الفصل 22

I don't know how we scrambled out of the cafe in such a hurry. Panic had gripped all of us. My father-in-law had raided our house to kill my grandfather. Could he really do it? Sibel had already angered Sarp, and now with his father added on top, Sarp's anger had doubled. Father and daughter had ruined our evening. Once we were on the road, following my brother's car ahead, Sarp was driving like a madman. I knew we needed to get home as soon as possible, but this speed was dangerous for us. Sarp was muttering about his father while simultaneously punching the steering wheel. Sibel, sitting in the back seat, wasn't making a sound out of fear of her brother. Cem and Erdem were following us in another car behind us. Kaya was going to drop the girls off at their homes. "Sarp," I said anxiously. "Can you slow down a bit? You're scaring us." He continued at the same speed without saying anything. It was as if he couldn't hear me. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he was breathing heavily from anger. "Please, darling, slow down a bit," I said again.

First, he took a deep breath. I think he was trying to calm down. Then he reduced the car's speed and turned to me. Trying to smooth his furrowed brow, he said through gritted teeth, "I'm trying not to get angry around you, my beautiful, but you see, my dear family isn't allowing it." "I'll call my mom and find out the situation," I said. "I doubt your father would go that far." As I picked up the phone and dialed my mom's number, he said, "Believe me, he would." My eyes widened with fear as my mom answered the phone. "My daughter," my mom said in a low voice. "Mom, what's happening there?" "Dear, Aslan Bey has gone crazy. The house is in chaos. Come quickly." "We're coming, mom, we're on our way," I said, while shouting could be heard in the background. "Mom," I said anxiously again, when another voice filled the phone. "Dear daughter-in-law." "Father, please don't do anything to my family. We're on our way, we're coming. When we get there, we can sit down and talk everything through calmly. I'm sure grandfather has a logical explanation." I was afraid he would kill my grandfather. From what I knew, my grandfather didn't seem like someone who would take a person's life. "Calm down, daughter-in-law. No one will be harmed by me; they are my dear in-laws. But I can't guarantee anything for your grandfather. I've waited too long until today. If what he explains in a little while doesn't satisfy me," he paused. "I will settle his account." My eyes opened in horror. "No," I said. Sarp couldn't take it and started shouting at his father.

"Father, what do you think you're doing? You won't harm anyone. Wait for me. As you said, you've been patient until now, you will wait a little longer." "It seems you've gotten used to defying your father lately. And now you're giving orders, you little brat." My father's voice started coming through. "I'll kill you with my own hands, Aslan." Our journey wasn't very long, but it felt endless. The shouts of my father and father-in-law filled the phone. As we were moving along tensely, with little time left to reach the house, suddenly a gunshot caused Sarp to lose control of the steering wheel. Our car started spinning on the asphalt. The phone flew from my hand, and since it was still on, shouts of "What's happening there?" came from the people at home. Apparently, they could all hear us. I hadn't even understood what had happened when another gunshot rang out. A scream rose inside me, and Sibel was screaming hysterically. Sarp shouted for us to get down as the car scraped against the barriers and came to a stop. I was thrown forward violently, but since my seatbelt was on, I was saved from crashing at the last moment. Breathing rapidly from fear and panic, I immediately turned to Sarp. He was quickly checking if we were okay. "Are you okay?" he said, quickly checking me and Sibel. I nodded my head affirmatively. I could only manage a "Mm-hmm." Thank God we were all okay.

