Chapter 24

As soon as mom alighted from her vehicle, she started up the hallway stairs with one of the luggages. I carried the other.

Cameron was not anywhere around but as we both climbed up with our luggage and one baby strapped to her chest, and the other in a baby carrier which she pushed as we walked, we heard a phone ring, and Cameron answered the call. He was inside the house after all. And we could hear his footsteps approaching us in the hallway. He must have heard a car drive into the parking lot. Mom went over to click the switch in the hallway and the lights came on. He needed to see how much of a beauty she was, even after having three babies(me and the twins)-- three beautiful girls.

Then, with her shoulder bent backwards, and her chin raised, mom walked farther into the house towards my room. He stopped mom halfway by standing on the way.

"Hey" he said, smacking his lips. It was obvious that he liked what he saw, but he also looked shocked and confused.

"Hey too" mom said and passed by him. I followed her hurriedly. He came after us, pleading that mom hear him out.

"Babe, wait, babe" he called and came after us but mom was so fast. Immediately I entered the room, she shut it from inside, and fixed the lock. Then she smiled satisfactorily. She only just began torturing him.

"Babe, please open the door" He pleaded. It was strange hearing the word "please" come out of his mouth. He was always arrogant.

"Please, Cameron, I have not come here to be stressed. My babies are asleep and I do not want any noise to wake them. I myself am tired from the journey and stress, I need to rest please, okay?" Mom said, raising her voice a little bit. Then, with my help, she loosened the cot and placed it beside my bed, then, she placed one baby in one, and left the other in the baby carrier. The blond baby opened her eyes and shut them immediately.

"I am not here to stress you I promise"

"Mom, what are we going to call them?" I asked, we were both totally ignoring him on purpose despite that we knew he was still waiting at the door.

"Jamie. That's what I'll call this child. Jamie Dawn, just like you're Ariana May" she said, pointing to the blonde, with a big smile on her face.

"Jamie," I repeated. "It sounds nice"

"Sure"

"What about her?" I said pointing to the other twin with black hair.

"Pamela Amy. Yes, Pamela Amy" she repeated giggling.

"Wow. Jamie and Pamela. They are really nice names" i smiled.

"Lay down, darling, you must be tired too" Mom said to me. "I'll have a bath before I get some nap too" she said stretching her arms. I kept staring at her as I changed into my pyjamas.

"I have a zoom meeting to attend with someone special later today" Cameron was silent; it was so unlike him. After a while, he knocked quietly and said,

"Babe, I said I'm sorry." He sounded like he was hurt but I didn't feel bad for him one bit. He sure deserved to be ignored.

"Cameron, please lower your voice. You're shouting. Don't wake my babies" Mom said and laughed. Her laugh was quiet and it was only me that saw her laugh. She was trying to infuriate him on purpose or maybe make him regret his past actions.

"At least let me in, please" he pleaded. "Babe!"he knocked and knocked. I just watched the drama unfold without interrupting. I laid down on the bed, facing the direction of the babies and watching them sleep. It was a lovely sight.

Mom let loose her ponytail and brushed her hair. She sat at my dresser and faced the mirror. Her hair was so beautiful. If I were a man, I'd marry her over and over again. She didn't look like the woman that was dying, days ago under a tree. I couldn't believe she birthed those babies naturally. She herself said she didn't know she had some extra strength in her.

"Babe, please open the door for me" Cameron pleaded. I was watching the babies sleep. I already liked the blonde one. I liked both of them but I especially liked Jamie's blond hair. I was already used to dark hair because mine is dark.

After a while, mom joined me to watch the sleeping babies. She started to cry after watching them for a while.

"Mom why are you crying?" I asked. I wondered if they were tears of joy or something else was troubling her.

"I'm so emotional. I almost lost these beauties" she said, wiping her nose, which was already dripping with watery mucus.

"Ruby!!" Cameron yelled. He was still there. Now he was sounding angry because he called her "Ruby", her first name.

Mom turned towards the door with tears still in her eyes, "I thought you are a strong man? You got the strong body, force it open like you did the other day" mom said and hissed.

"Okay babe, I won't do that I promise" he pleaded.

"What do you want?"

"I want to talk to you, and I want to see our babies. Please" Mom sighed, hesitated for a minute or two, then got up and went to open the door. He walked in like a meek lamb, his face looking repentant and all. He touched the babies' hair and stared at them for split seconds, like he was daydreaming. Then he went to meet mom who was in a corner wiping her own tears. He embraced her and tried to steal a kiss but she pushed him away

"Are you okay?" He asked softly.

"I'm okay. I want to be left alone" Mom said and moved away.

"Can I give you a massage? In our room huh? You said you were tired" he said, smacking his lips and stretching his hands towards her.

"No Cameron, I'm fine without it. I don't need your help."

