Page 128 of Black
“Sit,” Violet ordered and I did.
“Why do you want her number?” she asked.
“Because I want to talk to her… I want answers.”
“What kind of answers.”
“Like where does she live? I’ve been at the motel and she doesn’t sleep there. I just want to know she’s okay. She’s still my niece, you know.”
She shook her head with a small grin.
“It’s not funny. Do you know where she lives?”
“Yes.”
“Will you tell me?”
“No. Do you have other questions?”
“Yes,” I said annoyed that she wouldn’t tell me.
“I still don’t understand why she would dress as a Goth that night. Was it a statement of some kind? I mean she dresses normally now.”
Violet looked thoughtful. “Give me your hands,” she said and I complied.
“You are a soldier, yes?”
I nodded.
“If a woman told you she loves a man in uniform, would you be flattered?”
I wrinkled my forehead. “I don’t know.”
“Let say you fell in love with this woman and she asked you to wear your uniform all the time; would you?”
I continued to frown, but didn’t answer.
“Now let’s say you’ve been wearing your handsome uniform for your girlfriend for weeks and she tells you that she loves you.”
“Yeah?”
“How would you know if she loves you or just gets excited by your uniform?”
“That’s easy. I would take it off,” I said quickly.
Violet didn’t speak for a while; she just looked at me expectantly.
“What?” I asked blankly.
“Ask yourself: did something happen between you two that would make Cia feel a need to test if you loved her or her uniform?”
I closed my eyes with a sudden clarity. I had told her I loved her and she had pulled this stunt on me. It had been a fucking test and I had failed big-time.
“Fuck.” I groaned and rubbed my face with both hands. “I screwed up.”
“Yes, you did,” Violet said and let go of my hands. “I’ve known Cia for a few years,” she said quietly, “and I was really happy to see her come out of her shell and curious to meet the man who would make her want to. When I saw her in the gallery that night as Black, my thought was that she was under pressure and needed the armor that outfit provides.”
“She was scared.” I pondered out loud.
