Chapter 9

At the hospital, I met a sleeping mom. Her right eye- the one with the problem was bound with plasters and one other object I didn't know its name. The kind nurse whose house I had my baths and ate, for the past twenty three days let me in. Her name's Nora.

"Hey Aria" she called as soon as I sat by my mom's bedside.

"Did you run away from school?" She asked holding my hands. She looked really concerned for me.

"I was missing my mom"

"You have to go back honey, your teachers would be worried, why would you do that?"

"I just told you, I wanted to see my mom" I repeated

"She's asleep as you can see. Don't worry honey, your mom will be fine"

"Please don't send me back. I don't want to go back to school" i pleaded with her. "Just for today please. I'll go tomorrow"

"It's okay honey. I'll call your teacher. Don't do that next time, okay?" I nodded, and so she took mom's phone and dialled the number I pointed to.

That evening, I went with Nora to her home as usual. Well, I rarely slept in her house, but that night, I did. She had a nice cosy home. I wondered why she lived alone. She seemed young but old enough to be married. Maybe there wasn't any man in view yet.

When we got there, she told me, "Aria, you'll be going home soon. Your mom will be discharged in two days, she's doing much better now" . I wore a long face after hearing that. I didn't want neither mom or I to return to that house.

"I'll miss you, Aunty" I said. Living with her for four weeks had been fun because she was kind to me all the time. She especially made cookies for me when she was not too busy.

"I'll miss you too honey. I'll visit whenever I can, okay?"

"Yes aunty"

"Everything will be fine, Aria", She said, tucking me into bed, with so much hope in her eyes. She had insisted I followed her home so as to let my mom have a good night's sleep, and also to enjoy my own sleep because I had been sleeping in the ward with mom for many days, refusing to go home or follow her home.

Nora slept in a different room from mine, because she had to work most of the night too. "Preparing for the next day" , she would say whenever I asked her what she was up to.

The room she slept in had a lot of laboratory stuff and many, many books. Her house was very beautiful and cosy and it immediately felt like home, the peaceful home without the monster.

I wondered how it'd be like if she were mom, I mean, if my mom lived like a single lady, like Nora was. How beautiful it would be, if mom was single again, with a fine house, nice furniture and a beautiful red car, like Nora's. With a room full of pipettes and many laboratory implements and many books, and with me, sleeping peacefully in another room. It'd be so peaceful even if we didn't have so much.

Nora was not filthy rich, like Cameron but she was comfortable. Peaceful and quiet and happy. She was not anything like mom. She was free as a bird, not bound by rules and routine, not controlled and abused by a man. She had a nice car to call her own. She was living life happily. She was probably still untouched too. That was the kind of life I coveted for Mom.

Suddenly, my mind went back to my diary. My big brown diary back at home. I wondered if it had been stolen. I thought about the trinkets, and gold chains in the soil under the tile in my room. I wondered if they were still safe beneath the soil, or the cops had found them out and disposed of them. Yeah, the cops. Now that I thought of them, my insides shook.

"You're still awake" Nora jerked me out of my reverie. She was standing at the door with her arms on the doorpost and her legs crossed. She was now in a black lingerie and she looked so beautiful in it.

She came over to my bedside and kissed my cheek twice. God, she was really beautiful, like mom. She smelled so nice too. Like roses and coconut oil. Underneath all the makeup, she looked so innocent and pretty, now that she wasn't wearing any.

"There's one more thing I forgot to say," she began. "Aria, the cops want to interrogate you. Please let them do their job" she said softly, caressing my bare arm.

My heart dropped in my mouth. I could literally feel blood in my mouth. It wasn't what I was expecting her to say.

"They are coming very early tomorrow. They won't take much of your time, just few questions and you'll be left alone" she said, still caressing my arm. She was so motherly and sweet.

"Will they take me along?"

"What? Where?"

"Will they take me to the station or the cell?" I asked apprehensively. She made a small laugh and hugged my head.

"You're so cute... No, Aria, they won't do that. You're not a criminal. You're just a witness. Like I said, they'll ask a few questions and that's all" she said smiling

You're not a criminal.

"Do I have to answer their questions? Mom already answered their questions, Sir Colin too...Zack.."

"They need your answers too, honey. It'll help the investigation. Don't you want to know who invaded your home, and why he wanted to harm your mom? Don't you want the cops to catch that culprit?" She asked carefully. Her voice was full of concern.

"I know the person. It is Cameron"

"Really? Who is Cameron?" She moved closer, her eyes widening in awe.

"Mommy's husband" I replied. It was hard and weird to call him my father.

"Wow. Did you see his face? Why would your dad try to kill your mom?"

"I don't know, maybe he hates her that much" I said, wincing in pain at the thought of that night. I wanted to scream at Nora not to call him 'my dad', because as far as I was concerned, he was a stranger. A monster. But I kept quiet instead.

"Tomorrow, you're going to tell the cops about this, honey. For now, just go to bed and don't worry about a thing, okay?"

"Yes Aunty. Thank you" I said and turned on the bed, away from her. I was glad the conversation was over. Somehow, I was grateful because she didn't probe further.

"Goodnight Honey"

"Goodnight Aunty"

Like ten to twelve minutes later, I knew she was still there. I just felt her presence even though she was no longer touching me.

"I pray God gives me a child as cute as you are" I heard her say, and it made me want to cry. Then I heard her walk out of the room,slowly shutting the door behind her.

I could not sleep. I turned and turned in my bed because my stomach was churning. I needed to ask her some questions. I needed to ask if I'll be sent to prison if I confessed to stabbing Cameron in the back. I wanted to, no, needed to ask if they would believe me if I lied about knowing anything about what happened.

So I got up quietly and walked out of the room, walked down the hall way and stopped at her door. Her door was half open, so I could see her sitting at her desk, as usual, facing her laptop, but this time around, she wasn't typing fast or wearing a serious face. She was actually blushing and grinning from ear to ear. When I looked closely, I realized she was having a video call with someone. A man, because I heard the thick, masculine voice.

"You're so beautiful, baby" I heard him say to her.

He was obviously her lover. That moment, I wished she were mom. I imagined that mom has found a new love, a patient and beautiful and kind man, like Nora's lover, who'd make her blush and grin from ear to ear. I didn't want to ruin her happy mood, so I went back to bed. The next day was going to be tough for me. I had to prepare myself ahead.