ANISHA'S POV
"So what happened? What happened to the baby? Where did you leave the child? Did you …. kill…. the child?" I felt chills running through my body at the thought of Amelia killing the child.
She stood up and shook her head violently. "I cannot do this! I cannot do this anymore! I'm sorry but I cannot talk about this anymore!! I have opened up too many old wounds!!" she cried as she walked away, leaving the table. I failed to say or do anything to stop her, so I just let her be. She walked a few steps and turned back to look at me;
"You're the first person I have ever managed to tell about this! I guess it's because you were with Noel when he died; so I feel a little connected to you. You're the person who saw Noel. You heard what he said; he said his last words to you. Well, I'm sorry I had to burden you with my issues. You are a good listener. Travel well when you go back to Southrain. If you should ever come back, feel free to visit me…..and….you won't believe it but I carried the half shirt with me today. Here. I just wanted you to know that I am not making up anything. The story is real. And that half a shirt if he only thing connecting me to my child."
"Is the child alive? Did you kill the child? What did you do to the child?"
Instead of responding, Amelia just cried. I concluded in my mind that she had killed the child.
With shaking hands she handed over the shirt to me, and I looked through it before sorrowfully handing it back to Amelia.
"Thank you. I'm glad I found you, and I'm happy I could be of help. Please give me your address." I said.
Amelia fumbled through her bag and pulled out a little old diary. She tore off one page and scribbled her address on it, tossed it to me and without saying another word, she left.
I stared long and hard at the paper in my hands. To my utter surprise, I realised that Amelia stayed in the same neighborhood as Ms Meyerton. The street name which she had given me was about four roads from Ms Meyerton' home. What a coincidence; I just smiled to myself. I folded it and threw it into my pocket.
I stood up to go to the bathroom and to my utter disappointment, I realised that I was already on my monthly period! I was not expecting it until three days later. Feeling defeated, I unrolled a lot of toilet paper and used it as a temporary pad, as I made my way out of the restaurant. As soon as I got home, I took a shower and prepared some food for Ms Meyerton. She insisted that she was not hungry, but still I prepared. I wanted to make the most of our last days together. I ended up making some mushroom soup and I handed her the bowl and curled up on the seat facing her.
"We have a visitor tonight," she spoke out. "I had almost forgotten."
"Oh is it someone I know?"
"Yes, very well. It's Carter. He called me today. Heaven knows where he got my number from."
"Oh, I bumped into him today!" I explained to Ms Meyerton.
She listened and smiled sweetly. She really showed great interest in meeting with Carter. Ms Meyerton had always treated all of us as her own children; she was a very lovely woman. Although she had never been married or had a child of her own, she really knew how to show motherly love.
"So then, its best I start preparing something for dinner," I suggested.
"No, don't! He said he is coming to see us here, just to see where I stay, and then he will take all of us out for dinner."
"Sounds interesting," I murmured. To be honest, if it was up to me, I would have flatly turned Carter down; but then Ms Meyerton looked very happy and eager to meet with him. There was no way I was going to burst her bubble. But as for the dinner; I swore in my heart that I was not going to be part of it.
My tummy was rumbling and I was in pain. My monthly periods were sometimes bad; and that was surely a bad month. With the weather also threatening to rain, I started to feel sleepy. Ms Meyerton encouraged me to go and take a nap, but I refused. I remained sitting on the couch until I fell asleep. I am not sure how long I slept, but Ms Meyerton woke me up and advised me to eat something.
"Take a bit of the mushroom soup that you made. You haven't eaten anything. Or did you eat a lot when you met up with Amelia?"
"I didn't eat much. We just had some salads. That woman can talk!" I sighed. "Can you believe it, mum, that she spoke on and on, giving me detailed information of her story. All the fine details."
Ms Meyerton laughed a little and then asked, "what's wrong with that?"
"I'm not complaining. It's just that…I thought some of the details were not necessary." I told her truthfully.
"I think it's ok for her to let it out. Remember the woman told you that she never told anyone, not even her husband, about that son which she gave birth to."
