Primal Nature

by Monique Singleton

  ‘What’s the celebration?’ Dulce asked.

  ‘I have great news.’ Alex radiated happiness. The hairs on Tonal’s back began to tingle. She had a sense of déjà vu and dread.

  ‘She said yes!’ Alex exclaimed. Dulce looked at Tonal, a puzzled blank look in her face.

  ‘Who and why?’

  Laughing her brother continued ‘Salina of course silly. I proposed, and she said yes!’

  Tonal placed her glass on the table next to the sofa, the champagne untouched. Her dread was now confirmed. Dulce took the other option and put the glass to her lips and drank deeply, anything not to have to react to the news.

  Alex waited for the ecstatic reactions he expected to his fantastic news. He was elated that Salina had consented to be his wife and he wanted no more than to share his joy with the two people closest to him. But their reaction to his announcement was not what he had expected or desired. The silence was painful. Understanding crept in and pushed his elation back and out.

  Slowly he lowered his glass, the smile fading from his face. Alex observed the two women who had always been the most important people in his life until Salina had stepped into his world. ‘You could at least congratulate me’ he said. His enthusiasm vanishing. ‘It’s a fantastic step. I’m getting married’ desperately trying to keep hold of his feelings of joy, trying to lighten the black mood that had descended on them following his declaration.

  ‘Yeah, congratulations Bro.’ Dulce said half-heartedly and totally unconvincingly. Not raising her head to avoid looking in her brother’s eyes.

  Alex turned his face to Tonal. Almost pleading her to be as ecstatic about the news as he was. Or at least to pretend—for his sake.

  ‘I can’t.’ Tonal answered his unspoken request. ‘It’s too soon, you can’t be sure.’

  Throwing his glass on the floor he stood up, anger replaced his initial joy. ‘Why not?’ He demanded ‘How long we’ve known each other is irrelevant. She is my life. Salina is the one I want to spend the rest of my days with. I love her, more than anything else in the world, and she loves me.’

  ‘Does she?’ Tonal spoke the unspoken.

  ‘What?’ Alex turned on her. She remained quiet and calm in the sofa. ‘Of course she does.’ Disbelief clouding his mind ‘How can you doubt that? You see how she is, you see how she loves me. Can’t you just be happy for me. I have finally found the one and you both seem to resent that. Don’t you want me to be happy?’

  ‘Of course, we do’ Dulce answered

  ‘She’s not what she seems.’ Tonal said softly. ‘She has an agenda, and you are just part of it—the next step on her ladder.’ She was painfully aware of how much she was hurting Alex with her words but had decided there was no way back now that the subject was out in the open. ‘I want you to be happy Alex, more than anything, but she’s not the one. She’s using you. Open your eyes, take a really good look at who she is and what she wants.’

  Instead Alex’s eyes closed to slits, his face contorted in anger. ‘I knew this would happen. For most of my life you were the centre of my world. The only love in my life. My reason to breathe. But you rebuked me, refused me. And now that I finally have someone else—you’re jealous.’ He paused ‘Well you’ve had your chance. Now it’s too late.’

  ‘I’m not jealous Alex. I care for you, I don’t want to see you hurt.’

  ‘That’s a joke’ he was shouting now. ‘You’re the one who’s been hurting me, now and for so long. Never allowing me to be happy. I was never good enough for you. Well I don’t need you anymore. If you resent the happiness I’ve found, then you are even more pathetic that I thought. You’re not capable of love and resent others who are.’

  His words cut her to the bone. Her healing powers useless on the burning pain that was inflicted by her best friend.

  ‘Alex, please’ Dulce tried. But he turned on her.

  ‘You… you could at least try to like her. But no, you have to follow her example’ pointing at Tonal, ‘Think for yourself for once, instead of being her shadow. I took care of you all your life, sacrificed everything, now it’s my turn. If you can’t be happy for me then damn you, both of you.’ Tears blurred Dulce’s vision. She had never seen her brother so angry.

  ‘Alex’ Tonal tried. ‘Salina has a bad influence on you, you’re not yourself.’

