Against The Odds (23 page)

“Hmm?”

“
You know, it is far more auspicious if the dragon is above
the tiger. Did you know?”

He
laughed at her.

“Okay,
dragon, have you way with me,” as he rolled onto his
back.

Much later, he thought,
yes that was highly
auspicious.

*****

Clayton
spent a pleasant afternoon at the Hilton Hotel pub with George.
They spoke like old friends and Clayton felt comfortable to tell
him all his thoughts and his concerns about Rebecca. He did not
hesitate and George enjoyed the boy’s openness with him.

“
What really frustrates me is that she worries about some
things and won’t talk to me about it. I wish she could trust me
enough.”

“It is not you she does not trust. It is herself. Rebecca
has spent her whole life being rejected without good reason. She
does not know how to be accepted. You need to teach her that, show
her that. The secret is not to get angry with her. I told you,
charm her and she will respond quickly. Clayton, you must
understand that since she was fourteen years old, she was
fighting
to survive, fighting for ways
to deal with rejection. She has no idea how to love. You must teach
her how to love you.”

“
How? Sometimes I can see what she is thinking, but she shuts
me out. I wish she could see what I’m thinking.”

“
She does not know what you are thinking?”

“
No.”

“Clayton, did she
tell
you that she can’t do it?”

“No, we never really discussed it. She simply tells me to
get out of her mind.
She never said anything, so I assume
she.....
. Oh, I see what you
mean. Yes, she definitely knows what I am thinking. I was just
presumptuous to assume that she didn’t.”

“Yes,
that is exactly what her mother did to me. She made me believe she
could not do it, and wham, when I was really angry one day, she
said ‘don’t you dare even think about that. You will never get into
my bed tonight.’”

Clayton
was laughing.

“You
see, sometimes when we fight, it makes me, well, want her more, and
it drives her insane. After that, I tortured her for days with
calculated, deliberate thoughts about what I wanted to do to her.
She was completely horrified and she finally confessed. They know
from the day you bring the light. That is one of the consequences,
if you can call it that. Because you are together, as one in that
time, you have opened up the ‘lines of communication’. She has not
told you, Clayton, because they think they can control us that
way.”

“
That wench. Now I see how, when we are arguing, she has
managed to second-guess me. That wench. Oh, I am definitely going
to make her pay for that. What do you think I should
do?”

They
were laughing about this when Clayton suddenly said, “excuse me a
second.”

He
phoned her on her cell phone.

“
Princess, what’s wrong?”

“Clayton, nothing.
Why?”

“Your
heart is beating fast. You got a fright, what,
Princess?”

“Oh
Clayton, relax. I am with my mother, whose is a very competent
witch. I just saw a snake in the garden and got a fright. One of my
mother’s new friends was here. I don’t like them, so I got a
fright. She has sent if off. Are you okay? Having fun?”

“
Yes, very much so. Okay, see you later.”

“
What do you want for dinner?”

He was
quiet for a while.

“
No, Clayton, I mean to eat, that will be cooked.
Honestly!”

He laughed, “anything will be
fine.”

“Mother says ask the old man what he
wants to eat for dinner, cooked, okay?”

“
Okay. He says tell that old crone that he wants red
meat.”

“
Okay, see you later.”

“
Yes, she definitely knows. I just tried it. Oh, she is in
such trouble.”

“She is
very much like her mother, even though she looks like me. They keep
everything to themselves, until you beg or fight to get it out of
them. They are exactly the same that way. I know. I lived with both
of them. I would come home from work and they would be silent. Of
course, something is wrong, but will anyone say anything? No, they
would just look out the window, eat quietly and hide behind a book
or the television. It would drive me nuts. Once, Rebecca’s cat died
and it took me three hours to hear this. Three hours! They conspire
in their silence. All Rowena had to say was, ‘the cat died, Rebecca
is upset’. No, that was too easy. They had to torture me with their
silence first. It drives me mad just thinking about it.”

“I know
I get that treatment all the time. Rebecca has a patient she was
worried about. Suddenly, the family disappears and she does not
know what to do. She gave me the silent treatment. I was so annoyed
with her. By the time she told me this I was so angry with her, I
was unsympathetic. Now, when she even starts that look, I say ‘we
are not going to do anything before you tell me what is wrong’. She
fights and calls me difficult, arrogant and pushy, but it saves me
a night of trying to guess the possibilities. That is the thing we
most fight about, her silence.”

George laughed. “Yes, that is a good plan. Talking about
plans,
Clayton, have you
thought about the future?”

“
Yes, I guess, I don’t know. I suppose I am hoping things will
stay the same. Why?”

“She
might just fall pregnant. How do you feel about that?”

“
I don’t know. I suppose we have accepted that we can’t have
children. We don’t want our child to go through all
this.”

“
But it might happen anyway?”

“
Yes, I guess. I suppose we haven’t really talked about it.
Rebecca will not have a child, I can tell you that. I look at her,
with her patients, and think what a wonderful mother she would be,
but it also makes me sad.”

“Yes, we need to find a way to break the spell, so you
can
choose
whether
you want children.”

“Rebecca
does not want to do anything right now. She is worried something
might go wrong, and she desperately wants to be a ‘normal’ couple.
Even if I mention it, she shuts off. She thinks it makes her a
freak. She is not ready to do anything right now.”

“
What else happened that night, Clayton?”

“
What do you mean?”

