Life Begins

by Taki James

  For hours she answered questions about the events, the same questions coming again and again until Josie was shouting for them to get to the point and leave her alone. She hated feeling as if the authorities weren’t listening, because what did they know about the scare that she went through with her children.

  Her mind already raced at the lasting affects this might have on her little ones. She’d never been so glad and yet so resentful for her husband’s occupation as she was at that moment. The police finally left in enough time for her to leave and pick up the girls from school. The nice dinner she’d planed had to be scrapped because it got burnt beyond recognition in all of the confusion of the home invasion and the self-defense of her husband.

  Žarko had already given her his credit card to pay for a hotel suit for everyone, and had even called Srecko to let him know what happened. It was all so organized and controlled, that sometime after picking up the girls and before stepping into the hotel room, it occurred to her. Nothing of the events that she went through made sense.

  She sat the kids down in front of the television, putting it on something that everyone can watch. She grabbed the pad of paper that the hotel provided and began writing out everything that happened leading up to and then during the event.

  What she found disturbed her, greatly. Nenad hadn’t been at the house, and hadn’t told her that he planned to leave, something that he would never do because of what Žarko would do to him. More than that, her husband never asked about him. In fact, he was too calm on the phone. His time of arrival also had to be questioned, considering he was supposed to be in Geneva doing something he refused to tell her about.

  Her writer’s mind worked through the whole story, from the very beginning to this moment. Žarko absolutely had set up a situation by which he would be able to get away with murder. She didn’t know how he accomplished most of the details, but at the same time, she wasn’t sure that she needed to know them either.

  Her husband’s level of intelligence set him in a place capable of doing anything that he set his mind to. He absolutely could convince the police that he acted in self-defense of his family. Gary showed up at the house uninvited, with a gun. Gary was the one that broke down the door. Josie aided her husband in murder because she called him, scared out of her mind about what her ex-husband was going to do to her.

  She buried her face in her hands. She might as well be a murderer, the way she felt, knowing that she was going to continue protecting her husband by sticking to the story as it happened for her. Nenad obviously could not be in the house because that would have looked too much like a trap. Why else would Gary feel comfortable entering the premises?

  No matter what, Josie knew that she had to deal with this. Žarko probably wouldn’t admit to his plan, and she wouldn’t want to ask him while the police were searching for evidence and what they considered the truth. She wanted to know nothing that would get anyone into trouble.

  “That man better be so lucky that I’m so in love with him,” she whispered to herself. She would have to do so much praying and soul searching, but at the end of the day, Gary didn’t have to bring a gun to the house and certainly, no one asked him to break down the door.

  She didn’t want to rationalize this, but she really did have to be honest. Gary deserved a bullet to the brain if he thought that using violence was a good idea to make his case. He should have just left her alone after the court case, and understood that she loved the life she lived. She loved her family. She would die and kill to keep her children safe. She had no intentions of creating chaos where she lived. If that made her part of Žarko’s dark world, then that’s what it would have to be. Her husband would always have her loyalty. Until the end of days.

  Chapter 27

  Nenad finally showed up at the hotel room around the time Josie put the little kids to bed. She started to close the door on him, but she bet that he had a key of some kind hidden on his person, so she held the door open, not for a moment moved by the sorrowful look on his face.

  “Please don’t be angry at me for just leaving,” he said the moment the door closed behind him. He kept his voice lowered so that the girls could not hear them talking.

  “Why on earth would I be angry?” she asked him sarcastically. “I mean, you only left me at home, alone where my ex-husband could have killed me and the babies. It wasn’t like I was frightened out of my mind.”

  His head fell forward, hiding what she was sure was a devastated look in his eyes. “I know and if it had been anybody else but your husband, I would have never done it. You have to believe that, even if you never forgive me for my part in all of this.”

  “What happened to Žarko? I haven’t heard from him since I went to pick up the girls.”

  Nenad glanced over at the girls who were silently working on their homework before bed. He pulled her to the rest room of the suite, so that they could have privacy for this conversation. That worried her because it meant that that things may not have gone exactly as planned.

  “What happened?” she asked him.

  “The police still have him, so he told me to come over here to stay with you all,” then he looked at her. “And this time, he’s not commanding me to leave.”

  She nodded, even though she was still very upset about all of this. “Did someone make sure to call Harrison? I would imagine that he’d need his lawyer.” What was so hard about looking at this as being a case of self-defense?

  “That was the first thing we did. He may have to stay overnight in a cell, but Harrison is going to do everything he can to get him out as soon as possible. The States’ Attorney will never be able to a case on him.” Nenad gripped her shoulders in a soothing hold. “We’ve got this.”

  She sighed. “For everyone’s sake, you’d better hope you have this.” She left the room to make sure that the girls knew it was time for bed. She ignored Nenad for the rest of the evening, choosing to spend the rest of her time before bed, in prayer and worship. She had to do everything that she could to make sure that her mind was right and that she had everything under control, when it came to her personal world.