  ‘Bad influence?’ he shouted, his face turning red. ‘She gave me a direction in life. She has shown me my destiny. Given me the strength to take on the burden that has been placed on my shoulders. How can that be a bad influence?’

  ‘You never wanted to be the President’ Tonal continued softly. ‘You were content to leave that to the revolutionary leaders—to Jesus. Your ambition was to help the people, never for your own gain. Now you’re blinded by ambition and your ego. It has nothing to do with your ideals anymore, only personal gain—yours and Salina’s.’ Standing up she moved to Alex and placed a hand on his arm. He shrugged it off violently and moved away from her. ‘You never wanted material things Alex, now you squander money like water. What the hell do you need three race cars for, or this stupid palace?’ Her temper was showing.

  ‘Why shouldn’t I?’ Alex ranted. ‘I sacrificed forty years—the best years of my life—for the cause. I’ve earned it. I brought peace, I killed the tyrants, I freed the masses. Why shouldn’t I reap the rewards? What’s wrong with that?’

  ‘That’s not you talking Alex. That’s Salina. She’s a creature of comfort and power. She’s changed you. Made you forget yourself, your ideals. She’s dangerous’.

  Alex spun around and stared at Tonal. A vicious smile on his lips ‘Dangerous?’ he whispered. ‘That’s a good one coming from you.’ The contempt in his voice was burning a hole in Tonal’s heart. ‘Dangerous… It looks like I have a fascination for dangerous women.’ He walked over to her, his face close to hers. ‘Is she more dangerous than you? No. I think not.’

  Tonal didn’t answer, but the truth was screaming at her in the silence.

  Alex sat down on the sofa. ‘You should leave’ he ordered.

  Dulce stood up, placed her glass on the table and walked to the door. ‘We will speak later’ she tried.

  ‘No’ he answered. ‘You misunderstand me. If you can’t support me and Salina—my future wife—then there is no place for you in my life. Or here at the capitol for that matter.’

  ‘You want us to go away?’ Dulce was flabbergasted. This could not be true. She had been with Alex her whole life. They had shared good and bad times. Surely this would not shatter all that.

  ‘Only if you continue to oppose me.’ he answered, pushing home the figurative but oh so painful sword that was dangerously near her heart. ‘Join me and be happy or leave, the choice is yours.’

  Dulce fled the room in tears

  ‘Do you even see what you are doing? What the result is of your obsession with this woman. She’ll corrupt you Alex. She has already started. You’re pushing away everyone who really cares for you. Everyone who can advise you, can help you lead this country to a good and prosperous future. If that is really what you want to do.’

  ‘She said you would react like this.’ Alex had refilled his glass and drank it in one gulp. Holding the bottle with his other hand. ‘I hoped that she was wrong, but she had you down to the smallest detail. Your jealousy, your so-called love and caring. You’re in no position to talk about her that way. For years I have followed your counsel and that of the others, and what has it brought me: a lot of pain and loss and nothing to my name. No wife and family, no possessions. Well now it’s my turn. And if you can’t live with that, then fuck you.’

  She turned and walked to the door.

  ‘You’re becoming a liability anyway—what you are.’ He added. ‘Your use has come to an end. Go back to the jungle.’

  Despite her resolution she felt the tears in the corner of her eyes. The last comment dismissed her entirely from his life. Shattering the last vestige of the intimate family connection she had felt with
Alex and his kin for so many years. Her best friend in the world had voiced his opinion. She was a freak and of nu use to him anymore.

  Closing the door behind her back, she left the building.

  From behind the drapes Salina emerged and walked over to Alex. ‘My love’ she cooed as she took his face in her hands. ‘I am so sorry for you.’ Alex held her tight, his head on her shoulder. ‘You did the right thing my Presidente’ she continued ‘It will hurt now, but they have done that. You had to get rid of them. Now we can be together and happy. It pains me to see you so hurt. I wish I could undo the anguish. But it is not of my doing.’

