Come Home with Me!

Tina POV

Standing in the hot sun on the laundry line hanging clothes that Saintilia had just washed. I couldn't help thinking how I wished I was like her. Life here with my niece was not so bad. She was a good girl and never complained. She was obedient, hard working and boy could she cook. So young and yet so together. Saintilia was the polar opposite of me. Everything she did was always with optimism no matter how difficult.

It's been six months since she was brutally violated and we had yet to learn who it was. My heart ached for her but she showed no sign of stress. We never talked about what happened. I figured if she wanted to talk about it, she would have started a conversation with me.

From the corner of my eyes I noticed a shadow by the mango tree. I glanced over to be sure of what I was looking at. There was a man standing under the tree drooling over Saintilia. I looked away. I did not want him to know that I noticed him.

Who was that? I was curious.

"Was there something we could do for you?"

I did not know why he was there but to me, it was evident that it had something to do with Saintilia. His eyes were fixated on her. He was lost watching Saintilia's every move.

First He introduced himself as Emilio and also mentioned that he was a friend of Jonas. Pretty much letting me know that he was not a stranger and I should invite him in and hear What he had to say.

I was very curious when he said he was here to talk about Saintilia. The last thing I needed was her causing trouble. But Saintilia was not the kind of kid to cause trouble. I asked him to come in and motioned for him to follow me. I noticed that Saintilia got the fire started. I asked her to make us coffee.

The next thing he said almost made me swallow my tongue. I quickly understood why Jonas made me promise to send Saintilia away from Boudins.

I was really disturbed inside. Was he testing me?

I kept my emotions in check.

I wanted to know if he was joking so I said nothing but continued to listen. At some point all I could hear was him babbling about how he longed for care from a woman, and he was ready to take responsibility for Saintilia. Sarcastically, I offered myself to hoping he would get it.

Listening to him convinced me that he was really looking for a housekeeper and a bed warmer. How despicable was this man. He talked as if he was doing Saintilia a favor. This girl was young and pretty enough to have any man she wanted. She just needed to get out of this village. But Emilio was determined to have this girl using Jonas who was dead and couldn't contradict him.

Oh this man was irritating me. What did he mean by floozy? Saintilia was anything but loose. I was boiling with resentment. My instinct was to slap him but something in me halted my impulse.

I could not control my emotions. I needed to calm down. In order to regain my composure, I got up and walked to the kitchen pretending to have a silent conversation with Saintilia. I then asked her to follow me.

I refused to make such a decision. It was up to Saintilia to decide whether she wanted to go with him or not.

I asked him for his age. I wanted him to understand the huge age gap between him and Saintilia. He could actually be her father. Jonas would have been the same age.

"37 you say huh." I repeated it on purpose. I wanted Saintilia to know how perverted he was.

Marrying Saintilia off was more important to me. But this man sitting in front of me asking to marry her was not the right choice for her.

Saintilia

The afternoon sunny sky was clear and the heat was pricking my skin at every angle. The kitchen in the courtyard was a small hut without walls with just a roof to block the rain. It did not provide much shade or any privacy whatsoever.

I was on my knees bent over the pile of coals, blowing as hard as I could trying to bring life into the fire. The smoke that filled the air swirled around my face, gave me a rush sensation to cough, and forced me to get a breath of fresh air.

When Tina spoke, I then noticed the man standing there. I remembered him but I did not want to acknowledge him so I turned my attention back to the fire. Whatever reason for his visit was none of my concern.

I continued fanning the smoke with a piece of cardboard, determined to bring life into it. As they walked toward the porch to the house. My fire came to life. Just then, aunt Tina asked me to make coffee.

It might appear weird that anyone would want to have coffee in this heat. Well, we were used to this way of life. Whenever there was a visitor in our home, the polite thing to do was to serve coffee no matter the time of day.

He must have seen me coming with the tray because he raised his voice a little to make sure that I heard him clearly. I heard him say, he wanted to make a respectable woman out of me. What exactly did he mean by that? I appeared with the coffee and placed the tray on the table in front of Tina assuming she would pour for him.

I was not phased. From the little I heard, It was clear why he was there. Tina looked uncomfortable to me. And I didn't think she was happy with me leaving the coffee in front of her to serve him. I did not care to stick around to hear the rest of the conversation.

Suddenly, Tina appeared in the kitchen and asked me to follow her. She did not have to come to the kitchen. She could have called me to come to her. I supposed she needed to step away from him in order to calm down.

From what I gathered, it was a very intense conversation. When I entered the porch, I kept my eyes on him. I already knew what he was there for and I was not going to let him embarrass me.

I stood there perplexed, intensely looking at him trying to figure out why this man was after me. Perhaps this was a set up between the two of them to get rid of me.

"Hello Saintilia! Thank you for the coffee, it's really good."

I could see the desires burning in his eyes, it was creepy. I bowed my head in response. I really did not like the way this man looked.

"I just told your aunt here that I want you to come home and live with me. We will go to the justice bureau and get a marriage certificate. Would you like that?"

He continued as he brought the cup to his mouth.

Was he for real? Did he actually think that I was going to jump with joy because he wanted to make me his wife. I was not desperate. I was young and I had no intentions of spending the rest of my life in this village cooped up in a hut while bearing children for a man I did not even like to look at.

"Why do you want a loose woman like me" Using his own words against him.

"You will no longer be floozy once we are married. I would make sure everyone knew it so that no one would dare disrespect you again. Also your father promised me that I can marry you when you turn this age. Since Jonas is not here to fulfill his promise, I am here asking your aunt."

I guessed he had that answer ready. I would definitely have believed him if I cared about my future in this town and was desperate.

"I am sorry to bring so much trouble to you auntie." I swapped my gaze to a softer look and a much gentler tone addressing Tina. I think Emilio noticed.

"Auntie, I am not ready to have a husband. And I promised Jonas that I would never agree to any marriage without his permission. Since Jonas will never give me his blessings, I will never take a husband."

Once I made myself clear; with my fake smile I invited him to stay for dinner.

The days that followed I became pensive and withdrawn. Seeing that man reminded me of my ordeal. It was only minutes before I was raped that this man was watching me and perhaps had all kinds of thoughts about me. No one knew for sure who raped me but whoever it was got lucky. There were a lot of rumors about me. Some of the villagers did not believe that I was raped. They believed I was too embarrassed to admit that I was easy. So in order to gain sympathy I claimed to have been raped.

This kind of rumor could not have started by Adrienne. In fact, she promised me that she would never talk about it because her heart was broken for me. Only she and Tina knew the state I was in. The thought that I wasn't raped was barbarically ridiculous. The truth was the truth, and those who did not believe I was violated were beyond my control. How could I claim to have been raped when I never even talked about the incident.