Chapter 118: Chapter 118

(Dmitri’s Thoughts)

I still can’t sleep wondering how Avery was. I didn’t even know what he and Seid talked about, nor the reason why she was crying.

And, K was there. I wonder if she nags at her so much.

A lof of things are bugging my mind today, but there’s this one thing that makes me nervous. That guy with Kendra. I think I’ve seen his face somewhere else.

And the fact that he called me DeAndre, I click my tongue, “Does he know?” is all I ever ask myself.

Just right off the bat, my phone rings, “It’s him, again!” this time, I bite my lips out of frustration. I hesitate to answer it, but if I don’t he’ll nag at me, so I answer it before it even stops ringing.

“I told you not to call me, very much!” I scold him.

But his feminine high-pitch voice is louder and more annoying than mine, “May I remind you I’ve given you enough time! Until when will I hide, huh? When will you give me that apartment, when can I go home to see you?” he sounds very upset.

I distance the phone from my ear until he stops nagging, “Are you done with your yapping, huh? I already told you, I am working on it. I just need more time with her, that’s all I am asking,” I explain.

“Time for what? To make her realize who she loves? She’s getting married, Dee. Don’t be ridiculous. And how about you, huh? Do you really love her or –”

“–Enough, please don’t say it, I am begging you. Come home if you want. I’ll fetch you at the airport. Call me when you land,” I sigh.

“You know it’s for the best, Dee. I love you. See you soon,” then I drop the call after hearing him say goodbye.

***

(Dmitri’s Thoughts)

A yellow envelope containing everything about Avery and her parents is lying on top of this coffee table in an alfresco coffee shop where the three of us are sitting.

A set of blazing eyes, and another set of guilty eyes are now looking at me from where they are sitting.

“Love, you told me you have something to tell him, I thought you are going to make up, but what the hell are you talking about?” Nikolai’s deep voice begin to question the love of his life who’s sitting next to him.

But the feisty woman he’s talking to has her eyes and full attention fixated on me. Therefore, she ignores him.

“Dmitri, I am sorry, I don’t know where the hell she gets this, I hope you can–” Nikolai then turns to me stating an apology for something he has done nothing wrong about.

For me, I think this confrontation is now inevitable. I sigh and I cross my arms as I wait for her next sentence.

“I’ll repeat what I said a while ago, Dmitri. Almost a decade ago, a car accident happened at the tunnel near an airport, what do you know about it? Answer me!” she raises her voice, calling the attention of people who are sitting next to us.

But this feisty woman surely doesn’t give a damn about them her image, or even my reputation. Kendra Higgins, known as K, is Avery’s best friend, her number one protector. So I guess I can understand why she is doing this.

“Kendra, why are you asking me that?” at some point I want to escape the awkward confrontation if possible.

If there’s someone I’ll be talking about this, that’s not her, it should be Avery. But she won’t back down easily.

“I think you know why,” if looks could kill, I think I would have been dead by now. I know there’s no point in lying.

“How did you know about this, Kendra?” I ask her the question.

“I had a hunch,” she shortly answers.

I scoff, “So you are accusing me now because of a mere hunch?” I mock her. Nikolai is quietly listening to us throwing words.

“My hunch was never wrong,” she even proudly says, then she adds, “When I first saw you, I knew I’ve seen your face before.”

“It could have been somewhere else, don’t you think? A bar? A club? A museum? So why connect me to the accident that happened a decade ago. I wasn’t even sure if I was living in America at that time,” I shrug my shoulder still composing myself.

“Lie all you want, but I know it was you. Those eyes like yours, they are rare here in America. Too bad those charming eyes gave you away,” she speaks as if she holds an evidence against me.

“And? So what if I have green eyes?” I prolong the conversation.

“Facial features like yours are hard to find, Dmitri. Let’s just say, you stand out wherever you go. And too bad for you because that night, I was there at the funeral. And I never forget faces, Dee. That’s one of my best quality!” she challenges me.

That’s the time it hits me, she was indeed there. It was vague, but I saw someone who sticked with Avery like glue that night.

I know it will be a waste of time if I keep on dragging the conversation. So I close my eyes, and take a deep breath.

I can still hear Nikolai trying to persuade K to leave, and I thank him for his effort, “Nik, it’s okay, bro. It’s time.”

“Time for what, Dmitri?” he asks me. And so I face K, picks up the envelope she gave me and takes out the articles and the pictures inside.

With trembling hands, I lay them down on the table. I start with the pictures of the rummaged red sedan, the truck, and my car.

I gulp, I sweat, and I feel suffocated just looking at the pictures so I loosen up my necktie.

“This car was mine.”

“This truck was the one who hit them.”

“The red sedan was Avery’s parents’ car.”

K starts crying, “You killed Nana and Dada! It’s all because of you, Dmitri. I want to know what happened in detail!” she says in between her sobs.

Nikolai is looking at me, with a big question in his eyes. He knows nothing about it since it has been one of our family’s secrets. We actually have a lot of secrets.

“I, I was at the bar when I receive a call from my sister who sounded so upset and was crying the night of the accident. Unfortunately, my mom left us, she left her children to find her freedom, to find her happiness with another man,” I stop for a while and clench my fist.

The two of them remain quiet, listening to every word I say, “I told her I would come home, so I drove home.”

“You drove drunk!” she emphasizes.

“I drove while under the influence of alcohol, yes. Yet I received another call from my sister, she said she found a clue as to where my mom could have gone. She found a flight ticket and she sent me over the ticket,” and I stop again.

I take another break as my heart feels constricted looking at the pictures of Avery’s parents. In my mind, I could still see her dad telling me something, and my whole body begins to tremble.

I pound the coffee table with my fist to calm myself down, “Out of desperation, and in hope of getting there on time, I drove to the airport as fast as I could. I ignored the traffic lights, and the cars left and right. My only goal was to bring my mom back to us. That was all I cared about.”

The more I tried to hold out, the more I couldn’t stop myself, so with the next sentence, I break in front of them, for once, Nik has seen me so vulnerable, “I was going too fast when my car started spinning, I hit the brake pedal but it was no longer working properly, so my car spun multiple times, more than you could think of. I thought I was going to die.”

“But you didn’t, they did!” she burst into tears.

Melancholic guilt envelops my whole being, “You were right, Kendra. Had they not bump into my tail light, had they not spin with me, had they not been hit and plowed by the truck, had they not been rammed by the tunnel barrier, they would have still lived.”

I look into her eyes, “So yes, Kendra. If that’s what you wanted to say. Yes, I was the reason why they died. I was the one who caused the accident. I was the one who killed them. I killed Avery’s parents, Kendra,” and my tears wouldn’t stop from flowing.

And so does Kendra, but her tears are different from mine. If mine were tears of guilt, hers were tears of grievance and resentment.

“So why Dmitri? Why did you get near Avery? Why did you make her fall in love? After taking away her parents from her? Why are you taking away her chance to be happy with Jeff? Why are you taking away from someone who truly loves her?” Kendra says it all, without any filter, she bluntly slaps me with the truth.

And the only words I could say are, “I love Avery, more than you know. And Avery knows that!”

“But does she know, Dmitri? Does she know you were the reason why she’s an orphan?” with the last question K throws at me, reality strikes me hard.

And a question fills my mind, “Will she still love me after knowing the truth? Will she still want to be with me?”

And as K and Nik walk away from me, I find myself in this big city, alone, and feeling devastated.