Sarp said, "Stay down, don't get out of the car," when more gunshots rang out in rapid succession. As I bent down into the footwell, I said, "Sarp, don't leave us." Checking outside, he said, "Don't get up, I'll be right back," and took his gun from his waist. When Sarp got out of the car, another bullet hit the car again. We were literally under a hail of bullets. Since the gunshots were coming from the left side, I tried to open the door on my side, but it wouldn't open because it was too close to the barriers. "Sibel!" I shouted, but she didn't respond. Could she have been shot? I quickly moved to Sibel's side and started shaking her. "Sibel, are you okay? Sibel, snap out of it," I said. She was breathing. She tried to sink deeper into the seat she was lying on. "Sibel, we have to get out of the car, or one of the bullets will hit us. Can you hear me? Come on, get out of the car?" I said, but she was trembling with fear and couldn't move from her spot. I couldn't help but shout. "If we don't get out of this damn car right now, we'll both die!" At my shout, Sibel said "Okay" in a trembling voice and reached for the door. Since there was a small gap between the back of the car and the barrier, the door opened. First Sibel, then I, crawled out and threw ourselves outside. Right now, we were waiting, hugging each other between the car and the barriers. Sibel, whom I was trying to calm down, was crying like crazy. We were so scared. Where were Sarp, my brother, and the others? What if something happened to them? My God, I'm going to go crazy. Who were these people? What did they want from us? "Sibel," I said. We need to stay calm. Your brother will protect us. Nothing will happen, we will get out of this." "No, Ceyda, we're going to die. They're going to shoot us. We won't escape," Sibel said. She was trembling like crazy. I was trying to look around, but I couldn't see our people. "I don't want to die, Ceyda, not now, not now."

Suddenly, the gunshots stopped. With the cessation of sounds, we also stopped crying. No sound could be heard except our frequent breathing. It was as if my heart had stopped beating from fear. A voice shouted, "Ceyda!" It was my brother's voice. "Brother!" I responded. I could barely hear my own voice. We couldn't get up from where we were. "Ceyda." My brother called out again. When he came around the car and saw us, he quickly knelt down beside us on his knees. "Are you okay? Were you shot or something?" He touched us and checked if we were injured. "Brother, we're fine. Who are they? Did they leave? Where is Sarp?" I said anxiously. He hugged us both and said, "It's over, my beautiful, come on, get up." When we got up, I looked around; Sarp was walking towards us with quick steps a little further away. Behind him, Cem and Erdem were dragging a man. His face was covered in blood. They had caught the man and beaten him up. Seeing that everyone was alive, I took a deep breath. Sibel ran before me and hugged her brother around the neck. She started crying loudly. "Brother, I thought you were dead. Why did you leave us and go?" "Shhh, it's okay, my beautiful, it's over," Sarp said. While stroking Sibel's hair, he was looking at me ruefully. When he pulled one arm from around Sibel's waist and reached out to me, I quickly moved forward and hugged them both.

I buried my head in my husband's neck. My tears started flowing again silently. I kissed his neck, wet with my tears, inhaling his scent. What if something had happened to him? What would I have done? How would I have lived? I couldn't imagine a life without him anymore. In the darkness, cars I couldn't count were approaching us. "Sarp," I said anxiously. "Who are these coming?" When Sarp turned around, my brother and the others were also looking at the arrivals. As the cars approached, I saw that they were our people. When my father got out of the first car that stopped, I quickly went to his side. "My daughter, are you okay?" my father said, and without thinking, I hugged him. He was my father. No matter how late I had met him, he gave me confidence. "I'm fine, I'm okay," I said. My father and my dear father-in-law had come with a lot of their men. They had heard the gunshots while talking to them. I had forgotten to pick up the phone in that panic after it fell from my hand. "Sarp, what's happening, son? Who attacked you? Are you okay?" Sarp looked at his father with a stern expression. He gestured with his head towards the man Cem was holding by the scruff of the neck. "I don't know yet. But I caught one. He'll tell us nicely why they were shooting at us." My father couldn't help but punch the man in the face. The man groaned and fell to the ground. "Who are you, man? How dare you try to kill my children?" he said, throwing another punch. My brother held my father's arm and said, "Dad, stop, we'll handle this."

