Dictator s Daughter

by Angell, Lorena

  Chapter 5

  Sean didn’t have a clue how to tell Eliwese he knew her identity. Maybe he shouldn’t. Perhaps he should just keep up the ruse. But if he continued, he wouldn’t be able to get any questions answered. It would be a tough decision, one he would make on the fly.

  Sean went up to his room and found her sitting at the table looking at skiing magazines.

  “Do you like to ski?” he asked.

  “I’ve never tried, but I think I might like it.”

  “Are you afraid of heights?”

  “No.”

  “Are you afraid of your father?” Sean even shocked himself with the question.

  “What?” Her shaky voice betrayed her.

  “They displayed your picture on television, but that’s not what gave you away.” Sean walked over to the table and sat down opposite Eliwese.

  “What then?” She barely breathed.

  “Your concern for my well being, your wandering eyes and the fact you didn’t answer my question about preferring men. You’re too smart, and too clever to only be fifteen. Last night, when you told me your age it confirmed my suspicions of your gender. This morning, the news report gave me your name. So, I need to know, Eliwese, are you afraid of your father?” His eyes burned the question into hers.

  “Yes.” She burst into tears. Not the girly, ‘woe is me’ kind, but the ‘oh, shit’ kind.

  Watching her lose it tugged at Sean’s heart strings. He stood and pulled her into an all consuming embrace while she cried. He eased her over to the couch and sat beside her with his arm behind her.

  Once she calmed down, he asked her, “Why does he scare you?”

  Eliwese took a deep shuddering breath and turned toward Sean, putting a little distance between them. “I’m not so much scared of him, but more afraid of what he’ll do to you and your family.”

  Sean was caught off guard with the statement. She was worried more about others than herself, and she was the one who arrived at their house with broken bones and bruises.

  “Who beat you while you were in hiding?”

  Her eyes darted away from Sean and she squirmed nervously. “I can’t…it’s too risky,”

  “Eliwese,” his voice soothed her. “Was it your father?”

  “Sean, I’ve already put your family at risk, I can’t do the same to my own.” Her cryptic reply puzzled him.

  “If I understood your situation better I could help you more effectively. If you cannot tell me more, at least tell me what you need me to do.”

  She stood and took a step backward. More distance. “I need you to treat me as if I’m a teenage boy named Eli. Don’t pamper me, don’t help me, don’t touch me any more than you need to, and stop looking at me with those blazing eyes trying to figure out my disguise. I need you to understand my reasons for crossing the border are bigger than any other crosser you’ve ever dealt with and my father will do whatever is necessary to get me back.”

  “Alright,” he held his hands up, palms forward. He stood and walked to the bathroom; he needed a drink of water to moisten his throat which had gone disturbingly dry. Things had changed in a huge way between them, mostly him. He wished he could go back to looking at his crosser as a teenage boy, but that would not be the case. He knew the beautiful image which flashed across the screen of the television would be sleeping in his bed tonight.

  Eliwese crashed down on the couch the moment Sean went in the bathroom. Her hands covered her face and her mind reeled. One second she was browsing through a skiing magazine, next she was scared to tears, and then comforted so wonderfully in Sean’s arms.

  A knock on the bedroom door filled Eliwese with apprehension as she watched Sean exit the bathroom and open the door. Ryan stood outside with the phone in his hand.

  “For you; need me to watch Eli while you take this?” Ryan tried to see over Sean’s shoulder.

  “Nope.” Sean closed the door in Ryan’s face.

  “Hello.”

  Chandra’s annoying super sweet voice filled his ear. “Is it alright if I come over for dinner tonight?”

  “I suppose, sure.” The last thing Sean wanted was to be with Chandra right now, but to deny her would go against the normal protocol. As Eliwese had said a moment ago, Sean needed to keep up the charade.

  “Did you see the news report? Victor Rawlings’ own daughter has fled Rendier.”

  “That’s not what they said, she’s only missing.”

  “Well, we all know what that means, right?”

  “No, Chandra, what does it mean?”

  “It means she is here somewhere. It’s exciting really, don’t you think?”

