5 A Dedication. Part 5.

Sany, who was a month away from her eighth birthday, looked at the fruit, really looked at it. She knew she was not supposed to eat it, knew that the thing was very important to her mother, but her stomach felt so empty, emptier than Mrs. Numan's cat's head that randomly prowled around their backyard. She lifted the apple, opened her mouth, moved the apple to her lips, and stopped dead. No, I shouldn't eat it, she thought and kept the fruit back in the box. At that precise moment, her stomach growled, and she again lifted the thing out of the box.

A small bite from the bottom of the apple won't hurt anyone, would it? Just a small bite and no one will know about it. She will just take a nibble from it and will keep it right inside the box. Yes, that seemed like a good idea, at least in her mind. And she decided to go with it. She brought the black skin of the apple close to her lips, inhaling its tangy aroma that filled her nose. It smelled delicious. She dug her canines deep into the black surface and took a bite. Her teeth started shredding the morsel into pieces, and suddenly, Sany began to retch. The thing had no taste. It felt as if she were biting on paper. A plane, white paper. She quickly kept the black apple back in the box. She was looking around for a place to spit the nasty thing out of her mouth when a loud click startled her. The front door swung open, and her mother stepped in, looking extremely elated. But all that happiness ebbed away when her eyes fell on Sany.

Sany stared back at her mother. She was so shocked by her mother's sudden arrival that it was a while before she realized that she had completely swallowed the clod. And now she felt like she had sucked a ball of mint. Her neck felt cool.

Ciana hurried toward her. "What did you do?" She knelt down and lifted up the black apple. Its surface had started to wizen, and the whole fruit seemed to shirk before her very eyes. And before they knew it, the thing had turned into dust.

"What did you do?" Ciana asked again, her eyes big and furious.

Sany opened her mouth, but only a puff of air came out. She was so scared that she could hear her heart beating in her ears.

Her mother stood up abruptly and started pacing the room. She snapped her head in direction of Sany and grabbed her ears, grabbed them real hard, and before Sany could react, she was thrown to the floor, the impact turning on the tear faucets in her eyes. This was the first time her mother had hit her. Suddenly she was not afraid but angry. She stood up sobbing. Her mother stood there, looking at her own hand, looking at it as if it were the nastiest thing on Earth.

Sany bolted to her room, shut her door, and sobbed and hiccuped for what seemed like an hour. All that time, her mother stood outside the door, asking for forgiveness. But Sany didn't open the door.

She heard her mother's footsteps move away from the door.

Then a moment later, the piano in their den room came to life, and her favorite song floated into her ears, muffled by the door. Sany slowly stood up, opened the door, and sneaked to the den room. Her mother sat behind the piano, eyes closed, her shoulders and hands swaying along with the music. It was a while before Sany realized she had walked close to the piano; as if her body was drawn to it. She had heard her mother play this very music million times, and yet, this time, it sounded so enchanting, so hypnotizing. Ciana stopped playing, opened her eyes, and looked down at her daughter.

All that anger flushed away, and Sany rushed to her mother and hugged her as tightly as she could. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to eat it. I'm sorry."

Ciana smiled and caressed her hair. The sky outside the window had turned orange, and dark shadows had slanted into the room. "No," Ciana said, "mother is sorry. Mother was a fool to think that a stupid fruit could be more important than her princess."

Sany sniveled.

"But." Ciana gently pushed Sany away and looked at her dirty, tear-filled face. "How in the world did you bring that box down?"

"Ehh…" Sany coughed a little and told Ciana about the risks she had taken to fetch the thing down.

Ciana laughed. "You are one adventurous brat… You are definitely my child."

Sany giggled, and Ciana beamed at her.

The doorbell rang, and all the color and happiness drained out of Ciana's face. "Sany…" Ciana said, suddenly breathless. She lifted the little girl up and sat her down in the small space in the piano's soundboard. She grabbed the cover. "It might get a little uncomfortable, but don't get out. No matter what happens, don't come out. Okay?"

Sany nodded.

"Good," Ciana said and brought the cover down, shutting Sany in the dark and cramped up space inside the piano. Sany heard her mother walk away from her, heard her open the front door.

Their little home was now full of footsteps. A lot of them.

"Boss," her mother said.

"Queen," a rough, guttural voice said. "You called me and told me that you would be at my office soon with the black-apple. I had been waiting for you for hours."

"I-I'm sorry… I didn't mean to keep you waiting."

"Where is it?"

They were in the other room. So, Sany couldn't hear them clearly.

"Uh, I-I." Sany's mother started stammering. "Mr. Noire, if you could—"

"If you could what?"

"Listen to me," Ciana said. "I-I was fooled. Someone just pranked me. The apple that I brought home was a normal one. Some idiot sprayed black ink over it. My tree still hasn't bored a black-apple yet. But it will. Soon. And if it didn't do that, I'll return your—"

"I don't want the money," Mr. Noire said, again in that guttural voice. "I want the thing you promised me. You have one week. I'll send my men again. And—"

There was a loud bang as if someone had just fired a loud cracker in their house. Sany's heart jumped into her throat. Mother, Sany thought, now not just afraid but terrified out of her skin.