"They weren't shooting to kill anyway. If their intention was to kill, they wouldn't have left any of us alive. Except for my car...." he said, pointing to two cars. "They shot out the tires on Sarp's and the men's cars." ****** When we arrived at my father's house, as if the fear and adrenaline on the road weren't enough, everyone here was talking and arguing at once. My ears were ringing now. I wanted this torture to end as soon as possible and to forget what we experienced tonight and sleep peacefully in my bed. No matter how much Sarp told me to go to my room and sleep, I couldn't. Because the past event between my father-in-law and my grandfather that should never have happened needed to be revealed and resolved. Was my grandfather really a killer as was said? Or was it a slander against him? While I was listening to the shouts, hugging my mother tightly where I sat, my sweet-smelling mother was stroking my hair and kissing me. Sibel, like me, was silently hugging our grandmother, listening to the shouts with eyes still red from crying. The loud voices filling the living room suddenly stopped with Sarp's booming voice. Kudos to my husband; he had gotten everyone's attention. "Enough! You will solve whatever problem you have right now. No one will kill anyone," he said, keeping his gaze on my grandfather and his father. "There are some unknown bastards outside trying to finish us off, and you're starting a civil war here. You were supposed to have gotten past these issues. One of us could have died tonight. What would have happened then? What would you have done?" Sarp's father interrupted his speech.

"Did you think I would close this matter just because you married Ceyda? Is it that easy to sit in the same room with my mother and father's killer? He left me an orphan, without mother and father, at a young age. If not today, then tomorrow, he will pay for this with his life." A headache was coming on from the tense atmosphere. When would this nightmare end? After my father-in-law's words, my grandfather started speaking in a loud voice. "I am not a killer. I've been telling you this for years, but you didn't listen to me." "Well, if you're not a killer, why did my mother and father die?" "I never wanted to go into detail, but I want to be free of this burden now," my grandfather said, turning to my grandmother. "Zümrüt, I apologize in advance for what you are about to hear." He looked at her eyes sheepishly. Then he turned his gaze elsewhere and began to explain. "Dilşah was our neighbor's daughter. We loved each other very much." "What are you saying, man?" my father-in-law shouted, standing up. As he moved towards my grandfather, Sarp tried to hold him and make him sit down. "It's because of your stubborn, contrary nature that this issue has dragged on for so long. We've been enemies for years. We tried to kill each other," said my father. "Look who's talking. Thanks to my daughter-in-law Ceyda, I had to put up with you; otherwise, I wouldn't allow you to gather in a room like this and speak in front of me." "Nobody interferes until grandfather finishes the story." My brother's patience had run out too. I was also very curious about this matter. My grandfather took a deep breath and continued his speech.

"When I went to do my military service, I entrusted Dilşah to my closest friend, your father, Asaf. Asaf was my childhood friend. I trusted him a lot. While I was in the military, I asked him to look after Dilşah, to take care of her if she needed anything. And I went to the military. The days wouldn't pass. I missed Dilşah so much." Everyone in the living room, like me, was now listening to my grandfather with rapt attention. I looked at my grandmother; she wasn't looking at my grandfather with resentment. She seemed more like she was always by his side. After all, these events happened before they got married. "In those days, there were no phones to call and get news from Dilşah. I would write letters and send them to Asaf so he could give them to Dilşah. He would write back to me, 'Don't worry, brother, about Dilşah. She is very well, I always look after her, she's waiting for your return. Just finish this military service and come back,' he said." "Finally, I finished the two years and was discharged. When I returned to my hometown, Urfa, I went to Dilşah's house before going to my own home. When I knocked on the door, her mother opened it. When she saw me, she happily said, 'Welcome, son Ahmet.' While I was talking to her, Dilşah's siblings also came to the door. But my eyes were inside, waiting for Dilşah to come out. When I saw she wasn't coming out, I said, 'Where is Dilşah?' When she said, 'At her home, son,' I was stunned, thinking I had heard wrong, and asked again. 'Where is Dilşah? Can you call her?' 'Oh, of course, son, excuse me, Dilşah got married,' she said, and I couldn't believe what I heard. It must be a joke, I thought. 'She married your close friend Asaf,' she said. My legs couldn't hold me anymore, I collapsed right there on the doorstep. I pulled myself together and went to their house, meaning the house right across from mine. I was going to demand an explanation. How could the woman I loved and my childhood friend do this to me? Dilşah opened the door; when I saw her heavily pregnant, I experienced another shock. I don't know, maybe there was a small hope inside me that they hadn't betrayed me. When she saw me, she started crying. Asaf was also at home; he came to the door when he heard our voices. I grabbed him by the collar and started hitting him. I demanded an explanation. 'I fell in love too,' he said. We hit each other until the neighbors separated us. I cursed them both and left there. I found out later that Asaf had taken Dilşah by force."

