INIQUITOUS

CHAPTER LXI

CHAPTER LXI

           

With a half-full cup of black coffee in my hand, I padded over to the window overlooking the city in its first blush of morning sunlight. Homes and commercial buildings were obscured in a thick fog and the arctic temperature was an unwelcoming sensation. With the clocks barely hitting 6:00 AM, I wanted nothing more than to be knocked out cold. Staring at his naked body, I knew I couldn't. I hadn't planned to stay over but Frank had rolled on top of me when I had called my taxi and refused to move. He had spent most of the night murmuring lowly into my ear, occasionally leaving a trail of kisses and dark bruises across my throat and breasts, and talking of nothings. Not sweet nothings. Just... Nonsense I wasn't entirely interested in. His mindless talking did the trick; I fell asleep, woke up, regretted it.

I took a large gulp of coffee. Swallowed.

The silence in the apartment was refreshing. Lately I had become accustomed to the loud voices, invading bodies, clustered thoughts and feelings of exhaustion, suspicions, and uncertainty. I had a long moment to think. I thought of my maladroit brother and his unwillingness to be civil. Thanksgiving dinner between the surgeon's plaything and the lunatic was likely ruined. I was apathetic about the entire situation. Bored of being Eton's caretaker and unconcerned about Zeus' well-being.

Frank's low grunt distracted me. He shifted, stretching out on the mattress with the covers half covering his body, seemingly about to wake up. I hoped he wouldn't. Moments later, his soft breathing resumed. 

I set the coffee cup down on the cold window sill. Moving around the apartment soundlessly, I found a khaki green t-shirt and pink sweats in Frank's wardrobe, and once dressed, kicked my dress under his bed, and slipped my bra into my pocket. I borrowed a twenty out of Frank's wallet, took my phone from the bedside charger, and without a second glance to Frank, left the door ajar on my way out.

I took an Uber home.

The hallway was quiet and dusky black. I left my heels beside the potted plant. I found leftovers in a Tupperware box in the fridge and put together a quick turkey sandwich. I poured a tall glass full of lemonade and headed to the living room to watch TV while I ate. I opened the door and reached to flick the switch to the light.

"Well, if it isn't the whore back from her one night stand," Eton's voice was harsh. Sat in the blush red armchair behind the vast windows overlooking a seemingly ominous and overgrown garden, he was bitterly drunk and clearly hadn't slept.

Light burst into the room.

I saw a clearer picture: Eton's eyes were red; his slate black locks had been thoroughly brushed with his hands and his expression was mean. He cursed loudly. I turned the light switch off. "Morning sunshine," I greeted with false cheer and moved to sit on the sofa. I set my drink down on the floor by my leg and picked up the first half of my sandwich. Took a bite, chewed, paused. "Oh, where are my manners? Want half?" I laughed in delight at his murderous glower. "OK, alright. I'll play the therapist. What's the matter?"

He took a heavy swig from the whiskey bottle, wiped his mouth with his sleeve. Slate-grey eyes gleamed in the dark. He was an old-as-time painting; a disconsolate being in front of a burned-out fireplace and between two tall and heavy velvet drapes. In the large room, his voiced was a low hum. "I miss Mom."

"Go and see her."

"Calla," his voice was a desperate beg to understand. His hurt gaze fell briefly. "Why are you being like this? We used to talk to each other. Lately you've been distant. I'm surrounded for the first time in years by my family but I feel like I'm in solitary confinement once again. Can we not repair what we once had?"

"My god. Stop the theatrics. It's getting tiresome." I rubbed my forehead in aggravation. "What do you want me to do, Eton? I have a life outside of you. I can't stay here, holed up in the dark with you and play pretend like we used to as children. You're irritating. So needy and clingy. It fucking annoys me. Get a life. Grow up."

At his crestfallen face, I sighed in regret and softened my tone. "I'm sorry. I've just been stressed out lately. I'll make more of an effort. We can go watch a movie next weekend. What do you say?"

"Are you going to pay?" He showed the first signs of a smile. "Invite Winnie and we can have a threesome."

"Winnie has a boyfriend. She's not interested in you."

His face turned foul. "What the hell are you talking about? I'll gut the whore's family in front of her and fuck her after." He was furious. The whiskey bottle was thrown and smashed against the wall beside the fireplace.

"Your temper frightens her and rightly so. You don't treat her with respect. She doesn't want to be with you. You ruined your chances when you hit her." I finished the first half of the sandwich and reached for my drink. "Make a Tinder account. Go on dates with other women – or men. Stop obsessing over Winnie."

He appeared infuriated for a moment and then furrowed his eyebrows. "What's a Tinder?"

I smiled. "It's a dating app. I'll show you it later and make you an account. So, sandwich?" I held it out to him as a peace offering for the past few weeks.

He walked over, pulled apart the sandwich, got rid of the tomatoes, scraped the ketchup off with a finger and wiped the gunk on my forehead and then took a bite. "This is nice," he said once he swallowed his first bite.

I wiped my forehead clean with a disgruntled glower. "Asshole."

"How was your night?" he inquired innocently.

I shrugged my shoulders.

"That bad?" he paused. "Or that good? I'm jealous. I've been celibate since God told Adam to fuck his whore in the Garden of Eden."

"What Bible are you reading?"

"The Fifty-Seventh Edition. I brought it in a garage sale. Actually that's a lie. I've never been to a garage sale before. I brought it on eBay. I used your account, of course. It was an early birthday present to me."

I handed the glass of lemonade over to him. "Right. So, how was thanksgiving?"

"Terrible. Zeus ruined it–"

"Throwing a bitch fit in the middle of dinner and sulking for the rest of the night was hardly your brother's fault, Eton," an unfamiliar voice acrimoniously interjected from the doorway. "Now are you going to introduce me to your sister or am I inane to believe you can be capable of such a simple task?"

***

frank rapes calla, forces her into having sex* and uses eton as a threat in order to get her to comply to his demands, calla obviously doesnt want frank to hurt eton but she resents eton for the fact that she always has to protect him.

* the first time frank threatened to rape her, calla realised she had to go to him and initiate sex with him in order to not be totally humiliated and to have some amount of control