THE AFTERMATH

CHAPTER TEN

ALINA

"And then?"

This is not the first thing I planned to say but it just escapes from my lips before my senses take over.

Jane quickly grabs me out of the office and she tells the boy to sit still. I swiftly turn and make one more check and our gazes lock. He looks so vulnerable and so out of touch with himself. His clothes appear old and a little bit tighter and small for his age.

He is carrying a small dirty backpack I wonder what it is carrying anyways. There is an empty take away box at the table so I assume Jane got him something to eat. I don't get extra time to check everything as I hear the loud banging sound of the door as it closes separating us.

We keep walking and get into another room next door.

"Sit down Alina"

I obey Jane's command

I am trying to keep myself calm and collected but a wave of distorted negative feelings sweeps through me and knocks me off balance. The tears run down uncontrollably. I need them to stop but they are so stubborn and keep coming. I didn't know I have quite a reserve of these streams of pain I could even start selling them to others.

After a few minutes of letting it all out and thanks to Jane who kept rocking me back and forth, I feel a lot relieved and my senses are coming back to me. I can't even comprehend truly why I was crying profusely like that. I guess it is more aligned to withdrawal symptoms of betrayal from realizing that Michael cheated on me twice with both a man and a woman. For crying out loud he even made a son while at it. I was so stupid and naive never to realize. Sometimes I wonder if he ever loved me the same way as I did. Wrong! The same way I still do.

My thoughts are interrupted by Jane as she starts to narrate how this fateful event folded in my absence.

Jane: Alina I am going to give it to you straight. In fact, there is no easier way to sugarcoat it anyway. It was around 4:30pm and like always, everyone was rounding up to leave the office. I received a call from the reception and Nomsa (receptionist) told me there was a boy looking for Mr Pasi. I checked for you in your office and realized you were not there. For whatever reason you didn't even tell me where you went to. Where did you go by the way?

Me: I will explain. Just finish first. Was he alone? Who came with him?

Jane: It's a guy from Michael's workplace. He says the kid showed up at their offices and apparently Michael hasn't been there and it's the third week now. Are you telling me he is still AWOL from that day we checked for him?

Me: Yes Jane...

I breath in deeply to try and release the tension that is ferociously building inside me.

Me again: So no one was spotted with him at all.

Jane: Yes apparently. But then I spoke to the boy. His name is Chael. He says his granny left him at the door at Michael's workplace and she said she would come and get him later. She told him that his father is inside and he wanted to see him.

I take in everything she is saying and as she continues, we hear giggles in the hallway. We simultaneously reach for the doorknob and both receive the shock of our lives. To me it's a pleasant sad shock ironically. To Jane, she is genuinely scared for the child as she watch him laughing with a strange man. He isn't a stranger to me no more.

It is Kaem. I had totally forgotten about him.

My guilty is exasperated by the sight of him scooting down to the level of Chael as they laugh at whatever it is that is fun to both of them.

"I am sorry Kaem! I didn't forget you, we were just rounding up with Jane" I just had to lie this time.

Him: It is ok hey, you just spoiled my fun with this handsome boy.

We both fall silent and listen to the universe as each of us drown in our unspoken silent conversations.

Mine is just one unanswered question, "What to do from now?"

KAEM

I decide to check on Alina when an hour passes and she still hasn't come out of the building. I check for my shotgun hidden in my left sock. My pocket knife is firmly holding on my belt covered by my leather jacket. I prepare my mind for whatever I am about to see inside. I have a strong feeling that there is more to what Alina is letting on.

All my brutal plans are neutralized when I see the little boy roaming aimlessly in the corridor. He stares at me and looks dead scared. I smile and greet him. When we both are comfortable, he lets me check his backpack. There is a birth certificate and a few clothes. In fact that is an overstatement, there is a short and two t-shirts. An almost torn towel and a toothbrush. That is all there is to it.

When I see Michael's name as the father of the child and a Roselyn as the name of mother, it intrigues me and triggers my interest. I know Alina might not want to disclose everything to me but since I have already taken interest, I choose to pull my resources and find out what's really going on.

I was beginning to enjoy Alina but the past week she hasn't been herself. She is distancing herself from me and yet I am probably her only hope to solve whatever is bothering her. I have resourceful friends in higher places. What she also doesn't know is that, I am not an ordinary doctor, I have a history.

I snapshot the birth certificate, scan and send it to Chad.

It is all I need for now.

The door opens and Alina is shocked to see me.

Let me just play cool.

At least for now.