Chapter 30
When Daisy’s mother came into the dining area and saw her daughter, she was shocked to the marrow and stood there like a moment was paused, staring at her with a wide eye.
Everyone was equally mesmerized that none said a word. It has been so long since they saw each other that Daisy had made peace with the fact that she doesn’t have any other family apart from her son. Years might have mild the pain they caused her, yet, nothing could make her forget. And she doesn’t think anything can.
Even now as she looked at her mother, all she could see was that woman who watched her child being kicked out without verifying the story they were told, into a cold rain, in a delicate condition, and now without being told, she knew that seeing her alone was her closure.
That is because so many times she had told herself that she might feel differently if she met her parents after everything, but all that were lies. She doesn’t feel anything. Instead, the hatred she brewed inside of her, bobbed out. She dropped her spoon loudly on her plate and stood, and at the same time, whatever force was holding her mother’s feet still released her and she surged forward.
“Raven!” She called out, her voice full of raw emotions. “Raven, wait!”
Daisy didn’t listen and walked faster until she was out of the room and ran straight to her room, her breath coming in gasps. She dropped down behind her door, covered her face, overwhelmed with emotions. She didn’t expect this. There she was thinking so many things, but it didn’t cross her mind that Amanda’s mother and her mother might still be friends. She wouldn’t be surprised if it was Amanda’s mother that had told her mother she was present.
She jutted off in panic as someone knocked frantically on the door. “Daisy!” It was Mandy. “Babe, open up, let’s talk about it.”
“I don’t want to talk, Mandy. I want that woman out of here, or at least I don’t want to see her,” She shook her head, stood from the ground, and made her way to the bed. The door opened and Amanda came in.
“Babe…”
“I swear, I never thought that she would come here…” Daisy said through tight lips. “How dare she call my name?!”
“She is still your mother,” Amanda came to her as she flung towards her best friend in disbelief. She had the mind to call that woman her mother. That woman is not her mother anymore. They Disowned her and she has made peace with that. She doesn’t even deserve to be called anyone’s mother. In the past, Daisy used to feel depressed thinking about it, but then she realized that it was actually a favor God did her by riding her from her parent’s clamps. She saw herself most times pitying her sisters who were still with them suffering all their excessive discipline.
She sighed, deciding not to argue with Amanda. Not about someone she had long forgotten about. “I think I will retire now, help me tell your mom and dad I’m sorry about the way I left.” She went to pick up her bag, starting to sort through her clothing.
“I won’t force you if you don’t want to talk about it, Daisy. I swear if I was the one I might do worse, so take your time, okay?” She came to peck Daisy’s hair, smiled and made her way out of the room. At the door, she turned and said, “Goodnight, momma.” Daisy beamed at her dryly and she shut the door.
Daisy took her dress and fell back on the bed, brushing her fingers through her hair. She has a lot going for now that thinking of people she considered dead was the last thing on her mind.
She unpacked her bag into the wardrobe and went to shower and came back. She was tying her hair into a ponytail when she heard another knock. She rolled her eyes. She should have known she couldn’t dislodge Amanda that easily. “Mandy, I told you to let it be!” She called, eyeing the door as it opened. But instead of her friend, it was her mother that walked in.
“What the hell are you doing here?!” She careened, letting go of her hair to cascade back down on her body. “Jesus Christ, what’s your problem?!”
“Raven, hear me out!” Her mother cried, lifting her hands up, and Daisy shook her head in irritation. This is not happening, she mused, standing there and watching her mother blankly, her lower lip in her mouth as she worked hard to hold herself together. “I have been the worst mother to you, my child and I must tell you that I have paid the price gravely. I don’t deserve a child like you, for not standing up to fight your father when he made such a stupid decision five years ago… I am sorry!” She broke down in tears
“Are you done?” Daisy asked emotionlessly. “If you are done, then please shut the door after you because I need to go to bed…” She indicated the entrance.
“Raven, please…”
“I do not want to speak to you!” Daisy cried, her face a pile of stone. “Why should I? You disowned me and now you are asking me to forgive you?” Her voice fell. “I do not fucken care what you want, apart from the fact that I need you to piss off!”
Her mother fell on her knees, her hands gesturing in front of her in a plea. “I looked for you, Raven. I tried my best so I can give you something to take care of yourself…”
“Really?” Daisy’s hand found her waist. “When exactly?” She took a step closer. “After you supported him to call me a slut? Or after you two of you asked me to get out? When exactly!”
“Please let’s not go back to the past, Raven. I am your mother despite saying indignant words in anger, I still love you.”
Daisy’s head kept bobbing as her eyes skidded about, still trying to hold herself back. This woman sure has nerves. “Well, I don’t love you anymore, whoever you are, because you are not my mother. I do not have any mother! I hate you so much, all of you that even the sight of you makes me want to throw up!” She went and grabbed her phone and jacket, rushed past her mother, and made for the door. Her mother tried holding onto her and fell to her forth in the process, but Daisy didn’t stop. She even hopes the woman dies if only it would make the ache in her heart go away.
She didn’t know where she was going as tears fell from her eyes clouding her vision. She just needed air, and to be away from that woman. She was hurrying so fast that she didn’t see Mandy until it was too late and she collided into her. The latter grabbed her body and hugged her.
“I’m so sorry, I tried to stop her but she won’t listen,” Amanda soothed.
“I don’t want to see her, can’t she understand? What is her problem?!”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.
“It’s okay…”
Daisy peeled away and sniffed loudly. “Can we go outside to hang out a bit, please?” She asked Amanda.
“Of course, lets go,”
They left the stairs and walked down, making their way to the door. Fortunately, Amanda’s parents who were presently still in the dining room, didn’t see them leave and so didn’t hamper them.
Outside the House, they made their way to the open, the fast breeze billowing angrily and whooping the hairs up. At once, Daisy wrapped her hands about herself, her mind so muddled up to think straight. They don’t say anything to each other until subtly they reach the end of the mansion overseeing a vast grassland lined with beautiful flowers.
Then Amanda brought out her cigarette and lit it, took a puff and handed it to Daisy who took it and inhaled. This is the one place they have a common ground, whenever they find themselves in a state like this. They just smoke it away.
Not only does it help them clear their head, in cases like this when the weather is very harsh, as though in agreement with whatever turmoil was going through tenor heads, it helped keep them warm. That done, by the time the last puff was inhaled and the stars disposed of, they were ready to share.
“You know I will always support you in whatever you say or do, don’t you?” Amanda asked her.
Daisy nodded, her head to the East of their environment. “Things like this are not supposed to bother me, Mandy. The only thing I’m thinking of right now is that I want to go home to my son and dog and if I were you, I would also fly to Argentina to get your girl.”
Amanda nodded, looked down her feet and then up, took Daisy’s hand, and conceded, “You are right, our happiness is what counts.”
…