  His head pressed close to her body, Alex failed to see the smile and barely contained bliss on her face. At last she had managed to get the staunchest opposition out of the way. She had thought about an assassination but disregarded the possibility because of the danger. It worked out so much better that the decision had come from Alex, or so he thought. Now she could work on her dreams. Make sure that she got what she deserved. The revolutionary leaders couldn’t oppose Alex’s claim to the Presidency. He was too popular with the people. Alex and his beautiful and loving wife—the perfect pair.

  She could handle the leaders. They were men. The biggest danger had been the strange woman who had such a strong hold on Alex. She had needed all her powers of persuasion and seduction to convince him that Tonal had played him all this time. That she was pathologically jealous and incapable of love. There was no way back for him now. All she had to do was keep him convinced that he was better off without his advisers. That he should listen to her.

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN

  Two weeks later, they were married in an un-heard of extravaganza, Salina materialised out of almost thin air in a radiant white dress of silk and diamonds. No expense had been spared. Alex had sold it to the people as the end of a dark era and the celebration of a new life for everyone.

  Jesus and the other leaders had reluctantly agreed to the spectacle, faced with the ultimatum of Alex’s wrath, and being somewhat sympathetic to his argument that he had earned some recognition. The absence of Dulce and Tonal was felt by all of them. Alex had spun a tale that to himself seemed believable. But to Jesus, it sounded fabricated. He couldn’t believe that Tonal had threatened Salina’s life out of jealousy. That Dulce had helped her with an attempt. To start off with; if Tonal had wanted to kill Salina, she would be dead. Party to her secret, Jesus was acutely aware of how dangerous Tonal could be. But to try to kill Salina out of jealousy. It didn’t add up. Why should she try to do that? Salina was of no consequence, she had no power. She was just a small, beautiful woman without any guile, what was there not to like about her? What Tonal hated about Salina was hard to understand. For the first time in all the years Jesus had known Alex, the man was really happy. Well apart from the betrayal by his sister and Tonal. But somehow. Well, it just didn’t add up.

  So, they had agreed to the party, and to so many things after that. One week after the wedding, Alex was inaugurated as President of the joint Latin countries. His courage and unrelenting passion for the cause and the people, propelled his acceptance by everyone. He was the face of the revolution. He would lead them to a new and prosperous life. Finally, their suffering was over.

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT

  Dulce and Tonal stayed together. They travelled deep into the jungle where they joined a village near where Tonal had stayed all those years ago. The village elder recognised her and welcomed her back. She had also heard of Dulce and accepted her into the fold without questions. This same woman that Tonal and saved from the mercenaries so many years ago wondered why the President’s sister would prefer to live in the simple circumstances of the jungle than in the luxury of the palace with her brother. But that was not her concern. There would be reasons, she would know if they chose to share them.

  Tonal and Dulce adapted easily to the slow and relaxed life in the village. The pain of the abrupt departure was replaced by a slow anger at the way that Alex had treated them. Of course they didn’t begrudge him his happiness. But this was not how he would ultimately achieve that. They had hardly spoken about that afternoon. Somehow silently knowing where they would go to and accepting that there was no other option.

  Dulce settled quickly—much to her amazement. She had thought that she would miss the hectic life that they had lived with the revolutionaries. But she found that she was tired. Tired of all the fighting and the worry, tired of the endless strategy and living only for the cause. That she could understand—Alex wanting to do something else. But why he wanted to delve in politics—not his forte—she could not.

  She helped with the children, taught in the small school, and soon felt at home in the slow pace of her new life.

  Tonal alternated between the village and days—or sometimes weeks—that she roamed the jungle in feline form. Thoughts of Alex and his betrayal of their friendship were receding to the back of her mind, aided by the tremendous joy she felt when hunting in the close but endless space of the Amazon outreaches. The burden of the cause slipped down off her shoulders with the sound of the birds in the high canopy and with the rain that fell on a daily basis, cleansing all the blood and stress from her fur.

  Dulce had even found time for romance. Against her will—or so she thought—she developed feelings for a quiet and friendly man from the village. Hector was attentive, but never overtly cloying. He was tenacious and dedicated to winning her over with flowers, poems, and all the romantic cliché’s that she would normally have waved off as superficial. He slowly won her heart. In her late thirties, she no longer yearned for children of her own, just the closeness of a companion who understood her every thought and just wanted to be with her. Hector was this man. He completed her.

