Between the Two [COMPLETE]

3~The Rules

I hadn’t noticed how ravenous I was until Katherine placed a glorious feast of sliced ham, steamed vegetables, mac and cheese, and for dessert, cake. The cake was placed in front of me on the table and I noticed that it was fresh out of the freezer. Ice cream cake. Pinching my lips together, I hid my disgust for the combination.

Katherine smiled down at me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “The missus told me you like ice cream cake so I had it specially made,” she said proudly. Of course, she did. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I disliked ice cream cake. Separately, they were great. Together, it would always be a struggle to swallow. Especially when it made the cake soggy.

“Thank you so much, Katherine,” I beamed. She walked out of the dining room and I grabbed my plate, about to collect some food before Ezra cleared his throat loudly. Peering at everyone at the table, I realized they were all staring at me. Mom, with an embarrassed expression, positioned her cloth napkin delicately on her lap. Asher looked amused at my confusion, shielding his grin with his hand. Ezra looked down at me, taking a deep breath with a domineering look.

Mom leaned forward on the table with a gentle expression. “Sweetheart, have you forgotten? We say grace before every meal. I apologize for her, Ezra, she’s been away for so long. It slipped her mind.”

Slipped my mind? I almost scoffed at the phrase, pressing my tongue to my inner cheek in silence. Even before I lived with Nani, we never said grace before any kind of meal.

Ezra forced a tight grin on his face, presenting his hands on either side of him. “It’s fine, Melissa. That's why we’ll be going over the family rules during dinner this evening. Now, let’s say grace.”

We all bowed our heads and while he said grace, I kept my eyes open, glaring at my mom for her dishonesty. I was a good person compared to her; at least I wasn’t lying to a pastor and his son about who I really was in this world. But I knew her too well. This was all a facade and any day now, she would crack and expose her true colors. But how? And what would I get from her exposure? Not a safe haven, especially now with Nani gone. Also, when she said I’d been away, she never mentioned all day about me living with my Nani. I wonder where she told them I’d been. From the corner of my eye, I could see Asher peeking at me with an amused smirk. He shook his head as if he found my refusal of grace humorous, his smirk widening. I stuck my tongue out at him before closing my eyes and bowing just when Ezra had finished his prayer.

“Amen!” my mom cheered, giving Ezra a look I couldn’t decipher.

He seemed to ignore it, his gray eyes penetrating me as I grabbed a serving of food and started eating. “Lilah, that’s a very interesting name.”

Mom intervened with a delighted giggle. “Oh, yes, it was my grandmother’s name. My father picked it out for her.” I never knew that and wondered if it was another lie. She made no gesture—a twitch at the corner of her mouth, adjusting her legs beneath the table, avoiding eye contact—that she was lying.

“It’s a condensed version of Delilah from the Old Testament,” he stated matter-of-factly, cutting his ham. His gray eyes were glossed over in reflection, never leaving my gaze while he spoke. “Are you familiar with the story?”

I opened my mouth to answer before mom cut in again. “Of course she is,” she praised. I was not. “Very familiar. Memorized, I would say.” It had been a long time since I had to keep up with her lies and it was giving me a headache. There was no reason to lie in Nani’s house. In the bowels of my gut, I could feel a fire brewing that had been ignited the moment Asher told me she never mentioned me. “But you can always call her Lily.”

“No, he may not!” I interjected aggressively. The table shook with a smack of my hand, catching everyone's attention. I didn’t mean to have an outburst but I would never allow anyone, especially this stranger of a stepfather to call me that. And she knew it, mouth gaping in surprise while her eyes yearned for the chaos.

She sat down with her fork and knife, her tone taunting me. “And why is that? I used to call you that all the time.”

“You’ve never called me that and you know—!”

“Ladies!” Ezra shouted, his voice reverberating off the walls with command. He stood domineeringly over us, his muscles bulging in agitation before relaxing. He looked between mom and me with so much intensity, I thought flames would shoot out of his eyes and burn us both. I felt the familiar twinge of freight run down my spine. “‘Remember ye, not the former things, neither consider the things of old’ Isaiah forty-three, verse eighteen.” He looked at me, taking a deep, reserved breath. “Do you know what that means, Lilah?”

