The Cries of the Butterfly - A LOVE STORY (72 page)

Wolf moaned. A little shuffle to his left made him look up. Grant was standing ten feet from them.

“What are you doing here?” Rochelle asked, surprised.

“I could not sleep,” Grant said jadedly. “I thought I might as well join you if you were still around.”

Rochelle patted the floor and Grant dropped down beside them.

“People think I am a strong, unshakeable person,” Grant said. “It is a wrong impression. I have weaknesses, too many weaknesses. For one, while it is true that I have no love of money and property and such other material things, I do not think I can now live a life that is less comfortable than my present one. I am too stuck in my comfort zone. Moreover, I do not think I can bear to not have the money at my disposal that Art makes possible to do the social work that I do. I do not think I can as yet quietly fade away into the sunset and not be high-profile as I am now. Over the years, I have somehow fallen in love with the charm of the whole thing. I need to be talked about, read and seen. This is my unfortunate truth.” His eyes were deeply sad. “Yes, I can shift to the Presidential House and draw my salary and that would take care of my physical comforts. And after I retire, I can draw a pension, write books, give lectures…like many of these retired US Presidents. But from where will I get the millions that I have access to at present to continue doing the welfare work that I do? I would be so completely lost without that work.”

Wolf put his hand out and placed it on Grant’s arm.

“Why do you forget that I’m here?” he said. He was very upset. “I promise you one thing, sir. You’ll never see days less glorious than what you have right now. I may not be the world’s richest man, but I have plenty of my own money. You know I used to draw a salary of $25 million per movie and I’ve saved much of it. It’s all yours—every cent. And I’ll start working again. You shall lack for nothing. At the very least, your present lifestyle shall not be affected in any way.”

Grant’s eyes misted. He took Wolf’s hand in both his and squeezed. He began to say something, but his lips quivered and Wolf didn’t need to listen to the words to hear them.

“What I don’t understand is how Father could have been so inequitable to have left all the wealth to Art. Didn’t he notice anyone else in the family at all?” Wolf said, half wondering to himself.

“He was blinded by his love for Art, Wolf. He saw in him what he didn’t see in either you or Sage or anyone else,” Rochelle said. “In Art he saw the only person who could protect, nurture and enlarge the good Butcher name. Art was Uncle Eric’s alter-ego…his soul-mate. These two have always been obsessed with status and image.”

Wolf had one last question. “So why have you suddenly decided to come out in open support of me and Savannah now?” he asked Grant.

“Because, beyond everything, there is a small part of me that has had enough. Because that part does not want me to remain a coward all my life. Because that part no longer cares what Art does to me. Because that part finally feels the need to be openly true to the pulls of my conscience. Because that part of me needs to do the right thing, at least now, whatever the cost.”

Rochelle sighed. “And now that he has decided to come out into the open, I shudder to think what Art will do to him…and how he’ll do it,” she said, talking to herself, a dispirited expression on her face.

“It does not matter, Roch, I just do not care anymore,” Grant said. His face was weary and resigned. “Frankly, I feel so free now.”

Suddenly, Wolf straightened his back. His face hardened.

“Art will do nothing to you. I won’t allow him to hurt you in any way. And for that whatever I have to do I shall do. I promise you, sir,” he said. There was a look of solemn earnestness in his eyes.

Grant smiled sadly at him and patted his hand.

They fell back into a prolonged hush, the cool night air caressing their cheeks.

In the lobby of the house, Art Butcher quietly slipped back to his room.

“
YOU
do not want to marry me anymore?”

“For Mary’s sake, Wolf, it is three am!” Savannah shouted.

“I got to know only now. Rochelle just told me and I immediately rushed over.”

“What were you doing with her at this time of the night? Laying her?”

Wolf clenched his teeth. “Mind what you say!”

“Why? Does the truth hurt so much?”

“Please don’t shout, you’ll wake Robin up!”

“Oh, she has been awake all night. First it was your Dad, now you. Why don’t you people keep away from us?”

“Dad came
here?
”

“You don’t know? Please don’t pretend, Butcher.”

His eyes narrowed. “How did he get hurt?”

She looked away for a second.

Oh, fucking shit…don’t tell me!
“You had something to do with it?”

Suddenly her eyes flashed with defiance. “You people keep trying to destroy my life and that of my child’s and you expect me to take it lying down each time? Who do you think you are? You may be the great Butchers of the world…to me you are nothing but a hideous pack of butchering wild dogs who shamelessly feed on the weak and the meek. Well, I’ll tell you what—you have met your match. This is my last warn…”

He moved like the wind, silently, almost invisibly. But his hand met her cheek with the force and bang of a pistol shot. She was thrown back like a doll and fell heavily on her butt, her head banging on the rug.

“Goddamn fucking bitch, how dare you touch him!” He went after her, bending low to grab her throat. But a shrill cry stopped him in his tracks.

“Daddyyyyy…!”

Wolf’s head snapped up. The bedroom door was open and Robin stood in the doorway, clutching a pillow to her chest, her eyes aghast with shock and fear.

Savannah twisted around and saw Robin too, who had begun to cry. She leapt to her feet and rushed to the girl. She took Robin in her arms and kicked the bedroom door shut behind them, leaving Wolf standing alone in the living room.

***

The
war began in earnest three days later when Savannah received summons to appear before the family division of the New Halcyon Superior Court in fifteen days time in response to a petition filed by one Art Butcher.

But it was a wholly unequal battle—between a butterfly and a Komodo dragon.

The evening she got the court notice, Tuesday, June 10th, Savannah could not eat supper. For the first time in a long while, she was scared. Truly frightened. What had seemed vague until now suddenly stared her hard in the face. It had all become a stark reality.