  Dulce and Hector were married in a small ceremony.

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE

  Tonal abstained from romance. But she was a woman, or at least female and had her urges, like everyone else.

  Sex only worked for her in human form. While feline, there was no male cat that dared come anywhere near her and she never actually came into season as a regular cat would. So she cultivated an affair with a man from a town two days from the village where she lived. This offered her distance, and safety.

  The villagers were aware that she was special. A creature unlike any they had encountered before. With Enrique she was just a woman. A very special one, but no more than that. She found relief in their encounters. Neither of them interested in questions or answers. Just the raw sex and pleasure that their occasional trysts offered.

  He was a well-built man, somewhere in his early thirties. Independently employed and something of an idealist. They met three or four times a year. With her suddenly turning up in his line of vision. For two or three days and nights nothing else existed but them. Then they went their separate ways.

  After two days of traveling Tonal was in the vicinity of the town near where he lived and changed to her human form in the small clearing where she hid a case of clothes. She bathed in the stream and washed her hair, using the soap-roots that the forest provided. Clean, invigorated and dressed in a pair of jeans and an indiscriminate shirt she shouldered her backpack and took to the road to walk the remaining two miles to Enrique’s ranch.

  CHAPTER EIGHTY

  The adobe building was situated on a large stretch of land overlooking a river that was fed by the stream she had just bathed in. It was a pretty one-story building with the characteristic thick walls that kept the sun out in the sweltering summer and the warmth in on the cold winter nights. The last time she was here had been almost four months ago—somewhat longer than she usually preferred between visits. Enrique had indicated last time that he would need to go to Europe for a few weeks, so she had waited a little longer to make sure that he would be home. Even though the trip was always pleasurable, it was still a long way to go for nothing.

  Walking up the drive she saw him sitting in the hammock near the patio doors that led to the living room. He wa
s working on his lap top. Silently she approached him, the more to surprise him. But as always, he felt her presence and looked up. His face brightened into a big smile. Placing his computer in the hammock he stood up and walked the last two yards to her, his arms open in a warm welcome. His happiness was contagious, and she found herself smiling at this big but gentle man.

  Their kiss was soft but held the promise of passion. Just as they were about to turn towards the patio doors, the peace was shattered by the two enormous mastiffs that had finally woken up and recognised her scent. Despite their two years they were still massive puppies and fell over each other and Tonal to place wet and drooling kisses all over her face. Tonal had known the dogs since they had arrived as eight-week-old puppies and any unease they felt about her scent had evaporated within ten minutes. Even now, after four months of absence they still treated her as their second most favourite person in the whole wide world.

  Finally managing to calm the dogs, they retired to the living room where Enrique produced cool drinks. He had no idea where she came from but knew that it was quite a long trip and that refreshments would be in order.

  ‘How was your trip?’ she inquired.

  ‘It was good. I spoke with the customers and we have agreed on a larger monthly shipment of the goods to Europe. The farmers are very pleased and content to grow and harvest the crops without damaging the jungle, as long as they can sell them for a reasonable profit.’

  Enrique was the middleman in the production of medicinal compounds harvested from the flora in the Amazon jungle. Use of the natural medicine was becoming more and more popular worldwide. It had the added ecological benefit that the farmers needed the Amazon as it was to be able to harvest some of the ingredients. Cultivating them in any way other than deep in the jungle had proven impossible. That meant that keeping it intact had become a financial goal as well as an ecological one. It had proven to be a great way to increase the prosperity of the local people and retain the so important forest. As a consummate naturalist Enrique was dedicated to the survival of the Amazon. He acted as middleman in the sale of the medicinal components, taking only a small percentage necessary to cover the overhead costs. His family had earned their money a long time ago with oil and other natural raw materials. Unlike him, they had ravaged the earth and Enrique saw it as his duty to at least try to rectify the legacy they had left behind.