Bethesda blinked, bowl of lentil soup lying idle on her lap. “Well… Kaila, I see you’ve been having quite the… eventful month, months?”
“Months.” Kaila smiled sheepishly.
Aviana starred cold faced into the fire. “I’m sure you think I’m an immoral woman, but at the time I thought it was my own love story. How wrong I was.”
Bethesda looked down to the dirt floor. “I… we all make mistakes. I don’t have to tell you that you made a mistake. You both know that. However, God -”
Kaila coughed loudly and frowned at Bethesda.
“I already know you’re a Christian, you can cut it out.” Aviana said.
“As I was saying,” Bethesda jokingly glowered at Kaila. “God will forgive you, if you truly have a repentant heart. If you, in your heart, deep down hope there’s another… what was his name?”
“Adrian.” Kaila and Aviana said in slight unison.
“If you hope there’s another Adrian for you, than God can see that.”
“Trust me, I think I’ll steer clear of all men for a few years… decades… centuries.” Kaila said. “I clearly don’t have good perception of honest men.”
Bethesda smiled. “Well, you don’t have to go to that extreme. But maybe you could even ask me if you find someone you like, and I can go investigate or what not.”
Kaila laughed. “You could be my second mother.” She trailed off. “…have you seen my mother lately?”
Bethesda looked down. “I’m sorry Kaila, but she committed suicide. I believe your father left the city…”
Kaila had her eyes opened wide. “W-wha… how do you know this?”
“I went to visit you a few days after we saw each other. I knocked on the door, and your father opened up. His eyes were red and tears were rolling down his eyes. He told me that you had run away just like your sister had and that your mother had soon thereafter committed suicide. He said that he was going to move back to where his parents lived.”
Kaila’s eyes welled up with tears.
“I’m so sorry…” Aviana said, hugging Kaila. Kaila just sat there, stunned.
“Why did you never mention that your sister ran away?” Bethesda asked.
“I… never wanted to think about it. I believed she would come home soon enough.”
Bethesda put her down. “Kaila… you and Aviana can stay here as long as you want… forever…”
Kaila just kept crying softly.
~ ~ ~
Sethe laid down and closed her eyes.
Dear God… I forgot how long it has been since I have truly talked to You. I… didn’t kill a man, did I? But he died saving me, and I can’t help but feel responsible. Please… forgive me… or help me forgive myself… both… everything. And Bardo… I don’t know how I feel about him… but I don’t know if I can forget him. I also don’t even know if he is interested in knowing you further… I have so many question…
Sethe slowly fell asleep as she prayed.
She woke up to a rocky feeling. Day 2. Only 5 more days to go. She looked around her, and saw everyone asleep, except Bardo’s bed was empty. Sethe yawned and laid back down on the “bed”. Finally, after about 15 minutes, she got up. A few crew had woken up by this point, whispering amongst themselves. She got up and climbed the ladder. All around was a calm ocean and fog. She climbed up and saw a few men, some from this boat’s crewmen, some from Bardo’s crewmen. And as she looked, she saw Bardo among them, laughing. She smiled at the nice scene and went to look out to the ocean away from the loudness. It was beautiful. Soon, her eyes became groggy again from the soothing rhythm of the water and the beautiful scene. She went below deck to sleep.
~ ~ ~
Lucida walked out Callidora. “You have been such a sweetheart to me.” Callidora smiled. Lucida wiped a little tear. “I will miss you so much. Let your mother know I said hi… actually, that might take a little too much explaining…”
Callidora laughed. “If the topic comes up maybe I’ll mention it.” She hugged her. She walked up to the gangplank, looked back and waved, then disappeared into the boat. Lucida smiled and walked back to the house.