  She spent the rest of the night concerned and looking at her phone, hoping that somehow, she would hear from her husband that he was going to come home. For the sake of their lives together. She did know that she cried that night. She couldn’t help it. She felt so much fear, what with being pregnant and then raising four other children.

  She kept her eyes on her phone, constantly checking to make sure that she missed nothing. Once morning arrived and she still heard nothing from anyone, she really began to worry. She fought hard to keep her panic from growing, but she couldn’t understand why she hadn’t heard from Žarko. Even the news didn’t seem to know anything other than that Gary had decided to invade a private home and got shot for it. It should have been a clear self-defense case, because what kind of charges were they going to put against him?

  As soon as the kids were awake, she made Nenad take them to the nearest restaurant so that they could all eat and then she wanted to go by the house and see if the doors were maybe fixed yet. And, she had to know that everything was under control. But, it probably wouldn’t do for her to desire being at home when her husband wasn’t there with her.

  She tried not letting it affect her, because the kids could tell that something was different. Even Josif and Juljiana who determined to remain irritated throughout the day because they couldn’t figure out what was going on. Desa also seemed worried, though she too couldn’t seem to figure out why she needed to be worried.

  Josie hated that about this situation, the not knowing. She kind of wished that she could leave all of this behind, to just go somewhere else with her husband and simply be a family without having all of this happen. She couldn’t ask her husband to just walk away from this life that he lived, because she knew that he had to desire it for himself, but, she couldn’t help but desire to be moved even further away from it.

  She let Nenad drive h
er and the kids back to the house, noticing that things had yet to be picked up. She turned to her friend, sure that her eyes said it all. It didn’t take him long to act, choosing to do what was best for his health by putting in some calls about getting the house put back together. While he did that, Josie went inside to assess everything, and maybe to pick up a few more items of clothing for her and the kids.

  She didn’t worry about someone breaking in, knowing and seeing that Žarko had people regularly coming by the house to check on it. Why they didn’t just replace the front and master bedroom door, she probably would need to ask at some point. For that moment, she ignored the guards hanging around her house to finish packing clothes for the hotel room.

  She packed enough to last everyone for a week, not really wanting to take that many clothes, but knowing that ultimately, it would be best to be more prepared rather than less. One of the guys helped her carry everything down to Nenad’s SUV and once they were set, the family headed back to the hotel room to wait for word about Žarko. Unfortunately, that seemed to take many days.

  They had nothing on him and they knew it. Gary’s family and lawyer did their best to malign Josie and by extension, him, but the evidence was very clear. Gary broke into the house after he received certain information from a certain enemy of Žarko. The lawyer had made copies of the information, but Žarko already knew that there was nothing to help the police in this case.

  They were trying not to ask Josie anymore questions, but Žarko was sure that they were going to have to do something or else they would have to charge him with something. They wouldn’t be able to keep him there much longer. Harrison was making sure of it.

  Žarko leaned back in his cell. He’d already had to beat the snot out of the cellmate they’d put him in with, just so he could have some bit of peace. All he had to do was wait for his lawyer to tell him that everything had been taken care of and that he could finally go home to his wife and children. He was pretty sure, smart as Josie was, that she knew what he’d done.

  He had no intentions on explaining himself. He didn’t need to, but at this point, he wanted to make sure that his household remained tensionless.

  He heard the sounds of footsteps approaching and looked up to catch sight of the guards coming for him. “Looks like you’re in luck. You’re out of here.”

  Žarko remained calm as he exited the cell and allowed the men to guide him to the where his lawyer waited. He picked up his personal items, first making sure that none of his cash had been taken because he knew he couldn’t trust these cops. And, it looked as if he was correct, because naturally, he found he was missing about a thousand dollars from his wallet.

  He looked at the cop handing him his items, well aware of the smirk the man held. “Is there a problem?”

  Žarko released his own slight smirk. “What do you care about my problems, thief?” he said in Serbian. He made note of the man’s name and badge number before following his lawyer out into the warm air, and freedom.

  Since Srecko stood with Harrison, Žarko let him know what he wanted done to the cop that had stolen his cash. “Get it back for me.” He’d planned to use that money to purchase something nice for his wife.

  “You probably shouldn’t conduct business like that in front of the station,” Harrison said, joining the conversation as he led the way to the truck.

  “If someone here speaks Serbian, then they deserve the arrest.” He climbed into the passenger’s seat and leaned back, closing his eyes. “Is Josie still at the hotel with the children?”

  “Yes, Nenad says that she’s been very upset by this whole situation and wants to go home as soon as possible.”

  He wasn’t surprised by that. Which is why he didn’t waste time after finally getting out of jail. He let Harrison drop him off, called Nenad to give him the room number and made his way through the hotel and up to his family, knowing that most likely, the little ones were napping at this time. Turns out, Josie was knocked out as well, which left him plenty of time to shower and change into appropriate clothing.

