Beckoned Through The Dark

56 // Lesego // Agendas

Bridgette and Abigail returned from outside, but there seemed to be some tension between them even though it wasn't as bad as when they first arrived.

While Bridgette looked conflicted, Abigail looked somewhat annoyed to a point where she felt the need to sit far away from her mother.

They seemed to be getting along well when I went to check on them earlier. What could have happened?

"Lesego, there's something we need to tell you," Abigail said, caging me with her cat eyes.

Mrs Martins cleared her throat and sat with her hands on her thighs, she looked sweaty. "Yeah, uhm...we need for you to understand why all this is happening before sending you out there."

Sending me out there? Wait... they were planning to leave me to deal with this on my own?

As if reading my mind, Bridgette said, "We will be with you throughout, we just want to take back in history."

They all nodded in agreement, and I sighed in relief.

"Does this have anything to do with my real identity?" I asked, and Bridgette nodded, casting the others an uncertain look.

"You need to understand that this goes far beyond an identity crisis, there's a lot at stake, and there are dark forces involved," Mrs Martins said as if she was speaking to a little girl.

"I was with you when we got attacked," I bit back.

"I didn't mean like that," she clarified.

"Is there anything you'd like to share before we begin, anything you remember, or think could be of use?" Bridgette asked.

My mind drifted off to when I was in hospital where I met Cecilia, my mother's visit, and lastly, Mrs Martins’ encounter with my mom.

"Cecilia?" I called, and I got a stern 'yes' as response. "Mrs Martins..." I started, and she stopped on her tracks and looked at me expectantly. "She called my mother Eleanor earlier." I said, and she just gave me a blank stare, and asked, "so?"

"So? My mother's name is Betty Ngoma. Why did Mrs Martins call her that?"

"And her real surname?" She challenged me, ignoring my question. Where did that question come from? I've never thought about that, I didn't know what my mother's first name and her surname was. I just kept quiet, pondering over the question.

"Exactly! You lived with her for twenty-three years, but you have no cooking clue who she really is. The old lady called her Eleanor, because it is her name. You can deny it all you want, but let's face it, you don't know your mother."

"Cecilia...who is Cecilia?" I asked, and Bridgette looked at me in shock. "Also, Mrs Martins called my mother Eleanor at the hospital. Another thing is that I want to know who Medupe is."

Bridgette took in a shaky breath and played with her hands. "Uhm... before I tell you about Cecilia, how do you know about her?" She asked.

"I met her at the hospital, she was with Abigail, Lwandle, and Barbara," I said in a duh tone.

All the blood drained from Bridgette's face, and she turned to Abigail in question, the latter bound to make eye contact.

Was I missing something?

"What am I missing here?" She asked.

"Bridgette, is everything okay?"

She shut her eyes tightly and shook her head. "Lesego, there's no way you could have met Cecilia, because she is dead."

What?

Have you ever felt goosebumps rise on your skin? It felt like the temperature in the house had dropped to below zero in a second.

"Your mother, Eleanor Nichols or as you know her, Betty, was... I don't know how to explain this; it is complicated," Mrs Martins said.

This was not going the way I hoped, they were all beating around the bush, and it seemed like there was some secrets between them that they were not willing to share with each other.

It was as if they each had their own agendas.