Chapter 5 Promise

• Marina
• Age 9
• I’m sitting in the grass watching Julien play soccer with the neighborhood kids he invited over to his house after school. Daddy says I’m not allowed to play and the guards watching me report back to him so I sit out. I don’t mind though, because watching Julien kick the ball with a wide smile on his face is enough to make me happy. Just seeing his dark eyes sparkle with excitement makes it okay that I can’t participate. “Hey! I’m open!” He exclaimed, waving his arms in the air.
• A blonde boy kicked the ball to Julien and he turned around and shot it into the net. “Yes! Go Julien!” I jumped up and cheered. He shot me a grin and a wink.
• Yep. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t play.
• Throughout the afternoon, Julien kept scoring. His team eventually won. The teams all parted to take drinks from their water bottles. Julien came and sat beside me. “That was great, Julien!” I gave him a high five and giggled.
• He grinned widely. “Thanks, Mari!”
• I opened my mouth to ask him another question when one of the boys walked up to him, interrupting me. “Hey, you’re really good. You should try out for the team next month!”
• Julien just shrugged. “I dunno.. I just play for fun.”
• The boy rolled his eyes. “Oh c’mon. Don’t give me that excuse.” He punched him in the arm playfully and grinned. “A bunch of us are going out for burgers. Wanna come, Julien?”
• I was surprised when he turned to me instead. “Sounds like fun. Can you go?” He asked.
• I frowned. “Probably not.”
• Julien mirrored my expression and his eyebrows knit together. “Can you ask?”
• “You know my dad. The answer is always ‘no’.”
• Julien sighed and rolled his eyes.
• I bit my lip. “Tell you what, I’m gonna go ask. If I’m not back in five minutes, I want you to go. Deal?”
• Just because I’m trapped in a gilded cage doesn’t mean Julian has to be stuck inside it with me. He deserves to go and have fun. I can’t have him waiting around for me. His whole life will pass him by if he does. I can’t have that on my conscience. These boys look fun and Julien doesn’t have many friends besides me.
• He frowned and paused before nodding.
• I walked back to the house knowing full well that Daddy wasn’t going to let me go outside. I wasn’t allowed to leave the property. I wasn’t even allowed at school. I was homeschooled by a fancy private teacher. I walked through the main foyer and up the marble stairs until I stood in front of the door to Daddy’s office. I hesitated before knocking. “Come in.” His gruff voice came from the other side. I pushed it open and walked up to his desk. “Marina.”
• “Daddy, I want to go outside.”
• He neatly stacked the papers on his desk and looked up at me with an annoyed expression on his face. “You know the rules. Stay within the boundary and take Rodrigo and Antonio with you.”
• “No. A bunch of neighborhood kids want to go get hamburgers. Can I go?”
• He narrowed his eyes and stood up from his desk. “No.”
• “But Daddy, please. I’m always stuck here. Can’t I go just this once?” I pleaded, not knowing what came across me. No one disobeyed Daddy. No one. Not his associates and certainly not me.
• His nostrils flared and he stalked across the floor. I’ll never forget the sound his expensive shoes made on the tile. Click. Click. Click. Within three steps, I was looking up at him, shaking in my shoes. “I said no, Marina.” His voice was eerily calm and that’s when I knew I was in trouble.
• Once again. I had no idea what came over me. I suppose I was sick of being trapped on the property, but I persisted. “Please. I will take Rodrigo and Antonio and even Alexander.”
• “Go to your room.”
• “What? No please—“
• “Go to your room, Marina.”
• “Daddy—“
• The wind was knocked out of me when I felt the slap to my cheek. The sound of flesh on flesh echoed through the room. I turned away and grabbed my face. I felt the sting deep in my skin.
• “Go. To. Your. Room. I will not tell you again.”
• He didn’t have to tell me twice. I quickly left the office. Only then did I let the tears fall. I ran down the hall into my room and fell on the bed. I sobbed into the pillow until I had no more tears to cry. It wasn’t the first time Daddy struck me, and it wouldn’t be the last, that much I was sure of. That wasn’t what upset me. I was upset that I couldn’t go with Julien and that right now he was having fun with his new friends. Would he forget about me? Surely. Why would Julien want to be my friend when he could go out with them? I can’t leave the property so what fun am I?
• I heard knocking at my window and quickly wiped my eyes. A smile made its way to my face. Julien was here. Oh my god. Julien was here. I jumped off the bed and ran to my door. I quickly locked it and then ran over to the window and unlocked it. “What are you doing here?” I whispered. “If my dad catches you, he’ll kill you!”
• Julien grinned and held up a takeout bag. He climbed inside and shut the window behind him. “So? I’m not scared of him.” His smile fell. “What happened?”
• I bit the inside of my cheek and shook my head. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
• He placed the food bag on my bed and grabbed my face in his hands. He studied it with narrowed eyes. His dark eyes blazed in fury and his nostrils flared. “Don’t lie. Your face is red. That bastard hit you again, didn’t he?” He said through gritted teeth, stroking his thumb across my cheek. “I’ll fucking kill him. I’m going to kill him.”
• “No. There’s nothing you can do about it. It’s not bad.” I shrugged.
• “Maybe not now, but I will kill him one day. I promise you that, Mari.”
• I needed to change the subject. I didn’t want to talk about this. I pulled away and crossed my arms over my chest. “I told you to go with them.”
• He smiled. “I did, but they were boring. I didn’t want to go without you.” My heart swelled. He reached inside the bag and pulled out two burgers and fries and laid them out on the mattress. “I figured since you can’t go...”
• I smiled but shook my head. “That’s really sweet Julien, but I don’t think this is going to work. We can’t be friends.”
• “Bullshit,” he scoffed. “Who said that, your dad? I’m not going anywhere Marina.”
• I felt more tears fall from my eyes and simply nodded. “You’re a great friend, Julien.”
• He smiled cockily. “I know.”
• We sat on my bed eating and chatting about everything and nothing at all. I reveled in his company. He spoke of the future and about how one day all of this wouldn’t matter. How he would take me away from my father and how one day we would live across the street from each other so we would always be together. Somewhere by the ocean, we agreed. It was a fever dream at best.
• But at the time, I clung to it like it was my lifeline.
• --
• Marina
• Present
• Age 22
• Giovanni took me again tonight. It wasn’t the first time we had sex, and I knew it wasn’t going to be the last. We were engaged and he expected me to provide him with an heir. I didn’t want it, but I didn’t have a choice. He wasn’t as cruel as he usually is. Probably sparing me the marks of his frustration because we’re supposed to appear in public tomorrow. He never marks me where the cameras can see. Or where people will be suspicious.
• Once he was spent, he drew me into his arms and fell asleep. I was too sore and bruised to protest or struggle so I let him hold me. Giovanni’s embrace didn’t give me any warmth or comfort. I shivered at his touch and tried to scoot away. Every time I moved, he’d squeeze my ass and pull me closer with a growl. A warning. Silent tears fell from my eyes as I drifted off to sleep.
• That night I dreamed of him. I dreamed of him climbing through my window and taking me away like he always promised he would. I dreamed of his dark eyes in the shadows of the bedroom I shared with my tormentor... watching me.
• I wake with a start and I swear I thought I saw a shadow at the foot of the bed.