We were all so focused on my grandfather's story that when my dear father-in-law suddenly shouted, my mother, whom I was hugging with my head on her shoulder, and I jumped. "Not only have you made up a ridiculous story, but are you now slandering my father too?" "It's not a lie, son, it's all true. Everyone who lived in our hometown at that time and knew us knows very well what happened. They wouldn't tell you because you were little, so you wouldn't be upset. Later, it turned into a nightmare. Your mother could never love your father. They fought every day, your father beat your mother. Since our houses were opposite each other, I witnessed it constantly. Your mother was changing day by day. She looked more exhausted. I couldn't intervene in the fights that happened before my eyes every day. So it wouldn't get worse. I thought the best thing was to leave Urfa. I packed my suitcase and said goodbye to my family. I had just left the house when your father, holding your mother by the hair, dragged her out of the house. I couldn't stand it and freed Dilşah from his grip. I punched Asaf." My grandfather's eyes were wide open as he spoke, as if he were living those moments. I felt so sorry for him. Who knows how much he had suffered. I put myself in his place for a moment. What if another woman came and took Sarp from me? My eyes filled with tears again. It was as if a pain stabbed my heart. I immediately turned and looked at Sarp. How innocently he was sitting across from me, the unscrupulous one. What am I doing? You've taken a leap in empathy, Ceyda. It won't do if you don't put yourself in everything. You'll miss the point now, focus on your grandfather. "He couldn't digest me hitting him. He drew the gun from his waist and aimed it at me. No matter how much I told him to lower his gun, he was enraged. 'Dilşah still loves you,' he said, aiming the gun at her. 'I'll kill her first, then you,' he said. I tried to take the gun from his hand. He was going to kill her. A struggle ensued between us. And then the gun went off. Your father had been shot. He was my childhood friend, my buddy. Despite everything, I was devastated. He was dead. Everything happened in front of all the neighbors' eyes. The gendarmerie teams that came to the scene took me to the station. I was interrogated for a while and then referred to the court. I was released in exchange for the testimony of the witnesses to the event.

When I returned," my grandfather said, taking a deep breath in and letting it out. "I received the news of Dilşah's death. She was wandering the streets, uttering my name. You were only three years old," he said, looking at my father-in-law. "She had thrown herself in front of a train." What a painful end. Dilşah had never been happy. She couldn't be with her loved one. She had lost her mind. She couldn't enjoy her son. My eyes were still flowing. How much I had cried tonight. Sibel too, even my mother and grandmother were crying. Everyone had become sad. I think my father-in- law was crying too. His eyes were bloodshot. When Sarp saw my state, he got up from where he was sitting and came to me. He cupped my face in his hands and wiped my eyes. "My beautiful, come on, let's go to our room," he said. Were we going to stay here again? That would be very good for me. I could spend a little more time with my mother, but I didn't know why he wanted to stay. He took my hand and pulled me up, then with one hand he pulled Sibel up too and hugged her. He kissed her cheeks and said, "My princess, let's go to sleep." What, were the three of us going to sleep in the same bed? Before leaving the living room, Sarp turned to his father. "Girls, I'll keep you waiting a bit," he said, separating from us. "Father," he said, making eye contact with his father. "You are strong; seeing you like this," he said with a sigh, "is something I'm not used to." Pull yourself together, your mother is waiting for you anxiously at home," he said, hugging his father. As if consoling him. "Come on, get up, let the army you brought here take you home." As Sarp hugged me and Sibel again, he turned to my brother and said, "Wait, I'm coming, don't interrogate the guy without me."

When we arrived, because I hadn't gotten over the shock of the event, I hadn't seen where they took the man. Had they taken him to the basement, I wondered.