Beckoned Through The Dark

64 // Lesego // True Colours

I thought I had seen it all, but my mother proved me wrong.

After going out on her nightly rendezvous, she came back acting hysterical the next morning.

It did not help my nerves at all, especially after Karabelo's text last night.

It was all too much, and I was scared.

I had the feeling that even though she wasn't physically in the house, she was still able to watch everything that went down in here.

I'd woken up early in the morning and had hoped to speak to Jack before mom could come back.

I wanted to ask him questions about the dark secrets he had spoken about yesterday.

Unfortunately, my mother returned just when we were getting ready to speak.

"Jack, what is going on with my mother?" I'd asked.

I caught him completely off guard, and his face said it all. From the looks of things, he was waiting for her to return so that he could confront her about whatever was going through his mind right now. "What–" He started but got interrupted when the kitchen door slammed shut and my mother waltzed into the house like she'd just seen a ghost.

"We need to talk," She said while biting her lower lip.

Jack rolled his eyes in annoyance. "That's what we were about to do, but if you like, you can join us," he said in controlled anger.

The tension in the air could be cut with a knife.

"Come and join, mother," I said with a warm smile. "Drunken master." That earned me a murderous glare from Jack. Great to know we were both not in the mood for jokes.

"Lesego, you are here," mom said in an octave, her facial muscles tight.

I frowned. "Yes..."

She looked around as if she was expecting someone to pop out of the corner.

She sat down and threw her bag aside. "How did you get home so fast?" She asked, and I felt the blood drain from my face.

Oh, no! She'd run into Karabelo. I should have known this would happen. "And your hair is... shorter," she pointed out.

From the look on her face, she was not completely herself, and I doubt she was aware of anything she was saying.

"Mom, what are you talking about?" I baited.

"What happened to you?" She asked in a voice that could have been mistaken for concern if she wasn't disorientated.

What happened to me how? I sat down next to her and crossed my legs. "Uhm...I'm lost."

Jack stood next to the staircase with his arms folded across his chest, waiting to see this scene unfold.

"Was it me? Am I the reason you stopped smiling?" That took me by surprise, I was expecting many things from her, except for this. "We both know that you are not happy, and the past few months were proof enough," she said. "You used to be such a happy kid. You used to smile and laugh a lot, but suddenly, everything changed."

I tensed as flashes of memories filled my mind. "I- I don't wanna talk about it," I said, trying to stop the tears from falling down my face.

It was as if a switch had been triggered, and a whole lot of events I didn't even remember, flooded my mind.

I was about to get up and leave when Jack spoke. "Tell her," he said, and mom shook her head. "Tell her the truth, Betty." He commanded.

My mother shook her head furiously and looked at Jack with pleading eyes.

"What truth is he-"

Jack looked at me, pity written all over his face. "This is going to sound crazy, but–"

"Youwereadopted," Mom spoke so fast that I only heard the word adopted.

Jack turned to her, his eyes wide in question. 

My lips fell slightly open. I guess I felt a bit disappointed, because I expected more than that from her.

Jack kept looking at her while cocking his head towards me, but she kept shaking her head.

They stopped when I looked at them, and mom looked at me in panic.

"Well, Lesego, I didn't really adopt you legally. It wasn't that kind of adoption–"

"I know," I bit in.

She looked at me, wide-eyed like an owl.

"What?" They both asked.

"I know," I repeated. "I know the whole truth, and it sounds far from what you are telling me right now." Tears rolled down my face.

This was worse than I expected.

"I- I don't understand."

I stood up and moved away from her. "Tell me something, how did this talk come about?" She quickly looked away, confirming my earlier suspicion. "You ran into someone that looked exactly like me, to be more precise, my twin sister."

"What?" Jack asked, dropping his hands. "She's alive?"

That got my attention. I didn't know she was supposed to be dead.

I brushed off that thought and turned to my dear mother. "I heard everything you said when I was unconscious and when you came the other night at the hospital – I was not sleeping," I confessed.

To say she was shocked would be an understatement, she looked like I had just stabbed her on the heart, and I knew immediately that it was not heartbreak but fear. "Jack, can I please have a moment with my mother?" I asked sweetly, and Jack left without an argument.

The shocked look on my mother's face turned into a sinister smile, and I shivered. "You may know everything, but we both know there's nothing you can do," she laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. "Wow, you really had me there. I swear, it was comical." She sighed and stood up, and then she approached me slowly. "So, I guess Adelaide told you everything, huh?" She asked. "I have to admit though, my aunt was never the one about loyalty."

Her aunt? Mrs Martins was my mother's aunt?

The look on my face must have told her that I was clueless. "Oh, you poor thing. She didn't tell you, did she?" She mocked. "So, since the truth is out in the open, I guess I can stop pretending to be someone I'm not, right?" She played with her hair. "Maybe I should start by washing out this dye," she said thoughtfully before her eyes sparked in unhidden warning. "I'm gonna warn you now; do what you want to do but stay out of my way. Both you and your sister, otherwise, someone will get hurt."

She patted my shoulder and then jogged up the stairs, leaving me in a stupor.

What just happened?