INTROSPECTIVE

Chapter 11

The laughter of the children was drowned out as he watched the little boy on the mini-train.He was at the front seat chatting away with the little girl next to him.Yet again,the sight of him made Louis' lips twitch as he followed him with his eyes.

The train ride came to a stop and she came to help the little boy get off the train.She clearly hadn't seen him, yet he had been on that playground for the past thirty minutes.The little boy was grumbling about something.He wanted to go on another ride and he didn't seem happy to be separated from the girl he had just made friends with.He suddenly turned and looked towards Louis' direction.Suprisingly Louis didn't bolt and instead he stared at the little boy,letting their eyes meet.He felt as if he was looking into his own eyes.Vivid light brown eyes with wisps of green and blue at the edge of the iris.They were the exact replica of Louis'eyes.It was the weirdest thing he'd ever experienced.She turned her head to follow the gaze of the little boy and caught sight of Louis.Louis could almost see the whoosh of air that escaped her mouth once she saw him.His mind went back to the last time they had seen each other.

"I cared about him,"she sniffed.

It was hard for him to believe her.Not because she wasn't sincere,it was just easier to hate her.To feel disgust and shame on her behalf.

Carrying reproach was a heavy task to bear on his soul.But for her he would gladly carry it for all the days of his life.Was it possible to hate somebody beyond the grave?He wondered.Because if so he would hate her even if he was six feet under.

"I really cared about your father,"she said in a more steady voice.

Louis wanted to tell her that it didn't matter.It wasn't his father that he was concerned about at the moment.In fact,he probably hated him just as much as he hated her.It was his mother that mattered.The betrayal and the lies she and his father had been privy to had destroyed his mother.Louis was watching his mother waste away right before his eyes and it was all this woman's fault.

Louis wanted to tell her all this but instead he let his eyes do the talking.Was the repulsion he had for her spewing from his eyes enough?He wondered again.

She seemed to understand what his eyes were telling him because she looked down clearly feeling uncomfortable and produced her phone from her handbag,placing it on the table.She tapped on the screen.

"Would you like to see him?"

Louis didn't look down at the screen.He held her eyes instead and spoke for the first time.

"What should I call him? My cousin or my half brother?"he asked venomously,spit flying from his mouth.

He was losing composure.He needed to leave before he said something disrespectful.He knew the real reason she wanted to meet him.It was simple,he was the sole heir of his father's property.And she was ready to use his own blood to get to it.

"If it's money you want,speak to Anthony the family lawyer,"he said before he left without a single glance at the photo of his half-brother.

Now he was just a few metres from his half-brother.He was seeing him for the first time.Anthony had told him where to find him as well as discussed the legal repercussions that little Daudi's existence would have on the division of his father's estate.Louis didn't care as long as that woman didn't get a single cent.

He couldn't remember how he had brought himself to this place,feeling the udge to see his flesh and blood.
Maybe it was the thought of his other brother,Tavy who never even got past the womb.The ultrasound photo was still stuck in his mind.It had been like an irritable itch that he was trying to ignore.