Beckoned Through The Dark

19 // Lesego // The Good Mother

"Detective, the patient's medical record states that she is an amnesiac. It is normal for her not to remember anything, especially after she was hit on the head with a baseball bat." The doctor explained.

The detective sighed in annoyance and put away his things. "Detective Daniels, can I please have a word with my daughter?" My mother asked, giving me a pointed look.

"Whatever." The detective muttered and walked out of the room, followed by Doctor Benjamin and Barbara.

My mother closed the door after them, and just stood against the door, staring up into space.

"I know you don't remember anything; it is normal not to." She said.

"What did you do to me?" I asked, accusingly.

"What makes you think that I did something to you?" She asked.

"Because bad things always happen to me when you go out to drink." I stated, and we just stared at each other with silence. She sighed and pulled herself off the door.

"Look, Lesego, I know I haven't always been the best mother, but I am trying to protect you and your siblings here."

"From what?"

"From whoever did this to you!" She snapped. "Can't you see?"

"No." I shook my head, "the only person in this world who we need protection from, is you." I said bitterly.

"Look," she heaved a sigh. "You are not doing me any favour by reporting this to the police; I'm more than capable of taking care of myself, but are you?" She asked, and I stayed quiet.

She had a point; I couldn't protect myself, let alone my siblings.

"Someone broke in and attacked you. We don't know what they wanted, but we do know that you could have died, but you didn't. What matters right now is trying to get more protection; Detective Daniels can provide us with the protection we need. Don't do this for me or yourself; do it for Dineo and Duncan." The way she spoke was different; there was no threat in her words, or in the way she looked at me. She looked worried. "I have dedicated my entire life to protecting you and your siblings; but there are some things in this world that...that I can't protect you from." She said quietly, like she was finding it hard to speak. She could not even look me in the eye.

She didn't say anything after that, I contemplated her words, and decided to give this whole thing a go. "You can call the detective." I said, and she replied with a nod before she walked out of the room. And after a minute or two, she came back with the detective.

He took out his notebook and his pen once again, "so, I believe you are ready to talk, Miss Medupe."

"Yes."

"Let's not waste each other's time." He said as he sat on my chair. "What do you remember from last night?" He asked.

"I remember going to the kitchen to wash the dishes after dinner, it was my brother's turn, but I offered to wash for him." I looked at my mother, and she gave me an encouraging smile. "I don't know what happened. I think I remember a guy trying to kidnap me." I lied. "I ran to the kitchen to use the phone to get hold of my mother." I said, looking at my mother who quickly looked away, "when I was about to dial her number, someone came from behind, a guy, he started to say crazy things and sniffed my hair." I said, getting the feeling that it was real, although it was not.

"Continue." Commanded Detective Daniels.

"I grabbed a knife from the counter and moved away from him with the knife pointed at him. It did not stop him from coming closer to me, so I pushed him against the sink, and he broke some things. He then got angry and jumped on me. I don't know what happened next." I explained.

"If the guy who tried to kidnap you, really wanted to kidnap you; why didn't he just do that when he hit you on the head, and you passed out?" The detective asked, and I tensed.

I turned to look at my mother, and she was just as troubled as I was. What the detective said made sense.

"I don't know, how about you ask him when you find him?" I retorted.

He gave me a suspicious glare, and continued with his questions, "Then how did you get to the bedroom?"

"She already told you that she does not remember anything else, Daniels." My mother interfered.

"Mrs-"

"That's enough for tonight. Thank you, detective." She said showing him the door. He looked at her and then at me. "You two are hiding something from me, your story does not add up." He said before he left the room.

"I'll walk him out." My mother said.

"No, I will walk him out." I argued, getting on my feet

"Lesego-"

"I will walk him out." I said and followed him out of the house.

"Detective Daniels?" I called him as he reached the gate.

He stopped and turned around to look in my direction. "Is there something else you wanted to tell me?" He asked, crossing his arms across his chest.

"I'll let you know if I remember anything." I said. He nodded, and turned to leave, but I stopped him; "wait!"

He sighed and placed his hands on his waist. "Listen, Miss Medupe, I am exhausted; it is not every day you are woken up at dawn, six hours before your shift starts, for a puppet show. What you and your mother did to me is called waste of time and resources."

It was clear that the detective was not one of my greatest fans.

I wanted to ask him what the others had told him, but I changed my mind; the sooner I got rid of him, the better. "I'll walk you out." I gestured at the gate. "I'm the only one who locks the gate here," I laughed, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

The detective seemed a bit relaxed when he smirked at me. "So, you are the gate keeper, huh?"

We stood outside the gate, and I was a bit surprised that there was no car outside. "Yeah, and if anything goes wrong, it's on me. Like last night, I waited until midnight for my mother to return, and when she did, she found out that the gate was not locked; and she...she..."

I trailed off when my words finally hit home, but not just my home; the detective's home as well, as he asked, "what did she do?"