  Now clean, he sat down to watch television with his older girls, something funny for them, but completely boring and un-entertaining for him. He didn’t mind though, because it gave him time to savor being with his girls. Even better when he heard the baby beginning to make noise as she woke from her nap.

  Then it was him and all three of his girls, waiting for Josif and Josie to wake up so that they could all be together. It took another fifteen minutes before he heard the tiny shuffling feet of his son, followed by the equally shuffling feet of his wife.

  As soon as she stepped through the door of the adjoining bedroom, she noticed him. It didn’t take long before she was wrapped tight around him, practically displacing both Desa and Juljiana from his side just so that she could get to him.

  Žarko didn’t mind. He held tight to her as well, letting her know that it was okay. They were fine and he was going to make it up to her for scaring the crap out of her. He never wanted to put her through anything like this again, but realistically, he knew that it was bound to happen again someday. He couldn’t and wouldn’t just leave this life and that meant ensuring that his wife was able to stick it out with him.

  “Why did it take so long for them to let you go?” she finally pulled way to ask him. “You’ve been gone for days.”

  He took in all of the various eyes watching him, wanting to know the same thing. “They wanted to make sure,” he said, more for the benefit for the children. “They wanted to know what was going on, and now that they know, I can come home.”

  “But the door, tata,” Desa said with a cute pout on her face.

  Josie seemed to echo that sentiment. “Yeah, no one has put in a call to fix the door. When we went by, it was still handing off its hinges.”

  Žarko moved Josie to his side so that he could finally hold his son, who had been desperately trying to get his attention this whole time. He held both of the little ones, since Juljiana didn’t want her brother being the only one to get his attention.

  “I need to make sure that the door is put in correctly. So I asked the men to watch the house instead of getting it fixed. Now that I’m here, I’ll take care of it, but it will still probably take a little bit for us to be able to return home.”

  Desa cheered as if staying in a hotel were something special. Žarko sat back, leaning his head against the sofa as he allowed Josie’s fingers to thread through his hair. He knew that he would have to have an extensive conversation with his wife, more than what he would ever be able to explain in front of the children, but for the moment, he just wanted to rest and accept that he’d created a safer place for Josie with her ex gone.

  Josie couldn’t sleep, even knowing that she should be for the sake of her unborn child. No, she couldn’t make herself take any rest when she was too busy watching her husband sleep. Everything felt surreal. She wasn’t in her own bed. The kids were knocked out in a separate room. Nenad slept on the sofa so that he could protect the kids, and she was pretty sure that Žarko had a gun hidden somewhere. She curled up tight against him, kissing his arm because she just had to.

  “Why are you not sleeping?” Žarko murmured to her. She could tell that he was still mostly asleep, and yet, he also knew that she happened to be awake.

  “I’m just glad that you’re back. I was so worried that something would happen to you.”

  His left hand reached over to pat her hip. “Nothing would have happened. Police know that Gary broke into our house and that he had a gun that he would have used against you and the little ones. They had no choice, but to let me go because of that.”

  But what if they hadn’t? Even though it was probably a silly thought, she felt like she could protect him just by wrapping herself around him. She wanted to hide him away from the world, making sure that it would keep him for herself. “Does that mean the case is done?”

  She felt him nod slightly. “We are going to make sure of it. I am thinking that it is time
that we move abroad, maybe raise children somewhere nice.”

  “And without legal problems,” she finished for him. “Where would we even go?” For once, she wasn’t going to complain about her life here. As far as she was concerned. Her family was her life and if her husband had a desire to leave, then she planned to run ahead of him.

  “I already have plan,” Žarko promised her. “I just have to put in a bid for the property.”

  “Okay,” she said, before reaching up and pressing her lips against his. “I’m willing to trust you.” She already did.

  Chapter 28

  “We are going to see baka and deda,” Desa was busy telling Josif as Žarko drove them to the airport. “You will like them. They give the best gifts.”

  Josie looked over her shoulder into the back seat to watch the children interact. “Baka makes the best cookies,” Desa continued to say. “You will love our porodica. Right, tata?”

  “Of course. You will have much fun with baka and deda. They have already promised to take you all shopping. Not that any of them need anything else,” he finished for Josie’s ears.

  It had taken months for the family to be able to schedule a trip out of the country, what with the cops randomly showing up at their house, constantly questioning and harassing them about what happened that night. Josie had yet to change her story, knowing that one, she couldn’t, and two, she didn’t have any sort of details that would have been useful to the police.

  It didn’t matter that they called themselves warning her about her husband’s past. As far as Josie was concerned, they didn’t know anything. Her husband had seconded that information, making it clear that all the police wanted to do was to create dissension between them, something that she would never allow to happen as long as she held breath in her body. Even if the police and others were being well meaning, Josie couldn’t allow them to make her rethink her marriage.