Chapter 54: Chapter 54

Chapter 54.

Mum is stranded, astounded, astonished, and dazed. She is looking at Luke’s mum like she has just seen a ghost. Her mouth agape and her legs shaking. Her lips trembling and even though she seems like she would like to explain herself, I think she doesn’t have the energy to do it. For a few seconds there I feel her pain but I clear that feeling away when I realize that she made me live a lie all this while. I would have not grieved so much if not for her.

‘’You are …’’

‘’Alive?’’ Luke’s mum chuckles a little before she responds. ‘’Yes, I am my friend.’’

‘’But I thought that you were …’’

‘’Dead?’’ she burst a burst of sarcastic laughter. ‘’You thought wrong. I was never dead. Your plans never worked so hey, I am here.’’

She took care of me, yes she did but my mum has ached all this time trying to figure out where her daughter could have been. For over twenty years, she writhed not knowing where her daughter had been.

She rarely defended me when dad was accusing me of going to the city for prostitution. She kept saying nothing and now, it is too late because I had to find out the worst way ever.

My eyes are aching from all the crying. Alvin is holding me tightly and with surety. Where is Harry? My dream just came true. I remember I had seen this dream earlier and it was Alvin who had brought me home and the frustrations I faced. The only thing that never happened in my dream was the revelation I am listening to right now.

He doesn’t want to see my son, simply because I got pregnant out of wedlock. He thinks Ian is a gaffe but he is flawed. He isn’t. I know he was a one time and my very first time but he is one of the greatest sanctifications ever.

‘’I am here,’’ Alvin whispers warmly in my left ear and I feel protected. Well, I know I am because Luke is here too.

Mum takes sure steps towards Tabby. She motions her to give her the baby and she does. She then kisses the baby on his forehead and motion one of the ladies I have never seen to take the baby with her and trust me I don’t object. This woman either had a feeble idea that I am her daughter or maybe she is just good-hearted. I love her already, she showed me that strangers can be entertained at some point.

She then comes closer to me and hugs me painfully. I have this motherly familiar feeling that I have felt before. Warmth, love and care, that’s what is happening right now.

‘’Hush….’’ She hushes me and I pull away to look at her in the face. ‘’I am here, baby girl. You don’t need to be worried because you are in the right hand, right now. You will forever have my protection and you should know by now that I will take legal action. Sorry but that’s what I will do.’’ I ignore her. I don’t want to talk much.

‘’Marcella?’’ she calls as she pulls away leaving me to Alvin’s hold and making us all turn swiftly to look at my mum. I scan the room and I have no idea what is going on in my siblings’ minds. Clare is looking at me with a questioning look, I turn to look at Job who just shakes his head in total confusion. Carly obviously is oblivious of the happenings right now because she is busy with her toys.

‘’I am listening. I want you to tell us what, how, why who, and when all this happened. You of all the people decided to do this to me. You betrayed our trust and friendship. Who should I trust? I trusted you as the only family and friend. I told you all my secrets including the doctor who would have delivered me. Why would you do that? Was I not supposed to have peace? Was that doctor killed on purpose? Why did you collude with her to mess my life?’’

‘’I am so sorry, cousin. I never meant to do all that to you. I was being blackmailed and that’s how I ended up messing up.’’

‘’I want to hear everything.

‘’Me too,’’ I say tiredly. Luke and Alvin lead me to a couch and just as I am about to sit, I turn and look at dad and it is so obvious how much he hates me.

‘’Jenna was my friend. She obviously knew something or maybe so much about you so she warned me never to tell you about our friendship with her.’’ She is shaking as she talks. She is sorrowful and seems remorseful but let’s hear what happened.

‘’And you never thought that was weird?’’

‘’At first, I did, but then she convinced me that she didn’t just want it because you two weren’t in good terms.’’

‘’We are all listening,’’ Mum says quietly.

