Chapter 28

He was dressed in the same type of hoodie he wore on the first day they met, except that this one was red, and his face was covered as well. After the gate was opened from inside, she could hear him commanding his dogs to move away from her as she walked into his living room. The house was more beautiful inside but it smelt of cigarette and smoke. There were horrific pictures on the wall, some were pornographic but most of them were bloody-pictures of people murdered in cold blood, pictures of someone self harming and several pictures that depicted violence. Music was playing softly from one of the rooms. It was so soft that she felt at home immediately. Juana surveyed her environment and concluded that except for the weird pictures and wallpapers on the wall, it was friendly and conducive enough.

She turned to him and expected him to welcome her cheerfully but he only looked at her from head to toe and asked her to sit.

Juana promptly sat on one of the cosy and well-cushioned chairs. She kept her eyes on him. He was smoking heavily and patting his dogs' backs. Juana couldn't see more than his lips and the thick, long strand of hair falling on his face.

She waited for him to blow out the smoke from the end of the cigarette and watched him do so.

"Hi" he said rubbing his palms together. She could see he was really shy.

"Nice meeting you again" She managed to say. She was starting to feel awkward sitting before him. The smell of the house betrayed its beauty. She admired evrry piece of furniture in the living room, including the table and stools and even the two large touch-looking but cute dogs but there was a lingering smell of smoke and cigarette that permeated her nostrils and eyes. He rubbed his hands together and adjusted himself on the couch and just when she thought he was about to start a conversation, he reached for a pack of cigarettes on the refrigerator, fetched a lighter from his pocket and lit one. Again! What effrontery! Juana was choking with the smoke and smell she could hardly breathe.

"Do you want a cigarette?" He asked softly. This meeting was going to take a long time, she knew.

"No I don't smoke" she rebuffed.

"Why not? You should try one while we talk" his lips parted to form a smile. His dentition would have been perfect except for a few teeth that weren't so white at the left side of his mouth.

"Sorry I'm asthmatic" she quickly said "And I'm choking on that smell" she added.

He got up without saying a word and opened the windows, then went to a corner of the room and turned on the air conditioner.

"Thanks" she muttered finally releasing her long-withheld breath.

He went to the refrigerator and opened it. He stood there looking at it for a while before picking a fruit juice and poured into two tall glasses. Juana could see that his refrigerator was well-stocked. This guy's rich and looks like he's comfortable and cool, then why's he hiding his face from people?

He handed the juice to her and entered one of the rooms then he shouted from the room "Please close the refrigerator for me".

She got up and closed it slowly. Without looking back, she felt his eyes on her. She knew he was looking and she found it weird. She turned around to return to her seat and saw him there, on her seat with one hand in his pocket, and one hand holding onto his glass. She sat beside him and sighed

"For some reason, I thought you were Helen when you walked in" he mumbled

"Huh?"

"Helen was my last girlfriend. You look like her in so many ways" he said. His face was still covered.

"Oh. You broke up?" Juana asked carefully trying not to sound apprehensive. The name 'Helen' rang a bell, but she dismissed the thought. It could be just coincidental. She sipped her drink to hide her expression.

"She died" he whispered. Hearing that, Juana almost dropped her glass on the floor.

"I see her in my dreams, calling for me but before I reach her, she's gone-just like that" he shook his head sadly

"Sorry" she muttered. Her fingers were shaking and her glass almost dropped but she composed herself. She'd know the truth today.

"If you don't mind, can you tell me more about her? Seems like you loved her so much" She asked, regaining her composure. If he moved closer to her two minutes earlier, he'd notice her heart beating fast and she didn't want that.

"Yes I still love her. She was a sweet young girl, happy and full of life. Beautiful just like you, and promising too" he said.

"How did she die?" Juana asked blushing secretly for the compliment she just got, but immediately she remembered his face was covered, she shrivelled in fear. How did he know she was beautiful when three-quarter of his own face was covered by his hair and his hoodie? It freaked her out.

"I don't wanna talk about how she died but I'll show you a picture of her" he stood up and walked towards a wallpaper. It was a naked teen girl lying on a rug. He moved it and picked up another from behind it. Soon he joined her on the couch. Juana wondered how he did that without physically seeing.

"See her hair? As dark and long as yours. Her smile, her eyes, see her fingers, her feet. She was an angel. I hate to know that she's no more" Juana surveyed the picture. She indeed was beautiful. She made a mental note to ask Colin for his best friend(Helen)'s picture when she got home, to compare the faces.

He returned the wallpaper to the back of the naked girl's. Juana didn't want to ask him why he hid it. Instead she asked "Why are you hiding your face?"

"I'm a criminal" he replied.

"What?"

"Don't be afraid of me. Let me tell you my story"

He sat beside her and faced her. "Be calm, I can see your heart beating fast" he said.

"Just how? Your face is covered" Juana asked in fright. He laughed.

Then without warning, he pulled off his hoodie slowly from his body first, then from his face. He shook his hair by shaking his head and made it cover his eye. His hair was so thick, brown and long and beautiful. Juana covered her face.

"What? This is my face. I'm showing it to you alone" he laughed but she knew that he wasn't laughing because it was funny, he was laughing to hide his fear of being betrayed again.

"Why do you trust me enough to show me your face?" Juana asked still covering her face. She had not looked at him yet.

"For starters, you're like Helen. Secondly, I don't think you mean any harm. I can't say I trust you enough but I trust you somehow" he replied. His voice was clearer and deeper, yet soft.

"Look at me" he said. "Hey" he pulled her hands away from her face. His chest was bare.

Juana slowly opened her eyes until she was stating straight at his face. She observed his lips, nose, eyes and hair, looked at him for about thirty seconds and then stared straight at his chest. His abs and biceps were just like Colin's. The only thing was, he had more prominent Adam's apple than Colin. He was drop-dead gorgeous.

She smiled in a silly way.

"I don't see why you'd enjoy hiding such a face"

"See" he pointed at his arms and then turned his back at her. There was a long huge scar in both places.

"What happened? I noticed one on your wrist the first time we met" she asked carefully. If he was indeed Helen's alleged killer boyfriend, then she saw the reason why Helen was attracted to him. But then, Colin was not less good too.

"I cut"

"What?"

"It all started when I was 12. I cut myself whenever I was angry and depressed. I was a very gentle guy, innocent and innocently extroverted but then I was abused, by many people and I grew up into a monster, a monster that could lift up a weapon to murder a fellow human" he said looking serious. Juana just sighed

"Don't you think you should tell this to a therapist? I'm not one, there's little to nothing I can do to help you know" She said.

And he smiled. Everything about him was attractive except of course his wallpapers, his smoking habit and his past.

"My dad keeps telling me to see a therapist. He told me recently too but I can't. I'm a wanted criminal, okay? Everyone thinks and believes I killed her, my girlfriend that is. So I must hide my face. I know I've murdered people in the past but I swear, I've got no reason to kill that sweet girl. I can't kill anymore. I'm a changed person, I know that" His voice sounded teary.

"Hmmm your dad?"

"Yes he was a therapist and a doctor too."

"Tell me about him" Her mind was suspecting something but she decided to ignore it.

"I don't want to talk about him. He's one of my many abusers. He said i was never gonna maje it in life. Said I'll end up in prison. I find it hard to forgive him but I can never hurt or kill him,I would rather stay away from him" he said. Juana nodded listening with rapt attention.

"He said those things to you?"

"Yes and they stuck with me" he sighed.

They talked and talked into the afternoon and Juana didn't find him boring at all. They had two more glasses of wine this time while they talked and listened to each other.