Redemption

Chapter 11

Zari's feet drug her up the street towards her solace. The sun sunk behind the horizon as she reached the brick staircase leading up to her house. She rummaged through her purse, her hand clutched around her keys. She flipped to the house key and inserted it into the lock. On, two, three clicks granted her entrance into the house. She pulled off her sneakers and threw her keys into the hall bowl. Padding softly into the living room her heart soared at the sight. Her parents sat sleeping on the main couch. Her father's arm wrapped around his wife. Isha was wrapped in a blanket on the end of the sectional. Aiden lay softly snoring on his father, who was on his back asleep in the middle of the floor. Zari snapped a quick picture of the two sleeping together before heading upstairs. She slipped into a warm shower before changing clothes. Zari heads back down the stairs, only to find her mother starting dinner.

"How was work?" the older woman smiled, pouring the pasta into the salted water. "It was fine," Zari answered, plugging her phone up on the counter. She grabbed the tomatoes and began pan roasting them. "So when are you going to tell me what really happened?" Zari's mother raised an eyebrow, grabbing the chicken from the refrigerator. "What do you mean?"

"Zari. You loved your school, your family, your home, and you love T'Challa. I just don't understand who could've had enough power to make you leave everything behind. Then you don't call anyone for years? We thought you were dead." her mother fussed, slicing the chicken into thin pieces. Zari was silent, adding the peppers to the pan with tomatoes. "That morning, after I went to brunch at the palace, I went to the palace infirmary. I confirmed that I was pregnant and I was headed to the pharmacy to pick up the vitamins when the king cornered me in the hallway."

"T'Chaka?" her mother frowned. "Yes. He had learned from the doctors that I was pregnant and offered to allow me to get an abortion. In exchange, I could never tell T'Challa that I was pregnant. I wanted to keep the baby. T'Challa and I had talked about being married one day, and we both wanted children. It came a lot earlier than intended and in a much different order, but I knew this is what I wanted. I felt that he would want the same." Zari explained. "You did the right thing. That man is just as crazy about that boy as if he's been there from day one." Mrs. Abu smiled.

"I know," Zari smiled, staring at her new screen saver of the two. "T'Chaka did not feel the same though. When I informed him that his son had a right to know, he backed down and let me head on my way. That night, Isha and I were planning how to tell you and baba over dinner, when the Dora knocked." A shadow passed over her mother's face as she recalled the night. "They took us to this tent in the middle of nowhere. They separated me and Isha and put me on a plane. When I woke up, I was in New york." Zari frowned, reaching to turn the hot pan off. Her mother watched as she poured the vegetables into the pasta. The older woman pulled the chicken out of the oven and stood next to her daughter. Zari poured the sauce over the pasta mixture, flinching slightly as it began to sizzle before settling back down.

"I am sorry." Mrs. Abu watched her daughter's back stiffen. "I am so sorry," tears flooded the older woman's eyes as she embraced her daughter. A shudder went through Zari's body as she broke down in tears. She wrapped her hands tightly around her mother, snuggling into her embrace as she cried for the first time in years. The two stood crying, holding each other tight for the first time in five years. The older woman was the first to pull back, running her thumbs over her daughter's tears. "I am so proud of you. The woman, the mother that you have become." the older woman cried, wiping her own tears in between wiping her daughters. "I missed you every day," Zari admitted. "I wanted to call but they took my beads. I didn't get them back until two days ago, T'Challa. I don't know how he got some, but he did and I was going to call-"

"I know. That is how we found you. When he registered the beads with you again we were all notified that you were back online. Isha had a friend sneak us out of the country to come visit you." Mrs. Abu explained. "What did I tell you the first time we got separated in the market?"