Revenge to The Devil - Chapter 98

I awoke the next morning to a knocking at my door. I slipped out of bed, threw on my housecoat, and went to the door. “Who is it?” I wondered.

“It’s the police,” came the response. “We are investigating the case of Jonathan Li. Please open the door.”

I opened the door and invited the officers into my living room and asked them to sit down. I brought coffee out, sat down, and waited for the interrogation to begin.

“My name is Jake,” the first officer said, “and this is Able.”

Jake offered his hand to shake but I just looked at it like it was an STD that he was just anxious to share. “What do you want?” I wondered. My voice was calm; neither friendly or unfriendly.

“Can you tell me about the relationship between you and the deceased, Jonathan Li?” Jake wondered.

“It was good!” I replied.

“Then why did you go abroad for less than a month after your undocumented marriage?” Jake said. “And why did you live apart for two whole years?”

I looked Jake in the eyes and said, “We fought; a misunderstanding.”

“What was the misunderstanding about?” Able wandered – speaking for the first time. It was a tag team match now, I realized, except I was alone. I realized that I should have a lawyer. The only thing was though, I suspect that these two were acting outside their roles as police officers.

“He thought I was cheating,” I replied.

“If you went with Jonathan, but separated due to a misunderstanding after a couple of months,” Able wondered, “why did you stay in England?”

“He wasn’t the only reason that I went,” I replied. “I was also there to study.”

“Then why did you return?” Jake hissed.

“I signed a record deal here,” I replied, “which was what ended up bringing me and Jonathan back together. We met at a release party and got back together.”

“Did Jonathan ever **** you?” Jake asked.

“I don’t know what you mean,” I replied.

“Yes you do,” Jake snapped.

“I’ve been with him since I was nine years old,” I said, “and he has always treated me good. I love him. He is the best man in the world!”

“What’s up with you and Troy?” Able wondered. “The two of you have been seen together a lot lately.”

I resisted the urge to throw my tea in her face. “Troy has been my friend,” I sighed. “He kept me from hurting myself when I most wanted to hurt myself.”

Jake frowned and said, “How long have you known Troy?”

“Many years,” I replied, “but we were never close until recently.”

“How was his relationship with Jonathan?” Able shouted.

“They were close as brothers,” I replied. “Why are you asking all of these questions?” I wondered. “Have you found Jonathan’s killer?”

Suddenly Steven walked through the kitchen and into the living room. “Brother,” I gasped, “What are you doing here?”

“I heard about what happened to Jonathan,” he replied, “and I heard that you are pregnant, so I came to see if you were okay and if you needed any help.” Steven looked around the room and asked why the police were there.

I looked him in the eye and said, “I don’t know, but it feels like this nightmare will never end. I am considering moving back to Europe.”

“Ok, I’ll take you away!” Steven said as he turned to the policeman and said, “I’m sorry, she needs to relax…. She is not as calm as she seems. Desiree has been like this since childhood. Even if she looks okay, she often isn’t…”

Able looked at Steven and said, “Are you, Steven Luo? The boy that Jonathan Li adopted?”

“I am,” Steven admitted.

“I see!” Jake said. “We are out of questions. I’m sorry to have interrupted your rest.”

When I finally left for England with Steven, even Lisa hugged me and said, “Desiree, I wish you nothing but the best of luck!”

“God’s will…” I laughed. After everything, I had finally discerned the meaning of the tale of the fish and the hedgehog, and I broke out in gales of laughter. Steven saw me and he asked if I was alright. I said that I was and I promised to tell him on the way to England.

When we arrived, we were all surprised to discover that Troy had split. We had no idea where he’d gone, but he’d left enough money to keep us going for at least a decade. One day soon, I knew that we would hear of his demise. Of course, we would all mourn his death but, perhaps, I would be a little less sad that the rest of them.