"She's not even sure if the child was a son or a daughter," I yawned.
"What do you mean? I thought you said she had a son?" Ms Meyerton asked with confusion.
"No, I said she wished to have a son. But when the child was born, she refused to know whether it was a boy or a girl. She refused to see the child or have anything to do with that child. Poor baby," I said it as if I was talking to myself.
"Did she tell you all that?" the doubt in Ms Meyerton' voice could not be hidden.
"She did!! You won't believe how much detail she gave me."
Ms Meyerton chuckled and said, "This Amelia woman sounds interesting. But I wonder, what detail could she have given, considering she never saw the child. I was thinking maybe the detail she gave was in describing her child, the facial features, the joys of motherhood and all such things. Where is the baby, anyway? Did she give the child up for adoption or something?"
Again I yawned lazily. The period pain was really taking its toll on me. I raised my eyebrows and told Ms Meyerton, "who knows? From what Amelia said, I believe she killed that baby."
"Oh no!!" Ms Meyerton brought her hand up to her chest, and pain was immediately written all over her face. I was not sure what to say to her except….
"Don't worry, mum. I am just suspecting. Amelia was not open to me on that part. I am therefore not sure what happened to that child." I explained clearly, since I did not want Ms Meyerton worrying over something that might not have even happened.
Seeing that Ms Meyerton still looked troubled, I decided to say something to comfort her with a little of something positive, "Amelia loved the child. She wouldn't have killed that baby. I will tell you, she still knows, until now, what that child was wearing on that day. She told me all of it."
"She does? So then she must know if it's a boy or a girl. Amelia dressed the child herself, didn't she?" Ms Meyerton asked with a glint of hope.
"She did not. The midwife did." I explained.
"Ohh. I see." Ms Meyerton nodded her head.
"But Amelia is the one who gave the midwife the baby clothes. She told me about it. It's sad to see her reciting what happened so many years ago. She even spoke about the child's clothes colours, can you imagine."
"What do you mean?" Ms Meyerton asked in a calm voice.
"I mean, for example she gave full details of the baby's clothes. She told me about the bright green t-shirt which was written on the front: THIS IS WHAT AWESOME LOOKS LIKE. She even said the words were written in red."
I laughed a little, remembering how detailed Amelia had been. I guessed it only served to show that the incident was engraved in her heart; and she was relieved to finally share it with someone.
I pressed hard on my knotting stomach and continued to say, "and she said on top of that t-shirt, the child wore a fluffy suit. White in colour, with the letter 'A' embroidered on the trousers pocket, on the front of the jacket…I think, and she said there were little mittens and a hat with the letter 'A' embroidered as well. And she said the child was wrapped in a Minnie Mouse beach towel…..oh and I almost forgot; she said when she went with the child, to kill the child…or whatever it is that she did to the child, she threw on top of the towel a shirt..."
"A yellow shirt…."Ms Meyerton's voice trailed, sounding seriously shocked.
"Yes! A yellow shirt. Have I told you about this before? She said…."
"It was cut in half, was it not?" Ms Meyerton stared at me with tearful eyes. "The yellow shirt was cut in half…"
I could not say anything but stare at her in disbelief. She knew? Could it be that Amelia had once shared her story with Ms Meyerton? How did she know?
Ms Meyerton brought her hand to her forehead, kneaded her temples and spoke as if she was talking to herself, "bright green t-shirt written THIS IS WHAT AWESOME LOOKS LIKE....the white fluffy suit, with the letter 'A'…..the Minnie Mouse towel...the yellow half shirt...no! no! It cannot be!!..."
"What is it, mum? What is it?" I stood up and hugged her, trying to calm her down. The last thing I wanted was to get her into a panic, for whatever reason, since her health was already in bad shape.
"Ms Meyerton…mum…mum please talk to me. What is it?"
"It cannot be! It can't!! It can't!! No! no! no! no!" her voice screaming 'no' filled the whole house, the echoes full of pain. All I could do was hug her tighter, trying my best to calm her down.