It was a gloomy cloudy morning, fit for war or arguments of any kind in fact. I decided to give Joey that postponed call. He sounded quite upset with me when he answered the call.

"Brenda, I can't believe you did something as irresponsible as this."

"Joe, I won't deny that I am a little sorry for my actions, but trust me, what I said to Father were nothing but the truth, otherwise he wouldn't have struck me."

"I don't suppose you are going to listen to me if I tell you to go home? What were you thinking of moving into the hostel when your house is just a couple of miles away from the campus?"

I was silent at that.

"Please Brenda. Go home and talk to Uncle again. He really wanted the best for you despite what you think. You are probably over-reacting when he told you about the coming marriage between.."

"Over-reacting? Is that what you think I was doing? How would you feel when you come home one day only to have your father telling you that he is marrying a strange woman whom you have neither seen nor heard of?"

Joey sighed. "I know how you are feeling. Remember what I always tell you? Try putting yourself in the shoes of other people. It will help you understand why people do certain things and perhaps you might feel that they are justified in doing what they have done."

"Justified? Do you feel that my father is justified for what he has done and is now doing? He killed my mother.."

"Be careful what you say, Brenda, what do you mean by that?" Joey interrupted suddenly.

I did not reply and continued as though he had not said anything. "..and now he is marrying another woman. And he says it is because I needed a motherly figure. Can you honestly believe what he says to be the truth? I am twenty years old, Joey. I grew up just fine without a mother and I definitely don't need one now."

Joey was quiet for a long while.

"Can I come over to see you Brenda? I want to talk to you."

I hesitated. It had been awhile since I saw Joey and despite the mess at home, I was not about to let it affect my relationship with the dear brother I have. I agreed to meet him later in the afternoon and hung up.

"Brenda."

I turned at the sound of Dante's voice.

"Is my sister coming today?"

"Yeah, I was supposed to have lunch with her. Are you joining us?"

Dante shook his head and looked quite anxious. I decided that I could ask him the disturbing questions that I had at the back of my mind.

"Dante, I have some questions which I wanted to ask you, but I wasn't sure if you were going to like what I have to ask, or even answer them." I began.

"Shoot."

"It seemed to me that you are rather cold to Diane, who is supposed to be your sister, whom you have not seen for some years. Why?"

Dante shifted uncomfortably. "The last time we met, we had a bad quarrel which hadn't been resolved till now."

"A quarrel which lasted for 2 years? Assuming that you came here just before you enrolled in the University of course."

Dante nodded curtly.

"I wasn't aware that you can bear a grudge for that long. May I ask what you quarreled about?"

"He didn't tell you?" We both jerked our eyes to the door, where Diane stood.

"Diane, you are early!" I exclaimed.

Dante did not glance at his sister, much less acknowledge her presence. Diane smiled at me sadly and ignored my exclamation.

"Dante had been expelled from his college in the States, didn't he tell you that?"

I stood still at this piece of stunning news, gaping at Dante.

"Shut up Diane." Dante glowered in a low voice.

"I gather as much. I'm surprised, Dante, that you failed to mention this to your supposedly good friend here, in the 2 years that you have known each other."

"Actually it was one and a quarter year." I corrected her absently. I was still trying to grasp the fact that he had been expelled from his University back in the States. Because of what? Why didn't Dante tell me?

I was about to ask for the reason when Diane spoke again. "I'm sorry that Dante didn't tell you. Perhaps I should leave him to tell you the reason why."

Dante shot a murderous look at his sister, who did not cower under his glare. If looks can kill, I suppose Diane would be dead by now.

"Stop giving me looks, Dante. I shouldn't be the one saying this in her face. You should have told her long ago."

"So am I supposed to thank you dear sister?" I was taken aback at the sarcasm I heard in Dante's voice. The Dante that I knew was a gentleperson. I had not known that he was capable of stinging tones, much less sarcasm.

"Anyway, I came to tell Brenda that I wouldn't be able to have lunch with her because I have an urgent appointment with my boss this afternoon."

I nodded a farewell to her and turned my attention to Dante. He glanced at me for awhile and cleared his throat.

"Eh.." he started.

I waited for him to continue. Until now, I had not realized that I knew so little of Dante, someone whom I have shared a room for so many days. I had always given in to him. Whenever he didn't want to talk about his family or friends back in the United States, I would oblige him and not probe. At this moment however, I knew I would not rest until he gives me the reason for his expulsion from his university.

He bit his lip a little and began his story.

Dante's homeland is a small town in the southern part of America. Besides Diane, he had an older brother, Dominic, who is happily married. Two and a half years ago, Dante had been a freshman. However, he soon left the place because he had been involved with a girl. Well, you do not get expelled for having a girlfriend; otherwise, half of the students would have been expelled in every university. The unfortunate thing was that Dante had been more deeply involved with the girl than decency allowed. He got her pregnant. The worse thing was that the girl happened to be the Chancellor's daughter.

I was astonished and shocked by this side of Dante. He said he did not tell me about this earlier because he did not know how I would react to this piece of news. I could understand anyway. If I were in his shoes, I suppose I would feel the same way.

He had a big row with his family about this. His mother had almost swooned when she found out that he had gotten a girl into trouble. His father had been furious when he heard about it and had almost disowned him when Dante had been expelled. His siblings had been equally stupefied. Dante sworn to his family that he would get the degree he wanted with or without his family's help. As his grades had been one of the best in his cohort, he had been granted a scholarship when he applied to study here. Diane persuaded him to stay in America but Dante refused. Both brother and sister had quarreled quite bitterly over this because hurtful words had been hurled at each other during the supposed argument-turned-fight.

"I was terrified what you would think of me if you found out about this. At first I didn't know you well enough, that's why I didn't tell you. When I knew you better, I didn't want to lose you as a friend. I was afraid that you would despise me and leave me, just like everyone else." He had a forlorn look on his face.

"Was that why you had so few friends?"

"Yes, that was one of the major reasons."

I was rather overwhelmed by his story. Never in my wildest imagination did I realized that Dante had such a past.

"Don't be silly Dante. Why should I think less of you because of this? Did you regret your actions?"

Dante sighed heavily and nodded slightly. Inwardly I was feeling a little jealous of the girl who used to be in his life, however I allowed none of it to show. Dante had enough to worry about without petty jealousy. He explained that the girl later on aborted the child and refused to speak to him ever again. I was sad for Dante. Even his girlfriend had turned her back on him.

I put a hand on Dante's shoulder and gave him a gentle pat. He looked up at me and gave a little smile. He went on with his story and told me that he hadn't contacted his family since he left the States. Diane's arrival had caught him unaware because he hadn't known about her scheduled trip here, naturally.

Suddenly I remembered Ivy's strange remark about Dante that particular day months ago. I had forgotten clean about it soon after that afternoon and hadn't asked Ivy to clarify herself after that. I decided that perhaps this was what she meant and mentioned it to Dante.

He looked startled and asked me what Ivy said about him. I shrugged and repeated her words to him.

He looked slightly relieved and confirmed my guess. He was not aware that his past had been a topic of gossip among our friends, but he was not surprised because his group of friends left him because of this. He supposed they were the gossipmongers.

I nodded understandingly and decided to dismiss the topic once and for all. I glanced at my watch and realized that it was time I meet Joey. I told Dante about my morning phone call to Joey. Then I asked if he wanted to meet the dearest person in my life, next to my parents. Dante pondered a little and nodded his head.