Captive Revenge

1.

Miran watched the Demir mansion from the roof of the Ashok hotel, watching the city like an eagle in it’s nest. Below in the mansion’s courtyard was a family having lunch. Six siblings and their mother; all talking over each other and rudely reaching over the table as large families do. The eldest daughter Ruya, was in her early twenties, but her siblings were much younger; all under the age of fourteen.

Next to Miran, Azat shifted and picked at the lint on his sleeve out of boredom. He was not as enthralled by this family or Ruya as Miran was. His best friend had long held a torch for the beautiful redhead. This surveillance of the family was a daily occurrence, with the aim of finally procuring Miran the object of his desires.

“Where is Hakan right now?” Miran asked without lowering the binoculars.

“Still not home from last night.” Azat replied. “Probably too ashamed to come home and tell his wife how much he lost.”

“How close are we to serving the papers?”

“Any day now.” He said. “All the construction contracts Demir Holdings had have been cancelled for a month. Ozgul called in the promisary note three days ago, and Hakan hasn’t been able to secure more than a few thousand in financing. He’s been selling off shares he has in anything to keep the family afloat, but the idiot keeps gambling like he has money to spend.”

“Does the wife know?” Miran asked.

“Melike knows there’s trouble. But she doesn’t know about the lien on the house.” Azat answered.

“Excellent.” Miran smirked. “I want them backed against the wall.”

“Miran,” Azat said with a troubled frown. “Aren’t you worried about the family you’re ruining? There’s five other children to consider.”

“Don’t worry Azat.” Miran said, prying the binoculars from his face to look at his right hand man. “As soon as I have Ruya, I’ll take the pressure off. I’ll even ban Hakan from the card halls.”

“I worry this won’t go well.”

“It doesn’t have to, as long as I get what I want.”

“How could you do this Hakan?!” Melike shouted. “I’m your wife! I have to find out from a process server that we’re losing our home?! How did you let this happen?”

Hakan didn’t look up. He held his head in his hands, tears spotting the stone below him as he listened to his furious wife berate him.

“It’s the gambling again, isn’t it?” She continued. Meanwhile their children heard it all from various spots in the house.

Ruya held in her own tears, trying to stay strong for her younger siblings. Their future was bleak. If they were kicked out of their home, they would have nowhere to go. Possibly their grandparents could take them in, but they would all have to sleep in one room if that were the case.

A small sniffle alerted Ruya to another presence in the hallway where she was eavesdropping. She turned to find Mina standing behind her, starting to cry. “No no no,” She shushed her sister and scooped her up before her parents could be disturbed. “Don’t cry Mi-mi. Everything is okay.” She told her calmly.

“But mama’s yelling.” Mina sniffled as a tear ran down her chubby little cheek.

“Mama’s yelling, but I’m not.” Ruya told her as she carried her towards her bedroom. “And who is here with you?”

“You are?”

“That’s right, I’m here.” Ruya said and wiped a tear from Mina’s cheek.

“Ruya, can we clay?” Mina asked.

“It’s too late. You should be asleep by now.” Ruya said. “If we clay now, you’ll have to have another bath before you go to bed.”

“I won’t get dirty.” Mina insisted.

“You will too. Clay is messy.” Ruya said firmly.

“I just want to watch.” Mina begged. “Please please please?”

“Hm.” Ruya thought. “You promise you won’t touch anything?”

“Promise.”

“Well, ok, but tired or not - you go to sleep after. Deal?” She proposed.

“Deal!” Mina said excitedly. Ruya put her down and took her hand. Together they went downstairs to where Ruya’s pottery studio was set up. She set the child up in a comfy armchair, where Ruya usually would sit and sketch out her designs. Then she went to work at the pottery wheel.

After twenty minutes or so of watching the clay go around the wheel hypnotically, Mina was sound asleep in the chair. Ruya decided to finish up her current project before disrupting the child. She continued to smooth out the vase she had built, hoping it would be more than decorative to some potential buyer. She didn’t have a full time job, as her mother needed help with so many children, but she made some money from her pottery - and she waitressed on the weekends. It wasn’t the future she had envisioned, but she also didn’t know what that future was. When working the clay on her wheel, she finally felt in control, knowing what the end goal would look like.

“Ruya?” Her mother’s voice said from the doorway. “It’s late honey - what on earth is Mina doing down here?”

“Your argument woke her.” Ruya said softly, not wanting to wake her sister again.

Melike sat down on the arm of the chair defeatedly. “You heard?”

“Hard not to.” Ruya observed blankly. “Mama, are we going to be okay?”

A tear filled Melike’s eye at the question from her adult daughter, from whom she could hide nothing. “I don’t know honey. I wish I could say. But I really don’t know.”