Anne, Lisa and Carol's past(2)

The message didn't have much information the person only wrote:

'Follow the directions to the location that I have sent you, and you will find the person you are looking for. She runs a small outdoor fast-food store.'

Lisa's parents were so desperate to find their daughter that they didn't care to check the authenticity of the message they had received as well as checking who the sender was. Together with Carol, they drove the car following the directions on the location. They got to the place and began to search every outdoor small fast-food store that they could see and it didn't take them too much time to locate Lisa.

The first days when Lisa moved to the small city, she was always indoors and never went out if it wasn't necessary. Also, whenever she went to the store, she would always wear something to disguise herself. But that day she didn't put on any disguise because she was feeling a bit uncomfortable and decided to be herself. Besides, a month had passed and she hadn't met anyone she knew and also no one had come to look for her.

Her mum was the first to notice her but Lisa didn't, she was so focused on serving a customer. Her mum quickly rushed in her direction because she wanted to be sure if her eyes were not deceiving her. She stood at the front of the store and Lisa's back was turned but she had heard someone approaching.

"Please may you give me a second I need to arrange something here," said Lisa whilst putting her dishes in order.

"Luiza!!" Shouted Lisa's mum, her voice was full of surprise and also denial.

(So, before Lisa joined the Midnight group her real name was Luiza Stevens, she later changed to Lisa)

(NB: we will be using both names Lisa and Luiza for now.)

The moment Lisa heard a familiar voice she quickly turned to check if her ears were not deceiving her and to her surprise, she had heard well. The shock of her life was right in front of her and it was something that she wasn't yet ready for. She knew one day, she had to meet with her family and come out clean to them but she wanted to do that after the baby was born. She wished she had superpowers that could make her vanish that instant.

"Luiza, so it's you, and why is your stomach a bit bigger than usual?" Asked Carol who had just arrived and was both confused and surprised to see her sister in such a state.

At that moment Lisa was about 3 months gone and for those who knew her well, it was obvious that something about her had changed. Her father was so stunned to speak, his eyes were just glued on her, as for Lisa, she couldn't speak, she just lowered her head to avoid eye contact and also lessen the overwhelming embarrassment that she was feeling.

"Luiza how could you? We have been searching for you up and down, over and under for almost two months and you never bothered to communicate. Why did you run away from home, if you were doing fine why didn't you just tell us so that we wouldn't be so worried? That stomach are you pregnant, were you pregnant when you left home? Who is responsible? What did we do to you to deserve this kind of humiliation, huh? We gave you everything, treated you like a princess and in the end, you chose this!" Said Lisa's mum shouting and shaking the store.

"Calm down mum, people are starting to gather," said Carol who didn't enjoy getting involved in situations like the one she was witnessing.

"I should calm down when your sister has ruined the reputation that your father and I worked so hard to build. (Pointing at Carol) Were you aware of this?"

"No, not at all, I didn't even know that she has a boyfriend talk more about pregnancy."

"Luiza come with me!" Said Lisa's mum as she went behind the store's counter where Lisa was standing.

Lisa didn't say anything, she just wagged her head in disagreement. Her mum tried to pull her but she pulled her hand back.

(Slapping her) "Fool, why are you so ungrateful!? You don't want us to help you, are you stupid?"

(What Lisa's mum meant by help means that they would take her and have the pregnancy terminated or have Lisa give birth to the child whilst staying in another country and put the baby for adoption, which is what Lisa didn't want.)

(Tearing, speaking with a breaking voice and her head still lowered) "I…I'm…so…sorry…bu…but…I…I…can't,"

(Angry) "You, you what… I will kill you today," said her mum beating her with a wooden cooking stick that she had found in the store.

Carol then rushed to the back of the counter to stop her mum from battering her sister, as for their dad, he didn't care about what was going on, he just stood where he was watching the drama unfold.

"Carol let me be, just let me deal with this moron once and for all," said Lisa's mum trying to move Carol who was standing between Lisa and her.

"Mum, we are losing face here, look at how people are gathering and they even have their phones out, soon we will be circulating on social media. Let's just talk about it nicely," said Carol as she tried to calm her mum down.

"There is nothing more to talk about, I asked this nikinpoop questions but she didn't bother to answer any of them, how disrespectful of you Luiza…"

(Wiping her tears) "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt all of you," said Lisa trying to be as sincere as she could.

"Sorry? Just be sorry for yourself because as much as I am glad that you are alive and doing well, you are no longer my child and I don't want to see you again. As for the idiot responsible for that pregnancy may God help him and his family. Carol let's get out of here," said Lisa's mum as she dragged Carol to where their car was parked.

"Mum…" said Carol as she tried to remove her hand from the grip of her mother.

(Pulling Carol's right ear) "Not a word from you Carol…"

"But she is my sister, your child…"

"Not anymore, I don't want you to have anything to do with her, and not a word from you otherwise if you keep on arguing I will disown you too," said Lisa's mum as she dragged Carol.

Lisa's dad didn't follow her mum and Carol at that moment he kept on standing in front of her without diverting his gaze. After five minutes that's when he spoke.

"I'm very disappointed," that's all he said and turned his back heading to where his car was parked.

Lisa then lifted her head and watched as her family walked away from her, throughout the whole drama she couldn't stop tears from flowing. She knew she was wrong and as much as she would want to explain but no amount of explanation was going to change the situation and besides, she had already made up her mind not to go home with her parents. After her family left Lisa decided to close the shop since her mood was ruined and people were starting to talk. She spent the whole afternoon crying, though she had an idea that things could turn out like that. But the emotions were so overwhelming and she couldn't stop stressing and crying.

"Luiza I'm home, I'm home!" Said Henry, who had just come from work holding small bags containing some food items that Lisa was supposed to use in her shop the following day. He had found about two small jobs that he was doing, though the salary wasn't much they were able to cover their daily necessities. Henry was surprised not to find Lisa in the kitchen because mostly she closes the shop early to prepare dinner, but the way things looked, she hadn't prepared anything. He headed to their bedroom and found Lisa lying on the bed and it seemed like she was in a deep sleep. He didn't want to disturb her so he went back to the kitchen to prepare their dinner. By the time he was done Lisa came into the kitchen and it seemed she had just taken a shower.

"Are you not feeling well?" Asked Henry as he was setting the table for them.

"Mmm," said Lisa sitting down.

"What's wrong," he said touching Lisa's forehead. "Your temperature is a bit high should I take you to the hospital?"

"No," said Lisa as she was about to eat her food.

They ate quietly and Lisa's pace of eating wasn't usual also she seemed like something was bothering her.

"What's eating you up?" Asked Henry who was no longer comfortable with the tense environment.

"My family finally found me, they visited at my shop and my mum made a scene, I am disowned as we speak right now."

(Sounding a bit sad) "Well, that was quick but we will get through this, one way or another it was going to happen. I'm sorry for getting you disowned…"

"That's not my worry right now, I am just worried about you and your family's safety."

"Meaning?"

"Well, from how my mum spoke seems like things might go bad, besides, I am sure you know my background right?"

"I see," said Henry in annoyance but Lisa didn't think much about it.