  Sean’s eyes were on Eliwese as Chandra spoke and all he could think was, Yes, very exciting. “Yeah, look, I need to go. See you tonight.”

  Sean turned off the phone. “I’ll be back in a minute.” Sean informed Eliwese and left the room to tell his mother Chandra would be coming for dinner.

  Sean didn’t make it far before Ryan grabbed him and pulled him aside. “Come here Sean, I have something to show you.” Ryan led him downstairs to his bedroom.

  Sean glanced around Ryan’s room at all of the posters on the walls and junk on the floor and shook his head. “What is it Ryan?”

  Ryan spread out a file folder on his unmade bed. Picture upon picture of Eliwese Rawlings, group shots, portraits, action shots all stared up at Sean making him extremely nervous. Ryan pulled one more out, one he had altered. Ryan had covered most of Eliwese’s hair with a false background and he’d scribbled heavy eyebrows over her slim delicate ones. He’d also cut and glued some other paper on her neck to resemble the turtle necks and tall necked clothing she always wore. He had successfully created Eli and was beaming ear to ear.

  Sean looked at Ryan, trying to figure out what was going on in his head. Did Ryan know Eli was Eliwese or was he guessing? If he was guessing and Sean said the wrong thing, Ryan would take the information and run. If Ryan already knew, then they were all in trouble already.

  Sean decided he would let Ryan talk first. So, he stared at Ryan, waiting for a response. Ryan stared right back. The intense, bluff-calling staring match went on for what seemed like forever, until Ryan broke the silence.

  “So are you going to ask Eli if this is him, or her, or am I going to have to do it?”

  Whew, Ryan didn’t know. “I’ll ask him.”

  “Well, do it now! If it is her, we can get her out of here before we get raided.”

  “Who says we’re getting raided?”

  “We will be, you’ll see. If that’s Eliwese upstairs, it will be disastrous for all of us.”

  “Did it ever occur to you, Ryan, that your own father placed Eli here? Did you think to trust him in his judgment or have you already dismissed his wisdom and replaced it with your stupidity?!”

  “Sean, the word is that she’s valuable; both to whoever turns her in and to her own father. There’s another rumor floating around, and that is whoever is housing Eliwese will be shot! We can get her out of here right now and keep anything bad from happening, but only if you’ll confront Eli and find out if in fact he is Eliwese.”

  “Well, I’ll get on that then,” Sean said sarcastically and left the room.

  He headed upstairs to his surveillance room, grabbing the recent newspaper on his way. He entered and walked over to the mirror to find Eliwese sitting at the table, staring out the window.

  Sean read the newspaper headline; Victor Rawlings’ daughter missing. In small print Sean discovered a most depressing fact; Eliwese is married. Eliwese Rawlings-Lampros.

  He looked through the mirror and wondered even more about her. A few moments later, his mother entered the bedroom carrying a paper bag.

  “I have what you asked for, Eli.” She handed her the bag. “Do you want me to stay, you know, female support?”

  “Yes, that would be nice.” Eliwese walked into the bathroom and after a few minutes, came back out and sat at the table adjacent to Sara.

&nbs
p; “Are you?”

  “No.”

  “Will your husband be disappointed?”

  “It wouldn’t have been his,” Eliwese stated unemotionally. “So, I guess he would have been quite disconcerted if I was pregnant.”

  Sean’s jaw lay somewhere on the floor of the darkroom. He was experiencing information overload. Married? Possible pregnancy, but not her husband’s child? Could this be the reason why she was fleeing her country? Fleeing from her husband? Whose baby would it have been?

  “Eli, I don’t know what your situation is and I don’t know whether I should be happy or sad for you. I’d like to give you the support you need.”

  “Then be happy for me, because I was raped and had I gotten pregnant I would’ve been forced to abort the baby; and I can’t go through that again.”

  Raped? Abortion again? What kind of a life did Eliwese come from? So many questions, but no time to tackle them.

  “I’m sorry your life has been so horrible,” Sara said.

  “It’s not your fault, but thanks for your sympathy.”

