Prologue
PROLOGUE
I was always the obedient child, the calm and principled one. I don’t care about fame or social status like my brothers. My goals were simple: become a doctor, build a good life, and marry the woman I love.
That’s it, no hassle. But you see, life had other plans. Sometimes, people do hurtful things to you that can ruin your whole life, take years of labor from you, and turn you into the very person you detest.
My father once told me that being a saint will get me nowhere. Being nice, especially as a guy, won’t save me from injustice. Playing fair? That’s even worse. I wasn’t a saint. I believed in good morals and sound principles, but my father thinks I’m plain stupid.
His motto had always been ’Trust nothing and no one, not even your heart. If it fails, you’ll die.’ Today, I was about to die. My heart had failed, and I was rasping for breath as I ran my eyes over the small gathering in the living room. My knees were bleeding from the multiple scratches I got when the cops dragged me barefoot from my bedroom to the house beside ours. I had thought this was over two days ago, when her mother caught me in her bedroom. My dad had sprawled me on the couch and whipped my bare ass. My mum had cried, and my brothers had kicked me in the balls six times, saying it was better they cut off my nuts than I hurt another girl with it.
I did not do it.
I did not hurt her, I did not even touch her. Why can’t no one understand that? Why didn’t they believe me?
The officer tased me a fourth time, and I let out an agonizing scream. My screams were not from the pain of electrocution, they were from staring at the girl I had trusted my life with. She was pointing a finger at me and muttering words I couldn’t bring myself to believe.
I looked to my mother. “Mum, I didn’t do it. Tell them!’’ I yelled. She did not even look at me. Her eyes were red and swollen. She had a cloth over her mouth, her lips quivering. My shoulders dropped, then I whipped my head toward my father. He had the usual distant look on his face, he seemed too calm for a situation like this. I’m two steps away from spending the rest of my life behind bars, and he was acting like this was another business deal he was about to reject.
“You said you wanted evidence for my claim. Am I right, Mr. Markov?”
My father nodded.
I was looking back and forth. From my father to my mum, to her and her mother.
She turned to her daughter, giving her shoulder a soft squeeze. “Go on, dear. Tell them everything he did to you that night.”
My teeth clattered as I stared at her. She didn’t look at me, how could she? Her fingers were trembling, the same went for her shoulders. “Rav-” I stuttered.
“Keep your mouth shut, boy,” one police officer threatened, grabbing my shoulders.
“Go on, he can’t hurt you.’’ Her mother urged.
My eyes were beginning to burn; she won’t lie. I know she won’t. We’ve come too far for her to do this to me. I waited, and after a few seconds, she opened her mouth to speak. “He…he came into my room through the window way past midnight. I didn’t raise an alarm because he was my friend, and I thought maybe he fought with his brothers again.”
Friend?
I blinked away the moisture that was forming in my eyes. “You don’t have to do this?” I scowled, fighting to free myself from the handcuffs. “If your mum is making you do this, say so. Don’t be-’’
I was thrown to the floor before I could finish that sentence, then a blow landed on my face. I growled, my jaw twitching from the impact.
“If you utter another word, young man, you’ll receive a taser shock to your backside.” “I know what you’re trying to do. You can’t manipulate her with your words, even if you try. So do us a favor and shut the hell up.”
I didn’t say a word after that.
Her voice echoed in the living room. “He made me lie on the bed and say we were going to play a game of sticks and stones. Then he tied me to the bed and stuffed napkins in my mouth. He took off my clothes and…. and.”
I groaned, my voice barely audible.
No, that’s not what happened.
I had my face to the ground, the first tear sliding down my cheeks. I don’t even want to look up; I don’t want to see her face. My chest was burning, and I could barely breathe.
“I…I tried telling him to stop, that it hurt, but he…” She started wailing, and I had to look up to see if it was real or not. Her mother pressed her against her chest as she sobbed.
“You heard what my daughter said… your filthy son has traumatized my child.” Her mother screamed, her piercing gaze pinning me in place. She had never liked me. I should have kept my distance from the start.
I should have remained the introverted kid in the neighborhood.
I should have …
I should have …
Crap! Crap! Crap!
I forced myself to my feet the next second. “She set you up for this, didn’t she? She forced you to do this, right?” I hurled, refusing to let the cops manhandle me to the floor again. Now I wished I had listened to my mum and eaten more eggs instead of those stupid cereals and grown more muscles. I hate the way I was being tossed around so easily, with little strength to fight back. I hate how powerless I was.
“Look at me, Raven!” I raged, my voice breaking at each word. Does it not matter to her that my freedom depended on her words? That I might be locked up forever because of what she said. My heart was hammering in my chest, making my chest wall contract and send waves of pain down my muscles.
Her mother tossed a brown envelope onto the table, still gripping her weeping daughter to her chest. “Those are the forensic results along with all the hospital tests we did. If you still believe we are laying false allegations against your son, then here-’’ she pulled her daughter to the center of the living room and dragged down her top, exposing her shoulders. “Look at these bruises.”
She lifted her skirt, exposing a considerable amount of her thighs bruised with red marks. “This is what your son did, Travis. Photos of the injuries she sustained to her genitals are in that envelope,” she seethed. “She’s my only child, and I’m a single mother. I don’t forgive anyone who hurts my family. Take that pedophile of a son you have to the place he belongs.”
Pedophile? I’m just nineteen.
I’m confused about what’s going on here. How did she even get those bruises?
I wanted to say something, to defend myself, but I couldn’t utter a word. I remained there, on my knees, my vision blurred from all the moisture that had formed in my eyes. I was staring at her, hoping our gazes would collide so she could look me in the eye and tell me I did all she said, but she didn’t lift her gaze, not even once.
My father finally spoke after going through the test results and whatever was in that envelope. “I’ll handle him as long as we settle everything quietly.”
I turned to face my father. “You believe her over me?” Pain shot through my chest, and my pulse quickened.
He didn’t even look at me. If you cannot let any word about this out, then…
She shook her head. “No, I won’t stay silent on this, Travis. Your son has to be punished, and that, so publicly. We must go to court!” she demanded, and the color drained out of my face.
“Dad, please…hear me out. That’s not what happened.” I choked. He ignored me, discussing with the others what they were going to do to me. They were not listening to me.
I turned to my mother again; she was already crying. “Mum, please believe me. I did not come home that night, but I…”
“Killian!” my father barked, and I flinched. Then he turned to look at me. What I saw in his eyes terrified me. “Don’t. Speak. Another. Word.”
I gulped, my muscles trembling.
They continued discussing what they were going to do to me, each word and sentence sending tremors down my spine. I was shaking like a wet leaf. At some point, it all started getting blurry, and the next time I got up from my knees, the cops dragged me out of the living room. I heard them saying I was going to spend a lot of time in Fox River State Penitentiary. Fox River was in Illinois; that’s more than a thousand miles from home.
What’s going to happen to me?
I raised my eyes again to stare at her and engrave every detail of the face of the girl I had planned a future with. The girl I had shared my first kiss with, the girl who had been my best friend since I was a boy, the girl who had told me she would always be mine till death.
One thing was for sure: I would be back, and I would remember this day. I will remember her.
‘Trust nothing and no one, not even your heart. If it fails, you’ll die.’
She was my heart.