"This house is too quiet," Mr. Noire said, and a few men laughed.

Ciana laughed, too, but rather nervously. "Yes. Yes."

"Doesn't feel like a house of musician," Mr. Noire said, "and talking about music. I've heard that you have stopped coming to the pub. Do join soon. The boys are missing you."

"Y-yes, Mr. Noire."

The footfalls started moving away, and Sany heard a loud click which meant that her mother had shut the door, which also meant it was safe, they were safe, at least for now.

***

Ciana told everything to her best friend, Kevin Numan. Sany knew her mother would do it. He was her only real friend.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Uncle Kevin asked. There were now in his house, and he was clearly in distress.

"I have only two options. Run or steal," Ciana said. "But I can't run since I have Sany with me. So that leaves only one choice."

"The security at the apple farm is very tight." Uncle sprang up to his feet. "You can't be thinking to steal someone else's black-apple from the apple farm?"

Ciana was.

That day, she left Sany in Numan's house and went outside, promising Sanny that she would be back by early morning, and she indeed was back by early morning but was wrapped in a white cloth. Sany was awoken by Uncle Kevin. It was around five in the morning.

"I have something to tell you," he said and took her to the living room where she saw two guards with something wrapped in white cloth resting by their feet. Mrs. Numan was crying in the corner. Before Uncle Kevin opened her mouth and told her the news, Sany already knew that her mother was dead. Sany didn't actually cry that day as she didn't feel sad. She felt mad. She was angry at herself for eating that stupid fruit and at her mother for trying to risk her life for some money and a few packets of yellow powder.

"The security bots at the farm shot her down," the royal guards said.

The guards started telling them what exactly had happened to her mother, but Sany didn't listen to them. She was too preoccupied staring at the white thing that was lying on the floor. Don't keep her there, she wanted to scream, don't treat my mother like that.

Later that afternoon, Uncle Kevin took Ciana's body to Elder Tree's Yard. Sany accompanied him and silently watched as the roots of the old, legendary tree wrapped around her mother's body and pulled her mother into the ground.

When Ciana's body had completely disappeared from their sight, Mrs. Numan said, "May the great tree guide her soul to heaven." Then she turned and faced Sany. "Come, I'll cook something for you. You haven't eaten anything since the morning." She reached out and grabbed Sany's arm, but Sany shook her off.

"Sany," Mrs. Numan snapped.

"Let her be," Uncle Kevin said, looking over his shoulder.

"Let her be?" Mrs. Numan glared at him. "Her mother is dead, we don't know where her grandparents live, her school has kicked her out, and you are saying let her be? She needs our help!"

"I don't," Sany said, stood up and ran back to home, to the small structure which was now only her home. Not a single thing had been moved from its place, yet something felt missing. The place felt empty.

Sany slept on the couch that night, empty stomach, of course. Next day, she woke up early, feeling as if her stomach was being crushed by some demonic hand. Her mother was a terrible cook, but the food she made filled Sany's tummy, and in the end, that was all that mattered.

Confused about what to do next, Sany sat in front of the piano and tried to play something.

The doorbell rang. Sany opened the door and saw her teacher standing outside with Uncle Kevin.

"What is it?" Sany asked, trying to sound like an adult.

"I came to invite you back to your class," her teacher said.

"Why? Didn't you kick me out?"

Her teacher smiled ruefully. "Your fees are not due anymore. Now you can come back and study with your friends, Sany."

Sany's eyes snapped at Uncle Kevin. "Who asked your help?" she said in a fierce and cute voice that only a child of eight could make.

"He didn't pay your fee," her teacher said. "Your mother did."

Sany just stared at her.

"I heard the news," her teacher continued. "I'm very sorry for your lose, Sany. But your mother came to my office yesterday with a wooden box. She told me that she was selling her black-apple to someone and had already taken some advance money from him. She said that she had been waiting for the apple to ripe. Said that she rushed directly to my office after collecting her apple. Your mother paid the pending fees and also paid the fees for the next eight years of your education. She was laughing while she told me that she is very bad with money and might waste it on useless stuff. So, it would be better if I took care—Sany, where are you going?"

Sany had turned away from them and was walking back toward the den where their piano sat. The piano was resting in the middle of the room, washed in the early morning sunlight. Sany gazed at it, and out of thin air, the image of mother appeared before it, with her straight hair, black lipsticks, choker necklace, playing the piano like she always, sticking out her tongue after making a mistake which she rarely made. Sany knew her mother was not there but was still there at the same time. The image dissolved away and Sany saw herself hugging her mother, the way she had hugged her the day before.

Her mother had said that she was sorry. That the mother was a fool to think that a stupid fruit was more important than her princess when the truth had been that nothing had been ever important to her than her princess. The image of her mother scrambled away, leaving behind the piano, a machine that now could make a sound but not music.

"Mother…" Sany's lip quivered, and her eyes started watering. She covered her mouth with both her palms and broke down and crying.

"Are you sure you don't need my help?" Kon asked while he scratched his head.

"No, I don't," Sany said and counted her opponents. There were at least twenty of them in the plaza, including Romonov. "I don't need anyone's help," she added and then thought, all thanks to my queen.