“Mother! I sold everything. ” Shouted a little girl from afar as she approached the bench where her mother was. Maya’s eyes winded.
“Is this your daughter?” The woman nodded as she dragged her daughter Sophia along and hugged her. The woman was now hugging both girls in her embrace.
“Maya, Mama, think I begged you to buy food for me.” Maya laughed.
“No, she didn’t beg me. I gave her.”
“See, Mama, I told you.” The woman laughed as she already told her daughter that she trusted her. It was now getting late, and Maya could tell that the two people who treated her like a family didn’t have a place to stay. Maya wanted some space and also wanted to punish Zion. She switched off her phone and told the woman and the girl to follow her. Maya knew that if she swiped her card at the hotel, Zion would follow her. So she decided to withdraw a large sum of money from an ATM. She also hailed a taxi instead of requesting an Uber, as she knows that anything done from her phone can be traced. She asked the driver to take her to the nearest 5-star hotel. The driver drove to one of the Archer’s five-star hotels, but when they got there, Maya asked the woman if she had her ID. The woman nodded, and they used the woman’s ID to check-in instead of Maya’s ID. Maya requested a presidential suite, and they headed to the top floor, where she asked them to bathe. The mother and daughter were bathing together, and they were busy singing in the bathroom. Maya’s bump wasn’t showing. So she took off her clothes and joined them in the bathroom. They started to sing along. This reminded Maya of her own mother, as they used to do the same. The bathroom was slippery because the 3 people inside were splashing water on each other. They came out of the bathroom and went to put on the hotel’s bathrobes. They were all feeling better and fresher after the shower. Room service arrived, and they started eating. Emma can’t remember the last time she and her daughter Sophia had a proper meal.
“Maya, can I sleep with you?” Sophia asked. Maya smiled; this feeling was the same feeling Zion’s family showed her; the love was not forced, it was natural.
“There are 4 bedrooms in this suite and the beds are huge, doe 10 people to sleep, so yeah. We will all share a bed.” Emma smiled. Though she felt bad that a girl she hardly knew went all out for her and her daughter. For the first time in 3 years, she had a proper meal and took a shower without having to worry that there were other people waiting to use the shower at the public restrooms. She and Sophia would go to the public restroom to shower once a week. Right now, a total stranger was helping her. Sophia started yawning, and Maya told her to go and sleep. Maya was watching TV with Emma when she caught Emma wailing. She didn’t know how to feel about the situation as she had never seen an elderly person crying except for her mother each time she had to return to her father. And Maya didn’t bond much with her mother as her father would always show up to take her away from her. So Maya just went close to Emma and slept on her lap. Then the woman started talking.
“My name is Emma. I have been homeless for about four years now or going on five years now. My daughter dropped out of school, though she reads a lot while at the park. My daughter and I were living happily with my husband. One day he didn’t come home and days turned into a week, weeks turned into months, months to years. At the house we were staying at, we found out that it was sold. I used to work, but my husband made sure that I didn’t get employed by anyone. So I stopped trying and started selling lilies with my daughter for a living. We had nowhere to go. He left us to be with another rich woman. Then he brought the divorce papers for me to sign, and I did sign. The last time I got a job, I didn’t last as I had no clothes to wear and the hotel manager said that I was chasing their customers. So I stopped as each time I got a job, I would not have clothes to change as I had nowhere to go.” Maya continued to listen to the woman and felt no pity for her because she had noticed that the woman dislikes being pitied in the previous hours. They went to sleep that night.
******
“What the fuck are you telling me, Andrew? What do you mean you can’t find my wife? Is this some kind of Joke?”
“Lord Archer, we tried everything to get Lady Archer’s location. But her phone was switched off at the park and we can’t trace her now.” Zion was now frustrated. He knew he would have to face his family. Zion’s family loved Maya even more than their own blood. Zion was now scared that the peace that Maya had brought to his family would just vanish into a thin air because of his mistake. As he was pacing up and down, he was met with 3 angry bulls. Ready to charge at him.
“Zion, why is my daughter not home?” Brian Archer asked his son. Zion kept quiet, not knowing what to tell his family.
Should I tell them one of my call girls kissed me in front of their daughter? They will kill me if they knew that piece of information. I thought to myself.
“Um, Lady Archer and I had a little misunderstanding. She said she was going to a park, but now she is not there,” Zion answered.
“What sort of misunderstanding?” Old Mr. Archer he asked with his hands on his waist. Zion felt like he was in some sort of interrogation room. Suddenly, Javier appeared and took an apple from the fridge, and sat on top of the kitchen counter. He bit into his apple and opened his mouth.
“A woman kissed him in front of his wife.”
Slap!
A slap echoed throughout the Archer residence. As Zion was about to say something, he was greeted by another slap.
Slap!
“Father!” Zion yelled! .. Brain and old Mr. Archer left the room.
Slap!
“Grandma!” Zion yelled!
“Now listen to me, Zion Xavier Archer. You better find my granddaughter-in-law. I don’t want to hear your nonsense. How could you do this to a girl you have been searching for, for years? Find her or you will have me to deal with!”
“And me!” Old Mr. Archer shouted.
“And me!” Brian Archer shouted too.
“And me.” Javier joked and left the room, laughing.