The next day came and Hanita's eyes felt like she had applied red pepper around them. She had barely gotten two hours of sleep and this morning, she found herself groggy, heavy, and slow.
She quickly brushed her teeth and while she changed her clothes from the sheer nightwear she was wearing to normal house wear, she could hear muffled voices speaking and echoing through the walls.
"Carnise," Hanita muttered as she hurried and got dressed.
Hanita went to her parent's room first, net the door open, pepped inside, and found no one inside. She got worried instantly. The voices were coming from downstairs, Hanita figured.
"Where can I find him?!"
"I don't know about that, Carnise…" Daliana said in return with a raised voice trying to match that of her daughter.
"You are lying!" Carnise accused. "You don't want me to get to know him!"
"Why do you want to know him?" Daliana asked. "Nothing good will come out of that! I do not want him in your life, Carnise. He is bad news!"
"Bad news that you had a child for?" Carnise asked. "If you knew he was bad news why didn't you remove the pregnancy you carried for him, huh?"
"I will not have you speak to your mother in that manner!" Deveron said.
By this time, Hanita had come down the flight of stairs and she stood staring at Carnise with her hands on her waist.
"I don't think you have any say in this matter, Deveron, " Carnise said.
Hanita shot a look in her father's direction and she saw how his brows creased at how Carnise had mentioned his name like that.
"You had better hold that tongue of yours!" Daliana warned. "You are so ignorant and you're not willing to be humble and listen to what happened before spitting out the rubbish that is coming out of your mouth!"
Carnise folded her hands and blinked her eyes severally in an unapologetic manner. She was already dressed for work but had decided that she would have a talk with Daliana and Deveron before she left for the office.
"Where can I find him?"
Daliana shrugged with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I don't know and I don't care…Go under the mountains for that vermin. I couldn't care less."
"If you find him…" Hanita began as she chuckled a little under her breath.
"Oh… here comes the princess who has everything set up and prepared for her," Carnise said with her voice dripping with sarcasm and dislike.
"Drop it," Hanita said with a roll of her eyes before she continued. "As I was saying, Carnise… If you find that man, I will have him arrested and all his past atrocities brought up before him again. I promise you that."
"Hmph…" Carnise scoffed. "Your feathers seem rattled."
"Mum… are you feeling okay this morning?" Hanita asked as she walked to where her other was and squatted in front of Daliana placing her hands on Daliana's knees.
Daliana managed a smile and she rubbed Hanita's hands. "Yes… the pain had subsided but I'm having a hard time turning my neck," Daliana said as she tried to turn her neck to the other side but winced at the stiffness.
"Don't force it…" Deveron said for the first time in some time. "We'll be going to the hospital today.
Carnise just turned and walked out of the door, slamming it behind her.
Hanita looked towards the door and shook her head. She had always known that Carnise had some strange and mean streak but she never knew that it would get to this and they would be the recipient of her venom. It was appalling, especially the things that Carnise had said – Hanita could hardly believe her ears. She could hardly believe that was the sister that she had grown up with. It was as if Carnise was intentionally detaching herself from them and Hanita didn't know why.
"I'm sorry, darling," Daliana said to her husband as she stretched and placed her hand on his forearm.
The sound of her mother's voice brought Hanita out of her reverie and she smiled a little – even though it was a sad smile.
"You don't have to be sorry, baby…" Deveron said. "There is nothing to apologize for…I just think she is hurting in some way that we don't understand."
Hanita rolled her eyes. This was typical of her father – giving excuses for people – always giving people the benefit of the doubt. That was how Deveron was and Hanita admired him for that.
"I don't think it would be so easy for her to find Therman though," Deveron said to Daliana. "He left Georgia a long time ago and no news of him ever since…"
"Perhaps because you haven't gone looking…" Hanita said as she stood up from the squatting position that she was in and sat down on one of the sofas.
"Oh I did one time… some months after you were born," Deveron Hill said. "Carnise was about a year old and I thought that he had the right to know that he had a child somewhere even though I had adopted her fully at that time."
"Oh…"Hanita said as she nodded her head.
"I don't want that man around me or my daughter," Daliana said as a whimper escaped her mouth and she started to rub her fingers together in a nervous manner.
"Hearing his name alone is- hearing his name is so uncomfortable and I can't believe that after all these years, he still has this effect on me!" Daliana cried.
"It's alright, Daliana…" Deveron said. "He won't come close to you… you don't have to worry about that… you can't afford to worry about anything right now, darling."
"It's true, Mum…" Hanita agreed. "Push that out of your mind, Mum…"
"What if she finds him?"
"Then she finds him…" Hanita said. "She finding him does not mean you have to have any contact with him. There is no connection there… only between Carnise and the monster."
Daliana nodded weakly and smiled sadly in Deveron's direction. She squeezed his hand. "Okay, darling… okay… I hear you guys," she managed to say with a sniff as she wiped her face with her other hand.
Then Deveron's phone rang. "It is from the hospital," he said before answering the call.