Jamaica

Chapter Thirty Four

"There's someone here to see you." Evelyn's voice echoed through the dining room, interrupting my lesson with my tutor, Sandra.
"Who is it?" I asked, puzzled.
"I can't say, Jamaica." She replied, looking and sounding unsure.
"Its okay... I'll be there in a bit." I replied as I closed my book after marking the page with my pen.
"She's in the kitchen."
I sighed and got up from the chair and headed towards the kitchen.
There I found a tall woman leaning against the kitchen island with her back towards me. Her thick, thick brunette hair tumbled over her shoulders and down to her waist in gorgeous waves with subtle streaks of grey. She brought her glass of water away from her lips and turned around to face me as my footsteps neared, her brown eyes gleaming as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. I studied her features as she did mine; shamelessly and with a peaked curiosity. She was curvy and plump in a motherly way, nothing like Evelyn who had broad shoulders and an intimidating shape. She was older looking too, and had quite pale skin with suspicious looking splodges of red on her cheeks and the tip of her nose. I felt like she could have been more beautiful if life had been kinder or if she moisturised her skin more. Maybe she was when she was younger.
"Hi." The woman spoke, her voice must have often been mistaken for a man's - it was so deep. She smiled and held out her hand towards me. A half smile, it was, and I couldn't tell if it was fake or genuine. I didn't shake her hand, only gave her an equally unreadable half smile and asked how I could be of her assistance.
"I'm tryin' to get a hold o' Dimitri..." She smiled again, her eyes seeming too large for her eye sockets slightly.
"Who are you?"
"I... I just wanna see Dimitri." She repeated desperately.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but he's not here right now."
"I can wait for 'im... Please, I've come from so far just'o get 'ere..." I could tell she wasn't from around here or had lived somewhere else for a very long time, her accent, although only slightly different for everyone else's, was enough to go on.
"He won't be back for another three hours, ma'am. And I can't let you stay unless I know exactly who you are and what you're here for."
"I'm... Dimitri's my baby boy. I just wanna talk to 'im... Please." She begged, setting her glass aside and coming towards me. Her slightly bulging, glassy eyed expression along with the revelation of her identity had caught me off guard and I took a step away from her.
"I can't let you see him. You need to leave." I shook my head as I recalled the day Dimitri had told me the cruelties he had suffered at the hands of his mother; this woman.
" 'e's my baby."
"He's a fully grown man." I corrected, already on the defensive. "Please leave."
"I'm 'is momma." She
"That means nothing to us." I ground my molars as hatred bubbled underneath my skin.
"Pfff." She huffed at me. "And you think you mean something to him?"
"I know it."
"Listen, I just wanna talk to 'im. I swear. An' I won't try pull anythin'... I just wan'ed to clear thin's up." She sighed, taking on a different approach to persuade me. "Please... If Dimitri don't want me 'ere, I'll go. Let my baby chose. 'e has a right to." She begged. "Let 'im chose for 'imself like the man you say 'e is." She sat down.
She had a point. I couldn't deny Dimitri a chance to find closure on the grounds of protecting him for his abusive mother when he didn't need protection from her anymore. Dimitri had the right to choose whether to see her or not. I sighed.
"Stay here." I grumbled before leaving the room.
For the first time, I used the iPhone Dimitri had bought me. His number was on speed dail.
"Good afternoon... I'm in the middle of something right now." Dimitri answered after a couple of rings sounding extra formal. If I didn't have such a huge crisis to sort out, I would've pointed out how sexy it was.
"How's your day, baby?" I smiled, happy to hear his voice. He then mumbled an "excuse me" before replying. Knowing him, he either told his company to leave or he had run off. Either way, I felt special because he had dropped work in a heartbeat for me.
"I fucking miss you."
"You haven't even been gone that long..." I teased.
"Does it matter?" He chuckled.
"Something happened here... I don't know how to say this. I don't know if I can trust her to stay until you get back or if you should come here immediately or..."
"You're rambling, love. Who's she? Who's in our house?"
"Your mother, Dimitri. I don't know what to do with her. She refused to leave until she sees you." I spoke, not bothering to hide my panic. Dimitri seemed frozen and the tension grew so thick you couldn't even cut it with a knife.
"Get her out of there." His voice came harsh. Too harsh as though he was trying to sound emotionless but failing.
"I'm trying but she's persistent."
"Shit. I can't leave work right now." He cursed. "I'll tell Evelyn to have someone keep an eye on her. Who the fuck even let her in? Fuck!"
"Hey." I interjected when I noticed his temper flare. "Calm down, baby... We'll sort this out when you can get home." He became silent on the other end of the line. "Dimitri? Did you hear me?"
"Yeah."
"I'm taking care of it."
"I have to go..."
"Stay as calm as you can."
"I love you, Jay." He mumbled before hanging up. I sighed and went back to the kitchen, to the woman. I regretted ruining Dimitri's day like I had but I couldn't handle the situation on my own because the decisions weren't mine to make.
"What'd 'e say?" She stood up as soon as she saw me, like a soldier in the barracks.
"Just sit tight. He's coming."
"Oh, my baby boy..." The woman said to herself, reminiscent of something I didn't care about.
I left her and went to tell my tutor I was done with learning about cells for the day and had her leave early. There was no way I would be able to pay attention to anything else after Dimitri's worst nightmare showed up on our doorstep.
I sat down on the couch with my head in my palms and thought about the day Dimitri mentioned his mother in the heat of the moment. She seemed nothing like the woman who Dimitri claimed hated him. To her, he was her "baby boy" but to him, she had tried to have him killed at nine years old. I was developing a headache.
"Jamaica, right?" Speak of the devil...
"Yes?" I answered annoyed by how she kept slipping through our security.
"Dimitri 'ad someone keep an eye on me..." She mused, evidently disappointed. "I'm sure 'e told ya 'bout me... I last saw 'im when 'e was nine; my sweet boy."
I huffed but said nothing.
"I wasn't well back then... And I..." She swallowed as if swallowing down a bitter memory. "I'm fine now."
"I'm sure you are..." I fought the urge to roll my eyes.
"I get that you're skeptical o' me. Its okay. I'm just 'ere fo' my baby... Did I tell ya 'e last saw me when 'e was nine? I just know Dimitri missed me."
I scoffed and got up to leave when she grabbed my forearm and looked me straight in the eyes. The bulging things possessed an eerie power and, whether she was a witch or not, their influence was like a black smoke that slowly crept into one's lungs until they died of asphyxiation.
"I am 'ere to get my son back. If you keep my son from me, I'll take yours away or better yet I'll kill ya." She warned, her deep voice shaking me down to my core. She made me fear for my life. I thrust my arm out of her grip and ran upstairs to my room. That woman was insane; nothing she said even made any freaking sense. I began to feel angry at her as I opened the hot water tap in the shower.