Maya came into my house holding a bouque. She stood at my door and smiled. Her reason behind the ordeal visit was to know my well being. She giggled and let herself in. We met each other in the sitting room.
"I missed you,How have you been recently Miss Day?" She had reverted back to the Maya Angelou I met.
It was midday but no sun came out to play. Typical of the season we were in. She scanned each and every corner of my house then looked at the mirror for sometime. The natural thing to do was to start a new conversation.
"Maya ,will it be a bother if I ask?"
" Ask away. What do you want to ask?"
" To where did you get my address?"
I poured the brewed tea on her cup. My focus was on her facial expressions. Her eyes caught mine. A sudden electric wave travelled in between the empty space to my body. I shivered to her deadly gaze. If eye contact was a weapon it could have already eliminated me.
"My apologies Miss Day .From Rouse ,I got it from Rouse"
The two knew each other from sometime back. A past in which I wasn't involved. Thus, that was the little information I picked up from Renée. He described her as the closest friend he had ever had. On the other hand,She claimed to be a 'fling' to Rouse.
She made it brief. Due to loss of words ,I stayed at peace with her in the painful silence. I watched her as she examined my house. She explored everything but shokingly ,the floor's patterns managed to catch her attention.
I had lost Maya to whichever fantasy realm she had in her mind. All I heard were her nails constantly tapping the side of her cup.
"How's well are you coping in school?"
"I'm doing great,well... good! any word would describe the life at Wisconsin"
"Why do you say that?"
" Ironic,how we all are in a private school, names matter, scholarships or any sponsorship don't. The agony of our arrogance. Once they found out which family I came from. They all suddenly want to associate with me"
The final answer to my query was 'I'm fine' I couldn't understand her point of view. I didn't have a comforting word to say to her. Unfortunately ,the motherly love skipped a damsel. "I am doing fine" A word stated in moments when you're not in well enough position to say that you are doing great. "Fine" I see it as a word that is used to cover the word "awful" .Why some do that? Maybe to avoid explaining themselves on why the are doing awful.
Rarely anyone admits that there having bad days. As I stated,She made her conversation short and direct. I was stuck in the earful quietness of the room. You would assume by now that I got used to it. Nothing was asked ,nothing was answered. In overall no one uttered a word.
My mind travelled far and wide into Rouse's secret. I couldn't help but wonder if she was aware of the orphan she claims to be with. The Rouse's might as well be the most generous in adopting a gardener's child. As he spit out his secrets ,I realized of how easy it was to be abandoned.
It was painful to watch him talk about his parents. He laid his doubts and woes on my table. And like me I was willing to listen.
He claims to have woken up one faithful morning and saw no sight of his father. Everybody had noticed his disappearance. However, no one seemed slightly bothered. He was a tween when his life turned upside down.
He continues to narrate the strange behaviors of the one's who surrounded him. The employees, occasionally if not always, had something to say when he walked into a room .Later Rouse explains that this act became a norm in the Rouse's house hold.
They knew something. Surprisingly, he never got to know what they gossipped about .
It was until much later that the Rouse's decided to adopt Renée. The adoption was Mrs. Rouse's idea who went by Marie Dawn since she hadn't married.
I flashed back to the day, I thought that I had cut short a student's life.
"Maya ,what really brought you here?"
She looked stunned but managed to give a faint smile while saying ,"To spend time with you, I missed you."
I turn to the clock . It wasn't intended as a rude request rather than a safety precaution.
"Isn't it getting late, You can start by walking home before it gets dark. The night is a dangerous place. Let me show you to the door"
Maya hugged me in tears. I felt no pity as I suffocated in her embrace. A felt more releaved when she bid me adue and finally left my premises.
All along I was stuck in dilemma's rollercoaster. Only to later discover an astonishing revelation. Marie Dawn occastrated the whole sherade. Surely, determined to bring me in ruins.
I was concerned if she knew that I had cracked her riddle. Then if so, she might have sent Maya. Clearly,the whole point to this was to justify her thirst for vengeance. Yet again, I might not be as correct as I claim to be. Notwithstanding, the speculation were straight forward. In turn pointed her as a prime suspect to my accusations.
I was forced to take ten steps to the future. What would be her next move? Was my troubling stumper.