“Rebecca
is not telling us everything. We know there was more. She needed
too much sleep. What was she recovering from?”

Clayton
was quiet for a long time. Should he tell her father? Rebecca would
be furious, but, on the other hand, they might be able to help
her.

“
George, she died, just for a few seconds.”

The old
man was so shocked, he said nothing.

“
Oh George, it was too awful. I saw her, leaving, then
suddenly she was back. I don’t think I am ready to risk that again.
That is why we have been so... well, non-committal about
it.”

“Oh my!
She died, my baby died. She did not even tell
us.”

“
Well, that is one of the things she is being silent about.
She brushes it off, denying it. She has never admitted it to me,
but I was there, begging her to come back. She won’t talk about it,
at all. When she came round, she had tears in her eyes. George,
whatever happened, it caused her a lot of pain and she is
frightened right now. I was hoping she would talk to you about it.
She certainly does not want to tell me. She feels as if I am
carrying some burden and does not want to make it
worse.”

“Oh my
Sweetpea. That explains why she asked me all those questions
yesterday. Questions about how you must feel, whether I ever felt
burdened. We talked about that last night. I don’t know. I must
talk to her about it. Clayton, Rebecca does not know how to love
us. We must all teach her that part of love is worrying about her.
She thinks she must go it alone. Tonight, we will openly discuss
the matter.”

~ ~ ~
~

Rebecca
was smiling at her mother.

“
I love it when he does that, phones me and asks me what’s
wrong.”

“
Yes, it makes you feel special, doesn’t it? It is a great
reward for all that trouble we have to go through before we find
them. It really is worth it, don’t you think?”

“
I don’t know, Mum, I would have preferred a normal
relationship with a normal boy. No tigers, no butterflies, no
nothing. Just good, old-fashioned stuff.”

“
I know Rebecca, you always thought like that. But imagine, my
dear, how boring it would be. The great sex.”

“
Mother!”

“
Oh Rebecca, don’t be such a baby. Admit it, the sex is
wonderful. He gets into your heart, mind and soul. It is glorious
stuff.”

“
Okay, it is pretty amazing and he can’t seem to get enough of
it. I tell you, he thinks about it all the time.”

“
Yes, I think it comes from all the Protector stuff. It makes
them feel like they are in control and they love it. Whenever
George protects me from something, he goes mad for it. Don’t be
silly, Rebecca. We are your parents, but we are also people. You
are an adult now. We can talk about this, surely.”

“
I know Mum. Clayton says I want to believe I am still five.
He says I am too silly about these things with you.”

“
And he is right. We are special, Rebecca, the four of us, and
we should talk about these things. It is so nice to talk to someone
who actually understands what happens to you. Otherwise, it sounds
so far-fetched.”

“
Yes, okay, I will try to relax. Sorry for being such a
baby.”

“
Does Clayton try to do it in your mind, when you are in
public?”

“
Yes, all the time. I just shut him off.”

“
Why, darling? It is truly amazing. At some dull dinner party,
try it. Seduce his mind and see how he will enjoy that. He will
spend weeks doing whatever you say. They feel like they got
something no other man can do, which is true, of course. It makes
them the winner in the male competition for sex. Do it, Rebecca,
you will enjoy it so much. Plus, you can do anything to him and no
sore muscles the next day.”

“
Oh Mum, that is the craziest thing I have ever heard. With my
mind? Hmm, I think I will save it for one of those days when we are
fighting. Anyway, he does not know that I get in there.”

“
What? My dear, he will soon find out. Best you tell him
otherwise he will torture you for weeks with bad thoughts, until
you confess. Your father did that to me. Beat Clayton to it.
Confess, sweetly, before he catches you out.”

“
Okay, I think I am getting careless already. I will confess,
sweetly.”

“
Rebecca, we need to talk about the unbinding spell. You
seemed unhappy about it. Tell me.”

“Okay,
firstly, I found it all so hard Mum and felt lost and confused. I
had all the painful memories coming back to me and I am trying to
work through them. I need to do that first. Secondly, I am not sure
that it will help. Clayton does not want to have children, so it
does not matter. The risk is high, when we won’t have children
anyway.”

“Rebecca, have you gone mad? Do you think your father and
I
chose
to bring
you into this world, knowing what you would go
through?”

“
I know, Mum, but I am hoping that it won’t happen
twice....”

“
Rebecca, listen to me. It is not your choice. As long as the
spell is there, you will have a child. At least, if we remove it,
you and Clayton can choose whether or not to have a child. That is
the only choice you have. Do you understand?”

“
I know, Mum, but I can’t seem to talk to Clayton about it. I
don’t know what to say...”

“
Tell him everything we discussed now. It must be worrying him
too. If he does not want children, then he is in for a rude shock
when he suddenly finds himself with a child, cursed by The
Darkness.”

Those
words branded themselves in Rebecca’s mind the whole afternoon. How
could she tell them what had happened? What would she say? What if
happened again? She tried to calm her nerves and phoned
Jackie.

“
How are you, J?”

“
Hello Rebecca, I am fine. Jono is driving me a little crazy,
treating me like I am ill.”

“
How sweet.”

“
No it is not. He refused to let me go and do the shopping
with him today. I was to stay at home and put up my feet. Gosh,
does he think I am going to stay indoors for nine months? He wakes
up in the night to see if I am alright.”

“
Oh Jackie. Give him a break. I mean, the man has waited so
long. Anyway, he will get the hang of it soon enough.”