  “You know, Eli, every choice we make has consequences. No one can see the future to determine how our choices today will affect others to come. I fled Rendier when I was eighteen. It saddens me to see how your life was affected by my choice.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Hopefully you never will.” Sara leaned forward and placed her comforting hand on Eliwese’s arm. She stood and left the room.

  Sean watched through the mirror, wondering what his mother meant. He hurried and exited the darkroom to catch her. “Mom,” he called down the stairs, “Chandra is coming for dinner, and…” he pointed back to his bedroom door speechlessly.

  “Come in the kitchen with me, Sean.” He followed his mother and listened earnestly.

  “Sean, how much of that did you hear?”

  “All of it.”

  “Are you aware of her identity?”

  “Yes.”

  “Listen very closely, Sean. You know who she is and the kind of heat on her head. Now you understand some of her problems too. Don’t judge her wrongly for it.”

  “I won’t. I just wonder why you feel like your own crossing affected her life.”

  Sara dodged with, “Eli should join us for dinner.”

  “Mom,”

  “With the heat up so high, you could escape easier if she was down here.”

  “Mom,”

  “Sean, my choices are my own and I have to live with the repercussions daily. The most important thing for you to do right now is help Eli keep her gender and identity hidden. Will you do that?”

  “Of course, but you should know Ryan is bent on exposing her. Could you tell Dad about it?”

  Sara wasn’t able to speak with Paul about Ryan because he left the house and didn’t return until dinner was being served.

  Chandra was on her best behavior and it was clear she didn’t want to have another bad encounter with Eliwese. Eliwese asked to be seated elsewhere and not next to Chandra. The only other place was by Ryan at the end of the table.

  Sean knew Eliwese was worried about leaving the safety of the bedroom. The news reports had her on edge and Sean noticed her hands trembling more than once.

  Sean was extremely nervous about having Eliwese sit next to Ryan because he had not talked to Ryan since the episode in his bedroom. He hoped Ryan would just keep his mouth shut, but he did not.

  As dinner finished up, Ryan said to the whole table in general, “I wonder if they found Victor Rawlings’ daughter yet.”

  Sean tensed up. Ryan turned to Eliwese and said, “You know, Eli, you look just like her.”

  “So I’ve heard,” she responded calmly. The whole table fell into silence. Eliwese’s cheeks reddened and Sean felt sorry for her but he couldn’t think of anything to say.

  “You probably hear that all the time in your country,” Ryan said.

  “Actually, no, I don’t,” Eliwese replied honestly.

  “Well, what do you know about this dictator’s daughter anyway?” Ryan asked.

  Eliwese scanned the table up and down, with her eyes resting on Sean for a moment, “I heard she’s in an arranged marriage and her husband is three times her age.”

  Sean jumped in with, “Arranged marriages, humph, why do those even take place anymore?” The rest of the table started talking again. From the way her gaze lingered on Sean, he felt she was purposefully giving more information about her life. His comment had spawned a few conversations and Sean hoped it would be enough to quiet Ryan, but yet again, it did not.

  Ryan spoke to Eliwese in a quieter voice, “Hey, Eli, if we dressed you in a dress and put some makeup on you, you’d be a dead ringer.”

  Eliwese stared at him with her mouth partially open. “Do you really want to?” she asked quietly. “What would you do with your ‘dead ringer’ once you had her? Would you turn her in? Would you parade her around to all your friends? Would you collect your little reward?” Eliwese’s voice shook a little, but she kept it quiet. Sean could barely hear what she was saying to Ryan. Their parents had been engaged in a conversation with Chandra and weren’t aware of the goings-on at the end of the table.

  “Hey, I’m just saying you look like her.” Ryan defended himself, lifting his hands up and leaning his chair back nonchalantly.

  “Are you sure you want me to look like her?” she raised her voice a little. “Do you understand what it would mean for your family? Think of all the trouble it would bring; spies checking in, stakeouts outside your home, the dictator’s henchmen ready to kill to get me back. I’ve lived that life and it isn’t anything I would wish on this family, not even you, Ryan.” Teary eyed, she excused herself and went to the bedroom for the second time in as many days.

