“Megan, are you sure you want to do this?”’ The principal asks her
“Yes”
“But kikina loves it here, taking her far away to the other part of town, in fact outskirts of town wouldn’t do her good. Is there something wrong, isn’t she doing good in class? Because her grades her good and her teacher says she is a really bright and smart kid, why do you want to move her away Megan?”
I want to keep her away from her father, I don’t want him to take her away from me when he finds out she is his.
“I just want to..to..keep her in a safe environment Ma’ám, that is all, can you please sign her transfer forms” Megan asks
The proprietress sighs sadly “Okay, I’ll tell you what, why don’t you sleep on it this weekend and by Monday if you feel you still want to pull kiki out of the school then I’ll sign it and arrange her transfer myself”
“Thank you” Megan says leaving her office
“You going to leave too?” Divine meets her at the door
“’No, just kiki’’
“Look Megan I really don’t understand what happened, why did that man go and report you and why were you so livid with him? Do you know him before? I mean I know what he did was wrong and he kept apologizing but it seemed as though you really have something against him, is there?”
Megan pauses, the less anyone knows the better “I just don’t want strangers assuming the worst just because they caught my child in a sad moment and they feel as though they know what’s wrong. Any mother would be upset and I just want to keep my child safe, that is all. See you Monday divine” Megan says walking away to meet Kiki who is waiting for her, they enter the car and they go home.
Divine wonders if she should tell her He asked for her address, she bites her lips. He said he wanted to apologize.
“See you Monday Megan” she says instead.
*****
“’I did tell you that it wasn’t your business didn’t I? if I were her I would slap you myself… twice for bad behavior. Can you imagine her state? Poor little monster never knew her daddy and mummy having issues with fam and maybe she and her husband-”
“She said Miss not Mrs”
“Oh so, they never married. Do you think it was one of those, hit-knock-up situations and just when they were about to hook up legally, he died? How did he die?”
“We didn’t get that far into the conversation” Sean sighs seating next to Zachary rubbing his jaw, he frowns.
“Do you know any Megan Phillips or have you heard of anyone of that name?”
Zachary thinks for a second shaking his head ‘‘Nope,why? Who is that… some famous somebody?”
“No, kiki’s mother”
Zachary frowns “And I should know her why?”
“No stupid! look when she mentioned her name I could swear that name rang a bell but” he rubs his temple.. “I can’t place it,the name or the face or the incidence but… it just so sounds familiar”
“Look there are a thousand Sean’s in the country and a few O’’Conners, so maybe you met a Megan Phillip once upon a time in your earthly existence”’
“Yeah maybe but the strangest thing is that the name sort of brought this… I don’t know… anger, fear, regret… I don’t know. But there is some lingering- it’s bitter sweet feeling I can’t shake off. it wasn’t just the name Zack, it was the way the name sounded and with her voice, everything sounded like… shit! I can’t seem to place it”’
“Dude, maybe it was the accident” he says pointing to Sean’s head, a tiny scar lays there
“Dude, falling down three flight of stairs,really?”’
“You were out cold for two days and you didn’t remember your name or who your parents were for 24 hours”
“And whose fault was that?”
“You could have said no you know? You took the juiced drinks with two strong pills and you thought you were superman” Zachary says shaking his head “Your parents nearly killed me, I nearly killed me, was super glad you were okay.”
“’Oh well” Sean says rubbing his temple again “Still I remember every damn thing. But I haven’t seem to place where I heard that name from”
“Does it matter really?” Zachary wants to know
“Nope but, I messed up, where can I get lovely lilies and maybe something equally nice for the kid. Something worthy of a genuine sorry for almost taking your child away from you and I am a klutz” Sean asks his friend
“Dude, your apology was a enough”
“I hurt her feelings man, an apology isn’t. Where can I get?“’
“You don’t even know where they stay”’
“’Öh,a little chit and chat with one of the teachers, she was really friendly, I think she likes me. Anyways, I got her talking after Miss Megan imprinted her hands on my face and I got the address, easy”
“isn’t that against the law, to give addresses to total strangers?”
“I was a good charmer, besides I was honest, I wanted to do something nice for her because I offended her and the Teacher sympathized with me”Sean says… “so are you going to tell me or not”
“Fine, give me a pen and paper, look,whatever that woman’s issues is or are, you don’t want to get sucked in, so drop the flowers and whatever and leave okay?”
“Fine’’
*****
The next day,Sean drives to the florist shop and gets a banquet of white lilies, a box of chocolate and a barbie doll, then he changes his mind. Kiki seemed smart, maybe he should get her something smart.
He goes into an electronic shop “Do you have tabs for kids, smart kids?”’
“Sure, we have a Samsung tab for kids. It is educational, can access the internet, it is restricted so kids don’t venture into sites that are unhealthy for them, but it has stories, it has maths, in fact the whole shebang”
“Interesting! Can it call?” Sean was curious
“No, you can’t make calls with it but they can draw on it, write on it. It has a clean/write slim board that they can use and …this is just a perfect gift for your kid I am sure he or she would love it, boy or girl. How old?” the man asks packing up the gift
Sean laughs shaking his head “No not my kid,but she is a smart one. Erm, I think five years old, no maybe four… I don’t know. Her name is Kikina”
“wow!! Such a lovely name, well …thank you for shopping with us, you have a voucher, you can scratch and win”’
“oh really?” Sean does so … “oh nice a tiara?” he says “and a bracelet” he smiles
“Well little girls love to be princesses am sure she would love that, would you want me to customize her bracelet… princess kikina?” The man asked
“well!!’’ Sean blowss out air. He had no idea if he would be received warmly much less them accepting his gifts.. “kikina is fine”
“Okay that would be an extra 5 bucks”’
“Really? This was just a tactics to get more money out of me right?”
“I don’t know what you are talking about, besides, imagine the girl’s face with the new presents. She would be thrilled, really thrilled”’
“I give it you man, you gat skills, let me have it” Sean says
“If you insist” the man says hiding a smile, Sean shakes his head smiling
Another twenty minutes he is parked in front of their house, it is mid afternoon. He gets out of the car, walks up to their door and rings the bell.
Bracing himself for the worst.
*****
“I wonder who that is, are you expecting more guests?” Megan calls from the kitchen
“No, everyone is here, but I’ll open the door and check” Tonia says getting up and dropping the tray of large pies Megan had given her from the oven.
They were having a day with some of their friends from the book club she and Megan signed up with. They meet once every month on a Saturday and each person gets to host, Megan was hosting this Saturday while everyone comes with something.
Megan was baking pastries and cake, Tonia brought drinks and another brought casseroles, pasta etc. They were almost twenty in Megan’s not so big apartment, but they had shifted the table and adjusted the chairs to accommodate everyone. They read, they joked, they played cards and monopoly and they talked about books.
Tonia wonders who is at the door knowing everyone is accounted for,she sees Kikina jumping and clapping when one of the ladies got her answer, they both high-fived as Kiki squeals in delight, Tonia is laughing as she turns to open the door,her jaw drops to the ground.
“Oh my God Sean O’çonner!!!” she chokes
