ANISHA'S POV
I had never felt so hurt. Tears streamed down my cheeks, as I fumbled through Ms Meyerton' room. At that moment I cared not about making a mess, for I threw the items about, flung the bags open, and searched. Sooner than I had expected, after I had pulled down a huge travelling bag from the top wardrobe shelves and I plopped it open, the gym bag that Ms Meyerton had described lay there in front of my sight. I yanked it and rushed to the lounge.
"Is this the bag, mum? Is this the bag?" I cried.
"That is the bag," Ms Meyerton' voice sounded almost like a whisper.
I stood with the bag in my arms. I placed it on the table in front of me, and I failed to bring myself to opening it. I did not want to open it. I had frantically searched for it; hoping and praying to find it, yet when it stood before me, I shivered. I feared. I could not. I started to wish for a mistake. Maybe it wasn't the right bag? Or…could it be that Ms Meyerton had made an error and…
"Mum, was it me who was wearing the clothes? Could it have been Val? Maybe you made a mistake?" I hoped for an error on Ms Meyerton' part.
"It was you, my child. It was on a Monday morning. I am more than certain. It was you. Open the bag, Anisha."
"No I cannot! I cannot! I don't want to open it! I don't want to be that child, mum! Mamma; I don't want to be that child; the child whose mother would not even look at! She didn't even want to know if I was a boy or a girl! No…she did not even want a girl! From the beginning she had always wanted a son! She didn't want me, mamma! She did not want me! No, mum, I don't want to be that child!! I will not be that child!! It was not me, mamma it was not me dressed in these clothes! It must have been someone else!" I cried my heart out, because honestly; from the story that Amelia had told me; I was not willing to accept that I could be that child.
"Anisha!" Ms Meyerton cried out, as she looked like she too was going to cry. She took me in for a hug, using her one hand which she still had control over.
"Listen child, you need time to adjust to this. Calm down."
Fresh tears gushed from my eyes, and as if responding to my cries, the heavens sent down a heavy downpour right at that same time. The rain thumping down on the rooftop sounded like some sort of comfort sent for me by God Himself, yet I rejected the comfort. I refused to have anything to do with the gym bag. I wanted nothing to do with the bright green t-shirt; the fluffy white suit, the Minnie Mouse towel and that yellow half shirt. No I did not want! I hated it! I hated it all!
I started crying loudly, wailing at the top of my lungs. I roughly unzipped the bag, and there was a graduation gown on top; which I threw out. I pulled out a white blanket which also hurled and tossed aside. I threw out a few more things and right at the bottom, I saw it.
Initially it had all seemed like a dream; but the moment I saw it, I knew that it was all real. It was all happening. Amelia's story. No: the story was not made up. It was the truth. The Minnie Mouse towel was right in front of my eyes. I lifted it with shaking hands. I saw the fluffy suit. The letter 'A' was there; embroidered clearly on every item. The bright green t-shirt; yes I saw it too. ...I picked the items in my hands, threw them in the bag and bolted out of the house.
"Anisha!!" Ms Meyerton called after me, but I was already outside. Right at the gate, I almost got hit by a car which was driving in. Not bothering to check who it was, I swiftly darted to the left and continued to run. Above the sound of the rain, I heard car doors slamming, and Valentina's voice calling me, "Anisha!!!"
"Anisha stop!!" another voice yelled. It sure was Carter's. Carter was the one whose car had just driven in, and she had brought Val with him. I continued to run. The weight of my phone in my pocket and slapping hard on my thigh felt uncomfortable, yet it mattered not. I ran.
"Anisha wait!!" the two voices called with urgency; but still I ran. The rain was pounding on me, washing away the tears, but more and more tears kept coming. I ran down the four streets, until I came to her street. Yes, I still remembered it; her address. By that time, Carter had managed to catch up with me, and I could hear Val's panting from behind me. They were both calling for me to stop, and asking me questions, but I did not answer any of them. I rushed towards the front door and without knocking, I pulled on the lever and flung the door open.
"Amelia!!" I cried out.
I stepped into the house and placed the gym bag on the floor. Digging in the drenching clothes, I pulled out the yellow shirt. My hair was a total mess, covering my face but I was still able to see. Seated on a sofa with a remote control in his hand was a man who looked very shocked to see me, a stranger, in his house. Tessa, the girl whom I had met before, was sitting on a chair, also shocked to see me. In the doorway leading to another room, Amelia appeared.
I hauled the half shirt, with the water dripping off it.
"This is the shirt, is it not? This is the shirt! Answer me, Amelia!"
Amelia's mouth dropped open and she did not move. She did not say anything.
"What's happening?" the man of the house asked.
"Amelia! Talk to me!! This is the shirt that you cut in half, is it not? And these?" I used my other hand to pull out the other baby clothes. My hands were shaking from both anger and the cold. I was super angry and I felt like I would burst any time.
"You left a child to be bitten by ants!! You did not care! You did not even want to see or touch the child…" I could not help but cry again. I cried even louder. I shook the clothes in my hands with great anger; and the water splashed across the room.
"What is happening, Amelia? Do you know her?" the man asked again.
"She knows me!!" I screamed out loud. "I am the secret that she has managed to keep for twenty one whole years! Almost twenty two years now!"
"Anisha…"Amelia began to speak.
"Don't 'Anisha' me!! You refused to even look at me! You did not even want to know if I was a boy or a girl!! You left me, Amelia….you left me!! And you never made an effort to look for me!!" I was beginning to chock from my own cries. I felt a huge weight fall on my chest, and it was like it came to block my breathing. Panting like a dog, I cried out loud, still holding the clothes in my hands.
"You left me!! you left me alone to die!!" I cried like I had never cried before.
My whole body shook and I felt pain, physical pain as jolts of pain shots in religiously in turns through my shaking body. My legs suddenly gave up on me and my weight, and my knees had to take over. Kneeling there with the wet clothes in my hands, I allowed myself to cry like I never thought I would. There was a huge force welling up from within my stomach. It would ball up and move gradually towards my chest, and I could feel it bursting right there in my chest. The ball would send waves of pain spreading evenly across my entire body, but my chest took in the most. I felt like a small needle was running up my spine, prickly softly at first, but the said needle seemed to thicken and prick even more as it moved up towards my head. Throbbing pain engulfed my head, disturbing my sight and making me see darkness before I could see what was ahead of me. My ears gave up on hearing anything, and although I am sure those around me were talking, I could not hear what they said. I did not care. I did not want to hear it.
I felt deep pain coming in as twitches in my forehead, right above my brows. Each twitch came in stronger than the previous one, sending my entire being into lights spasms; yet still I maintained my kneeling position.
I shut my eyes and cried a lot, and when I opened them after a long while, I heard a sound like the sound of a far away siren screeching in my ears. My ears must have decided to come back to work, for I heard the man asking, "what is it, Amelia? Do you know this girl?"
Amelia's red eyes shifted from me to the man, and she allowed herself to sit down on the floor. "I..I am sorry, my husband. I am sorry…"
Amelia crawled and hugged her husband's legs, with her tears straining his trousers. The man reached out his hand and held Amelia by the hand. He meant to pull her up, but Amelia would not stand up; choosing to maintain her keeling position.
"What happened, mum? Is this till about the hair oil? What happened mamma?" Tessa asked in a shaky voice.
"Tell me the story, Amelia. What happened? Who is she? Tell me everything" Amelia's husband spoke as he still held his wife's hand.