Judas Read Online Free PDF

The other man, yellow snake eyes bright, grabbed the poor Greek by the throat, lifted him like a rag doll, and threw him out the door and into the street.
    Then what I had feared, but could not define, happened.
    The fat Roman beckoned to Mother. Always in the past, she set the terms of her services. No mention had been made of anything except posing. She hesitated. He snapped his fingers and Snake Eyes grabbed her by the hair and spun her around. Dinah screamed and tried to run but Snake Eyes, with his free hand, slapped her to the floor as easily as he would swat a fly. I watched, paralyzed. What happened next is not to be spoken of. The fat man grabbed Dinah by her wrist and pulled her to him. His friend, still holding Mother by her hair, bent her over his couch.
    I launched myself into the room, knife drawn. Mother kicked her attacker. He only smiled. He struck her with a closed fist. I heard someone shouting and cursing…me. I looked at her and then at Dinah. The soft Roman had his hand over Dinah’s mouth to stop her screaming. Her eyes were wide with terror and pleaded silently with me. She was my responsibility. I raised my knife over my head, ready to sink it to the hilt in that pudding-faced Roman. I think it may have been the only time in my life I was ever truly brave. As my arm swung down, I thought I heard noises at the door. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Snake Eyes swing at me. His arm looked as big as a galley oar. Everything went black.
    ***
     
    Sunlight. That morning it hit my eyes like a hammer. My head pounded and I could remember nothing. When finally the previous evening came to me, my eyes popped open. All I could see was the mess on the floor in front of me. Tables overturned and plates scattered everywhere. Leonides’ brass bowl lay upside down an arm’s length away, its charcoal spilled out onto the carpet. Scorched wool and incense lingered in the air. I twisted around. Mother crouched in the corner, her face swollen. She had a piece of silk wall hanging around her to cover her nakedness. Dark bruises were beginning to form on her shoulders and under her eyes. Dinah sat in her lap, eyes that the day before had danced in anticipation now stared vacantly straight ahead, the dull eyes of the dead. Mother crooned and rocked her back and forth. Dinah was bleeding.
    The room looked like an army had passed through it. Leonides’ statue lay shattered on the floor, smeared with blood. The boy god, what was left of him, had been converted back to a girl. I tried to sit up. I hurt all over. I raised my head. There was blood on my hand, on the statue, everywhere. How had that happened? My knife stuck to my bloody hand. Mother rocked and crooned. Dinah turned her head and threw up on the floor. Something, someone, a man, looking like a pile of rags, lay behind the broken statue. I looked more closely—Leonides, covered with blood. I saw him thrown out; the Tribune did that before…
    “He came back to help,” Mother murmured.
    I struggled to take it in. Leonides may have been silly, pompous, and vain, but he had honor, and he had been stabbed many times because of it. I looked at the knife in my hand. Who would believe I did not stab him? In the eyes of the Law I stood lower than a rich man’s favorite dog. Who would believe me? I had no status, no father, nothing. They were Roman officials. Who would dare to question them? But why would I want this poor man dead? The Romans, certainly, I wanted to kill them, but not Leonides.
    We cannot stay here.
    My head pounded and I lifted my hand to my forehead and discovered it crusted with blood where Snake Eyes hit me. I staggered into the back room and found a pitcher of water. I washed my head, hand, and knife. Mother stirred and stood up. She had been severely beaten. There were bruises all over her body. I tried not to look. She drifted around the room retrieving her wraps, covering herself. Together we washed and dressed Dinah.
    We cannot stay