His Favorite Sin

6.1: BIRDS-EYE

Nine Years Ago

‘Jonah wants to come, so he will be tagging along.’ Dahlia informed Lance as she cautiously led him, so they went down the stairs together. She could already see his little brother waiting at the landing by their driver, Tim.

‘Oh, so he gets to come along, but my cat doesn’t.’ Lance grumbled, and she didn’t bother to hide her smile. It was her first time taking him out, and she did not want his creepy pet around. So she had made up a ridiculous excuse of how she couldn’t look after him and the cat at the same time while they were outside, and that the pet could slip away and get lost. He wasn’t happy about it and hadn’t stopped complaining since. He was sincerely attached to the pet.

‘Are you sure you’re not taking one of the cars?’ Tim, in a stiff upright posture, asked as they reached the landing. Mr. Dvorak had told Dahlia to take one of the cars in the garage, but she decided against it. She wanted their visit to town to be as inconspicuous as possible. A BMW or Bentley would stick out like a sore thumb in a small town like this.

‘Yes, Tim. Thank you.’ Dahlia politely said and took Jonah in her other hand, not before seeing the disapproving look on Tim's face. She got it, carrying two precious kids of a generational wealthy family on the bus; oh, the horror.

Jonah, with a full head of wild curly hair, could hardly contain his excitement as he kept his face glued to the window of the bus all the way through. Dahlia couldn’t help but smile down at him. Like kids his age, he was impossibly curious, but what distinguished him most from his older brother was the presence of light in his eyes. Jonah still had the presence of innocence. Sometimes, Cora would stare at Lance and be taken aback by the quiet sadness hidden in his smile. He always tried hiding it, pretending it wasn’t there, but to Dahlia, his mask was made of thin glass.

‘So, boys, hope you like shopping!’ She chirped as they stepped down from the bus.

‘Yes!’ Jonah’s enthusiastic cheer mirrored her excitement, but Lance's silent sigh cut through the thrill.

‘You don’t like the idea, Lance?’

‘I just don’t get why we have to come out and do the shopping when we have Tim and can get him to do all that.’

‘Because sometimes, it’s good to experience things ourselves instead of getting the help to do it.’ Dahlia took him by the arm and kept Jonah close as they made their way through the street.

First, they walked into a bookstore, knowing how much Lance was obsessed with books and loved it when Dahlia read to him. They strolled down the aisles of bookshelves as she read aloud the titles and summary contents of poetry collections and fictional novels for Lance in order for him to make a pick, and he was very picky. They had spent an hour in the shop, and he had only been interested in one book.

‘We have a library filled with works of art by the greatest authors, playwrights, and poets from around the world. I think I will stick to them.’ Dahlia suspected his cat not accompanying them had something to do with his foul mood.

‘Okay. Let me find something for Jonah, too.’ Jonah had been surprisingly docile and hadn’t attempted to stray away or cause any trouble. He had just clung to Dahlia's side, which she was grateful for, and soon she realized it was because he was secretly bashful. He hid behind her when anyone looked his way and turned red in his ears whenever a passerby complimented him.

Fortunately, no one knew the identities of the two boys, as Lance was homeschooled and Jonah only attended a private school in a neighboring town. Dahlia made sure to avoid the bakery where Derek worked, so they wouldn’t run into him or Hannah. The town was filled with gossip, and she didn’t want to expose them to it. Eventually, they would be, but she would like to protect them as long as she could.

Jonah requested to use the bathroom, so Dahlia accompanied him while Lance was okay staying behind. By the time they returned, a girl around Lance’s age was chatting with him, looking timid and giggling at her own words as she tucked her hair behind her ear. Her cheeks were bright pink as she wrote something on a small piece of paper before pressing it into his hand. She joined her friends, who were waiting behind, and left the store with them.

‘Was that a number?’

‘Is it?’ He stretched his hand, casually holding the paper out for Dahlia to read. Sure enough, the girl had scribbled her number down for him.

‘One minute outside, and you’re already stealing the ladies’ hearts, huh?’ She teased, but his face still held that bored expression as he straightened his cane and fixed his glasses.

‘Can we go now?’