And she was scared because she was alone. Her friends—her support system—were no more. No Wolf, no Rochelle. Not even Maddy. The news-hawk had suddenly become too busy with her work. There was only Lianne, but she was working all night (with Wolf’s help, she had got a waitress’ job at Munching, a small but respectable twenty-four hour coffee shop) and sleeping all day. Savannah wished she could at least see and speak to Stan Knott, but she knew he was obligated to Wolf and perhaps wouldn’t want to talk to her, so why risk an insulting snub.

But most of all, she was scared because she was running out of money. She had subsisted too long on her savings and the tap was fast turning dry. She had to get working again—find something, some job. The court battle was sure to cost her a bomb—the lawyer fees alone. She had no idea whatsoever how these things worked.

“You’re not eating, Mom,” Robin said.

“Mind your own business, alright!” Savannah snapped.

Robin was startled. For a second, she stared at Mom, then her face fell and she looked down into her dish and carried on eating. But she too had lost her appetite now. Somehow she dragged on and finished her meal, for Mom always emphasized on never wasting food.

.

A
s she lay in bed later that night and tried to sleep, Robin was terribly unhappy. Mom had begun behaving awfully strange of late. Firstly, she fought with everyone. She had fought with Aunt Rochelle, then she had even hit granddad, and she had fought with Daddy too. No one visited anymore and they did not go anyplace. Mom had stopped taking her to the garden, saying there were bad people around who could harm her. She even stayed at school all day long, keeping a vigil. The only time Robin could be away from Mom was when she was in the potty. She felt so suffocated. Worst of all, Momma was always on the edge. She never smiled, she snapped at the slightest thing and was constantly restless. Sometimes, Robin wished she could go back and stay at the Home full time. It would be a countless times better than this. Momma was behaving as if she weren’t her daughter anymore, but some prized possession, that had to be guarded all the time.

She yearned to see Daddy again. Yes, so she had been totally consumed with Mom from the time she had discovered Savannah was her real mother. She had neglected Daddy, and that was the truth. But now she needed him more than ever. She needed his kindness, his indulgence. He never scolded her and never behaved like he was some big boss.

Robin looked at Momma in the semi-dark. She was lying on her side, facing the other way. Robin listened. The sound of Momma’s breathing was low and regular.
I think she is asleep.
She waited some more time, then slowly pushed the blanket off her. Very cautiously, she crawled out of the bed. She looked back, but Mom continued sleeping and Robin now tip-toed out of the room barefoot.

Be careful,
she told herself in the living room. She picked up the telephone receiver, pressed it between the side of her face and shoulder and peering closely, she punched the numbers.

The room was suddenly bathed in light. Startled out of her skin, Robin dropped the receiver and it hit the floor. She spun around and saw Momma in the doorway, glaring at her.

“What in hell are you doing?” Savannah thundered.

Robin shook her head in terror.
No…nothing!

“You were calling him, weren’t you? You were calling Wolf. Don’t you lie to me!”

She couldn’t say anything. Just looking at Mom’s face, so choked with rage, gave her the chills. Savannah bounded over. She snatched Robin with one arm and banged the receiver down with the other, then pulled her back into the bedroom.

“If I ever catch you doing anything like this again, by Mary, I’ll skin you, do you understand?” she barked in her face. “How many times am I to tell you you’re not to speak to those people? They’re not our friends, they’re out to ruin us!”

Robin’s face began to crack. But Savannah was on her in a twinkling.

“Don’t even start!” she shouted, squeezing Robin’s arm hard. “One tear out of your eyes and I’ll make you stand in that corner all night, I tell you!”

So somehow, Robin didn’t cry then. But once Momma had gone back to sleep, she turned the other side, hugged her blanket to her face and wept silently.

.

S
avannah sat on the settee and looked at the classifieds of The New Halcyon Tribune. She circled with a ball-pen every now and then. She had picked out seven advertisements she would respond to the next day. Finally she put the newspaper down and yawned. She was tired and glanced at the wall clock. Eleven-twenty-three pm. The day had been a resounding flop.

After dropping Robin at school, she had gone job-hunting, the list she had compiled last night in her pocket. The first place she had visited was Hotel New Halcyon Grand, who sought two female receptionists for their front desk. The interview was short and couldn’t have been more forthright.

“You must understand, Ms. Burns, your reputation disqualifies you, although otherwise, we admit, you would be very well suited to our requirements.”

It had been the same tale with the two other places she had called on before lunch. One was another hotel, Hotel Sunrise International, and the other was a departmental store. All the Press she had got over the past several weeks had made her a notorious celebrity who was eminently gawkable but wholly unemployable.

She had collected Robin, they ate together, Robin napped for a while, while Savannah combed through more classifieds and made some phone calls. After overseeing Robin’s homework, she had dropped her daughter at Lianne’s and joined the hunt again.

But everyone was shying from retaining a recognized ex-escort. At ‘Garments and Sneakers’, the largest stockiest in New Halcyon for Levi, Rock, Nike, Puma, Adidas, Crocodile…there were not-so-discreet snickers as she turned her back to leave the place after an unsuccessful interview. At Hotel Camp, a twenty-four hour watering hole, she was offered a job as a topless waitress.

At Hotel Paradise, the manager wanted to take her to his anteroom and show her a few things. When she refused, she was offered a job as a stripper in the hotel’s nightclub, or she could choose to be a ‘Full-nude’ waitress.

“Your pick.”

When she got up to leave, she was openly propositioned.

“I’ll pay you five thousand bucks if you spend the night with me.”

She almost slapped the bastard. As she left in a huff, the man shouted behind her. “Since whence this pious feign all of a sudden? Once a whore, always a whore.”

Savannah turned right back and this time the guy was honored with the most stinging whack a female handbag could ever confer.