Beckoned Through The Dark

20 // Lesego // Cuts & Tales

I couldn't remember anything that happened after my mother came back from her rendezvous, my mind was as blank as a white paper.

"Good question, detective, wrong person." I muttered under my breath.

"Are you sure that there's nothing you would like to tell me?" He asked, but I shook my head and changed the topic.

"Where is your car?" I asked, looking around.

"I don't like hand-outs, Miss Medupe." He said, turning to our wall, and then he came out with a bike.

This explained the leather jacket and gloves, and in addition, the helmet on his head.

"The only time I use a car, is when I am going to make an arrest." He said as his bike came to life.

"Detective?"

"Yes?"

"The name is Lesego." As I said that, Claudia came out from her yard, and she and the detective shared a moment through their eyes.

When Claudia turned to look in my direction, I could have sworn there was a warning in them.

There was something going on between these two; but I didn't get to dwell into it when Detective Daniels' bike roared again, and he stepped on the brakes. "Pleased to meet you, Lesego, and the name is Ryan." He said before he sped off.

"What are you still doing here?" Claudia's voice brought me back to earth.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, but she replied with a smug look on her face, and just walked away.

I walked back into the house, and went to my room, only to find Jack and my mother waiting for me.

Jack was standing next to the door, while my mother stood next to my study table.

I marched past Jack, towards my mother; and asked her once again, "what did you do to me?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" She stood up straight and stood right in front of me.

"My memory is in pieces, I don't remember much from last night, but I know you came back after midnight, what happened after that?"

"I don't know, I was drunk, remember?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"I remember something about the gate not being locked. But I know you did something to me."

"Where were you?" I asked, giving nothing away. If she wouldn't tell me what she did to me, she could at least tell me where she was. She looked around the room as if she were searching for a fourth party, and then she looked back at me.

"I don't report to you." She answered.

"I could have been killed, mother." I said, trying so hard to stop my tears from coming out. "I could have died! That does not bother you at all does it?" I asked, but she remained still. I gave a mock laugh, and sat on my bed, and stared at the floor. "Get out." I whispered.

"Lesego-"

"Out!" I snapped at her.

"Betty, let's give her some space." Jack said, and pulled her away, and out of my room.

I got up, slammed the door, and locked it; and then I started to cry silently.

I wished I could cry repeatedly, all day just to get rid of my frustrations, but it was impossible.

Eventually, I got tired of crying.

I checked my phone for messages, but there were none. I was expecting to find something from Mrs Martins, especially after she said she would send me an address today.

I decided to send her an SMS, hoping that she would respond, but she didn't. What felt like hours, passed, and I fell asleep staring at my phone.

"Lesego? Lesego, come out. It is 12p.m already." Duncan's voice woke me up. I sat up quickly as if I had just had a bad dream, and the first thing I did was to check my phone for messages; but just like before, there was nothing.

As if that was not enough, Duncan banged my door like a madman.

"Go away!" I yelled, and he just laughed. "I'm serious, okay?"

"Mom and dad want to speak to you. You have 10 minutes to freshen up." He said, his voice getting lower and lower. I heard footsteps running downstairs.

I took my phone and went over my messages. I came across Clay's name and ran a finger over it. I hadn't heard from him for such a long time. I don't know what urged me to do it, but I texted me. Hi! Usually, Clay replied within five seconds, but this time; five minutes passed, and he had still not texted me.

What was the matter with people today?

I groaned and grabbed my pillow and covered my face. I was shaken up by the sound of my phone beeping. I jumped up and clicked to check who the message was from. I was hoping that it was from Clay, but what I got...

If I wanted you dead, I would have killed you myself. Do not take out your own last breath!

The text was there in plain black and white. There was no number, it looked like I had typed it.

I threw the phone across the room, and jumped off the bed in fear, and then I started searching around my room; I didn't know for what exactly. Maybe for her? The woman that was in my room the last time.

I ran to the bathroom and started brushing my teeth. I washed my face and fixed my hair into one messy bun. After that, I came out of the bathroom, and went back to my room to fix my bed as fast as I could. 

As soon as I finished, I ran downstairs and spotted my mother and Jack sitting on the couch.

They were speaking in hushed voices, as if they didn't want anyone to hear what they were talking about.

"I can't believe you lied to her, Betty. She tried to kill herself! You know exactly that I did not put her on that bed. You lied to her. She had a knife in her hands." Said Jack to my mother. I halted in my steps and held onto the wall for balance.

"Shut up!" My mother snapped.

"What? You saw she tried to... You saw the cuts on her wrists-"

"What cuts?" I breathed, walking towards them.

Jack pushes his hair back and shook his head. Clearly, he was not planning on telling me what exactly had happened, but I couldn't say the same about my mother.

She stood up from the couch and marched towards me; and then she pulled up my sleeves to reveal white bandages around both my wrists.

My eyes widened, and I couldn't breathe. "Lesego? Lesego, don't do this to me again!" My mother pulled me into her arms and sat at the end of the stairs. "Don't do this to me again, I beg you! Not today, not today, okay?" She said, caressing my back. "Dineo, get her spray from the drawer in her bedroom!" I heard her voice fading.