THE CRYSTAL CUP Chapter Sixty Nine

THE CRYSTAL CUP

Chapter Sixty Nine

No one understood very well what happened when the two fell down the stairs... Helena, who had been knocked down, got up like lightning and threw herself down the stairs, as if she were jumping from a trampoline into a swimming pool. Estela, who until then had been distracted, talking to her former brother-in-law, turned and ran towards the stairs. Mario watched all this happen, without being able to show any reaction, because in just over a second it was all over. As I said, no one could understand what was going on... Helena grabbed Letícia by the arm, preventing her from continuing to fall, and Estela simply grabbed her mother in her arms, mid-air, interrupting the fall that, if completed, could be fatal. Estela gently deposited her mother on the sofa, who was looking at her incredulously... how did she manage to pick her up like that? Cecilia and Helena were standing side by side, about halfway up the stairs. Mario still had both hands on his face, as he still hadn't processed what he just witnessed. As for Ricardo... well, he was simply open-mouthed, unable to understand all the action that had unfolded in front of him.

When he finally managed to show some reaction, Mario slowly descended the stairs, reaching where the girls were standing. So, the three of them just went down the remaining flight of stairs, until they were in front of the sofa, where Estela and Janete were...

- Janete... how are you feeling?

The woman was still a bit dazed with everything that had just happened... she still hadn't processed the latest events. Then, suddenly, she got up and flinched, seeing Cecilia in front of her....

- You... you tried to kill me!

The girl looked at her mother. There was no surprise written on her face. Apparently what her mother was saying was nothing new to her... in fact, Cecilia looked at her mother with a mixture of pity and disappointment. How could she do that? Bring someone unwanted into your home and, on top of that, try to force her to accept the fact as if it were something perfectly normal? Taking all that into account, accusing her of trying to kill her mother was nothing... what Janete conveniently forgot was that she was the one who started the whole situation, not her daughter...

- Are you all right?

Janete flinched as her daughter approached. Cecília just looked at her one more time...she turned around, went back up the stairs and, in a few minutes, was leaving the house. Mario followed her to the door...

- Where are you going, Ceci?

- To Helena's house, father. To my house...

- That's right... call me when you get there?

- Don't worry... I'll call, yes...

Helena was already at the door, next to her father and sister...

- If you think you're going alone, you're very wrong...

- Lena, stay there... help Dad and Estelita... I'll manage on my own...

- But no way... I'm hungry and dinner here meowed... we're going to eat something... how about a pizza?... and then we'll go home. Bye, dad... take care of this crazy house as best you can...

- Dad, you know that I'm not coming back here so soon, right?

- Yes, daughter... I understand! And I think it's the best, really...

They said goodbye, and the two girls won the dark night... Mario watched them disappear in the mists and was thoughtful. What a mess Janete managed to create... and all because she had gotten it into her head that she had to make her daughter accept her ex back in her life... but why she had to be like this, why she couldn't accept a decision taken by someone? Why did she think she was always right and the world around her all wrong? Well, this time she had exaggerated... the worst part was that he knew he couldn't put her up against the wall and make her understand that her views were wrong... if not even the priest could do that, how come could he do it?

After standing for some time, looking at the street where his daughters had disappeared, Mario returned to the living room. Ricardo remained seated, still unable to understand exactly what had happened in that place. He was like in a trance, where he couldn't wake up to the reality around him. Mario walked past him, and didn't even look at him. He went to where his wife was, took her hand, without saying anything. Janete was standing there, staring into infinity, still not believing everything that had happened that night. Finally she looked her husband in the eyes...

- Mario, she tried to kill me!

- I'm sorry, Jane, but that's not true. You two got tangled up because of you! The girl was leaving and you tried to stop her...

- She couldn't have done that to me...

- You couldn't have done what you did... I'm sorry, but you're wrong...

Leaving the torpor in which he found himself, Ricardo, all embarrassed, not knowing how to act, addressed the patriarch of the family...

- Mr Mario... I... I don't know what to say... I...

- Boy, I can only tell you one thing... you are not the only one to blame for the situation... actually, the biggest culprit is Jane... she had no business doing things the way she did...

- Mr Mario, I... I...

- Look, I'm going to ask you just once... please leave... I'm sorry, it's not your fault... but after what happened, your presence here in this house is not welcome...

Ricardo lowers his head and heads for the exit. And the anger for Cecilia rose again in his mind. The boy takes to the streets and gets lost in the night. Finally, what's left of the family in the room is reunited... Janete, still sitting on the sofa, Selene, oblivious to everything that happens around her, plays with her cloth doll, Estela, who sits next to her daughter and Mario , who after locking the door, goes to his wife...

- Now, that we're the only ones here... could you please explain to me what the hell you were thinking when you created all this confusion?

- I didn't make any trouble! It's all Cecilia's fault!

- Janet...

Mario took a deep breath! The words that came to his mouth couldn't be said... he was silent for a few minutes. You could hear the sound of a fly flapping its wings, such was the absence of sounds that took over the room... finally, controlling his emotions, Mario asked...

- What were you thinking when you invited this young man to come here, creature of God?