LOS ANGELES
IVY RIVERA APARTMENT
She would have turned to leave but Ace grabbed her upper arms and swirled her to face him.
“You are not getting away this time. I insist we discuss this Ivy! I insist that you visit your hometown and pay a respect to your father. It is the least you can do now that he is dead since you have refused to see him when he was alive.” Ace Clark stated clearly.
All this time, he didn’t want to argue with Ivy, he didn’t want to pester her to go against her decision but he was going to change his mind. He wasn’t going to let her off the hook today.
Ivy jerked free from his hold. “I don’t want to ever step foot into that town again! I don’t want to ever see my parents again! I don’t care if they both die!” She bared her teeth in anger and stormed out of the kitchen.
Ace Clark followed her after he let out a sigh of frustration. “I am not done talking, Ivy Rivera.” He mustered in the calmest tone he could utter.
Ace Clark was simply trying to calm himself down.
“I don’t want to have this discussion with you!” Ivy grimaced as she tried to walk away again. But Ace was quick to block her pathway.
The tears he saw in the corners of her eyes almost broke his resolve completely. He didn’t want to see her hurting in any way. He never wants to see her cry. But at the same time, he was still determined to persuade her to visit her mom and pay a last respect to her father.
“Ivy-”
“Can we not talk about this please?!” Ivy snapped at him as she turned away.
“I want a life with you Ivy Rivera. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and Leroy. But I have realized that it can’t be possible because you aren’t on good terms with your parents. We need their consent to get married. It is the right thing to do and that’s why I am trying to -”
Ivy cut him off mid sentence. “Why on earth do we need them?! I don’t fucking need their consent to get married! And they have no right whatsoever to be in my life! I don’t need their presences in my life! I hate them so much!” Ivy grimaced in anger.
Ace Clark was speechless. He didn’t miss the hatred towards her parents that burned deep in her eyes and every word she uttered.
Tears streamed down her cheeks. “Those people made me believe that I was worthless and useless. As a child, I never felt loved by my own parents! I was treated as an outcast! I never got to do so many things other children did at the growing stage! I never celebrated a birthday, I never got the chance to embrace my parents and I even lived my life hiding in the shadows of my sister. I had to watch every of my steps in that damn town! I was called a jinx! I walked on egg shells around my parents and everyone else! I begged to be loved by my own parents! I begged to feed myself as a child! I wore rags and lived like I was a slave! And why is that? All because of the bad occurrences that surrounded my birth? That’s all bullshit! And what if it was all coincidence? But no! No one could accept it! And I was labeled the Rivera girl from the wrong side of the river!” Ivy breathed out heavily, her chest rising and falling.
She wasn’t done talking. She still has so much to say! All the pent up anger and fury that she had kept within herself through out the years, she was going to let it out to the man she loved so much.
The man whom she once felt had also used and betrayed her. But it only turned out to be a misconception. Ace Clark has been the only man who loved her at first sight. The man who never considered her to be a jinx even though he knew the truth about her.
And Ace Clark was ready to listen to Ivy Rivera, hopefully this would help change her mind for good. And Ivy would also learn to forgive her parents for everything they did to her.
“I should go to Winslow? The same town that has spit it to my face that I am worthless? I should reconcile with my parents? The same people who never wanted me as their own child?” Ivy had to sneer at her words.
“Never!” She gritted. “I was fine with all the ill treatment! I never complained about it because deep down in my heart I had hoped that someday – maybe someday my parents would learn to accept and love me as their own child but it never happened! And the most painful part was when-” she pursed and nibbled on her lower lip trying to bit back tears. But the tears didn’t stop flowing as memories flooded her mind.
“When I found out that I was pregnant, do you know what happened?” She asked.
“You left town.” Ace Clark answered with his arms folded across his chest.
That gesture was to stop him from pulling Ivy into himself for a warm embrace. All he wanted was to comfort her and let it be known that he values her and would never ever treat her the same way her parents did. He would give her the good and happy life she truly deserve.
But it wasn’t the right time to utter those assurances because he wanted Ivy to pour out her mind to him.
Ivy Rivera shook her head in disagreement. “I didn’t just leave town on my own will.” She sniffed and wiped her tears with the back of her palm.
Ace Clark scrunched up his face. “The woman that birthed me heard my discussion with Emily. And then she went on to speak Ill of how I had slept with so many men. She never gave me the chance to explain myself. And she uttered that the only option I had to still be in that house was for me to abort my baby!” More tears streamed down her face.
It was hard for Ace Clark to hide the shock on his face. His folded arms dropped down to his side.
“Oh yes! Are you surprised?! Of course you must be shocked! I was also shocked to hear my own mother suggest an abortion! But what did I do? I didn’t bother to beg her because those words broke the last glint of love I felt for her. And without having to think too much about it, I chose the other option which was to leave that damn town and raise my child alone! And I made a promise never to set foot into that town again and ever see my parents too! I promised myself that I would live a good life. But that isn’t all of it, I-” her voice trailed off as she let the tears flowed freely.
It was impossible to hold those tears back.
“I was scared. I was terrified of how my life would really turn out. I have lived up to the legacy of being a jinx so I was afraid for my unborn child. I felt like my child was going to suffer the same fate as I did when things got too tough for me! A whole town made me believe so low of myself, everywhere I went in search of a job, I got turned down! For weeks, it was hard to have a day meal, I had complications at the early stage of my pregnancy because I wasn’t eating well. I cried myself to sleep every night because I thought I was going to lose my baby, my only hope of survival. I had the thought of ending things but I couldn’t do it because I had another life growing in me!” Ivy was trying so hard not to break down completely and cry out loud. She needed to say everything on her mind.
“And when I got my first job as a waitress in a bar, I thought things would get better but it didn’t. I became a homeless teenage pregnant girls and for sometimes I had to sleep secretly at the bar. I worked overtime and even went to night school because I had hoped that soon everything would fall into place for good. Through it all, the life I was carrying kept me going throughout those time.” She said in a tight whisper.