Kiss of A Titan

For all I cared about, I really didn't want the same incident that had landed us in a new town to occur again, a past that I wholly wish would get behind me, never to show forth to hinder the premature relationship with everyone that I have encountered in two days but the forthcoming weeks would no doubt be a test for all of us including the old dustman who would undoubtedly find out about the basement the next day because I knew that there was every chance that aunt might instruct to clean the cellar as well when he comes back to work tomorrow and I for one, don't know how he will react but from our time at dinner this earlier this afternoon, I believe he would not refused to do the work though it is certain that the price for his workmanship will certainly increase.

As for me, spending another night in the new house is so far a mysterious one for me and for everyone as well since we ain't sure what the other day will be like for us who just got here two days ago but I was prepared to face the next day with a new hope of reassurance that things would work out fine for everyone especially aunt whose burden in taking care of the house was heavier than all three of us.

I stared deeply into the far horizon, taking a bird eye view at every rooftop that lies scattered around the townscape at a farther distance away from where I stood at my open window, watching the sun as it kept waning behind the scanty flimsy clouds but much of its radiance was beaming into my iris though I wasn't bothered about the harshness of the sunlight and I waited for several minutes beside the window to savor the very first presence of the evening breeze that was fast approaching while the hours trickled away and I was beginning to feel a lot sober of my reflection regarding what was forthcoming after dusk will have taken control over the town in the next four hours since the shadows in the serene vicinity were getting darker as time slowly ticks away and from my speculative readings, the time had ticked past four pm into the new evening.

I was still enraptured in my daydreaming when I heard a knock at the door behind me and the door flung open without me even making a move to open it for the intruder.

The intruder turned out to be my aunt when I turned around and she was quite surprised to see a whole lot of my clothes lying in disarray on the floor next to the bed.

Then she walked to the bed after evading some of the oversized clothes I had bought last winter and sat on bed staring at me who was quite taken aback. Nora and Tom didn't seem to have followed her to my room and she had come on her own accord.

I knew she had something else in mind to share with me but it took her some time to let the cat out of the bag since she was taking a close observation at the way my room looked. After satisfying her curiosity, she was then ready to talk about what had prompted her to pay a visit before we got downstairs to make adequate preparations for evening supper.

"Aunt, it seems you got a lot on your mind", "Yes, I do and I really feel tired thinking about everything we ought to do this week", "And that includes this house, right?", "Yep, pretty much but before we talk, I need to get some rest", she said and stood up from the bed, "Supper's downstairs in case you are done unpacking", "I'll make sure I finish before the food gets cold", I replied and she smiled at me as she stood by the doorway. "Alright, I'll leave you to tidy up your room", She said and left while I shut the door before returning to continue unpacking.

After settling down for the night, aunt coughed twice interrupting our conversation when she came back to the living room and we all stared at her already wearing a different outfit for the night.

"Sorry to interrupt your storytelling, kids but can I borrow Rosalie for a minute? I need to tell her something", She said as soon as she stepped into the room. The kids stared transfixed at her for some time feeling reluctant to cut the enthralling story short which was yet to reach its ending.

"I'll be right back", I said to them and got up from where I had lay down on the blanket with my foot touching the couch.

"Don't take too long", Tom said as I walked away even though he was already too frightened to listen to the story. I left them and went along with my aunt privately to the kitchen where they could not hear us. I was still smiling when we got there but the serious look on aunt's face told me something else was going on.

I looked twice at the parlor to ensure that the kids were still tending to their affairs especially Tom who was inquisitively fond of eavesdropping on people's conversations, an habit we had tried to make him stop but he has proven too stubborn and unwilling to change his ways, so we left him like that. It came as a surprise to me that he was busy chatting with Nora who seemed less impatient to have me come back to finish the story.

"So, what do you want to tell me?", I asked after satisfying my observations.

"Well...there are a lot of things we need to talk about regarding all the things we got to do this week concerning the house and....", "And?"

"Most importantly, your schooling here in Houston", "Uh...Sounds terrific", "You're not mad at all", "Why would I be?", "You should be even though it's a decision that we obviously have to make but let's start with the house first", "Go on", "It's gonna cost me a whole lot of money to fix things in the house and I didn't expect the damages to be this many", "You knew that the house wasn't new, right?" I asked about what had been bothering me ever since what Tom and I discovered in the attic.

"Truth be told, yes, I was aware and the kids don't know that yet", she replied and glanced at her two kids who were oblivious that she was watching them as they kept murmuring beside the couch which almost covered their entire body while facing the fireplace where the blanket ended.

She rested her hand on top of the ceramic platform near the grill we earlier used to cook the marshmallows we had eaten for supper.

"And you're telling me this now?", "It's my fault for saying it so late and I accept my guilt. What we should be discussing is solutions to the mess we are in. How did you find out by the way?", This time, it was my turn to fold my arms across my abdomen.

