EVANGELISTA'S POV
Troy handed me the fake ID and asked me, "what do you think?"
"It's nice", I smiled.
"You're supposed to walk in there with confidence, and then you state that you are the sister to Israel Bassard? You get that?"
"I get it."
"OK, so here is an injection. Hold it. It doesn't have anything dangerous inside, I filled it up with water. I want you to act like you're now at the hospital. Let's see how you'll do it."
"OK I will walk to the guards and tell them that Israel is my brother. And then I will go to him and cry, and hug him…"
"Do it. Pretend like you're hugging him. You can hug the cushion on the couch." Troy pointed at the cushion with his mouth.
"OK, so I will hug him while I get the injection ready. And I will…ouch!!" I screamed out in pain.
"What?"
"I pricked myself with the injection!" I told him.
"My goodness Leah!! So it means on the day, you're actually going to kill yourself when you prick yourself with that deadly injection!"
"I will be careful", I felt tears coming to my eyes.
Troy shook his head in disappointment, and he left the room. I sat silently and after a while I heard footsteps. Zuri walked in. "Leah! You can't handle an injection properly without pricking yourself?"
"I...I was just scared."
"Scared of what? If you get scared during a rehearsal, what more when Israel himself is lying in front of you! Can you do this!?"
"I…I think….I …I think I can…."
"Stop stammering!!" Zuri shouted at me.
She turned to Troy and shouted, "this Leah girl will just kill herself in that hospital! And it will be a huge loss to me! It's better for me if I have her cut up and have her organs sold at the underground market. I can make good money!"
"No, no no please, I will do it! I will be careful!" I pleaded with Zuri, failing to imagine my body cut up and being sold to some thugs.
"Can't we use a pill?", Troy suggested.
"I prefer the injection" Zuri stated firmly.
"A pill is easier though." Troy tried to negotiate. "Leah will just prick herself and with how deadly that injection is, she will fall down dead, leaving Bassard to go on with his life."
"But how will she make sure that Israel swallows the pill?" Zuri gave me a quizzical look.
"Just push it into his mouth and leave it to melt there!" Troy said.
"No. It has to be an injection. Its faster and easier." Zuri stood her ground.
She looked at me with a mocking eye and said, "at the rate you're going, I wouldn't even be surprised if you forget your name and say my name is Leah, at that hospital! What name are you going to use! Speak up!"
"Leah…oh no I…I…I mean ..."
"Shut up!! I knew it!! You're too dull to carry this out! Leah? Who is Leah? How many times have we told you that you're going in there as Evangelista?"
"Why don't you get one of your people to do it? If I get caught I will go to jail…." I began to cry.
A thunderous slap would have caught me was it not for Troy who held Zuri's hand mid-air. In trying to dodge, I had instinctively darted to the side, with my hands covering my face.
"Stand on your feet!" Zuri's angry voice echoed throughout the huge room.
I obeyed.
"Do you talk when I am talking?"
"No. I..I am s..so…"
"No stammering!"
"I am sorry."
"Do you question me?" her blood red eyes pierced into mine.
"No. I am sorry."
"Who is going to the hospital to do this job?" her voice boomed angrily in the room
"I am going to do it."
"Do you question why I chose you?"
"No, I do not question. I am sorry"
"And when you get there, what name do you use?" she continued with her questions.
"Evangelista Bassard."
"Speak up!"
"I am Evangelista Bassard."
"Is there any room for error?" Zuri continued to bark at me.
"No room for errors," I felt my voice sounding like a stranger's voice.
"Good. Troy, get another injection. Let her repeat the rehearsal."
"Yes boss," Troy left the room to go and get another injection.
AT THE WOODRUFFS' HOME
"Honey I don't know what to do any more. He is just crying", the woman spoke, trying to raise her voice above the wails of the crying child.
"Have you tried giving him those toys?", came the husband's reply.
"I have tried everything", she was on the verge of tears.
"Could it be that he is hungry?"
"I tried to feed him. He is not eating anything," she sounded desperate.
"Oh. Since he is not eating, he must be hungry but just being stubborn. Have you bathed him already?"
"I bathed him, he cried through the whole bath time. I am getting very stressed out now."
"Try some music," he encouraged his wife.
"Which music? We don't have much baby music here."
"Download something and play for him. I will bring some more music when I come home. In the mean time, try and sing for him."
"I am exhausted and I have no more energy to sing, " she felt the hot tears threatening to escape from her eyes.
"Honey, we have to do what we have to do. For the child." He kept encouraging her.
"How about we try and get in touch with Anisha?"
"Anisha is coming to see him on Sunday. That's our agreement. We agreed that she visits him every Sunday."
"But I am failing to make him quiet. He needs Anisha….", she broke into tears.
"Give him time honey. He will get used to you. Give him more colourful toys."
"I really think we should call Anisha," her voice was almost begging.
"No, let's stick to the plan. Anisha can only visit the child on Sundays. Just do your best to calm the child down. I will be home soon."
"OK I will do my best."
"I love you."
"I love you too."