As soon as he got out of the room, Arianna rushed towards the door but unfortunately it was locked outside.
"Come on !"she grunted helplessly.
Just about five minutes later, Andre got back to the room.
"Did you get it?"
"I forgot to ask you the name of the drug"he was literally panting.
Arianna slapped her forehead.
"Did you drive all the way back for the drug name?"
"Yes"he replied shamefully then he noticed she didn't look like she was in pain anymore.
"Are you alright, you seem okay.."
He asked not knowing how to put his words.
Arianna realized she forgot about her act.
What's the use of continuing anyway, she sighed.
"Yeah, I found out I had an extra pad and medicine,so you don't need to get an extra one".
She replied, hopefully he will buy her cover reply.
Andre nodded slowly and pulled his shirt off, he wanted to take his bath.
Arianna looked away pretending not to be interested in what he was doing until she saw the large scar marks on the back.
He looked like he was attacked by heartless beasts, who whipped him deep into his skin.
She walked quietly to him and touched his scars,her finger pad drawing their shapes.
Andre hissed beneath clenched teeth and she felt him shiver against her finger.
"Is it still hurting?"
Andre chuckled.
"Not really, surprisingly my skin is sensitive to your touch, instead of irritable".
Arianna's heart melted but then why could have possibly been his crime for this sort of punishment.
She thought.
She remembered what Evan told her about Andre and his mother.
"Is this a punishment for what you did to your step mother?"
She said and suddenly regretted it, who is she to speak about such.
Andre turned slowly to face her ,his brow raised in surprise, his eyes looking dark but not furious, just sad.
"Look I didn't mean to say that, but just curious, why will you do that to your won stepmother"
Arianna said with a slight panic in her tone.
"Did you think he told the truth about what happened between his mother and I?"
Andre finally said something.
But his voice was never as soft as this, he sounded like he would cry the next minute.
Arianna’s mouth opened but no words came out.
Andre scuffed out a sad chuckle.
"I won’t blame you though, I looked like someone that can do that alright".
"No Andre…you can tell me about it, I want to hear your own part of the story"Arianna replied tartly, his reaction said it all, there's more to the story Evan told her.
"It’s better if you don’t hear about it at all" he replied as his brows married.
"Why?"Arianna asked softly.
"Why?”He repeated harshly, now losing his patient, "What do you want to hear! How his mother and so called my step mother made advances to a sixteen years old...."
His voice broke off abruptly as he realized his anger had made him say far too much, he never wanted to reveal this to a soul and now he just had to spill it all out.
"Your stepmother made sexual advances to you?"
Arianna repeated flatly, her eyes widened in shock.
Andre turned his back at her, his fist clenched cursing, if only he was fast enough to treat that bitch a lesson then and now he is looking pathetic again in front of the one person he never wanted to look weak in her presence.
Arianna found her voice after his last statement froze her.
“How can she try to seduce you at such a young age...why didn’t you tell your father or maybe your mother..explain the situation to them".
"Mother…father…I don’t know what those mean.
At fourteen I was finally allowed to step out of my prison like apartment only for a short period of time.
I watched my step brother enjoy the freedom and love of parents, he had friends,I have none, he threw parties every weekend. At least I was finally allowed to witness that in an open air space.
This was made possible by my so called step mother, with a condition I had to give her a body massage.
Many times she did plead with the fourteen years old, I should touch her in places to pleasure her but I refused. I was punished severely by being grounded and starved by my father, his wife must have told him I disrespected her.
It happened yet again when I turned sixteen, she came into my room, wearing a revealing nightie so short you can see her buttcheeks from behind.
I was asleep when she sneaked into my room and pulled down my pajama,then mounted me without wearing anything beneath her. I jerked up in terror, she said a lot about my puberty and attractiveness so she couldn’t back down. I should accept her and make love to her.
I pushed her off me with all my strength ,I pulled my pants on and was about to walk out of the room when she screamed so loud and gripped on my pants.
I tried to pull her off me but it was too late.
Her husband came into the room, eyes furious as he saw his wife naked in tears struggling with me.
"What is going on here!"he shouted.
The bitch replied.
"I only came to see how he was doing as a good mother and he did this to me, I am no longer safe with your teenage son".
My father bounced on me and gave me the punches that almost blinded me, I fought back but I was too weak".
"But didn’t he explain to him".
Arianna replied her eyes were already clouded and heavy.
"Oh really you think he needed an explanation from a son he never wanted when his dear wife cried to him and also he saw me with a raging erection".
"Erection?"Arianna repeated as though she had no idea what it was.
"I was a sixteen years old Arianna, at that age, a woman’s cleavage can arouse me not to talk of her nakedness, I was innocent but my body was reacting as it should, my father handed me over to some military men as a punishment that’s where I got most of the scares at my back".
Arianna gasped and laughed bitterly in pain.
"I can’t believe you went through this and Evan lied to me, what could he possibly gain by trying to make me see you as a devil".
Andre grimace.
Aurora cleaned her wet face angrily.
Evan lied? Maybe he knew nothing about this too, his mother must have told him the same lie but still she was really sad , she had tagged Andre as a rapist not knowing he was a victim, she strongly wanted to push it down but it just won’t go away.
"I…am really sorry about all of this, I should go home now".
That was the only thing she could think of, at home she can cry her heart out and blame herself for being so insensitive.
Andre said nothing even though he didn’t want her to leave, at this point she had forced him to peel his old wounds to bleed, he needed to hug her and maybe hear her say that she cares about him and will listen to him, and share his pains.
But then the door shut, interrupting his thoughts.
Andre dropped his weight on the bed and smiled in pain.
"I am such a coward to expect her to understand how I feel. Coward who can't keep a woman he loves by his side".
His fist shaking nervously, he had to hold his fingers locked together.
"She believed Evan more than me?"
He laughed in pain.
"I need to think I will be so concerned about gaining someone's trust".
The door knob moved, Andre jerked up from the bed and saw Arianna at the door.
She slowly closed the door behind her with her face down.