‘’We drunk a lot with her. She was always the rich one in our circle. A circle of three girls. She had told me of her rich boyfriend whom she never introduced to us. She kept postponing us meeting him and I have no idea why.’’ She pauses for a bit and blows her nose so unladylike. ‘’One day, she asked me if I could do her a favour. I had no idea what the favour was. I was hesitant but she said she would explain it to me.’’

‘’Then?’’ Luke’s mum asks with obvious interest.

‘’I accepted so she explained that she wanted me to disappear with a baby. According to her, her boyfriend was cheating on her with the lady and she wanted to teach her a lesson.’’ Luke’s mum’s mouth is wide open as she listens to the revelation.

‘’Why would you wanna do that to your fellow woman?’’

‘’She was blackmailing me. She wanted to sell me to the authority for killing my first boyfriend. As I said, she was my friend …’’

‘’So, you killed Herold?’’

‘’Yes I did but it’s not something I am proud of though.’’

‘’And you let an innocent soul rot in jail knowing so well that it was you who killed your boyfriend? Don’t you think that you and your little ass should be in jail right now?’’

‘’As I said, I am not any proud of that. Anyway, the she-devil was supposed to be my friend, we both planned on eliminating him when he ditched me for the lady who was caged for her entire era. She, unfortunately, tape-recorded me when I was doing that shit and she had that piece. She wanted to give it to the police and that’s the reason I agreed to do the favour for her.’’

‘’You are evil!’’ Luke’s mum yells on top of her voice then she grits her teeth after saying that. ‘’You could have at least pitied the woman you accused falsely. You knew Herold dumped you for her but killing him and accusing her wasn’t the way to go.’’

‘’You don’t know what you are saying. I wasn’t going to jail just because of some shitty life that I took away. Herold was the first man I ever loved and him discarding me wasn’t in any way one of his priorities. He had only one job and that was to love, cherish and care for me but that never happened. He had the audacity after the long we had come from to leave me for another woman.’'

‘’Well, that’s not our story to tell, you will speak to the police about it. What kind of character is that? What on earth are you telling or rather showing your kids? That killing is okay?’’

‘’Don’t tell me that you are calling the police on me, cousin?’’ her voice is shaking as she asks that. she is frightened and scared.

‘’That depends.’’

‘’On?’’

‘’Forget it, tell me something,’’ she nods at Luke’s mum. ‘’What was your deal with Jenna? Did you know that the baby she was stealing was my own? Did you know that the man she was talking about was my Williams?’’

‘’Not really, cousin! I just found out about you being the mother of this girl a few months ago. When Jenna gave me the baby, she never mentioned you, she showed me some photos of another woman. She made me believe that the man she was talking about was called Jude.’’

‘’That’s Williams’s other name.’’ her eyes shoot wide open for obvious reasons. She didn’t know what mum just said.

‘’Yeah, she confirmed that a few months ago when she saw Clara in the city. She was so mad at me for letting this girl go to the city because she said that if Williams ever meets his daughter then she would be in problems. Luckily enough, she said He just liked her for their son but didn’t suspect anything. Right now, I know she has a baby for her own brother and that confirms that she is cursed.’’ I don’t know what happens but Luke’s mum’s palm lands on her cheeks and I feel my palm itching to do the same.

I know this wasn’t the right thing to do, coming together with Harry, our love and passion for each other was uncalled for but hey, we both had no idea and right about now, I know Harry has no idea completely on what is going on.

What you don’t know, doesn’t hurt. I lost the love I had for him when this whole thing was confirmed.

I turn to Luke’s mum.

‘’How did you get here?’’

‘’I followed you guys here.’’

‘’Why would you wanna do that?’’