He shook his head and went to my window, glanced at Mom's car in the parking lot and without turning back, asked: "How much did you buy that? Where did you get the money?"

"It really is my business, Cameron, not yours. I'm not about talking to you about my private life" mom said, sitting on the bed. Her tears had stopped now.

"Really? You won't even talk to your own husband?" He turned to her, slapping his own chest. So much for being a husband.

"Not in the next two months. I do not see you as my husband, Cameron. Not once have I ever thought of you as one. You know what? I'd rather you don't ask any more questions, I'm tired" mom said and laid on the bed beside me , stretching and yawning.

"As long as you're under my roof, spending my money and as long as I'm responsible to these kids of ours, and as long as I still have my ring, and as long as I still make love to you, I remain your husband, Ruby" he said, sounding annoyed. "Don't make me angry"

"Oh really?" Mom turned, her expression reading annoyance. Their conversation often escalated into an argument real quick. I hated to watch it.

"Fine. I'll leave your house with the kids, no more sex, and I do not need you to spend a dime on any of my three beautiful daughters. As for the ring, i could return it, I really was stupid to have accepted it. I didn't come back because of you, okay? Don't make me angry, Cameron. I could do anything to you right now" Mom said and turned back to sleep.

"And point of correction, 'husband', this house belongs to me as well as long as we are still legally married, but don't worry, that's gonna change soon."

He scratched his head and without saying a word, walked out of the room afterwards. I was dumbfounded.

But then he came back almost immediately and said, "I'd like to have a talk with you in our room. We could talk about this, Ruby, okay?" Then he left. Mom said nothing. It was only a matter of time before mom realized that it was a mistake to have come back.

Know why I said it was a mistake? Read on

Taking care of twin babies was stressful enough for mom, she didn't want to take them to daycare not because they were not yet weaned, but because she didn't want it. She wanted to be with her babies all the time. Home was boring because mom took them to work everytime she went to work. It was easier to go to work since she had a car now. Cameron did too, but he returned earlier than mom. I was always home, reading in my room. I didn't like it because thoughts popped in my head at will. Mom resumed work. She didn't want to be a stay-at-home mom either. So she juggled everything all at once. She was such a strong woman. Her boss was in fact very understanding. She was the one who gave her that long leave from work, telling her to get herself together and after her baby arrives and has been weaned, she can resume if she still wants to. Everyone whom mom met was kind, except the man she married. It was like those kind people around her served as a compensation for her.

It wasn't like mom ignored me. She didn't know what to do yet. We were leaving soon, so, enrolling me in another school in the area would be needless.

I told her that I'd keep attending Enchanting Promises High School until we left. She was really worried about me, that's why I had to promise her that. Not that I liked to go back. But I was curious about what's been happening in school. It's been ages and i wanted to see what was there. Besides, I'd be with Mike Tony all the time, he'd drive me to school everyday. That was a motivation on its own.

On my first day back at school, mom offered to drive me to school but I told her that it was okay to let Mike. Actually Mike returned to the estate some days after our arrival. He got a new car too. When I told him that mom had twins, he was so excited.

"I knew it! Her tummy was so huge, like a big barrel" he screamed with delight.

"It was not that big, Mike" i snorted and he laughed.

"Come on, let's go see the angels" He followed me in to congratulate mom. Mom hugged him, and this time, he was the one who kissed mom on her cheek. Mom let him change the babies' diaper. All this time, Cameron was not home. He played with the twins' cheeks too, and talked about something like, " They're so adorable. I'm sure they can't wait to bond with their sweet big sister(that was me)" I blushed hard. He was so sweet and knew how to make you feel good at the right time.

"They're already bonding, Mike" mom said and we all laughed. That moment, I think I was the happiest. I couldn't believe that miracle. It was indeed a miracle, because I remember mom crying when she stared at her babies and she said, "I could have lost them, these beauties" and I didn't really understand that until she explained her ordeal that night, the night I couldn't find her and eventually found her at the foot of a tree.

This was how she said it. Actually she was talking to Jack about it the other day and I eavesdropped because I was curious too.

These might not be the exact words but this is the details of what I heard. That's how detailed I can make it.

"That night, Jack, I..I was feeling down, like really down in my spirits and I was just crying because I couldn't help it. Everything in my life was painful, everything except the gift of a beautiful smart child, Ariana, and maybe the gift of you in my life. I don't know my father, my sisters and i are not close, my mom is far away and doesn't want me bonding with any of her family, (Sighs), mom doesn't know what Cameron does to me everytime. I hide it from her. She never knew, she still doesn't. I just can't tell her. She believed so much in our marriage, said it was the best thing that happened to her. Obviously her family has a ruckus that's yet to be solved, which I know nothing of. That's why everyone went their separate ways.

Mom doesn't know what actually got Cameron and I together...she thinks we loved each other...she...

