on the table. Duman seemed to be in the middle of telling them one of his famous stories.

"Huh", Levent said. "That's one way to get out of social interactions." He squinted. "Maybe we should join them. At least the view is nice"

"Hello!"

I almost jumped out of my skin. Melek entered the terrace waving a full bottle of red wine. She stumbled on her heels, indicating that she'd probably worked through her fair share of alcohol. Ferit caught her by the arm before she could face plant on the floor.

"Excuse me", she said turning to me. "No offense to brother Altan but this party is terrible. We should do shots", she blinked at the bottle of wine. "Except I don't have whiskey. So wine will have to do"

Ferit snatched the bottle away with a scowl. "Enough of this for you. Tomorrow you're going to puke your guts out and I'm definitely not going to hold your hair back!"

Levent grabbed the bottle back from him. He leaned into Melek smirking.

"Your twin is no fun. But I am. Let's go, princess. And don't worry I'll help you hold your hair back"

Ferit's scowl deepened. Melek shot me an imploring look. "What about you? Are you coming?"

"No", I said. "I'm going to pay brother Duman a visit. I forgot to give him his present"

Breaking away from the group, I took the back stairs to avoid the overwhelming guests. The voices inside the mansion faded away as I moved towards the porch. Japanese lanterns were placed on the porch railing illuminating the whole place and for a moment, I breathed in the cool night air. Then I moved to join my brother at the table.

"But how do they produce light?" Duman asked.

"They take light from the moon", Burak said. "That's why they come out only at night"

Lalam leaned forward. "It's magic!"

Seray laughed. Then she choked on her laugh when I pulled the chair back and sat down next to Burak. I looked at my nephew. Already the shadows under his eyes were fading and he was speaking more often. I ruffled his hair.