Author's Note:
Hey guys, hope everything is going well for everyone. I've fallen behind a bit on my story, but I have a small surprise for everyone!! Last semester I took a creative writing class. So I had the opportunity to work on Nita's backstory a little bit. So here's a 'Slice of Life' before she went to Korea. I had so much fun writing this, I hope you all enjoy reading it.

Thanks for reading guys!!

Bhakta2009

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The sun was setting as I stood there on the bridge fiddling with my fingers. The sun’s glow made the river flow golden. The river was the only place I could clear my head. The breeze was a respite from the heat of summer, rustling some leaves on a nearby tree. The rough sound of an engine began drowning out the soft sound of the breeze, Luka was looking for her. When I heard the steady footfalls, I knew Luka was walking towards me. I didn’t acknowledge him. I just watched the setting sun.

“I thought you’d be here, Nita,” Luka said, gliding his way across the bridge to me. He looked as elegant as ever, walking tall with his head held high, his stride never faltering. Her green monster always reared its head, when she watched Luka. He never lacked confidence in what he was doing, from sitting down on a chair to dealing with the men in his family business. He was dressed to the nines like always. The light grey Armani suit hugged his body like a second skin, highlighting his broad shoulders, muscled arms and slim waist. He smiled at me, his pearly whites were commercial worthy. When he smiled, it only added to his masculinity. His hazel green eyes always lit up when he saw me. His facial features never failed to attract my attention. His jawline was more prominent now, then when they were kids. I preferred a clean cut and shaven Luka, but there were times when he’d keep a bit of scruff on his face, which made him look sexier. I mentally kicked myself for getting distracted and smiled back, focusing my attention on the setting sun. Of course, most 24 year olds looked good, Luka was no exception. Sometimes he was a distraction, a good distraction, but that was the last thing I needed at the moment.

“You found me,” I answered, not looking at him, my mind going back to the current problem at hand.

"You’re worried about your father,” he stated, matter-of-factly. He avoided looking at my arm. I couldn’t really blame him. I couldn’t even look at it, and it was my arm. Luka wasn’t one to waste time with small talk. His bullet hit the center of the target. I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to talk to my father about this, and he knew it. We talked about everything. Even though I was a year younger than him and a girl, he always treated me with respect. He never belittled me about anything. We were tied together in a strong bond, he was my greatest source of strength.

“He just came back from Moscow. He’s getting busier. . . .but he’s making headway into the market there.” I was insanely proud of dad. He managed to break a deal in Moscow without having to bind a contract.

“He invited me for dinner, tonight.” I wasn’t surprised at hearing this. It was common when dad would be home he would often ask Luka to come for dinner. It was their father and son-in-law bonding time. They would end the night with a drink of scotch in their hands, while sitting on the sectional talking about business. There was only so much business I was willing to listen to, so usually would let them be.

“I figured he would since he’s hardly around these days. He has to keep his future son-in-law on his toes.” I wanted to veer the subject. He wanted to know what I was going to do about the current situation, and I honestly didn’t want to answer the question.

“Don’t try to beat around my unasked question, Nita,” Luka said. BUSTED! He never lets me avoid something.

“He loves her. I can’t make him pick between her and me.” It was the truth, no matter what kind of issues the two of them had. Making her father choose between the two of them wasn’t an option.

“So what do you plan on doing, then?” I looked at him, even hunched over the wood railing, he still towered over me. I wanted to see what he was thinking, but he was watching the last rays of the sun disappear. Honestly, there was only one thing I could think of at the moment and telling him, right now, wasn’t a good idea. Luka had a temper only I could calm, but if I was the one to ignite the flames then it was a lost cause.

“Right now. . . .I’m going home,” I replied, not wanting to give him the real answer to his question. I turned to walk to the other side of the bridge.

“I’ll give you a ride−”

“I came on my bike. . .and trust me it’s much faster than that Miss Martin of yours.” I couldn’t help the smirk playing across my face. Another reason why Luka and I got along so well was our competitive spirit. He arched an eyebrow at me, clearly I had hit a nerve. His car was his baby and I was disrespecting it at the moment.