And then Jack came in, "It's okay, my love. Cry if you want to" and then she started to sob. Jack rocked her.

After a while, she stopped and went like, "So I told Cameron that night that I needed some space, especially because I was pregnant and all. He told me to my face that I am his slave, and I can't do anything to get out of his cage. He said I could never find anyone that'd love me or accept me into their home as a partner,and that I'll be lonely all my life, he made me feel like I was not good enough. I was so angry but tears overcame my anger and I started to cry.

Then he came over to me, tried to touch me but I was so mad at him. He wanted to rape me again but I was bent on escaping this time even though I knew he had locked the door. Even if it was going to create bloodshed, I was ready to get out of his reach that night.

I was so sick of everything. He pulled me and punched me when I tried to resist him. He was trying to tie my hands with force but with the little energy left in me, I kicked his groin. Not only that, I also told him that someone actually loves me and that I'll divorce him to meet this person. I think that was what angered him, and he started to hit me. I fell and bruised my leg. He hit my head several times on the wall, and I don't know what my leg hit but I had a cut and when I noticed that it was bleeding profusely, I unlocked the door and ran out. I couldn't run fast. I was so scared because no one would save me. No one was around to save me. Whenever he hit this angry mood, he turns into a beast. Sometimes I feel like he would kill me one day, hold my neck and suffocate me to death. I ran and at that tree, I just fell because I was already out of breath, and all of a sudden, I started to go into labour"

"I'm glad Ariana came to my rescue. I could have died there maybe, or pass out with no help until morning"

I shook my head several times when I heard her story. It was this same man she brought us back to. Well, what did I know? Mom must have had her genuine reasons to return home. It wasn't that bad for me, because I had Mike, and the other kids to play with. But for her?

After a while, I started to get bored. I'd be alone in the whole house. Mike would come in and play with me before driving his truck to work. Actually he was the one who motivated me to return to school. He was like my personal therapist.

"I'll buy you whatever you need. Call me if you want me to come pick you up. Anytime" he told me.

"I want you to go back to school. You still got a lot of years ahead of you and a big, bright future"

But I was still unmotivated the first week. He didn't give up. He kept encouraging me and making me feel better-- those were the things Cameron never did. Mike was physically, emotionally available for me. He loved me and I felt it strongly, but it was not like I was stubborn, I just didn't feel like doing anything. I'd wake up and turn around in bed, doing nothing but staring at my ceiling. Mom would make some warm tea for me, and run a bath for me before serving my breakfast. She did all that for me, despite that she had two other little humans to take care of.

I'd pretend to go into the bathroom to bathe, but I'd just sit there and look outside the window. I'd stay there until I was sure she was running late for work.

"Ariana, are you still there?"

"Yes mom, you can go to work, I'll eat after bathing" She'd insist but after a while, say goodbye and leave. She didn't like the fact that I was alone at home. She'd give me many instructions. "Don't talk to a stranger. Don't leave the house. Lock the doors from inside, and play outside. You're free to watch the TV. Just be fine and on the alert. I know you're a smart girl. Call me if you feel unsafe. You have your phone with you" and after me nodding a yes, she'd turn away with an unsatisfied look. Yes, unsatisfied because she was still worried about me.

"Are you sure you don't wanna go with me to work? You are not going to work, you'd just sit with me and watch me sew I promise" she would suggest, looking back.

"No mom, I just want to sleep" I would yell from the bathroom, and then when I was sure she was gone, after hearing her car zoom off, I'd slip into the tub and stay there for an hour or more, letting the water warm my body and watching steam rise out of my skin into the air. I'd only get out of the tub when I heard Mike's voice in the living room.

I'd wrap my body with a towel, run to my room, slip into a loose gown and grab a face towel to dry my hair, and then run into the living room straight into his arms. "You okay, pumpkin?" He'd ask rubbing my wet hair. Sometimes he dried my hair for me, some other times he watched me do it myself.

"Yes I am" He usually came to check on me around 8:30am. He said he resumed work by 10 but he had to be there by 7:30am everyday because he had to train other dancers and organize some karaoke, but he was only delaying because of me.

One more crucial thing that motivated me to resume school was the fact that everyday since mom and I arrived home, I had been seeing this figure pass by the trees beside my room. I mentioned earlier that I used to see a figure back there and then in the apartment Jack got for us after mom was discharged from the hospital. It was faint and subtle. I didn't know what colour of cloth it wore or its exact height, or what gender it was, but it was a human figure, it'd stop in a spot like it had frozen, and when my eyes moved away from it and I looked back to check, it'd be no longer there. One day, I actually gazed at the figure for split seconds, refusing to take my eyes off it. Mom was in the house, preparing food and I was outside, watching over one of the babies placed in a cot. I was not far from the house at all but my eyes were darting around as if i knew the figure would appear again. And it actually did. It remained there for about a minute or so and disappeared later. It was like I was being watched by this person because it didn't come out or show up if someone else was with me. Someone like an adult. It was only whenever I was alone. It scared me especially because I couldn't see the person's face, and I didn't know why anyone would be after me.