I shook my head, feeling my heart flutter harshly from fear. “No.”

He leaned forward, gray eyes like dark, fiery smoke. “Forget the former things. Don’t dwell on the past. Whatever happened before between you and your mother, it’s all in the past now.” He grasped her hand at his side and she smiled innocently, which only made the fire brew hotter inside me. “She is a changed woman. God has forgiven her for her past wrongdoings, no matter what they might be and you should do the same. We’re a family and families forgive one another.”

Easy for you to say, I thought mockingly. I sat silently, gazing at him, wanting to scream that she was a monster, a devil, and I would never forgive her. He didn’t know her the way I did. He wasn’t raised by her. He never witnessed her crimes done unto me and others that have entered her life. But I’d make sure he did. He would witness firsthand who she really was. Then I’d laugh in his well-chiseled face with a hearty, “I told you so!”

I sighed, feeling my stomach growl for more substance. “Fine,” I said. And that’s all. I wasn’t going to forgive her. Not in this lifetime or the next.

Ezra sat down slowly, keeping his eyes on me as though he were in a trance, before swiping them away. “I think this would be the perfect time to inform Lilah here about the family rules.” I shoved a fork of ham in my mouth, keeping my gaze low. I could tell I was going to have a hard time with him as well, especially if he recited bible verses all the time.

“Number one, we keep a tidy house and don’t make Katherine do all the work. She’s diligent but we can clean our own messes as well.” That would be no problem. Since Nani had gotten older, I usually did the cleaning around the house and was used to a tidy area. “Two, we don’t lie in this household.” Hastily, his eyes shifted to my mom at his side with a glimpse of resentment before vanishing. I smiled. Maybe he wasn’t as blind to her as I thought. “Three, we go to church every Sunday and bible study every Wednesday evening.” To be honest, I didn’t know what to think about this whole religious concept being thrust upon me. I wasn’t religious and Nani, although she would sometimes crack open a bible, would never force it down my throat. “Four, no one, under any circumstances, is allowed in the basement by my study, is that clear?” This was the first time he directly spoke to me, strong eyes conveying the gravity of this rule.

I nodded. “Crystal clear.”

“Good. Number five, we respect thy mother and thy father.” Mom smirked wickedly at me at that rule. That one was going to be a bit harder than all the rest, even going to church. I hadn’t an ounce of respect for my mother. And I barely knew Ezra but I would be respectful to him. “Six, everyone is in this house by six pm on weekdays. Nine on the weekends. Seven…”

The sound of his voice, although rustic and soothing, had to be drifted out of my head. There were so many rules. Now I know why Asher said he was controlling.

I continued to eat my food, trying to make myself full so I wouldn’t have to eat that ice cream cake. While I ate, I noticed Asher watching me the whole time, twirling his food on his plate. He was cute but I didn’t trust him. And I’d never see him as a brother. Just a guy I now lived with who I needed to keep my guard up around.

“And what happens when you break one of these rules, dad?” Asher asked, casting his eyes downward.

Ezra took a sip of his wine before answering, eyes piercing into me. They were like cold steel resting on my body. “Punishments. Based on what rule was broken, I would give a stern talking to or ground you. For something reprehensible, let’s say, sneaking back in the house at three in the morning,”—he shot Asher a glare—“continuously being disrespectful, or going into the basement, it becomes more severe. Spare the rod, spoil the child.”

“Wait, you would spank me?” I asked, almost choking on my food in shock. My own mother hadn’t spanked me since I was ten and even that was during her good days. A conniving look graced my mom’s face knowing that if I tried anything, this man, her husband, would put his hands on me as punishment. No longer would she have to discipline me with her own hands. “Sorry, but I’m way too old for that.”

I will be turning 19 soon.

He smiled, white teeth glistening beneath the light of the chandelier. “I highly doubt you’d do something that severe.” Then I felt it, his foot brushing my ankle beneath the table. If he wasn’t giving me such a suave look to submit to me, I would have reacted loudly, thinking it was something else. I could feel him inching his way up my leg, leaving me breathless at his touch. Above the table, he looked polite and charming, only his eyes darkening like storm clouds when he said, “Your mother has assured me you’re well-behaved, so you have nothing to worry about.”