  Sean glared Ryan down, “What the hell is your problem? I said to drop it!”

  “Sean, what’s going on?” Paul asked.

  “Nothing I can’t handle,”

  “This is not a topic for the dinner table especially with our guest, Chandra,” Sara said sternly.

  “Oh, don’t worry about me, I’m practically family,” Chandra smiled across the table at Sean.

  Sean let out a big sigh and shook his head. “Chandra, I’m sorry, but it’s over between us.”

  “What? Since when?” she blurted out.

  “Since I don’t love you anymore,” Sean said as he stood.

  “What? You can’t do this to me… I’ve already paid the caterer! What about all the guests? My extended family is flying in and they have already purchased non-refundable tickets!”

  “Well, you’ll get a nice visit with them, and you’ll have plenty of delicious catered food.”

  “Sean, honey,” her voice changed ranges and became lower and more serious. “You love me. You don’t want to end this engagement. You won’t find anyone better than me.”

  “What, you’re a Jedi Knight now? Face it Chandra, you don’t control me. Go find yourself a mindless fool of a guy. If you hurry fast enough, you wouldn’t need to cancel the caterer. Hey, Ryan’s free, shack up with him. You two would be perfect for each other.”

  Chandra looked down the table at Ryan who was choking on his meat. Sean thought she might actually be considering his suggestion.

  “Look at yourself Chandra; you aren’t even upset about this. Deep down, I think you’re happy it’s over,” Sean said and left the room.

  Eliwese made it up to the room before Sean could get to her. He entered the room as she closed the bathroom door. Sean sat down on the bed and thought about the day, about the many revelations, and his growing appreciation for Eliwese.

  She opened the bathroom door and was visibly startled to find Sean sitting on the bed.

  “What are you doing up here? Shouldn’t you be down with your fiancée?”

  “I don’t have a fiancée anymore.” As Sean said these words, tears formed in Eliwese’s eyes.

  In almost a whisper, she asked him, “You broke it off?”

/>   “Yeah,” Sean smiled. “I called her a Jedi Knight and told her to marry Ryan.”

  A smile, the first full smile, spread across Eliwese’s face. “I’m proud of you Sean.” She walked over to the edge of the bed and sat beside him; but not too close.

  “I’m sorry Ryan ganged up on you.”

  “It’s alright. I need to speak with your father as soon as possible.”

  “You need to leave, don’t you?” Sean looked down to the floor.

  “It’s for the best. I am putting everyone in danger and I would never forgive myself if anything ever happened to you or your family.”

  “I’ll get my father.”

  Eliwese hoped Paul would be able to pull some strings to get her moved out. Her stern warning about trying to flee, and the threat of harm to her mother and sister, still loomed in her mind. Perhaps there was some way to leave without anyone on the outside knowing otherwise.

  Sean left the room and went downstairs. Chandra had stormed out in fashion and Sara had an excessively large smile on her face. Sean got the impression he’d made his mother very happy by breaking the engagement. He located his father in his office and spoke with him.

  “Eli wants to leave ASAP.”

  “I figured as much, but we can’t do anything tonight. There are roadblocks set up on every road leaving Slaterville. We have to just sit it out and hope Chandra doesn’t bring hellfire down on us.”

  “I shouldn’t have broken it off yet.”

  “Son, we were beginning to wonder if we should break it for you,” Paul placed his hand on Sean’s shoulder and winked.

  “Can you keep Ryan out of my surveillance room?”

  “Yes. He and I will be busy tonight.”

  “Thanks.”

  Sean went back up to his room and sat on the couch. Eliwese was lying on the bed. “My father said there won’t be anyone leaving tonight because of roadblocks. I asked him to keep Ryan out of our hair. He said he would. So, you’re stuck with me one more night at least.”

  She sat up on the bed and looked over at Sean with pained eyes. “Sean, I’ve never been stuck with you. Will you still be my friend once I get out on my own?”

  “Of course, will you be mine?” The tension between them was mounting.