“We’ll see about that.” He walked off to his Aston Martin One-77. The car was a thing of beauty, sleek and shiny black on the outside, smooth as silk, and soft as butter on the inside. The leather seats making you want to crawl in and disappear into a cloud of peaceful bliss. The car was Luka’s pride and joy, finding someone who was willing to sell to him was the hardest thing Luka had come across. The good people at Aston Martin had only created 77 of the particular model. Luka wanted that car since he had learned how to drive. When he had finally purchased the car, I was the first one to get a ride. I smiled at the memory.

If Luka’s mistress was his Aston Martin, then I was having an affair with my Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle. My love was a matted black and chrome grey, the seat was leather, but I couldn’t sink into it like the seats in Luka’s mistress. My beautiful baby ran at a nice two hundred forty-eight miles per hour. It was made for speed and gave me such a high when I took it for a spin. It was a gift from my father after I had secured a special deal for him. And since then, I’ve used the motorcycle. When someone was looking for me, they would always look for the bike.
“I’ll see you at home.” Luka yelled, hitting the pedal to the metal, accompanied by the screeching of rubber on concrete. I was smirking again. The beauty of having a bike was that it could go just about any route. Luka needed to go back on the main road, I didn’t. I didn’t waste any time, pulling my helmet over my head and jumping on my baby. It wasn’t long till I was zigzagging my way onto the back roads. Trees, benches, and little park grilles zooming by, the hard wind only adding to my excitement. Zooming past one house after another on my left and passing an endless line of water on the right. For a quick moment, I contemplated the idea of heading straight for the water, and then veered more to the left, throwing the thought aside. I was going to beat Luka. Adrenaline running hard and fast only made the satisfaction of not seeing Luka’s Martin in front of the house better.

Slowing down, I got closer to the house. Looking at the two story coloninal house, brought back so many memories, the good, and the bad. In the last couple of years we changed the front of the house, going from a wall to big bay windows. The light of the morning sun always floods the living area like a cathedral. My usual workout consisted of several laps around the house. The house was big enough that I never had to spend money on a gym membership. But the fitness center inside the house also helped with the membership thing. I noticed the landscaping to the house was impeccably maintained. The round-about driveway was swept clean, not a single leaf or rubbish marking it. The bushes along the front of the house were trimmed and even, as if they were being judged in a competition. The array of red, yellow, and purple tulips were a sight to see, if their gardener were there he’d have a hard on from hell. Dad had hired a professional landscaping service because the gardener had a family emergency. His heart was open to everyone, more so for the individuals under his employ. It was one of the reasons why we had the loyalty of so many people. But loyalty also played an important part in our family business, if it wasn’t there then there was a problem. Shaking my head free of those thoughts, I heard Luka pulling up. He walked his ‘daddy-long-legs’ stride to me. The way he was walked told me he was mad. He was mad about losing.

“Ha! My baby is way faster than yours.” I stuck out my tongue at him and dodged his grasp. He quickly gave chase as I ran into the house, laughing. Jumping over the armchair by the entryway, I was able to put more distance between us.

“You cheated!” He yelled in between hard breaths. I laughed, the excitement building as the chase went on.

“There weren’t any ground rules.” I was able to put the sectional between us, finally being able to face him. The sectional was a good barrier to keep him at a distance, at the same time it gave me a couple of seconds to catch my breath. Suddenly Luka stopped, he stood up straighter. While adjusting his suit, he switched from close friend to indifferent businessman in a matter of seconds. His arms at his sides, I watched his hands clenching and unclenching into fists. His jawbone was flexing, as he ground his teeth, trying not to show his uneasiness. He glanced at my arm, and I could see the back of his neck taking on a shade of red. He wasn’t blushing, he was pissed. There was only one person who could affect an atmosphere like that.

“I didn’t think anyone else was in the house.” The voice was as cold as the person who was using it. I couldn’t help the shiver that went down my spine. I turned around, stiffly. She was my mother. In other words, she was the lady that gave birth to me. This was the only way she was called my mother. Today she was dressed in a beautiful white sundress with contrasting bright blue flowers. The dress made her look warm and welcoming, and maybe she was at some point in the past. One look into her eyes spoke volumes. The dress gave off a welcoming feeling but her eyes did the exact opposite. Her brown eyes, gave a clear warning ‘KEEP OUT!’ They were lifeless as a dead corpse with open eyes. There was a shine to her eyes, but happiness didn’t reflect in them.