‘Sure.’ If he could see the wide smile on Dahlia's face, he would hate her.

Afterward, Dahlia noticed that they, or rather Lance, received more attention from girls his age, younger ones, and even older ones. She tried calling his attention to it and teased him some more, but his mood still couldn’t be improved. There were some curious stares thrown their way, as this was a small town where almost everyone knew everyone, and they did not know them, especially since they were getting more attention.

After leaving the bookstore, they walked around a bit. Sometimes Dahlia noticed Lance wince, as if in pain, but when she asked, he dismissed it as nothing. Like when they were in noisier places, he instantly demanded to leave.

‘I have sensitive ears,’ he had said. ‘I’m not used to so much noise... or smell.’ He wrinkled his nose. ‘It will take some time to adjust.’

Later, she took the boys to get some frozen yoghurt since it was a hot day with the sun high and bright, a rare occurrence in that town. They took a small walk in the local park, where Lance and Dahlia later sat on a bench while Jonah played with other kids around. She made sure to keep the youngest boy in her line of sight.

‘I’m sorry we didn’t bring your cat along, but you can’t always have your pet with you, you know. You certainly can’t take it to school with you,’ she pointed out, as Lance’s mood didn’t improve much throughout the day. It was summer, and every kid was having the time of their lives, but there he was sulking because he had to leave his cat behind while he went out to have fun. His attachment to the pet made no sense to her.

He paused at Dahlia's words and sat down his half-finished cup of yoghurt on the bench. ‘He’s really serious about ending my homeschooling, isn’t he?’ Dahlia seemed to have unintentionally worsened his mood. ‘So that’s what this ‘day-out’ is all about.’

‘He wants you more… exposed,’ she quickly explained. ‘He thinks mingling more with people your age will be good for you.’

He was silent, and she decided not to disturb his thoughts.

‘My cat is special.’ He finally said, ‘He helps me… in a way nobody else can.’ He rubbed his neck nervously.

‘I can help you, too, Lance. That’s what I’m here for.’

He sighed. ‘Tell me what you see. I want to have a picture.’

‘Okay!’ Dahlia shifted in her seat, happy to see him warming up. ‘So the sky is partly cloudy, but it doesn’t look like it will rain anytime soon, so that's good for us. The grass is green, but there are some dead leaves littered about, and to our far right, I can see a small field of poppies and daisies. There are some trees, pine trees, birch trees, holly, apple trees; we’re underneath a scarlet oak tree. Jonah is playing with some kids on the slide closed by, and oh look, it's a bird. A robin!’ She gushed as the little orange bird came and perched on the armrest beside Jonah.

‘Oh, look how cute you are.’ Dahlia cooed at it as it chirped and wiggled its curious head at them. She loved birds, and right then, she wished she had brought some seeds with her before coming to the park.

While Dahlia was having this interaction with the bird, she hadn’t realized how stiff Lance had become beside her until the bird itself unnaturally paused its quick movements. It went silent and turned rigid as a rock for a moment until Lance brought up his fingers to brush against its feathers, and then, just as if a current went through it, its feathers fluffed up and its head snapped to the side, to Dahlia.

There was a strange stillness in the air. The tiny dark circles that represented its eyes felt like they were trained solely on her, and she was hit with a familiar feeling. The hairs on her body stood, and she was reminded of how Lance’s cat also gazed at her.

Lance stretched his palm in front of it, and the bird hopped onto his fingers. He brought the bird closer in , and the smile on Dahlia’s face disappeared as she felt the sudden shift in the air.

Her eyes drifted back to Lance, baffled, ‘Uh... Lance?’ It appeared as if he had established some sort of connection with the bird because the tiny creature didn’t appear skittish even though it was in the palm of a stranger much larger than it was. Also, Lance seemed to be lost in a trance as he held it close, his attention entirely on it.

‘Miss Dalia? Remember when I said my cat was special and could help me in ways nobody else could?’ Lance and the bird tilted their head simultaneously to her, causing her breath to hitch in her throat as she sat frozen in her seat, her eyes shifting between Lance's dark sunglasses and the robin’s pitch-black eyes. ‘I just discovered I was wrong.’