-Episode Forty Eight-
Trish
‘Lord what happened to you?’ Maureen asks the minute I walk into the house.
‘Not now,’ I respond
‘Look at you, you look as though you were beaten,’ she says
‘I seriously don’t have the time to deal with you today,’ I hiss
‘Trish..,’
‘Just f**k off,’ I yell
I start walking towards my room when Maureen grabs me on my upper arm. I turn around angrily.
‘What the hell is wrong with you?’ I ask
‘You must listen to me today,’ she says in a serious harsh tone.
I laugh, ‘What makes you think I will listen to you? Where did you even get the guts to speak to me like that?’
‘You must listen to me,’ she says louder than before. ‘You know me very well Maureen so don’t provoke me.’ ‘I am tired of watching you mess up your life Trish.’ ‘It’s not your life, why do you care?’ ‘I care because..,’
‘You care because of what?’ I ask
She keeps quiet.
‘Cat got your tongue?’ I roll my eyes
‘Sit down,’ she commands
I give her a quizzical look, she has never spoken to me like this before, what has she smoked.
‘Maureen, please leave me alone, I have a lot of things to work on.’
‘Sit down,’ she says again
‘Why?’
‘You need to listen to me I am tired of hiding the truth from you. It’s about time you knew.’
‘Knew what?’ I ask confused
‘Please sit down.’
‘No.’
‘Fine.’
‘What truth are you talking about?’
She looks at me intently for about two minutes before she opens her mouth and says, ‘I am your mother.’
‘What?’ I ask in utter confusion
‘I am your real mother.’
I burst out laughing, ‘Oh lord! What have you been smoking Maureen ai? Have you taken a good look at me? Do you think you are capable of birthing someone like me?’ I ask before I laugh some more.
‘This is no joke; she says
I look at her and I see she isn’t smiling, she looks serious. ‘What do you mean you are my mother?’ I ask
‘I carried you in my womb for nine months, I gave birth to you.’
‘You are serious?’ my eyes widen in horror.
‘Yes.’
‘And mum?’
‘She is not your real mother, she only adopted you.’
‘Is this some kind of a joke? This doesn’t make any sense!’ I burst out.
‘I am sorry my child but that’s the truth.’
‘I am not your child Maureen! I am not your child! You are just the filthy dirty maid here.’
‘I am your mother,’ she says. From the look in her eyes, I can tell that she isn’t lying.
Is this why she always cared for me more than my own mother, she has always looked out for me and treated me like royalty no matter how much I insulted her or treated her harshly.
‘Tell me you are lying Maureen tell me it’s a joke and I will forgive you please,’ I plead
‘I am sorry, it’s not a joke you are my daughter, your mother took you from me when you were just a day old.’
‘Oh lord,’ I feel my knees go weak and sink slightly toward the floor
‘But how?’ I ask helplessly looking at her for a way to explain this madness.
She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.
“Your mother (Sharon) and her husband struggled to have children. They’d tried for 5 years and had three miscarriages. When I came to work for them, their marriage was on the verge of breaking. They tried to adopt a child but it didn’t work out eventually they stopped trying. Their marriage sort of lost its flame and they were always arguing, it was at that time that your father and I fell in love and we secretly started seeing each other. Eventually I fell pregnant and your mother found out.’
I felt slumped against the wall in shock.
“I wanted to abort but she asked me to keep the pregnancy so I could give the baby to her. I agreed because the baby would have a better life with her than with me. She took care of me throughout the pregnancy and when I gave birth to you, your birth certificate had her name listed as the mother.’
‘So you gave me up just like that?’ I ask
‘I had no option.’
‘That’s bullshit.’
‘I gave you up because I knew you would have a better life.’
‘And why did you stay behind?’
‘After I gave you up, I left for some time then I came back later and took care of you. It was the least I could do.’
‘No, you cannot be my mother I refuse to believe this,’ I angrily stand up ‘My child,’ she tries to touch me
‘I am not your child,’ I scream tears streaming down my face. ‘You are just the maid.’
‘I am your mother,’ she yells
‘No- no- no,’ I murmur as my rage threatens to break free.
‘My daughter, let me help you,’ she says walking towards me.
My heart begins to hurt at the moment and a blazing inferno of utter rage fuels me.
She stands in front of me and is about to speak again when the door swings open and mother walks in.
‘Hey darling,’ she says smilingly
I look at her furiously, ‘Why?’ I ask
‘What honey?’ she asks
‘Who is my mother?’
She looks at me and then looks at Maureen the colour from her face quickly drains.
‘I had to tell her,’ Maureen apologetically says
‘Mum is this true?’ I ask hoping she will say it is just say it’s nothing but a silly joke.
Silence
‘Mum!’ I yell
More silence.
‘How could you do this to me?’ I cry
‘I am sorry baby.’
‘No,’ I shake my head,’ Maureen cannot be my mother.’
‘She is your biological mother,’ mum says
‘No!’ I scream again
‘Please let me explain,’ she tries to touch me but I push her so hard she stumbles and falls backwards. This the worst day of my life, they both lied to me, the more I think about it, the angrier I get.
‘I am sorry my baby,’ Maureen says
The rage sweeps through my body I can feel it flooding my veins until it fills my heart. Then I begin swearing at them. Shortly after I grab the vessels from the table and smash them against the wall- they shatter to pieces.
‘Stop it,’ mum screams
Her pleas fell on deaf ears as I pick the bottles on the table and toss them across the floor.
***
Maureen
She is screaming and throwing things on the floor like a mad person, it’s as if something has possessed her, no one can calm her.
Sharon rushes into her room and comes back later, we hold her down against her struggles and she gives her a shot of some kind of sedative. She calms down and lies on the floor. She is crying and dozing at the same time. After a few moments, she drifts into an uneasy sleep.
We carry her and take her to her room.
‘What happened?’ Sharon asks after a few minutes.
‘I had to tell her.’
‘Why?’
‘Have you taken a good look at her? Do you even know what she has been going through?’
‘She is my child,’ she hisses
‘She is mine,’ I yell
‘You might have given birth to her but her birth certificate states I am her mother.’
‘I don’t care.’
‘We had a deal and you failed to honour it, see what you have caused.’
‘I want my child back.’
‘She is not your child.’
I shake my head I know I made a mistake giving her up. I want her back now and I will do everything to do get her back.
***
Melanie
‘How is she doing?’ I ask the doctor as soon as she was done examining Yedda.
‘She is stable but I don’t want you stressing her with questions, I believe she isn’t mentally ready to be interrogated.’
‘Okay doctor.’
‘She needs a lot of rest so she can fully recover please don’t disturb her.’
‘Sure.’
I walk back into the room after the doctor leaves.
‘How are you feeling?’ I ask
‘Fine,’ she responds but I can see she is still in so much pain.
I sit on the chair and quietly watch her doze off, I just called Alex and he says he is on his way. When I am sure she is fast asleep, I leave the room I need to rush back home and get her some clean clothes.
****
I walk into the hospital disguised as a doctor and no one pays attention to me because they are all busy up and down, I walk straight to her room, I know no one is with her currently. It’s so quiet in her room, so quiet that I can hear the sound of my beating heart. The only other sound in the room is the rhythmic breathing, a low mummer coming from her.
I quickly grab the pillow and move it toward her slumbering her face, as soon as it touches the tip of her nose, I press down as hard as I can.
***
A gambling Heart