AVA'S P.O.V
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To think the government had uprooted it from the system, right?
Not a chance.
That fantasy completely dissipated from my head when Andy told me she'd been with a prime minister. She had to bolt the door so I wouldn't stomp out and do something drastic.
Two-faced pigs.
I took a deep breath and shook my hands out. I couldn't help it; the memory always came back with a surge of anger.
After sleepless nights due to self-imposed insomnia and nightmares, the years had crawled on, and I'd finally given up on my relatives. They were never going to find me. I'd long accepted then that money couldn't give you everything.
We walked down the stairs and I frowned, my hand sliding down the railing when my parents came to mind.
My father was dead, gone, and my mother... was unresponsive. She barely functioned.
As hard as it was to accept, it was the truth.
It was about two and a half years ago when it happened, if my calculations were right, a warm afternoon, and we had just finished our checkup.
The memory played in my head.
"Your hand," Betty B had grunted.
I'd held it out to her and looked away before she inserted the syringe into the crease of my elbow.
I'd felt the cold, stinging swipe of alcohol wipe over the tiny cut.
"Nice, you take your vitamins well, Queen." Betty B complimented.
My lips formed a plastic smile. "Thanks, and you look good as always, Betty."
She blushed and pushed her heavy body out of the half-broken office chair to throw the syringe and cotton away. "You may leave."
I hopped out of the high chair and stepped out. Andia was leaning on the wall, staring at the ceiling, when I joined her.
She raised a brow at me and dropped her foot from the wall. "'You may leave'," she mimicked.
I rolled my eyes, smiling. "Shut up, Andy."
"Betty B is in love with you, Q." She nudged me with her elbow, teasing.
I puffed my chest and tried to mimic Bodacious Betty's self-righteous stare. Andia cackled at my poor attempt, lightly shoving me to the side.
I scoffed. "Never, just…no."
Betty B wasn't in love with me.
She was married with kids.
Betty B was just an attention-starved woman who lapped at a hint of a compliment anyone gave without delay.
Her thick size and gruff voice left much to be desired and she was only human. She liked me, but not in a romantic way.
She liked me like she would like a cat that purred and curled at her every word.
She liked me like I was an object.
Like I was an agreeable pet.
It was all given and taken.
I pulled my heavy hair away from my sweaty neck and huffed. "Ugh, if the air conditioner in the den breaks down again, I'm going to lose it."
As if on reflex, Andia rolled a hair tie off her wrist and handed it over because, like always, I never liked to carry rubber ties.
"No way in hell," she scoffed. "Are they having another round of shots without us?"
Pulling the elastic around my bun, I followed the direction she was pointing to.
A small group of girls from my section stood together, staring at something. We hurried towards them but as we drew closer, I realised that not only was there no alcohol in sight, but the girls also looked pretty depressed.
One girl, Irene, had a hand on her stomach, watching as Leslie frantically flipped sofas over in search of something.
Something was wrong.
A monotone voice from the television stole our attention as we stepped into the cool room.
"-stries and his long-time associate, Ms. Hanna Oakley, have been found dead in their offices. Mrs. Francine Saxon has been reported to be in a state of shock, which has left her semi-paralyzed and mute. However, she is still able to see an...."
Hearing our mothers' names, we shoved our way through the small semi-circle.
I pushed bony shoulders and arms behind me and stood in front of the tv, frozen as my parents' faces were displayed on the curved screen.
Something electrified my chest, dissolved into hot liquid, and dived into the pits of my abdomen.
The word 'deceased' was written boldly below daddy and aunt Hanna's picture, and 'paralyzed' was pasted under mama's picture.
For a second, I couldn't understand what was happening.
Mama still had her soft smile but her dark hair had a few strands of grey, and daddy looked tensed, his usual goofy grin missing and deep lines on his forehead. Their eyes were dimmed and closed off.
I blinked and tears blurred my sight.
After so many years, I finally got to see their faces, which were fading from my memory, and they were...
Something dark enveloped my thoughts as the meaning of the words attached to their pictures sunk in.
A second later, Leslie was standing next to me and the screen turned black.
Dread gripped me tight like a snake strangling its prey.
They were…
Mama…
Daddy…
No way.
Andia crumbled first.
She screamed out and the girls ran to grab her before she could sink to the floor in grief.
I numbly stood by my best friend, struggling to process the news.
The sympathetic touches and words from the girls standing around went neglected. At a point, I couldn't feel them anymore.
This couldn't be real.
I-It couldn't be true.
I faintly heard Leslie's firm voice amongst the others. "Don't give it-"
Before she could complete her sentence, I was already bolting out the door.
Her desperate shouts died down behind me but I didn't stop.
I ran and ran and ran until the stitch in my side grew tighter.
Until I could feel the air in my chest.
When my feet were forced to a stop, I was in the other wing of the building. I stumbled to a stop and dragged in a deep breath.
I lugged myself forward and placed a hand on my heaving chest, trying to think of what to do.
The pain I'd been so good at hiding burned hotter, almost driving me to the floor.
Digging my nails into the cemented wall didn't stop the flood of memories or the wave of pain.
A knot pulled tighter in my throat, affirming my fears and contrasting my hope that my parents were fine.
Fine and alive.
God, I couldn't believe this was happening.
I tugged at my hair, fat globes of tears dangling on my lashes.
I'd done everything I could to survive because of my parents.
All of my plans and thoughts never failed to circle back to my parents, and now...
My hands shook and a burst of pain turned my stomach. A shiver racked my chest as the tears fell.
What do I do?