Charles sees his wife, he speaks to her ignoring Megan.
“Ruth, I came to get you, let us go” he ignores Megan speaking to his wife
“No I am not going anywhere” she shakes her head “I came to see my daughter and my little girl, and you should see what a wonderful woman she has grown into and our granddaughter? She is so beautiful and bright and has our chin, oh Charles… you need to see her-”
”See who? The girl who abandons her family to go away to have a child for a man who didn’t want the child and left her alone and didn’t care or possibly has no idea he has a child? The girl who didn’t care how her family suffered when she got pregnant fresh out of college, not even aware how it destroyed our lives too, my reputation and ministry and how I had to start from the start? The same girl who was ungrateful when we tried to help her save face and cover her shame and we sorted out good suitors for her so the child … a bastard child can have a father, grown in a family and be loved. The same girl who ran away in the middle of the night and haven’t returned ever since.that same girl you want me to forgive and take back? No Ruth! she left, so she should stay away, I do not care about her nor do I care about her bastard child.. she is no daughter of mine, she is a disgrace!!”
Megan is standing at the door, tears falling down her eyes, she is trembling in pain and anger and more, but she remains quiet.
Tonia is angry, she flares up “Disgrace you say? The same girl despite her parent’s not reaching out to help manages to stand on her own, raise that child you dare call a bastard and has a good life albeit not fantastic. The same girl who calls you up a thousand times and you refused to pick, sent you hundreds of messages you do not reply to, who drives down every time to drop presents for you and you do no reciprocate. The same girl who has beat herself up for years for her mistake and has been trying to make amends, who has managed to live right and raised her daughter right… and that girl isn’t a bastard..she has a father and I will have you know that he is stan-”
”Tonia, please”!! Megan sobs shaking her head, Tonia bites her lips
”Damnit Megan, for once in your life… speak THE HELL UP!!”
”You! You are the friend right? you were the bad influence on her. If she had listened to me from the start she wouldn’t have gotten pregnant. All these happened because of you… you were bad company right from the start. Ruth, come now we are leaving!!”
”I will not go anywhere, I told you, if you weren’t coming to make peace, you shouldn’t have come Charles… but I refuse to let my heart hurt, I refuse to remain in pain and anger and forgiveness. Charles… you go home, go home to your mystery but I carried my baby for nine months and I cannot be away from her no more… no more!!” Ruth shouts
Sean is speechless, okay what the hell did he just walk into? he sees Zachary coming down from the car and walking towards them.. “What the hell bro,what’s happening?”
“No idea… I think all hell just broke loose!!” he breaths, his heart aches seeing Megan face wet with tears…
”You are coming with me and you are coming now!! Let her and her bastard child stay alone forever!!”
”Will you stop calling her that dad!!”‘ Megan’s lips trembles
”I am not your father. You lost that right a long time again when you got pregnant with no father to claim your child and you left home disregarding us your parents, she is a bastard!! And you Megan are a bad influence on the little girl because if you couldn’t obey and listen to our instructions, I wonder how you can be able to raise her to be obedient and good… I pity the girl, I fear for her” he spat, it shoots through Megan’s heart as though a knife was twisting her heart.
”My daughter-my daughter is NOT A BASTARD, SHE HAS A FATHER!!!” Megan wails
”Oh you do not talk to me Megan, you don’t!!””
”Charles stop it!! Stop it’s enough..!!”Ruth cries
”A young girl who slept around when she was young, got pregnant by a stranger who never came forward to claim or didn’t care to… that child is a bastard, not as way of an insult but a child without a father is a bastard… and she is innocent but that is what she is… a BASTARD!!”