“Come on. I’m done. You won. Let’s go.” Luka broke the silence, striding around the sectional, breaking the distance between us. He grabbed my good arm and the two of us walked pass my mother without saying another word.

“Be careful, if you’re taking her to the kitchen. The last time she went in there she nearly burned her arm off.” Luka’s hand was crushing my wrist. One arm was burned and the other one was soon going to need a brace. His face became as hard as stone. He didn’t turn around, merely turning his head to the side, giving my mother a deadly sideways glance.

“Be careful, Mrs. Singh. She’s my wife-to-be. Any threat towards her is a threat towards me. You and I both know that the burn on her arm was no accident.” His voice was calm and collected, there was no hesitation. The implied threat sent a shiver through my entire body. This was a rare moment from Luka. Our relationship had so many facets. I liked it when he showed his possessiveness for me. I’ve known Luka since we were kids and we were promised to each other just as long. In a sense, our marriage is a contract of peace between the two mafia families. A marriage meant both sides had something important to lose, or in this case someone. I have never seen Luka as an enemy, we have always been friends. I’ve also known he’s important me, I just haven’t figured out how much of an importance he has.

I was jolted off my train of thought, when a sharp, white hot pain lanced through my arm. My eyes watered, but I maintained a pain free expression. My mother grabbed my burned arm. The burn ran from my wrist to the crease of my arm. At the moment it was wrapped in white gauze, which was now taking on a crimson color. I could feel the ripped skin under the gauze, scrapping the holed wrapping. It made me nauseous, my gag reflex kicking in. Luka gently squeezed my wrist, reminding me I wasn’t alone.

“Be happy it was boiling water and not hot oil or grease.” She spoke quietly but loud enough for both of us to hear. She deliberately dug her long, manicured nails into the wrapping, causing me to let out a muffled cry. I tried not to let it out, only giving her a small amount of satisfaction in causing me pain. She smiled as I grimaced in pain.

“Causing you pain, brings me great satisfaction, my dear daughter. You have no idea on how much I hate you. Looking at you reminds me of all the things I’ve failed at in my life,” her voice getting colder as she spoke into my ear, “the only thing that will give me peace is the day I don’t see you anymore.”

“What’s everyone doing just standing here?” My father’s voice came from the stairs. He was making his way down towards us.

Dad! Thank God! Mother immediately released my arm, turning around she smiled at my father. As she smiled at him, I saw my dad’s eyes light up with warmth and happiness. No matter how my mother treated me, when it came to my father, she was queen to his king. She always protected him and stood by him through everything. She loved him and he loved her. It was because of moments like these, I held back on saying anything to my dad. I couldn’t be the reason for his hurt.

“Nita, sweetheart. . . . .?” My dad was calling me.

“Huh. . . .” My mind took a short picnic, I couldn’t let him see what was really going on.

“Yea dad, what’s up?” I asked, not sure what he was looking at. He looked alarmed. I followed his eyes to my arm. The gauze was no longer white. I hid my arm behind my back.

“Oh, I must have moved too much. I’ll go get this changed.” I smiled at my dad.

“I’ll help.” Luka followed me up the stairs to my room.

As Luka shut the door, he looked at me. His eyebrows scrunched and eyes filled with worry.

“You’re so exasperating sometimes.” He pulled off his suit jacket and tossed it on the bed, then made his way to my closet to pull out the first aid kit.

“I don’t understand why you won’t let your father know about what she does to you.” He pulled the vanity’s stool close to the bed, placing the plastic kit on the bedside table with a loud ‘thunk.’

“She’s my mother, Luka. I’m here because of her.” I answered. It was the only thing I could say, because it was the truth. And I loved her, no matter what she did to me. She was my mother, after all. And just because she didn’t care about me, didn’t mean she wasn’t making my father happy. She took good care of my brothers too. It didn’t matter how she treated me, as long as she took care of the people most important to me. In this world, it was good to have a fearless Amazon warrior woman in your corner, and my father had one. As long as she protected them, there wasn’t any reason to let anyone know how she treated me.

