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Chapter Five The stereo was tuned to Radio One and the sounds of the latest number one record filled Justin’s usually quiet study. It was always the same when Jasmine spent the evening with him. She liked music – a lot. She was the only person he knew who went to a live gig at least once a month. She’d even taken Justin once. To a club in the next village along, late one Friday night. Justin remembered the smell of university students desperate to get off their faces, and the sound of smashed glass as the singer got pelted with a bottle halfway through his set. He ended up in hospital and Justin vowed never again to attend a gig. Music was not a big part of his life. He liked what he heard on the radio but very rarely bought CD’s. He had more important things to do than worry over who was the new in rocker. Jasmine could always whisper him the answer if he ever needed to know it, anyway. She was lying on her stomach now, chin cupped in her hands, legs swung up behind her and a smile on her lips. Justin sat opposite her. They were playing cards. Hearts was the game and Justin was winning. Rightly so, too. He played if often enough on his laptop; he was practically an expert. Jasmine was landed with the Queen of Spades yet again. “Aww,” she groaned, “why do I always get lumbered with this bitch?” Justin giggled. He loved it when Jasmine threw in a mild curse in her sentences. Strong language he did not appreciate but a harmless word such as bitch was not a problem. “I guess you’re just a bad player,” he mumbled with a smile. Jasmine threw him a warning glance and then laughed, ruining the threat. The door swung open behind and he turned, no trace of a smile left. His eyes were cold and narrowed down with hatred. When he saw it was his mother intruding on his space, his gaze turned sour. |
“Try knocking!” he snapped, infuriated that she would have the nerve to just barge in on his personal space. As if his rights meant nothing, as if he wasn’t a worthy member of the family.
“You wouldn’t have heard me anyway,” his mother replied. The soft V sound that sounded every time she pronounced a W made Justin’s skin crawl. He could barely stand to look at her made-up face, never mind listen to her grating German accent. “What are you doing in here?” she asked. Justin watched as her eyes swung from he to Jasmine. Checking to see if they were both properly dressed, if any greedy, horny hands had been tearing at cloth. Justin felt his blood turn cold. “Locked away together for all this time,” she continued. “What is it that you do tonight?” With a sigh, Justin dropped his playing cards and went to stand by the window. He let the inky black night caress his back, folding his arms over his chest, watching Jasmine. Instead of growing angry too, Jasmine threw Justin a glance that said he should be more polite to their mother. He ground his teeth angrily together. Why couldn’t she just stand up for him? Was she that worried about their parents turning on her too? Was she really that selfish? “We’re playing cards, Mamma,” Jasmine said, sitting up. Their mother took in the cards on the floor but did not look convinced. Justin rolled his eyes away again. Although his mother had every right to be suspicious, the fact that he and Jasmine had not been intimate since before Jason’s birth made Justin believe she was being disrespectful for even suspecting. Jason was nearing his first birthday. That was a long time. It almost made their past times together irrelevant. “Where is Rhydian?” Justin’s head snapped back towards the two women in his life. The question had of course come from his mother. Had she said it to deliberately hurt Justin? To show him that Jasmine had a lover and he, Justin, could not take his place? What did the old woman know anyway? Nothing! She did not know how superficial Rhydian and Jasmine’s relationship was. And she certainly didn’t know how little Jasmine cared for Rhydian. Justin knew. He knew everything his sister was thinking and feeling – even when she didn’t confide in him. |