With Love, Elena

12

Ah shit.

"You alright?" Charles Snr. asked as he and Charles walked down the deck, looking at the many men of many colours who had shown up to be selected for work.

When it came to making money, Charles did not discriminate because he knew just how hard the black man was willing to work. He had not been disappointed so far but right now, he was not happy.

Because in the rows of men looking for a job, stood Ram, Elena's relative.

Ram looked at Charles in shock for a second before a scowl replaced the shock. The hefty man looked away.

"He looks perfect," Charles Snr. said, walking around Ram.

Charlie looked at his father in surprise. Usually he would just skip over the black man but something had changed. What had changed?

"What's your name, boy?" Charles Snr. loudly asked.

"Ram, Sir."

"Real name."

"Browne Touré. Brown with an e at the end."

Charles Snr. chuckled. "Just like your skin."

Ram simply kept quiet.

"Just take him," Charles said. "I can vouch for him." He needed to keep Ram close so as to ensure that he would not go telling his business to anyone.

"You know him?" Charles' senior asked.

Charles nodded then moved away, not wanting to answer the questions he knew would follow.

He still had not talked to Elena since the Tommy debacle and he missed her. He had called her to just tell her that he had a twin and if somebody came to her, claiming to be him, she should run or scream or both, because he was about to keep his distance from her. He had not even waited for her answer. Several times he was tempted to just drive off to see her but with Thomas around, anything was possible.

Speaking of Thomas...

The said man came out of a Cadillac V6 he had blackmailed out of Charles amongst other things. Charles had to admit that class really suited Tommy and without his tan, he now resembled Charles completely. Only Charles and his parents knew how to differentiate between the two twins.

"What are you doing here?" Charles Snr growled, pulling Thomas away from the potential workers.

Charlie on the other hand, pulled a reluctant Ram aside for a word while his father and Tommy bickered.

"I'll have my eye on you, Ram," he said. "Do not make a wrong move-"

Ram sucked his teeth. "I am not desperate for this job," he simply stated.

Charles could not even threaten him. He sighed. "I haven't seen Elena since I left that day," he said. "You don't have to tell anyone-"

"Charles Francis, it's not me you have to worry about," Ram spoke up, looking Charles in the eye. "I do not like you and I definitely do not like the fact that you are using Elena-"

"I swear I am not-"

"-for your own sick pleasures. She's a good woman and she deserves an honest black man who will take care of her."

"I can take care of her-"

"Not in this country, you can't. Anyway, Charles...it is not me you have to be worried about..." Ram nodded to his left and Charles' eyes followed, landing on Thomas who was by now full on arguing with his father. "It is him you should be worried about. When I saw you in that store, I thought you were him and he is a very bad egg. That's the man you should be worried about, Charles Francis."

Tommy was harmless as long as Charles kept him happy while waiting for Osam's feedback.

"What did he do in Vaal City?" he asked Ram.

"Well, he did many things. Many bad things to the poor people of Vaal City, trying to cement some kind of dominance in the area. Simply put, let's just say he sold his soul to the devil," Ram said. With that, he walked back to the lines of workers.

Exactly how worse had Tommy gotten? Charles wondered, staring at his brother who glared his way before getting back in the Cadillac, fuming. He drove away as Charles Snr. made his way over, red in the face.

"We need to cut off that boy," he spat. "Stop helping him. I thought you hated him anyway."

"He's family," Charles said bitterly. "We don't leave family out in the cold."

"Even after everything he did?!"

"Even after everything he did," Charles whispered, praying that Osam would return with something credible that would make people oversee his secret should Thomas decide to sing.

.

Elena sat in her office, attending to the last patient of the day in the fading sunlight. She was exhausted and fatigued from lack of sleep.

Sleeping at the hospital had been her only resort so as to distract herself from missing Charles who had sounded unusual over the phone as he told her about his twin brother and the fact that he was going to distance himself for a while. She had tried to speak but he cut the call, leaving no room for further talk. The hospital distraction worked.

"You are going to be just fine," she told the wispy blonde haired man she was helping. He was as pale as paper from the loss of blood he had suffered through an injury he had got at work.

His blue eyes darted about the room before he leaned in to whisper to her. "You be careful now in the city," he whispered.

Elena paled, heart galloping. "Why do you say that?"

"I shouldn't be telling you this but the people...they are unsettled. Someone has been digging around for information about you. Bad information."

"Who?"

"A man from the city. Don't know his name. Because you have helped my family out...I took the man's number but ain't used it. You call him and find out for yourself who he is."

The man pushed forward a piece of paper with a number before standing up and leaving the room in a hurry.

Elena frowned as she looked at the paper. She grabbed the phone and rang the number but the phone just went unanswered so she dropped the call.

She tidied the room as best as she could before putting on her coat and flat shoes. She grabbed her bag then locked up and as soon as she turned, she let out a little scream before laughing while clutching her chest.

"Ram! What is the meaning of this?!" she breathed heavily.

"I thought I could walk you home," her cousin said with a small smile. "Just came from your man's town-"

"Don't say that!"

"Anyway, he gave me a job as a labourer. In exchange for my silence about you two-"

Elena simply sighed. "We are kind of...separated now," she confessed. She didn't know how else to explain Charles and his distance thing.

"Good. I also came to tell you that he has a twin brother, exact look alike so you should be careful. I do not want you involved with Charles Francis because his brother...Elena... he's someone whose bad side you don't want to be on."

"Someone has been digging for information about me," Elena confided in him. "Bad information and it's someone from the city apparently."

"Yeah. I seen him. Ain't nobody talking so don't worry. I know you have a few skeletons in your closet but don't nobody know them but me and our family."

"What if somebody is tempted? What if-"

Ram was irritated. "Elena, just shut up. Let's get you home-"

"You said you saw the man. Who is he? The one that has been looking to taint my reputation?"

Ram brushed his hand over his short hair. Elena could see that he was avoiding answering her.

"Is he that bad?" she asked.

"The thing is...you might know him and...it's just better not to get deeper into it. Come on. Let's get you home."