Three weeks later, my hypothesis was proven and stories and speculations began to spread like wildfire. In one variation, it was said that Troy had killed Jonathan and then, out of guilt, he had taken his own life. Curiously, most of the stories involved suicide. Lisa thought that Troy died for love, which I found interesting. I asked her about it and she said, “Troy and Jonathan were both homosexuals. They knew that no one would accept that, so they faked their deaths and are living together happily in some foreign country.”

Lisa mistook the look of shock on my face as a look of pain. “You mustn’t think about it,” she said. “You know how the rumor mill runs. Next thing you know they’ll be saying that Troy was abducted by aliens. As it is, even his death is a rumor. People like a good story and this could be one…”

“It’s fine,” I sighed. “Life goes on, bra…”

“Desiree” Lisa urged me, “don’t take it seriously.”

“How can I be serious?” I laughed. “It is all a joke.”

I took her hand and said, “It has been very good talking to you, but I have another matter that I need to attend too. Please excuse me!”

Lisa looked a tad bit put out when I took off laughing. As soon as I was out of Lisa’s hearing, I pulled out my phone and dialed Jonathan’s number. The phone rang a few times and, when Jonathan answered, he was out of breath. Is everything alright?” he wondered.

“Can’t I call you when I am fine?” I wondered. “Or must everything be an emergency?”

“No,” he sighed. “It is just that we just spoke ten minutes ago…”

“I can’t get enough of your voice,” I said. “I miss you terribly. You sound out of breath though. What are you up to?”

“I’ve been shadow-boxing with Troy,” he replied.

“Are you telling me the truth?” I wondered. It doesn’t sound like shadow-boxing? Never mind that though. When are we going to finally be together?”

“A month,” he replied. “I’m not sure if anyone is following you or not, and I can’t come for you until it is safe. I will pick you up when it is.”

“It has been so long already!” I complained. “I miss you so much!”

“Weren’t you there for two years the last time?” He wondered.

“It’s different now!” I replied. “Everything is different when you’re pregnant!”

“What do you mean?” Jonathan wondered. “Are you pregnant?”

“I am,” I laughed, “and your son is eager to see his father.”

“Son?” Jonathan gasped and, before I could make another sound, he said, “Pack everything up. I’ll arrange someone to pick you up tomorrow. They will have a new passport and your death will have been fake by tomorrow evening.”

“Tomorrow?” I gasped.

“Yes!” he replied excitedly. Of course, I knew that it was the baby that he wanted to see and not me, but I am determined to push it out of my mind.

In the background, I could hear Jonathan complaining to Troy about the fact that he hadn’t told him about the baby. Of course, Troy claimed that he hadn’t known. They had been friends for too long though and Jonathan could see right through his lies.

After I hung up the phone, I pack up immediately. After that, I wrote a letter to Steven telling him that I would be going into hiding and not to worry.

I finally got to Australia where the sky and sea were there waiting for me, as was Troy and Jonathan, and I smiled. I just knew that we would be safe. We would be able to go out in public together and not have to worry. Australia. It was said that this was the place to go if you truly wanted to disappear.

I ran up to Jonathan and jumped into his arms. “Wait until we get home,” he said. “I have a big surprise for you!”

It took five hours to get where we were going and we never once ran out of things to talk about. When we finally got there, I was exhausted but, what I found when I opened the door caused me to wake up quickly. We were at a church and I could hear wedding music coming from it through the windows.

There was a small audience and they applauded my entrance. Step after step, I made my way to the front. Jonathan pulled a diamond ring out of his pocket, fell to one knee, and asked me to marry him. Looking around, I finally understood why Jonathan had been putting off my arrival. He had been working hard to make my arrival special.

I looked him in the eye and at first, I didn’t know what to say. Finally, I laughed. I kissed him on the lips and said, “I would love to marry you. It would be a dream come true.”

At my words, a priest stepped out of the audience and joined them on the stage. He had a bible in his hands and he read from it. About halfway through the reading though, a curious smile lit their faces. They were both thinking about the fish and the hedgehog, and they both knew it.

THE END