"I didn't plan for you to find out the way you did, wanted it to be a real surprise, i never knew you will meet Felicia, I'm sorry Pia,
I looked from my dad to the face of the woman that gave birth to me, she was standing a little distance away from me, wiping tears off her eyes, I was feeling indifferent, Felicia has being dismissed to go and attend to customers but I know she is probably hiding somewhere, watching, listening and gathering things to talk about, I wonder why she talks so much,
" can we go to somewhere to talk about this, let us go to Helen's house, let's not create a scene here, here is an open place..please... people are watching... Please Can we...
All I could do was to nod my head, and head outside, while dad and Helen follows behind, I have to turn when I heard Felicia running towards us, she called her mom who didn't pay much attention to her,
"Mom, please can I come along, is she the elder sister I over heard you talking about with dad one day, I know she's the one, can't you see she share resemblance with you except she is way taller than you, mom I so much wish is really true, I want her to be my big sister, please let me come along...I promise I won't talk much... Please don't leave me behind...I'm also part if the family..
"Felicia, will you go back and watch things in my absence, what do want to come and do, to talk, I have being warning you on this your too much talk, real girls don't talk much, they comport their selves and only speak when necessary and when they are asked a question, talking out of proportion is not a Lady like...stay back here and work....there are things to keep you busy....
I have already gotten to the car and couldn't hear them again,
Helen came and sat at the back while Daddy drives, none of us said a word, it was as if dad knows the rout, he knows the way to their house, as he drives on, he later got to a building with a brown gate and stopped and we all came down,
Helen was ahead as she entered the gate and we followed behind, I guess this is where they live, Helen went straight to an apartment and knocked a voice answered from inside, and the door was opened in a second,
a young man in his early twenties whom I guess was Felicia's elder brother, who's name was Bright, and he stays with the father at home sometime if he is not in school, that was what Felicia told me,stood by the door staring at me,
He looked at me and smiled and i returned back the smile, he greeted my dad very well as if they are best friends, my dad gently tapped his shoulder before going inside,
Inside the living room a man was sitting on the cushion, watching news on TV, that must be Mr Anthony, Felicia's father, his walking stick was laying beside him,
on seeing my Dad he struggled to stand up with the walking stick to greet but dad asked him to sit and not stress him self in standing, he looked at me and smiled before greeting, I replied calmly, Helen was standing at one corner looking at me, she is scared and doesn't even know what to say, Bright was also looking like he was seeing a goddess, they offered us a drink but we both said that we are fine, my dad spoke first
"This is my daughter, Pia K Brown, all through the time I was coming down here she was away like I explained before now, she was schooling abroad, and before she traveled out for study... we both had a long talk, and she told me she will love to meet the woman that conceived and gave birth to her someday...
I saw Helen from the corner of my eyes as she held her chest with one hand and the others hand on her mouth, I tried not to look at her because she has never stopped looking at me since I came in, I wonder what she is thinking right now on seeing me sitting with my dad in her house after over twenty years, she was probably thinking that I wouldn't be able to forgive her after what she did, my Dad continued speaking
....So when she was away I decided to dig and search for Helen, I send my men to all corners of the country with few details of her, I did my own search until she was found, and it was like being in the right place at the right time, I came just in time to be used by God to help Anthony with his health, to help Bright and Felicia to return back to school and to help Helen in becoming an entrepreneur, a CEO of her own supermarket, I was glad to be used, but all I did was because of my daughter who led me to it, she set the track for me by wanting to see her real mother and I wanted to surprise her, I never told her any if this things I did, I didn't want to distraught her in her studies, so I kept all my meetings with Helen her family a secret, Anthony you and Helen were eager to meet her and I know she was also eager to meet her real mother, I promised that I Will bring her over when she returns from abroad, one other important thing I wanted to add is that we all wronged Pia, I'm not exceptional, in truth I was the cause of the whole mess, I abandoned Helen when she was pregnant of her, I denied the pregnancy, I started the mess and regretted it for years until destiny found us both, Helen on your own side, you gave birth to her and after weaning her, you left her with your mother and moved on with your life....
Helen silent cry turned in to a sob, the TV was already off so Anthony's head was bent, while Bright was looking from his mother who was sobbing then to me with my plain face staring at nothing in particular, then back to my Dad the narrator
"...Anthony you aren't left out in this mess either, when Helen wanted to bring her little girl who was two years already then according to what Helen told me, she wanted to take her along after you got married to her, you refuse and said you don't want another man's child under your roof, you said she was going to be a liability and you just don't want that, so Helen have to abandoned her baby with her mother, and she never looked back again, I know all this things happened in the past and we have learnt from our mistakes, we are better off than we use to be, but our negligence could have caused Pia her life, we wouldn't have come to know this kind soul, my beautiful princess if she had dyed, Helen even after your mother died and she was buried you never bother to ask or look for the child you carried for complete nine months suffered and gave birth to her, i know we all shared in this unfortunate part...