”Okay sir .. that’s uncool!”‘ Zachary shakes his head,
”Sir, with all due respect I think it is wrong to call a child a bastard, regardless of whether they have a father or not… and Kiki, that is her name by the way, she is a beautiful intelligent child, and Megan did a good job… Megan is the most respectful woman I know, she raised her daughter well… Kiki is lovable, I mean just knowing for a few weeks I already have already fallen in love with her innocence and she is a beautiful child, and if only you could come off your bitterness of God knows what… you will see that all your family wants here is for you to forgive.. look I don’t know what happened to your family but right now… all I see is everyone hurting… your wife, your daughter… and to think if your granddaughter was here-“‘
”She is no granddaughter of mine,a nd who the hell are you to speak to me? who the hell are you, get out of my way, Ruth, come here” he pushes Sean aside and grabs his wife’s hand.
Ruth holds on to Megan not wanting to leave ‘Don’t Charles, please don’t. she is our family, she is ours too… kiki is our blood too.. No Megan! I do not want to go” Ruth cries loudly
Charles pulls her out, Megan follows as they struggle out the door.
”Look man, let her go, this isn’t right, she wants to stay with her daughter” Sean shouts at him
”Stay the hell away from this young man, this is a family matter and it doesn’t concern you, let her go Ruth or else” he eyes Megan
”Or else what? You will hit her?” Sean is angry now, he never liked a man maltreating a woman before, he didn’t like it today either.
”Take it easy man” Zachary cautions Sean “Look man, let her go, she is your wife and she is a grown woman to decide to stay with her child,what is wrong with you?”‘
”It explains the separation…” Sean says trying to make sense of that scene in the library when Kiki was saying that her mother always cries when she drives out to some place… Her father must have given her hell,and her mother is here to make peace and he chooses to be an insensitive old man,who does that?… who willingly decides to stay away from their daughter? Yes children make mistakes.. he has a thousand times but his parents had never let go off him even in his worse… he hates to imagine what Megan had gone through but something else still didn’t make sense. Her father said she got pregnant fresh out of college, and the father didn’t want the child or didn’t claim or didn’t know of the child… so she runs away, raising the kid alone..
But Megan said that Kiki’s father was dead, in heaven. And, he frowns, it didn’t make sense, but still..it still wasn’t right that her father would come all this way to disrupt a mother and child from making up and raining insults on her and insulting an innocent child too just because she didn’t have her father to protect her. It was wrong and it made him angry…really mad…like really really mad.. if she were his daughter? he would break the man’s face.
How dare he not see that little girl and love her? How dare he call that innocent beautiful little girl a bastard, only knowing kiki for this past couple of weeks, he has subconsciously come to care and yes, love the girl. he can’t believe that too but it was true.there was something about Kiki that pulls his heart, warms him up when she smiles and when he is with her, sometimes it feels..natural, like..she was more than a little girl named kiki, like she means more and this man here was bitter, old and has no right to punish a child for the mistake of her mother and punish her mother, his daughter all her life… this bitter old man was vile and he deserves to be out in his place.
”Stop him Sean, please” Tonia sobs pulling Megan who is being held by Ruth who is being pulled by Charles forcefully..Kiki had been standing by the door,hearing everything and then crying loudly calling her mother.Due to the commotion no one pays attention to her,no one hears her. Charles is pulling Ruth they are going towards the road… he is flagging down a taxi with one hand and pulling Ruth with the other.
”Let me go Charles”
”No!! let go of your mother Megan or I will slap you”‘
”You will not touch my daughter!”‘Ruth shouts at him, angered now, Charles lets go of Ruth, pulls Megan away and raises his hand to hit her, Sean catches his hands before he could land a slap across Megan’s face, Kiki seeing it runs to them,s he grabs Charles hands and is hitting him..
”Let go of my mummy!!” she cries..
“‘Who the hell are you to dare to stop me from hitting my daughter!!” Charles charges at Sean ignoring the little girl screaming
”You dare touch her and I swear to God, you have no idea what I will do to you, her father or not…no one touches her..no one!!”‘ Sean grabs his shirt..
”Sean No!!” Megan begs..
Charles points at Sean ”You dare to threaten me, Charles? You have no idea what she has done or put us through”‘
”I do not and I don’t care, she is your child DAMNIT!”
