Chapter 17

My mind came back to reality when I realized that someone was knocking on the door. I had stayed too long in the bathroom. My stomach made some somersaults immediately and I did puke, came out of the bathroom to let the intruder in, but I didn't return to the hall until I could hear a sign that it was ending already.

I might not be able to control hearing Uncle Robinson talk. I might hit him with my shoe or something.

Nobody knew about the incident which happened the previous night. I couldn't even talk to anyone about it. Who would I possibly tell? maybe if my sister comes into the world, I'd tell her all about it.

Yeah I could tell Mike Tony. But he was not around. His door had been locked right from the day before that fateful night when mom was attacked. He was in fact not in the house when the incident happened. I wondered where he was. I wondered what had happened to him. Every parent talked about him, and the few who had his number tried calling his cell all to no avail. They would say it wasn't going through, or it was switched off. Even the other kids in the estate felt his absence. We didn't play together as often as we used to, and even the few times we did play together, it lacked the sweetness Mike Tony's presence used to add to it.

Kids were silent and lazy. It was obvious we all worried about him. It was even worse that none of us knew where he worked, neither did we know any of his family members. All we did know was, he was a tall guy with so much kindness and loveliness in his heart, and that his absence made anyone's heart grow fonder. That was how good Mike Tony was. We all missed him. I missed him. His hugs, petting, and candies, his funny dances and his aura. He was just too caring and sweet. He did tell me that I was going to be a great woman, a woman of purpose and substance. One day, I asked him if the hairs on my body was not irritating him. He replied with, "They only make you look prettier. I like you like that", so you should never blame me if he's all I ever want to be with. He's a father figure to me.

As a kid, I needed love and attention and he gave it to me everytime. I even tried to matchmake mom and him at a time. "Do you like my mom?" I had asked him on some occasions. In one of my frequent visits to his apartment. He had laughed heartily to that but as I wasn't satisfied with that kind of a response, I had asked again, "Seriously Mike, do you like my mom?"

Then he pinched my cheek and touched my forehead. "Yes, she's a lovely woman. Why do you ask?" I smiled. I thought he meant something deeper. I smiled and he dug his finger into my deep dimples. My smile grew bigger.

"Can you marry her then?" I asked again, ignorantly, with my puppy eyes, to which he laughed so loud and carelessly that I almost fell from his hands.

"What's so funny? You can't marry my mom?" I would say, wearing a long face. "I don't know if she likes you too but if you ask her to marry you, she probably will say yes" i would add.

"Ariana, your mom is married. Why would I marry her?" He would say with all sincerity. "Why would you ask me to marry her?"

"Because you are single" I would say, pouting. "You're single and lonely"

"But she's married!" He would retort laughing really hard. He laughed so much everytime. If he wasn't laughing, then he'd be smiling. "You're still a child, Ariana. Stop thinking silly thoughts" he would say and place me on a big armchair in his living room. The next thing he usually did after that was point to the shelf and ask me to choose any book of my choice. He had so many kids' books there, very colourful and interesting stories.

"Diary of a Hybrid girl, Tessa's mess, Traveling to New York, Tales of Patrick Hansel, and Happily ever after" I would say, over and over again. Those were my favorites and he never got tired of reading them to me. In the 'Happily ever after', there was the love story of man and a woman. The woman was already married , while the man was single and lonely. The woman was married but not happy, because the man she was married to, was much older than her and he treated her like a slave. He beat her everyday and fed her crumbs. Soon, she fell pregnant and tried running away. However the single man had been watching her and realized she was a damsel in distress who needed help. He helped her run away by digging a hole at the back of the gigantic building where she lived with her old, abusive husband. She escaped and they both eloped to a far away country where they lived happily ever after. They had many children and many houses too. And they were both happy..

Whenever he finished reading it to me, I'd clap for him and then say "Mike, don't you think you should marry my mom? You'll both live happily ever after I promise"

"Stop talking like that, Ariana or I'll not read this book to you anymore"

"Why? Do you hate my mom that much?"

"I don't hate your mom, but she's married to someone else, and I do not like her that way" he would say and I'd keep quiet. Then, he'd pat my back and tell me not to worry, that my mom would be fine. That Cameron would take care of her but I knew he'd never.

"Please help take care of her. I want you to. Even if you won't marry her" i would finally say. It went that way many times, with me trying to persuade Mike Tony to marry my mom and he refusing to take me seriously.

I'd then ask him why he was still single. Then, he'd say "There's a time for everything" and I held on to that. I wondered if Mike would leave the estate and buy a house if he found a girl he loved. I wondered if he even had plans for marriage.

I wondered what life would be like, when mom and I with the baby left the estate. Would I have friends? Would her new husband like me? Would I change my school? Would Cameron still call Mom, or visit to plead with her? If he did, would mom agree? Would he change? Would my sister come to the world, safe and sound? Would our new home be nice?

