BEFORE DAWN

chapter fourteen

Reforming a rake

Its been three whole weeks since Lawerent saw her, his whole body itched for her, her smiles, her smell every little thing now reminded him of her. He knew it would result into a very serious case if Dora were to find out , but he would fix it , he always does.
The door to his cell opened and an officer entered and undid his cuffs.
'It's time ,.remember you have to be quick today '.
Lawerent stood up and smiled , he was going to see her again , he felt a wave of calmness again, slowly he walked out of the cell, but stopped and turned back to the officer.
'Ummm..thank you.'
The police officer looked up at him with surprise and nodded his head.
Lawerent smiled awkwardly and walked away. He was so eager to meet her that he sprinted from the gates to the car waiting for him ,he stared at his watch just an hour left.
As he drove closer to the school gates ,his face lit up with a smile, the students were filing out as usual, he got down from the car and walked to their usual spot ,she was already sitting there writing in her journal as usual.
'Hi angel '. He smiled as she looked up.
'Kelvin !' She jumped on him squeezing him into a hug with her little hands.
'I've missed you , you were gone forever ...and I was alone '. She sank back into the bench.
'But you have friends , don't you like being with them?' ,he chuckled , drawing her close to him.
'Yeah, but you are so much cooler than they are and I feel..different with you .' She yawned , resting her head on his shoulder .
'You want to go eat with me? I know somewhere fancy for you .' He tickled her ,earning a warm hearty laugh from her.
'My mom would be here soon , maybe next time .'
Lawerent looked away, he knew he would never get to spend enough time with her for now but he was willing to take baby steps.
He turned back to her and smiled, 'sure anytime. I am going nowhere soon'.
Or forever
'Okay, ' chimamanda turned to look at the gates ,a red car was pulling into the lot. 'I have to go, do you want to meet mommy. I kind of told her about you .'
She tugged on his sleeves .
'No!' Lawerent half yelled ,making her jump.
He quickly composed himself and knelt in front of her,'I'm sorry Angel, but I can't see your mommy now . I didn't mean to scare you .' He sighed out of frustration.
'Its okay. see tomorrow?'
He smiled ' of Course '.
She hugged him then ran towards the red car, Dora was already coming out of the car , Lawerent turned away using his cap to shield his face from veiw.
'Hey baby ' , she hugged chimamanda
'Mommy !'
'Is that your mystery friend?, can't I see him?'.
'He said next time'. Chimamanda jumped into the passenger seat.
Dora stood looking at the man , he had his back to her and she couldn't shout to get his attention , he was far from her. Something felt very weird with him, but she pushed the feeling away and got into the car.

Lawerent released the air he had been holding and turned to the road, the red car was slowly fading away, for a moment he was scared all his plans would be wasted, had Dora walked up to him it would have been the end.
I really have to be careful
His phone rang and he groaned before answering it.
'Your time's up'. His lawyer's voice came through.
'I know ,I'm on my way'

Dora drove home contemplating , she was finding it difficult to overlook the incident at Chimamanda's school.
' mommy?'
'Yes baby, did you say anything?'.
'A lot .I said a lot , I was telling you about Kelvin, he came to see me today after so long.'
Dora glanced at her daughter, her smiling face as she talked about the stranger.
'You really like him?' She asked.
'Yes, he is really nice and funny. He always comes around and tell me stories of his daughter. He says I look like her though' she shrugged ,playing with her seat belt.
'Really?'.
'He is like a father to me, I don't know but its different with him..
Nice different I mean' she smiled again
Dora watched her closely, her daughter was getting pretty attached to a stranger, she loved that she was happy but deep down she felt very weird about the stranger.
Maybe I'm over reacting.
'Just be Careful baby, okay?'.
'Always Mommy.'
Dora turned back to the road and kept driving, her mind would not stop wondering about the stranger so she decided to ask about him tomorrow.

Jaden noticed a change in her mood when they got home and she explained everything to him,
'Well we both know chimamanda to be a good girl Dora , let's not get all worked up over nothing for now until we see a reason too. You should trust the kid. .she is smart...maybe even too smart for her age'. He smiled.
'I guess so , or maybe I'm getting jealous of him. These days all we ever hear is kelvin...kelvin likes to sing..kelvin is funny. I mean its nonstop' she sighed.
Jaden laughed ,'someone sounds like Maureen when I first noticed you'
Dora laughed punching his arm lightly. 'She shouldn't hear you.'
They were silent for a while,
'Its good for her to make friends...I think'.
'Yeah..friends her age not someone older..that old '.
Jaden turned to her ,'have you seen the man?'
'No, not really '. She shrugged.
'Then don't be a hater'.
She rolled her eyes, 'whatever'.

Lawerent stood in front of his lawyer biting his nail.
'Did you even hear or understand anything I just said?' He was getting irritated.
'I did but I don't care. I'm sorry'.
'You are sorry?, sorry?. Please what would that change. I warned you Lawerent, but you are too stubborn to listen to me!'.
Lawerent stopped biting his nails and sat down across the table, glaring straight at him.
'I think you are mistaking , you don't fucking yell at me!, I paid you to be my lawyer, I tell you what to do! So don't you ever yell at me ever again!'
His lawyer flinched, obviously scared by Lawerent's reaction.
'I'm sorry but you are throwing everything away, she almost saw you today. Think about it ,what if she had seen you , what do you think would be the outcome?' He lowered his voice,'no amount of bribe would have been able to save or even free you'.
Lawerent lowered his head in shame, somehow he knew his lawyer was right.
'The moment you stop acting rational, maybe that's when you can get out. You want her to be proud of you?, to stop seeing a monster and start noticing a father?, you want to change so badly for her and make her proud?, ' he got up and gathered his files.
'Then start by fixing your attitude and temper, maybe just maybe she would see the real Lawerent, not this mask you have struggled to keep on for so long.'

Lawerent sighed as the door closed, he knew these words were right..all of it was. He so wanted to get to know his daughter but he never knew he was jinxing all of it up. Every night without her was torture but he knew he had to behave or he would never see her lovely face again.
If waiting patiently was what was required of him , then he would learn , he would reform just for her.

Just for his sunshine...

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Okay ,things are beginning to get heated from the next page lol..
Who feels sorry for Lawerent??
Honestly I think I do, I mean cut the guy some slacks , he actually seems nice.

Wandering about the 'mask' issue?
Obviously he is trying to change but too many bad memories and stuff.

Let's not be haters to the poor guy huh??*smiles..
And to our lovely chimamanda, aww..she is so in love with Lawerent.. Not 'in love' as in..(you get me right?)..
I feel really sad for the little munchkin.
Well read on and find out if it would really be possible for Lawerent to change or for Dora to figure out who the 'mystery man ' is...

Don't forget to vote ,and comment on any ideas on how to improve the book. Bless you guys!!

XOXO...