“Just because she’s your mother, doesn’t give her the right to treat you like an entertainment system created especially for her.” His voice held contempt, but his hands were gentle while he removed the gauze on my arm. He grimaced when he saw the damage. The skin was discolored and puckered, part of it hard and shiny from scabbing over. My assumption wasn’t wrong, a part of the scabbed skin was ripped, and it was still bleeding. Luka didn’t say anything, thankfully. I wasn’t sure if I could continue the conversation. He grabbed more gauze and started to cover the bleeding areas, apply pressure to help stop the bleeding. I couldn’t feel my arm anymore. It was okay, it meant I wasn’t going be feeling anything for the time being.

“The only reason she has such free reign is because your dad and brothers are completely oblivious to the things she does.” I couldn’t help the smile coming across my face. He was about to start ranting. It still was surprising, anytime I was seriously hurt because of something my mother had done, he would get on his train. His ranting shows me how important I am to him.

“I don’t know why you won’t tell them. It would solve everything for you.” The bleeding had stopped. He tossed the dirty gauze in the nearby mini gunmetal grey trash can. Reaching into the kit he pulled out the burn ointment, carefully dabbing along the burned area on my arm. I bit my lip, holding back the reaction of the ointment hitting tendered open flesh.

“How would you feel if someone told you your wife was abusive to your child?” I asked, as he slowly started wrapping my arm in fresh clean gauze. He was focused on the placement of the gauze, overlapping a new round, half way over the last one.

“First of all, you’re going to be my wife. Second of all, with that being said, I know you would never do something that heinous.” He finished wrapping the gauze and was now looking for the waterproof tape to seal the wrap. I reached for the drawer on the night side table and pulled it out, handing it to him.

“You seem so confident about me being your wife, Luka. Sometimes I wonder if that’s how things will work out.” It was the truth, with everything on constant high alert I wasn’t sure if I would survive long enough for it to happen.

“Why does she hate you so much?” He asked looking me in the eyes. I always avoided the question, but today I wanted to answer it. He needed to know, we were soon going to be married and I couldn’t keep avoiding it.

“She hates me because I’m a girl. . . . .and because I was born first. When I was born she was taunted by my dad’s family for having a girl first. They constantly hurt her and made her feel as if she was worthless. It’s a disgrace for a woman to have a daughter first, my dad’s family prided themselves in having a son first. Sons move the family line along. . . . . . . . . .Because of me, she was always disrespected and demeaned. She blames me for all her suffering. But what bothers her most is. . . . . . . .despite the fact that my aunts, uncles and grandparents would always taunt her for having a girl, they put that same girl on a diamond pedestal. My aunts and uncles have always showed me so much love and care. My grandparents have always showered me with gifts and things. While they mistreated my mother, they treated the source of the mistreatment with such care. . . . . . .” meeting his gaze, I found astonishment greet me, “when I put myself in my mother’s shoes, I don’t blame her for her actions.” Most people wouldn’t understand why it wasn’t good to have a daughter first. Luka, who came from a Spanish background, did. Most cultures outside of American prided having sons first. Sons were the breadwinners. They added to the family line. While daughters came out of the womb belonging to someone else, they were given away. Sons are the ones who bring one home. I didn’t have to explain it to Luka, he understood.

“Well . . . . .I still don’t think it condones what she does. . . . . . . . .” he looked away. I couldn’t help leaning my forehead against his forehead.

“Part of me didn’t want to tell you because I liked the protectiveness you showed me. I didn’t want to lose your protectiveness.” I told him honestly. When I was with him, I knew nothing could hurt me.

“As long as I’m here,” he pulled me into his lap, I wrapped my arms around his neck, “you don’t have worry about anything. I will always protect you.” He vowed, I heard it in his voice. He wasn’t taking this promise lightly.

“My point is, no one what’s to find out the person they love is doing hideous things to their own flesh and blood. . . . .I’m protecting my father and brothers, not her. As long as they’re oblivious, they’re safe from hurt.”

“What happens when they find out on their own?” He countered.

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.” I answered, but I already knew the answer. When the time came, I would have to disappear. Protecting my father and brothers was the most important factor. I needed to protect them from the hurt the truth would bring them. There was no problem, if the source of the problem wasn’t there. But Luka didn’t have to know that now.

Notes