It was only normal for me to worry about these things. One evening, mom called me, and I went to answer her call. She was in their matrimonial room, sorting out some stuffs from her dresser. It was obvious that she was packing..she separated her clothes and dresses from Cameron's and piled them up in a big travel bag. She was also wiping dirt off some beautiful shoes in her rack. I was bored, so I was grateful she called me. At least, she'd give me some work to do. I couldn't have gone to their room without being called, or I'd invite some yelling. She was not usually like that; it was because she was really frustrated. How else should a seven-month pregnant woman with a irresponsible husband feel? The other kids have been acting cold to me, not wanting to play that much, always complaining of feeling sleepy or having homework to do, so as to dismiss me. So I had had to sit in my room and draw some rubbish in my cardboards or just nap and nap all the time. Everytime after school. Weekends were very boring. Mom did not watch the TV and would not let me watch later than 7pm. If the time said 7:05pm and I was still seated near the TV, she'd yell and shove me away from the living room, while switching the Tv off. I had many card games but I didn't know how to play them because no one taught me or played with me. There happened to be one weekend I was so bored that I kept eating and eating until I had to throw up everything in my bathroom. After throwing up, I went back to eating, and just moping around the house. It was fun being able to explore all the rooms in the house, except two that were locked.

If Cameron were around, I wouldn't dare move an inch from the living room. He in fact didn't want me entering their matrimonial room.

So when mom called me and I realized she was in their room, I hesitated, because I thought Cameron would appear from nowhere and hit me for disobeying his rules. I've only been in their room three times and those were the times mom would make me carry his well-tailored, pressed clothes in his laundry basket and take it to him, so he'd talk to me. And you know, he stopped it without trying after the third time. It didn't work, mom's plan didn't work. He still didn't look at my face for more than 10 seconds and he didn't talk to me. Mom, in fact stopped trying after then, and hurled insults at him instead.

That time that he wasn't around, it was bliss in the house. Mom and I could finally enjoy some quiet, and some internal peace. No arguments, no thumping feet on the floor, no hitting, no cuss words. It was bliss and I wished Cameron's business trip would take a year more. He actually went on the trip when mom was three months gone and hadn't returned even when she was seven months gone. I wondered if he'd be around when her time of going into labour would come. He had called twice or thrice, and not more than that, and all he said entailed hammering his rules to mom. "No visitors without my permission, no one should enter our room except you, no late night outings, etc" and then after blabbering for about thirty minutes and was about to end the call, he would then ask her, "How's the baby?" , And mom would reply with so much weakness in her voice, "She's fine". And then, his next response would be, "Do you miss me? Do you need me to fuck you?"

Mom would shake her head irritably at his slangs and then mumble "No I'm fine. Focus on your business" , and then he'd go like, "Does that mean you've been satisfying yourself, or seeing someone else?"

"No Cameron, I'm good. I'm too tired to feel anything. I have no strength left for any more talks, I have to sleep. Bye" and mom would hang up. All that was in his head was the safety of his house and properties and sleeping with mom, he didn't even bother how she was coping with the pregnancy with only a little girl at home as a support. He asked these insensitive and irresponsible questions everytime he called, and how many times did he? Maybe three or four times. In four months. And he never asked about me. I wondered why mom answered him smoothly. It might be because she was tired of drama. Her body was tired of drama. Her soul was. Or perhaps because she knew it'd be ending soon. She and Cameron.

So, that evening mom called me, I was in my room sketching Anita in my cardboard, closing my eyes as I drew her. I wasn't a perfect painter; I couldn't paint as well as mom could, but I was good. I closed my eyes and remembered the scene of her slaughter, and I started to draw her into real life, on the cardboard. I had only drawn her face when I heard mom's weak voice.

"Ariana!" She called weakly. "Please come" she sounded like she was out of breath. I got up immediately because I was bored even, and didn't even like the fact that I was drawing Anita. I was searching for something to distract my mind but me drawing her even brought the memory closer to me. So I was glad mom called me.

I stood at the door which was half open and peered in. "Mom, are you okay?" I asked.

"Come in, my baby.." but it sounded like "Come in. My baby..." As if she trailed off. Like she was referring to the baby in her stomach, that she needed help with it. I hesitated before finally going in, after looking round to be sure Cameron was not near. It was that bad. He was that scary.

There in the room, I saw mom sprawled on the floor with a half empty travel bag beside her, many dresses on the bed, and one of a pair of black shoes in her hand. She was lying down with her stomach in the air. It was big.

"Mommy" I cried as I held her arm. "What happened?"

"Please help me up, darling" she pleaded. Her voice was weak. I tried lifting her but I couldn't. Her whole body was looking like a potato. I couldn't lift her arm even. I tried, but it was hard. She groaned and fell back to the rug.

"Did you fall?" I asked quietly, laying beside her. Some noise was erupting outside and I wondered if Cameron was back. But since I didn't hear his car zoom into the parking lot, I ignored the noise.

"Yes. I couldn't see" she said, and I wondered if it was her bad eye or a pregnancy symptom.. I looked at the eye; it looked so much better and brighter. Her face was slightly puffy and she had some breakouts on her nose. But she was still breathtakingly beautiful. I did hear a vehicle sound but it didn't sound like Cameron's Jeep. So I didn't mind.

"Fetch me someone. I need to get up. I can't .." she winced in pain. So I ran back outside towards another apartment to fetch one of our neighbors.