CIARA
"Look, Herzl, this is not where you are meant to be, and we have no time to waste. We are leaving, so, I guess you should go get the things you need to go along with."
I wasn't supposed to let him down, but I had to because I want to caution Ryan who was standing by the staircase adding more fuel to the tripod and causing the yellow flames to darken the pot with soot.
"I'm not getting anything from inside. This is my home, I'm going nowhere, mom." He said and sat on the floor, focused on his anime movie.
Indeed, these guys had spilled stuffs into my son's mouth, and forced him to down it without spitting a bit of it out like kids do when you give them syrup medications that doesn't taste really good.
My face burned with rage, and the thumping of my heart against my chest increased by three folds, making me breath faster than normal.
I could bear anything, but having my most treasured jewel turn me down in the presence of my adversaries is the worse feeling that would ever be in my heart.
What did they tell him.
They said a son would never abandon his mother no matter what, but mine had just refused to go home with me.
That's enough heart break, and I must shun Ryan for being such a bad influence.
"Herzl."
"You know what's at stake, babe. Come home, and have the kid you've been farfrom for two good years."
Ryan is such a bitter bastard. I knew he could mock me for going silly and getting tossed into the rehab center, but the least thing I expected of him was him mocking me of being away from my son for two years.
Maybe he wants to provoke my lips, and make me remind him of his attitude so far. He had not been there for him when he was born, because he dumped me for his ex, and left me with the burden of bearing and raising Herzl alone.
Now, he is claiming the saint and the night, while I'm probably the wicked queen, or the dragon that had come to consume the little prince, Herzl, with flames.
That's odd, but that's him being man. Men are always like that. Smart enough to shift the blame of every mess to women, and playing the victim.
"Look, Ryan..."
I paused and covered my lips. I should have let all hell loose, but the least thing I ever want my son to see was me fighting with his father.
Such would make him as bitter as I had always been. I don't wish to raise another soul who would be a victim of emotional traumas and whatever that comes with that ill feeling.
"Herzl, go check if your nanny is done cleaning your room. Daddy and mommy wants to talk." Ryan said with a smile.
"Okay, dad. Please ask mom to spend the rest of the day with us." Herzl said.
"Of course, boy, I would." Ryan's smile was yet to fade off.
"Okay, dad." Herzl scrambled up to his feet and left.
Ryan is indeed a wonderful father. He just spoke to him the way kids should be spoken to, and the kid obeyed him without questioning him a bit.
He had mastered my kid, and had probably taken greater place in his heart than I do, only because I had not been there all the while.
But I believe, if he could get him to himself this easily, then, all it would take to regain my place in Herzl's heart is just three days alone with him.
"Come on, Ciara, I told you, if you want Herzl, come home to daddy." Ryan was mean to mock my failure to get Herzl to myself without forcing or tricking him into doing such.
I gnashed my teeth again and again.
Why do evil people live longerthan is required of them. I mean, why do they live longer that mosquitos, when they cause more havoc than the little insect that tossed Alexander the great to his early grave with plasmodium.
I folded my arms and eyed him. I had no words in reserve for him, because I was too bitterto talk, and if I should, I guess my words would choke on my throat.
All I wanted was to have him come down to me and get the slap he deserves for being the devil troubling my life and ruining my peace for whatsoever he holds dear.
"So, are you coming home, wifey? We would throw a party if you do, and you would get a slot to sleep by his side like I do all night."
Great punch line, I guessed. He would be good if he went for poetry, and not being devilish.
"What the problem here?"
That voice was weak, and feminine, it belongs to a woman I had not seen for quite a long time after I left in pain for being dumped for Ryan's ex.
It was his mother.
She edged herway into the living room and narrowed her eye as her eyes met mine. Her eyes were still lit, that might be the reason why she had to narrow it, to keep it from intimidating me, but I'm not weak by the way.
Her eyes being lit wouldn't change a thing, and even if she narrows it a thousand times, it wouldn't still change a thing here.
"Good morning, ma'am."
I looked towards Ryan, and he scuffed and left. I guess his plan of having me talked to by a fellow woman had worked out.
She wasn't that old, and by the way, she is still in shape and as beautiful as the kid she had, who had made my life a bed of thorns with his silly attitude of getting every shit screwed up with every passing minute.
"Ciara." I breath out, and her face broke into a weak smile.
Who knows if Ryan also makes hersad. She was such a gentle soul here, though I can't guess the kind of person she might be behind me. She could be a big-time prankster like her kid would have made my life a thing to laugh at.
"Finally, I get to meet you, beautiful one."
Is she native?
Why does she speak like one. I looked at her skin color to know if I was seeing red, but she's white, and natives aren't white.
They are red and prettier than she is.
"I, too, I had not met with you in a while." I said just to equate the deal, and make it seem we were riding on the same lane.
Because my son left you and brought home a goat that abandoned him long before he was blessed with you. Men can be quite horrible most times." She said like she had been in the same shoes I was currently forcing my legs into.
"Can we please, sit." She said, with her hands spread, to let me know I could fix my ass on any of the sofas in the room.
She must be the reason why Herzl doesn't want you to leave. She is cool.
She sucked in a deep and rubbed her palms together.
"Ryan didn't tell me you were visiting us today." She said with her eyes fixed on my face.
Wait, did shejust used the words 'Us'?
Come on, I'm not here to see you and your household, I'm rather herto take my son home, and that's all I cared for.
Those were the words popping up in my mind, but I was good in keeping silly words down my throat, and avoiding a fight that is never meant to be, unless Ryan was the one who brought such fights.
"I didn't plan to come visit you guys. I was strolling by, so, I decided to come pick my son, Herzl." I said, keeping my face far from grudge, so as to maintain a bright face while she chose her words carefully from her vocal cavity.
She winced and sat up. Who knows if she ever imagined the true owner of her grandson coming by to take him away from her.
She was old, and her love and care and need for kids who would keep her happy had increased drastically.
Taking Herzl away from her would make her sick. She just can't deny that.
"Of course, your can take him home, spend time with him and bring him to me, while you keep winning at your business place."
Her words shocked me.
She wasn't ready to drag Herzl with me, but she was willing babysit Herzl on my behalf, while I remain busy with business, but that's not the kind of life I wish to live.
I want to keep my son by my side and take care of him while I do my business.
"Thanks, but I would keep him." I said with a stern look.
She shook her head and exhaled. This woman is such an innocent freak. She looks so harmless, and loving, but she was and would remain Ryan's mother who raised the heartbreak she called son.
"I understand you are still mad at Ryan for leaving you and going for the damn thing he went for, but he is back to his senses now, and he wouldn't do anything that sill. Please, find a place in your heart to forgive him."
She dabbed her eyes and continued.
"I delved into seeking out for you after the mess, but I couldn't find you. Maybe you left this city for good when I was searching the city for you.
Does she want me to believe that balderdash?
Not even her tears would change my mind.
I'm going home this very morning with my son, and nothing else.
I was mean, and I don't blame myself for being mean; fate brought it all on me.