Crazy = Genius

Chapter 37: Holding On To You

'I'm taking over my body back in control no more shotty, I bet a lotta me was lost, T's uncrossed and I's undotted'

The scent of fresh-baked bread wafted through the house accompanied by the sound of melodic humming to the tune of an oldie but goodie classic rock n roll song. The kitchen was warm compared to the dark and stormy weather wailing beyond the walls. There was a sense of peace in the mansion for the first time since the criminal had returned but there was an underlying tension that was waiting to be disturbed. 

Lilianna was a ticking time bomb. One wrong word spoken by any of the gang members and she would unleash all the pent up anger she had in her. After all the broken promises she had experienced with them, she was at the end of her rope and was ready to put it all to an end. 

Terrence sat on his bedroom balcony as the rain blew past him rapidly. The crack of lightning matched the timing as he took a drag on his cigarette. He knew Lilianna was somewhere in the house but he left her to her own devices. Self-reflection can make a man do the unexpected. 

"I thought I told you to knock." He spoke lowly. 

"Sorry Uncle Terrence," Hannah mumbled as she stepped onto the terrace floor. 

"What's up bugbear?" He asked as he lifted her onto his knee. 

"Is Auntie Lili going to go home?" She inquired. 

"No, why would you think that?" He shook his head and pressed the cigarette into the ashtray next to him. 

"Well, I asked daddy why she was so sad and he said it was because she wants to go home. Why isn't she going home if that's what she wants?" She answered. Her big eyes looked up at him and he tried not to say the wrong thing. 

"She can't go home because there are very bad people in the world who will hurt her if she leaves the island. Just like me." 

"Will she ever go home?" 

"I think someday, but not for a long time." 

They sat there a moment as the rain fell and the trees swayed and the sound of the roaring ocean beat against the sand. 

"She is really sad, isn't she?" Hannah asked, her eyes stuck to the trees. Terrence looked down at her and gnawed on the inside of his cheek. If a four-year-old could see it, Lilianna was at a breaking point. And it was all his fault. 

"Yeah. She is." He nodded, tone sombre. 

"How do we fix it?" She pushed as she finally looked up at him. Her young eyes were full of hope and optimism and innocence. 

"That's for me to figure out, okay? What you can do is be a good girl and try to put a smile on her face whenever you can. Can you do that for her, for me?" He bargained. 

"I'll try." She nodded. 

"Promise?" He held up his pinky and she immediately wrapped her own finger around it. 

"I promise Uncle Terrence." 

"Hey, baby girl." 

"That's me." 

"I have a question." 

"Yes?"

"What is a good word to call an idiot?" 

Lilianna turned and looked at Commodore with an arched brow. "Why would you ask such a thing might I ask?" 

"I'm replying to a message from the manager at our biggest nightclub. He hasn't been strict with bouncers and now they're just letting people in without asking for ID." He explained. Lilianna set the dishtowel down and closed her eyes as she thought about the information she had just received.