My Son

Bits and Pieces of the Past Spill

CHAPTER FIVE

T

"Zanda took the kids ice-skating" mom tells me five minutes after I arrived home.

Now my weekend's officially messed up. Coming to see my son was supposed to be my consolation since Ella abruptly cancelled our meeting tomorrow. 'Something came up' is all the explanation I got and I am a lil' disappointed. I'm a lot disappointed actually.

So instead of hanging with my son, I end up spending time with his books. Mom gathered Asanda's school work to show me how well he's doing in all his subjects. I browse through a few pages and catch nothing either than that my child's hand writing strongly resembles mine. I kinda like that.

"How's Cookie" mom asks whilst helping herself to the box of choc-mint muffins from her old friend's shop. Every now and then I drive past the bakery to check in on my investment. It's not that I love baked goods or anything like that. I don't even think buying shares was a good investment but there are certain friendships that require your loyalty for life, lest your entire existence comes tumbling down. Cookie is one of those mandatory companions in our family, and no, I don't want to talk about that too. All I can say regarding the matter is that Zanda and I contributed absolutely nothing in this entanglement that's now forced every last one of us to have each other's backs.

Even in our adult years, Zanda and I never sit in any of the meetings with the involved parties, especially because of one particular person. Aunt Cookie and Mandy's parents I can totally co-exist with. Not the other person. My ex's parents and their 'reputable' undertaking business played a huge role in seeing through a major deal that led us to this comfortable life. In exchange, they got twenty-five percent of the stake. To this day, I have no knowledge of how much the conspiracy crime generated.

Why am I talking about this?

I shoot to my feet, effectively shifting my thoughts from the secretes cushioning our financial stability. I retrieve my phone from my back pocket and dial Ella's number quickly to avoid the possibility of talking myself out of reaching out for the tenth time since our date. I should be feeling pathetic because she hasn't initiated any of the conversations we've had but I don't care.

Her phone rings for a while and just when I think of cutting the call then redialling, she picks up. Relief overcomes me immediately. "You sure we can't meet tomorrow even if it's just for two hours?" I ask hoping I don't sound desperate. I most probably do. "Did I do something to upset you?"
She chuckles for a second before telling me to relax. "Of course I want to see where the father of my child lives. It's just that I got an opportunity to go in at work for a sick colleague. I'll be standing in for her then going back for my shift on Monday till Friday"
"When do you rest?" I say sounding light and friendly now that I know I'm not being avoided. "When I have my life together" her response takes me back to the upped rent situation Asanda told me about when we met.

"Let me help with that, Ella" I make an offer thinking about the money my mother made from erasing her previous existence. I might have not actively done anything to acquire our abundance of wealth but I played my disciple role well. Still am actually. She doesn't say anything but I can hear her breathing in and out slowly like she's in deep thought. My filthy mind is imagining her breathing to something that gets me excited.
"I think I'll break-even if you completely take over Asa's financial needs" she says finally.

I want to debate this further but I'll wait till we're face-to-face. Without communicating my plan, I wrap up our conversation then map out my ambush.

Z
My spirit seems to be acclimatizing to Asanda's presence and the possibility of him being my child. I've gone back to my old sleeping pattern, my concentration span is longer like I've always known it to be and I have no anxiety attacks anymore. My perception of life is back to normal...although I did forget my phone on top of my car.