The Strange Fiction of Truth

Braith, ignoring my protests pulled me into his car before driving down to the reserve and as I sat recovering while looking at the lake I remembered the last time I had been here had been with Jojo when I lied myself silly trying to save his sorry hide. I stole a glance at his perfect profile, as everything was perfect about Braith for he had been raised in a fairytale life, well fairytale to outsiders. Those who had privy of a long association knew of his philandering father, brain dead mother, worthless brother and trite sister. It made me wonder how he managed to escape unscathed from the Vanderhaven fate of less brains, more money.

Braith did not bother to initiate conversation, instead he merely sat there looking at the lake and so as usual, it was up to me to sort out yet another man from this town. I thanked him for coming to my aid then watched as he struggled for words knowing that his breakup with Jazz had affected him profoundly. Even though she knew it was lie of Gervais, she could not get past what had happened for the recorded physical sense of the occurrence left her a visual nightmare forever burning in the back of her mind. I did not think she was right to give up so easily but then she had not lived through the perpetual betrayal of her stupid brother, the stalking of Gervais or the persistent interference of Simon. I waited for Braith to find his words and wondered why no one had removed the Dubois family decades ago when it would have been far easier to be a knife in the dark.

Braith had been as peripheral to my life as he now was in my gaze and I could not understand why he would suddenly want to speak to me but here we sat silently in front of the lake. I decided to open the door, my panic had subsided, nothing like an unexpected event to distract your focus but instead of offering insightful words of compassion I babbled foolishly how sorry I was about the wedding. I watched his hands turn whiter as he gripped the steering wheel and I knew this was not going to be an easy conversation. I looked out over the river and it struck me that I had never realised the true beauty of the scene before me. The river slowly meandering across the town was a part of all of us, just like the struggle against the Dubois insanity, it was in the lives of our parents and grandparents and now it was inside of me as I fought against the very blood burning in my veins.

Braith had enough of silent torment, turning to me, he said the prophetic words,

“You are playing a dangerous game. Leave Gervais to others to deal with.”

The blatant stupidity of his comment made me angry, of course, I know what I am doing, I have been struggling with my cousin all year for my future, not some fanciful whim. I hotly replied,

“ I know exactly what I am doing and this is no game, this is my life. No one is more aware of the price than I am. You might think you can deal with my family but you are mistaken because Gervais is not as alone as he appears for when push comes to shove the rest of the family will stand firmly behind him. You have no idea what Liselle, Ladonna, even Elyce can be capable of---”

“—and you do?” He interjected rudely.

I wanted to shout at him that I knew far more than he ever could for when I look in the mirror I no longer see the bright eyed young girl on the precipice of life I was starting to see a pale reflection of my new family. There were times I felt the cool resolve of Liselle become my façade, the wish to impatiently dismiss fools like Elyce, even the steel of Ladonna and finally the determination of Gervais echoing back into my life. Instead, I put my hand on his for I realised that I had to keep Braith at bay at all costs. He is a loose cannon far worse than Jojo because although Jojo thrives on passion, Braith has the intellect to put a plan into effect, a plan that is only doomed to fail for Gervais can out maneuver the devil himself. The only way I am going to succeed is to do it in plain sight, let Gervais see me coming for him as I am counting on his arrogance to be his weakness.

I gave Braith the benefit of my full stare, we had never had a proper conversation before but I felt he was tossing me into the category of Tiah’s witless friends and had to nip this in the bud.

“You don’t really know what is going on here. You have been away for a while and before that, except what affected Jazz, you have no idea how deep this goes or how long this fight has been going on.”

Braith then did something unexpected, he lifted my chin with his finger and smiled sadly at me before replying,

“You really think I didn’t notice your battle all this time? That you could pass through anyone’s life unnoticed? You have a bigger impact upon the world than even you realise Lucinda and now that impact is going to rebound on everyone around you. I have nothing left to lose, let me and others handle this.”

Why is the nobility of men always based upon idiocy, as if I didn’t know who the others were, no doubt he and Simon and Jojo were attempting to hatch something up. This explains Jojo’s sudden seduction of Zizi at the lookout. I guess they really thought they were going to put the genie back in the bottle with a few ‘there, there, don’t worry your pretty head” statements. I pulled away from Braith scowling.

“All of you have handled him all year and look where it left you. You have no idea what my family, what I am capable of and when it comes to Gervais you still have a hell of a lot to lose. You have a sister, a brother, a mother and father. Liselle can provide your family with some protection but not if you are going to provoke him for he loves nothing better than to destroy whatever gets in his way.”

I saw his lips white with anger and knew I could not afford to alienate any more people in this town. One war is enough for a lifetime. Without thinking, I put my hand on the side of his face and he turned back to me, his blue eyes stormy with emotion. My voice fell into a murmur for it was so hard to tell this nice person that he was helpless against the one who engineered the destruction of his life.

“Braith, I have watched Gervais tear through everyone and everything I have ever loved. He has managed to destroy not only my happiness, but also the happiness of everyone I care for. Then to add insult to injury I discover I am related to this beast and he is going to claim me like some prize after amusing himself in the ashes of despair of nearly the entire town. I have nothing left, even my future is gone for as a Dubois I will not be allowed to exist outside his sphere of control. No one else can do this because no one else is of interest to him. I have sat here helpless and could do nothing but watch as he tore through all your relationships. Jazz can barely look at me and I know she blames me for bringing Gervais into your lives. Coco lost her marriage, Tiah lost herself and both hate me for not giving up. Even Zizi will have to leave town in order to get work.”

To my surprise Braith pulled me close and holding me, his voice muffled by my hair said,

“Don’t take this on, this is not you, it’s him, this is all Gervais. He wants you to carry the burden of guilt so you will give up. He wants you to believe that we all blame you but we don’t, we all knew he would harm us eventually, it is a fact of this town, of living Southside. Don’t give him what he wants, leave and let us handle him, you don’t know what he is truly capable of doing.”

He was wrong in ways he could not comprehend, as I know exactly what Gervais is capable of for I am capable of the same fundamental darkness. His pain resonated in the air around us and for a second I clung to him, grateful for the simple comfort of a pair of strong shoulders. I breathed in his scent feeling his strength around me and I allowed myself to melt against him while longing to give this burden to anyone else. His arms tightened instinctively and I came to my senses with an abrupt sense of shame for I had resolved long ago to do this alone as there can be no more collateral damage in this war. I pushed Braith away while biting back the tears, cursing inwardly at my weakness, this was not the time to be a girl, it was the time to be a chilling, coldhearted Dubois. I told Braith to take me back to my car and he started to fuss so I placated him with words I never should have said. I told him that I had a plan, it had been set into motion so if he wanted to help then to wait for my call. He started to shake his head so I added that it was too late, anything he did now could only endanger me. I knew he was not convinced but the simple plan of let’s murder Gervais had somehow taken a life of its own and turned into a saga involving the entire town.

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