It went on like that, and he came more than thrice. That's when I had to go tell Mom about it. She said I was being paranoid, and that there was nobody around, and that the neighborhood was safe, or probably it was just a tree's shadow. She actually thought I was seeing Joe's ghost, or perhaps I was seeing things because i witnessed two friends' deaths in succession. She took to me to the hospital once, to a therapist but that was the last time I went there. I told her that the therapist's face was scary. His face wasn't. I just didn't want to see a therapist. I tried telling mom I was fine, and tried to make her believe that I actually saw something or somebody but it was futile.

However, She started to sit with me and stay by me everywhere I was, but the figure didn't appear again until we left the apartment. Like I said, it only monitored me when I was alone.

I don't know much about stalking but I think that when you're stalking someone, monitoring them secretly, you should be in hidden places. The person you're stalking shouldn't know you're stalking him or her. I think that's the purpose but this person always remained even when it was clear I was looking his way. Maybe he relied on the fact that he or she was unrecognizable. Well, it was both a good and bad thing for me. Good because at least, I know to be extra careful because someone is after me. Or maybe it was Joe's ghost. No, Joe never promised to appear to me. Besides, he wouldn't scare me like this figure did . Little did I know that what was coming was far beyond what I ever envisaged, now that the figure was beside my window back in our house, and, living in the trees beside my window. I saw his movements everyday but I couldn't decipher who he was.

One of those days I was still home, I just finished bathing and I returned to my room to clean my body with my towel. Everywhere was quiet. I was not hungry; my breakfast was going cold but I was not hungry. I didn't feel like watching TV either. My window was wide open, that's because sometimes I forgot about this figure trailing me. I was standing before my full length mirror, in preparation to shave my legs. It was one thing I did secretly- steal mom's razor from their bathroom and shave my legs clean. Of course the smoothness I got was always short-lived as it would grow back in a matter of hours. Besides, I injured myself sometimes. But the joy of having smooth legs for a moment intoxicated me.

So, that morning, I was shaving my legs while staring at the mirror, smiling at the satisfaction it gave to see a part already getting smooth. I first waxed it like I watched mom do to her armpit, so that it'd not hurt that much or be itchy.

I was doing that when I looked up and saw the figure, again, faintly in the mirror before me. The figure was behind me. I was so scared that I screamed, lost balance and injured myself with the sharp razor. It was bleeding but I didn't care. My mirror was in such a position that you could see my window and the reflection of the trees beside my room. My mirror made things appear closer than they were, so when I saw the figure, I thought he was actually behind me in my room. With shaky hands, I hurriedly went to the window and shut it, pulled down the blinds and switched off my lamp. Then I went to mom's room to get some iodine for the injury. After wiping it with wool, I applied iodine solution and then covered it with plaster. I planned to remove it before mom returned. Then I heard a knock on the main door.

I hesitated. But when I heard Mike's voice, I went to open it. He smiled on seeing me , he lifted me and put me back on my feet. He had an arithmetic text book and my favorite storybook in his hands. He didn't notice the plaster on my ankle.

"Good morning" he said, waving the storybook at me "Are you okay?" He asked because I didn't show any excitement. He expected me to be excited

"I'm fine" I said and forced a smile. I wanted to tell him to take me to school. I was ready to resume.

"You are not smiling" he said and walked in, and I shut the door behind him.

"I am bored"

"That's why I'm here, Look" he said showing me the books in his hands. That was not what I wanted.

"When are you going to work? You're not dressed yet?" I asked him, sitting beside him. This was the fifth day of the week after mom and I returned home. The other kids were back too, but they had all gone to school.

"I'm not going to work today" he said. I gasped. He was dressed in Jean shorts and a plain vest. He looked like he had been gardening; his hands had soil sticking to them and he also smelt like wet grass. He picked up the story book, opened it and started like,

"So, should I read you this story first, or would you rather we solve some arithmetic?" He smiled.

"What are you doing, Mike?"

"Well, I want to be your teacher until you're ready to go back to school. Please, dear princess, could you do me the honour of employing me as your teacher as from today? I won't charge you any pay, ma'am" he added and stretched forth his hands towards me. I had to laugh because it was so funny.

"I want to watch you dance" i said instead of "Take me to school". He laughed, jumped up excitedly and started to dance. First like a clown, and then systematically.

"Not today, Mike"

"When?"

"Tomorrow. Tomorrow is my birthday" I muttered. I wondered if anyone even remembered. Mom wasn't talking about it either. I was going to be eight the next day, but I wasn't feeling excited.