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The thing about the sun is that it cannot be harmed. It can be hidden, it can be ignored, it can even be blocked out - but no power on the earth can truly put a chink in the armour that is the brightness.
That is how Sinan wanted Isik to be; protected from the world and its pervasive ugliness that bleeds in every living thing.
But she didn't have the added protection of 150 million kilometres, nor the capacity to burn others. She just had four troubled kids, offered a deal with the devil.
“We can do it. We will do it. For Isik” Keram spouted in his eternal bravado and endless compassion, “We’re doing this”.
“Isik deserves it”, Osman seconded. Somehow, the endlessly calculative man had weighed the odds, recognised that it was a losing bet and still put down his money.
There was a swell of confidence in the air. The groups simultaneous triumphant gulp of beer lent a weight of success, a decision made and a girl who deserved the world being honoured amongst their circle of misfits.
And then Eda spoke.
Sinan was always cold, always felt the repressive weight and iciness of the burden of being alive.
“We have to tell Isik, though. She has a right to know, right?”
At that moment, an ice like no other slid down his back and around his chest, settling firmly against his throat.
To tell Isik about the deal with Nezged would be to burden her with the knowledge. Burden her with the weight of the ensuring enslavement of her closest friends, and that would not do.
The boys were able to recognise it. Perhaps it was an outdated sense of chivalry. Perhaps it was their outside view of Eda that allowed them to recognise how her mask of bravado lent itself to assuming everyone else could equally protect themselves from the world. Whatever it was, Keram and Osman equally understood his point and needed only a little bit of swaying to become as resolute as he was.
“The more you know the more it hurts. Why should she know that the world is so shitty? We know it is, does it help us?” Sinan reasoned.
He almost began to plead with the others, recognising that if the sun went out he would similarly disappear. As the plants in the soil could not live without the suns light, nor could he without hers.
“Just let her be happy.”
So they all agreed, except Eda. Although, in the end, even she was not able to deliver the blow. And so they dealt with the consequences. They shined the man's shoes, served the man coffee, completed his paperwork, cleaned his office, washed his car and brought him lunch. They did it all and more, and yet. The whole time they had their front to the enemy, they forgot to protect their backs.
Their deal was made with the best intentions - protect that which most deserves protection. Sacrifice themselves, their pride their dignity, their personality, that which makes them uniquely themselves in defence of someone they mutually love.
And yet - it wasn’t enough to stop Isik.