"I figured it out when I was at the attic with Tom earlier", "Does Tom know about this?", "Let's just say, he hasn't known the whole truth yet", "That's good then. I didn't plan on telling them anything except you", "You know I'd understand because I'm old enough to keep secrets", "Absolutely", "Okay, fine. You can count on me to keep this from Tom and Nora", "I knew I could trust you. Anyway, this week going to be hectic for us", "And for the kids too", "Yeah", "If you had known beforehand, why didn't you make adequate preparations about it?", "My expectations were little compared to what I discovered right here", "Then what do you intend to do now to make things easier for the kids?", "I will contact the electric man in town tomorrow to see if he could lower the cost of fixing the lights for us", "That's a good start but I suggest we do the necessary ones first", I said getting more confident in assisting aunt solve the problems in the house for the rest of week.

"I'm listening", "We need to solve the water problem. There's no water anywhere in the house", "Apart from the two gallons we have", "Exactly", "Then we have a major problem at hand", "Yes, we do. Importantly, we have no idea if all the pipes in the house are broken", Aunt sighed deeply and gasped a little before brushing her hair backward with her fingers.

"Rosalie, stop for a moment and let's think this straight. First things first, I'll get the plumber here and if it will be possible the two of them here to check out how much damages are present in the entire house", "That's reasonable", "Thankfully, we have a lot of food to last us for the week", "So it's decided then. I'll watch the kids and help out the very best way I can while you take of the bills", "Speaking of which, I'm not sure my funds would cover all these repairs. I will make a phone call to Uncle William first thing after dawn to see if he can help out a little", "You sure he'll lend a hand?", "He is the kid's Uncle. He helped us a couple of times after Dave died. I'm sure he'll help this time", "Fair enough", "It isn't going to be easy but we'll push through if we work together", "It's settled then. Before I go, what are you going to say about my school?", "Oh, right. Considering your school....It was the real reason why we had to move to Houston. You know things ended up badly with that incident at your last school and I can't risk getting you involved in something that would put you in jail. You're way too young to live behind bars", I kept quiet and sniffed even though it was embarrassing recalling that it was my fault we had to leave Georgia, a place where Tom loved to go around playing with his friends while Nora at summer school for third graders.

I had tried forgetting about the incident but no matter how hard I try to move on, what happened still comes back to haunt me more like the shadow ghost Tom falsely saw and I sometimes wished it actually did not really happened back home in Georgia like when I didn't find anything in the darkness upstairs when I was with the children but it did occurred and it seemed to have wormed itself into my thoughts as soon as aunt reminded me of what I thought I had move past already when we left Georgia but still the pain was still there in my emotions regardless of the cheerful time with the kids ever since we arrived in Houston.

Though Aunt was telling me the actual reason we left for Houston for the first time, my intuition of her sudden sensible decision to leave our old house for this small town had been true all along and she had proven it so. I felt bad for myself that she was doing this for my sake.

Not only was she risking her hard earned money to repair the house where we'll stay for the period, but she was doing all this not for the sake of her children but my sake and I couldn't help but to hate myself for being part of that same incident which had made feel guilty of the stress and the expenses she was going to pay to ensure that we all leave the past behind us even though running from a problem sometimes isn't the best option and I wouldn't want what lies ahead of our stay here to bring that memory back to my head.

She had told me personally to forget it and we haven't talked about it ever since it happened till now despite the fact that she didn't reveal too many details about it.

"What of the kids?", "As for them.....I'll make plans for them to go to new one once things are okay with the house repairs", "I think that's okay for tonight", "Yes... Let's take a rest tonight, shall we? It's been stressful driving all day and I really want to rest my head very badly", "Then let's get to bed. You know what, aunt?", "What?"

She gave me a perplexed look waiting to hear what I have to say before we leave the kitchen.

"Your marshmallows were awesome. I really enjoyed it", I said grinning, trying to put up a cheerful smile. She laughed softly and a broad smile which smoothed the wrinkles of her cheeks appeared on her face.

"Thanks for the compliment", "You earned it", "Actually, I did but it's getting late. The kids are already dozing off", she answered as we both saw the children already passing out on the couch as the time progressed. When they left the blanket and warmed themselves on the sofa, we took a brief moment to stare at the two kids, not too concerned that we will be having a whole lot of hectic preparations as soon as the sun rises tomorrow.

"I'll turn in first", "Right behind you", she retorted and followed me to the living room where we took some time to carry the kids from the sofa and then to help tuck the children into the blanket which swallowed their little bodies entirely. After that we went to bed but I couldn't sleep well because of what my aunt had told me. She didn't know I was devastated and unhappy with her decision even though it was for my own good due to the fact that I hated myself for putting everyone in such a difficult predicament of which aunt would run at a huge financial loss repairing some damaged house to shelter us with no electricity and more discomfort.

The frustration in my heart was clear and I didn't know when I began sobbing quietly in my sleep before drifting off to sleep forgetting that the candles were still shining in the cubicle. The next day, aunt invited the dustman to clean the house and while he was at work upstairs, the doorbell suddenly rang twice and we all heard it from where we were, at Nora's room playing a board game.