‘’Because I always knew that you were my daughter. When Luke told me your name, it rang a bell. That was the name I always wanted to give you. I told Marcella here about that name several times and it literally seems like she fulfilled my wish. When you told me your date of birth, the name of your parents, that too, my love. Too many coincidences and that’s why I am very sorry but I had my detectives look for this home. For me, I never even needed DNA to confirm that you were my daughter because the love, the affection, and my motherly instincts never lied to me. I should be thanking my cousin for raising you but not on the account that she literally had to commit so many unworthy offenses to keep you. They killed my doctor and gave me their own doctor, a rogue doctor. They even arranged with Jenna to kill me and according to them, I am dead. Tell them I am lying!’’ she directs her question to mum who shakes her head certainly.

‘’She isn’t lying. I was sure she was dead because, for the past twenty-two years, I haven’t seen or heard of her.’’ She explains.

‘’Apart from my parents and a few friends that I have, so many other people don’t know that I am alive today and I know that if they saw me, they would be as surprised as she is right now. I am sure they would faint.’’

‘’Enough! You people should leave my home right now! And while at it, take your cousin with you. I don’t have space in my home for murderers.’’ Dad shouts and we all cower.

He is my dad because he raised me up but the way he is behaving makes me very disappointed at him. He taught us to be good to others, he told us to do unto others what we would want them to do to us.

‘’Dad please come down.’’

He bursts out a peal of sarcastic laughter, ‘’you think I should? I never wanted you to go to the city, now you are here, your mother, the woman who raised you for several years will go to jail because of you.’’

I turn to eye Luke’s mother. ‘’Is it true?’’ I know what dad is trying to achieve. He wants me to feel guilty but he will not make me.

She nods not so enthusiastically. ‘’ I am so sorry, Clara. I have no idea what to tell you at the moment but this case is now out of my hands. In any case, I will do only whatever you ask of me. I have no right to do anything that will not make you happy.’’ She turns to look at her cousin, then back to me. ‘’We will first let the police do their investigations before we decide on anything, okay?’’

I scan the room one more time, Tabby, Luke, Alvin. Then, my siblings, Carly is looking at me as she walks towards me. Clare and Bob too are walking towards me.

They capture me into a tight hug and my heart gets warm. I love them. I don’t care is we are not related by blood. I thank the living God that they exist.

‘’I will always be your sister. If you don’t want me to, I will step back, okay?’’ Clare asks and I smile at her.

‘’Never, sister. I will always regard you as my siblings. All of you.’’

‘’Thank you,’’ they all say in unison, pull back and walk away.

‘’I said go away all of you!’’ dad shouts and I tense against Alvin. Funny enough, I am just relaxed, I feel protected by my sweet brother Luke and my friend Alvin.

Where could Harry be? He should be here for me right now when so many things are happening. I want him here both as a brother and as the father to our kid.

‘’I am so sorry, cousin.’’ Mum starts saying to Luke’s mum. She is very remorseful and that I can see very well. ‘’I was carried away. I didn’t know the baby was yours and I raised her without any discriminations. I took good care of her and you should really be happy that it was a family that raised her and not a stranger.’’

‘’Says the only person who knew my doctor.’’

‘’I talked about it unknowingly. I never knew she could use it against you.’’ She says sadly

‘’I hold no grudge against you. I have my daughter with me and I thank God for bringing her back more than twenty years later. As I said I will do whatever Clara asks of me. If she wants me to arrest you, I will let the police do their thing without hesitation and if she doesn’t want that, I will definitely not do it.’’

Mum looks at me beseechingly. ‘’Clara say something.’’

‘’Like what?’’

‘’Please forgive me.’’ Deep inside my heart, I forgive mum. I don’t know how to take this but I will let fate take care of it.

‘’Why are you not leaving? I want you all away from here.’’ Dad shouts walking to his bedroom and when he comes out a few minutes later, a shimmering sharp machete is dangling in his hand and we all run out. He is chasing us away. He sees my baby bag and he throws it towards us and Luke picks it up. Alvin is guarding my body with his and if I say I don’t appreciate my friend, then I will be lying.

Luke’s mum and I jump into Alvin’s car while Tabby Skips into Luke’s car.