" I did...I asked of her Ken, but I was told she was living with a rich couple in the big city, with that information I thought...I thought she was living fine..i know I'm a terrible person, then I thought God was punishing me with Anthony's sickness, when he suddenly fell ill and the whole burden was shifted to me, i was almost going crazy until you showed up three years ago, I have no excuse for what I did, I pray and cry everyday for God's forgiveness and a chance to meet my girl again, I constantly prayed for God's protections over her...I know that's not enough, is not an excuse for my terrible act, words without action is useless, everyday I feel that I don't deserve to be forgiven or to get all this turn around in my life right now...I can't just explain how sorry I am...I know sorry can't bring back the lost years or difficulties she passed through, I can do anything to show how sorry I am, I am deeply sorry, I have suffered for the consequences of my actions, I totally regretted it...
I was looking at her now as she speaks and cry at same time, I felt pity for her, indeed she must have suffered so much, having to care for her two kids and a sick husband can be cumbersome, I'm glad Dad located them and extended a huge helping hand to them.. Anthony spoke
"I'm deeply sorry for all we did, I was self centered and asked Helen to leave her baby behind, maybe God kept me alive for a moment like this to see the beautiful face of the rejected child who brought good luck to our home, if not for her Ken Brown Will never have located us in my dying minute... We all regretted our action and I plead with you to find it in your heart to forgive us, please forgive me because I could have taken and cared for you as my own child, I could have being a Father figure to you but I was only thinking about myself, I know your growing up must have being terrible, I'm more glad that God kept you safe... I'm sorry Pia...
Anthony was still speaking when Helen came and fell before me, I quickly stood as i tried to pull her up, she cried and pleaded,
" I know I'm not worthy to be called your mother, I don't deserve that title from you, I'm a terrible person, i allowed anger, bitterness, unforgiveness for Ken to keep us apart, and when I realized how stupid I was, when I realized I abandoned my innocent baby girl because of her father's sin or fear of my husband it was already late, and looked forward to seeing you during your grandmother's burial but you didn't come, you did not show up, and I wept not just because my mother was being laid to the cold earth but also because some part of me was gone with her, I may never get to meet my daughter again, I couldn't even ask my mother where you were taken to, is over twenty five years now and I'm seeing my baby girl again, fully grown into a very beautiful Lady, I can't still believe you came from me because you look perfect, I'm deeply sorry, if not that Ken told me that you were brutally maltreated from the rich family and you even have to run away and God used a little girl named June and a kind hearted young man called Jerry to reunite you and your father, I wondered what would have happened to my girl out in the cold street alone, I cried, I wish I know that Woman or her husband that almost destroyed you, Ken also told me that her name was Koh, I wish I know who she is, I Would have fought her with my last blood, she doesn't even deserve to own a child, she is a wicked soul, I'm so sorry Pia, I know I'm not different from Koh, I'm equally a terrible person, I feel terrible inside and out, I'm deeply sorry, will you ever forgive me...can you find it in your heart to forgive us for al...
Before she could complete her word I drew her into a tight warm hug, it was a loving reunion with my mother, we all have cried and suffered too much, is time to laugh, God has wiped our saddened tears and replaced it Joy,
let the past remain in the past but I still have unfinished business there, I need to pay Aunty Koh a visit, and I feel so happy because Lano and midi works for my mother, it will be easy locating June
I'm not going home today or tomorrow, Dad can go and come for me later, I want to spend time with my mother,
I will miss Jerry for the few days that i will be here, he has being calling to check up,
I know Felicia will never stop talking through out the period I will be here, she has so much energy for words, I'm not much of a talker myself, it Will be fun having a sister who talks like a parrot,
Mum doesn't know yet that Aunty Koh's children works in her supermarket, she may even sack them if she finds out,
But she doesn't really have to know now, I wouldn't want Lano and Midi to loose their Job because of their mother's past sin, even though they were both like their mother, but that's in the past,
but not withstanding I will like to make them know what it feels like to be ill treated, I need to let aunty Koh understand the fact that is a Small world we live in and nobody knows what tomorrow holds for everyone, wickedness is not a good way of life because whatsoever you sow same you or your children Will reap someday,
My Joy is overfilled because I finally met my mother,
If my body is filled with mouths is not even enough to thank God.
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