Page 98 of Scarred King

Liam turns to me and kisses me gently on the lips.

“What will we do with these two?” The amused German accent makes me smile in relief, and Liam continues looking at me until he finally turns around. We both look at Ralph who’s holding the two other guys. They look at us in terror.

“Scarface…” the first one mutters. “And the crazy German…” the other replies and shivers. “Nobody will believe us.” The first one rubs his eyes and then nervously opens them wide. “Wait, you must be the Duchess everyone is talking about.”

“Actually, I would like to hear what they're saying about you on the other side of the country,” Ralph laughs and pushes them forward. “Sit!” he orders, and they obey like obedient children. I go to the sink and pour my mother a glass of water. She sips from the glass cautiously and looks at me as if I'm a stranger. I stroke her head and Liam stands behind me hugging me tight.

“Well…” Ralph says to the men angrily and takes out a pack of cigarettes. He lights one and throws the pack on the table. “Tell us what they say about her.”

They look at each other fearfully and the tattooed man starts talking. “They say that she was alone at the bar when the Russians came. That she invited one of them to go upstairs with her and as soon as he took his clothes off, she pulled a pocketknife out of her panties and castrated him.”

“Good God!” I whisper and Liam lays his hand on my mouth. I fall silent and he moves his hand to stroke my hair.

“What else?” Ralph asks with a straight face.

“They say that then the French came,” the other says excitingly, “and they found her doing voodoo with, you know, what she cut off from the Russian.”

“Interesting,” Ralph stifles a smile. “And what happened with the Italians?”

“Oh, the Italians went to war because of her.” The first one is speaking again, as excitingly as the second. “When they came, she was already insane. She stabbed the younger son's hand to the table and she spat on the father.”

“Nice,” Ralph sums it all up, and I see my mother swaying in her chair, about to faint. “It's all true, but whoever told you that left out some really horrible things that the Duchess did. They probably felt sorry for you. Duchess, would you like to show them?” He turns to me with a smile that shows his white teeth and I step out of Liam’s embrace and walk over to him.

I look at them with wide, crazy eyes and they cringe backward. “Leave it,” I tell him dryly, “they’re not worth wasting my energy. Even though, like I always say, energy isn’t wasted, it’s just transf—”

Ralph coughs and cuts me off. “Now tell me what they say about me.” He puffs his cigarette calmly and they look terrified.

“They say that you’re a crazy German,” the tattooed one says and lowers his gaze to the floor.

“That's all?” Ralph asks in disappointment. He bends down, pulls the knife out of the dead guy lying on the floor and scratches an ‘X’ into the forehead of the tattooed man. The guy starts screaming in terror and Ralph does the same thing to the other guy, who also starts screaming. “Just a crazy German is good, isn’t it?” he asks Liam.

“It’s very good,” Liam nods seriously and Ralph wrinkles up his forehead and thinks.

“Alright, I believe you know what will happen if one hair of this lovely lady's hair falls off,” he winks at my mother and she smiles back proudly.

“And young,” she adds with a burst of self-confidence.

“This lovely, young lady,” Ralph says and looks at her strangely. “And that means that now you are also responsible for her safety. Do we understand each other?”

They nod repeatedly and Ralph kicks the dead man. “Take this garbage out and come back every day to take her garbage to the curb.”

They jump out of their chairs, pick up the body and start to leave. Just before they do, the tattooed man turns around and lowers his head respectfully. “Thank you, thank you!” he exclaims emotionally.

38

My mother serves coffee to Liam and Ralph while I scrub the brown floor tiles that are tinged red. I remove my leopard-fur cloak and drape it over a chair.

“Hang it up properly,” my mother scolds and I roll my eyes and do as she says. I pour another bucket of water on the floor and continue to scrub the bloodstains with a broom. My mother sits down between Liam and Ralph and the three of them watch me quietly.

“I think I should thank you,” my mother says as she places a paper napkin by each cup.

“It’s all good,” Liam says dismissively and sips his coffee. He moves the napkin and watches my mother curiously as she immediately replaces it. He nods to himself.

“Come on, let’s get out of this dump,” Ralph loses his patience suddenly. “They must be massacring us there, and here we are sitting and drinking stinking coffee.”

I finish mopping the floor and stand before them, wiping the beads of sweat from my forehead. “I can’t leave my mother here alone.”

“You have to come with us,” Liam smiles at me. “The truce is over. You’re not safe here and you’re putting her in danger as well.”

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