Free The Black Sun by James Twining

never like that. He was just trying to help me.”
    “Dom, what are you talking about? You’re making no sense.”
    She took a deep breath before answering.
    “I never knew either of my parents,” she began, her normally confident voice strangely small and muted, her words rushed as if she was worried that if she paused, even for a second, she wouldn’t be able to begin again. “All I remember is being passed from foster home to foster home as quickly as it took me to set fire to something or get into a fight. When I was seventeen I ran away. Spent a year living on the streets in Geneva. I was this close to the edge . . .”
    Tom had always known that Dominique had a darker side. That she was a little wild. This, however, was totally unexpected.
    “But those stories about your family, about studying fine art, about going to finishing school
    in
    Lausanne—you
    made
    that
    stuff
    up?”
    67 the black sun
    “We all have our secrets,” she said softly, her eyes locking with his. “Our own ways of blocking out the things we’re trying to forget.”
    “Did my father know?” He picked up a knife and began to slice some vegetables distractedly.
    “I first saw him at a taxi stand one night. I think he’d just been to the cinema. A rerelease of Citizen Kane or something. I never expected him to see me. Normally the mark would be halfway home before they’d notice their wallet was gone. But not your father. He was so quick.”
    “You stole his wallet?” Tom hoped that his voice didn’t betray the fact that he was not so much shocked as impressed.
    “Tried to. But he caught me with my hand still inside his jacket. And the amazing thing was that, rather than call the police, he just told me to keep it.”
    “He did what?” Tom couldn’t help smiling as he pictured the scene.
    “He told me I could keep it. But if I wanted a fresh start in life, I should bring it back to him at his shop and he would help me. I stared at that damned wallet for four days, desperately wanting to open it and take the money, but knowing that, if I did, I might lose my one chance to get out. And then on the fifth day I went to see him. Just as he’d promised, he took me in. Gave me a job working in his shop, taught me everything I know. He never asked for anything in return. I wouldn’t be here today without him.”
    For a few seconds Tom was silent. Dominique’s confession certainly explained some of the contradictions in her character that he had never quite been able to put his finger on before. Less clear was his father’s motivation in taking her in, or indeed his reasons for keeping it a secret. Every time Tom thought he was beginning to understand him, a new revelation seemed to draw yet another veil between them.
    “He should have told me,” Tom said, unconsciously gripping the knife he had been slicing the vegetables with until the tips of his fingers were white. “You both should.”
    “You’re probably right,” she said. “But he was worried about what you might say. I think
    we
    both
    were.
    I’m
    only
    68 james twining
    telling you now because I think that today, of all days, you should know that, all the time he was with me, he was trying to make up for not being with you. He knew that he would never be able to forgive himself for what he had done. But he always hoped that, one day, you’d understand and not hate him so much.”
    There was a long silence, broken only by the hum of the refrigerator and the throb of the oven fan. Abruptly, Tom threw the knife down with a clatter.
    “I think we should have a drink. A toast. To him. What do you think? There’s a bottle of Grey Goose in the freezer.”
    “Good idea.” She gave him a brave smile and swiped a finger across the corners of her eyes. Then, standing up, she crossed to the refrigerator. The door to the freezer compartment came open with a wet, smacking noise. She gave a short, sharp scream.
    Tom was across the room in an instant. She pointed into the