”She isn’t not with a bastard child, no she isn’t”
”Stop it Charles!!” Ruth begs
”No, I won’t”‘
”My daughter had a father and I am tired of it all… this ends TODAY!!”‘ Megan screams at her father
They are shouting at each other, no one pay attention to the crying Kiki, no one sees her turning and walking away… running away… from the noise, the shouting and the fighting.
No one does until it is too late…and then……
They hear the tires screech, they see the car swerving and hitting the fence…then they say a girl lying on the floor, unmoving, then finally, they see a small pool of blood.
”KIKI!!!” Megan screams, then she began to run towards her daughter lying in the middle of the road… she wasn’t breathing.
”Call 911 SOMEBODY, CALL 911..KIKI!!” Megan wails, Tonia grabs her phone and dials… her voice breaking and her hands shaking…
Sean has his hands on his head and one to his heart… something happened to his heart… as he staggers..
Charles freezes, Ruth,Tonia and Zachary rushes to Megan as Sean gets there first gathering Kiki into his arms..
”She… she isn’t breathing ” he chokes as tears feels his eyes,
“She isn’t breathing” his eyes meets Megan’s… she began to wail hysterically like a crazy person.
*****
Sean drives like a mad man, his heart was beating fast, Megan is wailing in the car calling Kiki’s name and begging her to open her eyes, her cloths are stained with Kiki’s blood, so were his.
Ruth is praying and consoling her, Tonia is calling the hospital telling them they are close by. Zachary is behind them following them in a taxi who had stopped at the scene, the couple whose car had hit Kiki were in there with them, they are shaken.. Charles is silent, speechless. He never planned for this to happen.. he never planned for this. He was angry, he had held that pain and bitterness and anger towards his daughter for years… if only he had forgiven, if only he had let it all go and just like Ruth had come to meet his daughter… today he would have gotten his family back.
But today, he knew without a doubt that if that child really died, he would lose it all… he would. He cries silently..”God please, forgive me, forgive me, save her, save the little girl” he cries
Zachary stares at him, turning away. He wanted to open the door and push the man out of the moving vehicle and prays he breaks his bones and dies if possible. He did this… if little monster dies, God help him. How could he come not to make up with his already separated family but to break it up, who does that, because of him and all the vile things he was saying, that little girl wanted to get away from it all and ended up being hit by a car… now he cries?
”You better pray old man that kiki survives it because I swear to you, my friend is fond of that little girl and if I am this pissed and want to do mad stuff to you… imagine what Sean would do to you… imagine that.”
Charles doesn’t answer, he prays harder.
*****
”Kiki, open your eyes, mummy is here… mummy loves you okay, just say anything…anything. You wanted to go to Disneyland right this Christmas? I promise to sell the car and take you… anything you want my princess, see, grandma came to visit, you said you wanted her to come see you just once right see” she cries “‘Mama, mama is here” she grabs her mother’s hands and touches Kiki’s face “Mum, talk to her, tell her to wake up… tell her that, just talk to her”‘
”Megan..”‘
”No mum, touch her face, she would wake up”
Ruth is crying, Megan continues “Kikina, my baby, my star, my moon, my precious little gift from God.. wake up, okay I will take you in all the piggy rides, I will help you set up your pink castle and dress you up everyday with that pink Tiara as well your grown and I would let you play with your tab… anything you want”‘
Sean’s heart constricts in pain, a few tears trek down his eyes, he steps on it increasing the sped. God please please please… hold on Kiki, we are almost there, you can’t die. You can’t!
”Kiki… mummy… don’t ,..mummy is..mummy is…oh God kiki talk to me, squeeze my hand..just..I will not scold you anymore..I will not..no mum don’t touch me..don’t touch me” Megan hits her mother’s hands away as Ruth tries to hold her..
“Faster Sean” Tonia chokes
”God I am” he breaths
