Katalina
“David!, David!”
It’s Saturday and I was on the balcony knitting a sweater when I noticed that the house was too quiet. Looking around, David, my four year old, was gone. Just a few minutes ago, he was playing with a green croc toy on the other side of the balcony.
I listened for any rustling sound, but got nothing. I called out a couple of times, yet, nothing. This on a normal day means that he is getting the house messed up.
I dropped the wool and stood up. Opened the door and stepped into the house. The living room was empty, and it was eerily quiet.
“David, where are you?”
I hurried to the kitchen, but it was also empty.
Two days ago, he snuck into the double-door fridge, trying to get the chocolate we bought at the mall that afternoon. I had intentionally placed the chocolate box on the highest shelf in the fridge, but David figured out how to climb up to retrieve it. It was the loud noise of his crash that alerted me to it. And that was not the first time. There was a time I kept a bucket of ice cream in the fridge. My son climbed a stand to get it. After that, he ate so much that he slept off looking like he was covered in white mud. Therefore, when I didn’t see him there, I was relieved.
“David!”
I barged into his bedroom, but it was empty.
Our house is a three bedroom duplex and the only empty room is always locked. Therefore, the only place I could check was my bedroom. Trying to remember if I had carelessly left any important item lying around, I hurried over. Hoping to catch him in the act, I barged into the room, but what I found was my bundle of joy, curled up in the middle of my queen size bed, soundly asleep.
“Oh David.” I couldn’t help but purr in pure bliss. I walked over to the bed and ruffled his hair. Watching him sleep must be one of my favorite things to do since he came into my life.
Peacefully purring in his sleep, David looked like a cupid. Cute, white, with freckles on his quaint, but pointed nose. He has a head full of thick, lush, black hair just like his father.
It’s been five years since I left. At first, the pain of leaving Huracio behind was brain numbing. I went through days crying, wanting to go back. But I dared not. I had already made some choices and going back was no longer an option. But then, David arrived, and he lifted most of the ache in my heart. Not only does he look like a copy of his father, his expressions, and mannerisms are exact copies. Sometimes when I missed Huracio too much, I would just focus on him, reminding myself that a part of him is with me and I can’t be greedy for more.
Suddenly feeling tired, I slid into bed and pulled the boy into my arms. Letting the soothing scent baby powder I rubbed on him earlier in the day wash over me, I closed my eyes and smiled with content. My mind couldn’t help but drift to that day at the hospital.
Once the doctor told me that everything was fine, I told Emilia what Mum told me. And I insisted that I must leave. She had to help me. Emilia first tried to dissuade me, reminding me that Mum could be lying, but when I remembered how Grandma had insisted that Dad’s death wasn’t an accident, it left a sour taste in my mouth. Even if Mum was lying, I still wanted to leave. Clear my head and maybe find out the truth.
I don’t know much about Emilia’s family, and I had always believed that she was from a dysfunctional home where the father was troublesome. Therefore, when she told me that her father was going to help me, I was shocked. Luckily he wanted money and I had lots of it.
Fortunately, Huracio was too busy, and the rest was easy.
I ran to America a few weeks after giving birth because Huracio was getting closer. Since I came here life has been smooth sailing. The card Mum gave me was for an offshore account that had almost 5 million dollars. After paying everyone that helped, I still had more than four million. With this, settling down in Houston was easy. I changed my identity and went back to school while I hired a nanny for David. I spent the first two years working on my studies because I wanted to graduate in two years.
After graduation, I was able to secure a job as an accountant in a financial company. I have been working there for five months and everything is peach perfect. David will start kindergarten on Monday, and if everything works out fine, a deal I am trying to land for the sales department of my company will click during a lunch meeting during the coming week. I have much to look forward to.
“Mum, wake up. I am hungry.”
I felt myself swaying from side to side before hearing his tiny voice. Opening my eyes, I found David seated with a puffy face. He looked like he was about to cry.
“Hey, baby. You are awake.” I groggily wrapped my hand around him and tried pulling him in, but he wanted none of it. His small chubby hands caught my fingers, stopping them.
“I am hungry.”
“Oh, baby. What do you want to eat?”
“Pizza.”
Not again! I groaned inwardly.
“Okay. Mommy will make pizza for you. What kind of toppings do you want?” I asked resignedly.
“Pepperoni, chicken, and apple slices.”
“Okay, baby.”
Checking the time, I slept for two hours.
I slid out of bed and made my way to the kitchen.
For the past week, each time you asked him what he wanted to eat, all he said was pizza. He is as obstinate as his father. When he says pizza, it has to be pizza. To prevent him from eating store bought pizza and loading his body with msg, I made a batch of pizza dough last week.
I got the bowl of dough out and cut out enough for four small sized pizzas. Two for David, and the remaining two for Emilia and I.
Yeah, Emilia is here too.
After Huracio held a funeral for me, Emilia applied to study abroad. With my help, she was able to get admitted Into my school. She has been here for a year and some months now. She lives on campus but spends the weekend with us. She went to school earlier in the day to meet with some course mates for a project discussion.
I rolled out the pizza balls and left them to cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, an hungry David is an angry one. Before he would start throwing tantrums, I got some fruits out of the fridge, cut them into cute animal shapes, then offered them to him, after helping him to turn the TV to a cartoon network. With him engrossed like that, I had time to start dinner.