"What the hell are you doing here? Last I checked, we..."
"We had nothing to talk about. We had cut any kind of bond that tied us together and had a mutual understanding to steer clear out of each other's business. But you just don't know when or how to quit, do you?" I fume.
"I still don't understand what your unpleasant visit is all about." She retorts, playing dumb.
"This, Gracia!" I show her the photos on my phone one by one up to the fourth one. "Explain this!" I state when the is done glaring at the photos as if she does not understand anything.
No, correction. As if she does not care at all!
"And who are you to demand explanations from me, Tessa? Who do you think you are to stand in front of me and throw questions about what I am doing with my life?" She spits.
Hello? Is that even a question?
"I wouldn't give a damn about your disgusting life whatsoever if you were not meddling in mine." I yell at her, shocking her as she leans her face backwards, shock gushing over her. I compose myself, realizing that there is danger unfolding somewhere else. I should be on my way there already. "Look, Gracia. I have no intents of coming back into your life. The last five months have been the most peaceful days of my life and I have no plans of ruining that happiness for anything. Tell me what you are up to." I implore, hoping to get this over and done with right now so that I can leave.
"You are getting nothing from me, stupid girl! If you thought showing up here unannounced would scare me, you better go back just the way you came in because your delusions are as useless as you were from day one." She fumes.
Useless!
Useless?
"This same useless girl used to feed you even before she could differentiate right from wrong. This stupid girl that you are trying so hard to ruin took care of you even when you treated her like trash. This useless girl, Gracia, never gave up on you no matter how much you pushed her away."
"You never gave up? That is so absurdly rich coming from someone who abandoned her mother the minute a lay of light shone on her path. And you dare say you never gave up on me?" She queries.
"There is always too much of what we can take, Gracia, and you did absolutely everything you possibly could to push me to that point. I had to make a decision before you could destroy me completely." I defend.
"Then you should know that choices have consequences. I was still your mother. You had no right to treat me that way. You even had the nerve to insult me in front of your husband, you ungrateful witch!" She spits with hate.
"You have made me suffer all my life, Gracia! Why can't you just..."
"I should just leave you be happy?" She cuts me off, smirking as she speaks. "While I rot in this hell of a home? You are damn wrong, Tessa! You robbed me once, remember? Remember how you stole my share when I gave you to that rich tycoon husband, huh?" She yells.
I robbed her? She has the audacity to say that I robbed her just because I did not give her the whole shitty share she asked for trading me off? And, hang on just there. So, is this her way of getting back at me? Seriously?
"Now I get it! It all makes sense, now." I smirk at her disgusting face. "So, how much downpayment did you receive just to ruin your daughter's life, Gracia?" I ask, feeling pity for this woman, and despising the fact that her black stinking blood is running through my veins.
Just how can two people bound by blood be so distinct? She is rotten to the core and I am nothing like her. How the heck can he be my mother?
"Doesn't matter what I have received. I want to milk every single cent I can get from you. Let's see if you will still have this crown of pride and arrogance when I am done with you." She spits, sounding like a determined devil. She indeed is a devil.
"You are impossible, Gracia! I can not believe you are counted among the mothers in this world. You are worse than the devil himself! Your wickedness sucks!" I fume at her with all the resentment boiling in me.
"Wicked or not, nothing can alter the certainty that I am the reason why you are swimming in so much luxury right now. This new you, is all thanks to me, Tessa! How about I get a crown for that?"
If I had time, I would crack my ribs a little at her ridiculous hoax right now. A crown, for what I am enjoying?
"You would, if only this was what you anticipated when you sold me off to a stranger. But guess what, you and I know that that was not the case. You wanted me to continue suffering in Jerol's arms more than I did in your own hands. You probably thought I would die out of misery and since things have taken a total turn, you are can't stand to see me happy, Gracia. You are dying inside with insatiable jealousy." I say hitting her right on the core.
"Yes!" Damn her howlings! "I can not bear to see you happy! You do not deserve to be happy, you hear me!" The way she is yelling, it's like she has lost it. She is acting like a lunatic. A real psycho!
I have never seen her this way! This look scares me. Is she even in her right senses?
Whatever the case, I refuse to be demeaned by her.
"I don't know you at all, Gracia! But what I am so certain about is that there is not even a single mother who would hate her child this much for any given reasons. No one." I whimper.
"There is one, and that is me! I am your mother, Tessa, but I despise you with every ounce in me." She spits, ampling nearer to my face as she adds. "And with every single breath that I will take for the rest of my life, I will curse you and the day I conceived you, Tessa Angeline!" She affirms, spitting every single word to my face, making sure that not even a single one escapes my ears.
And my ears itch! I see darkness for some seconds as a few drops of tears trickle down.
Of all the things she has ever said to me, this is the most hurtful one! Of all the pains she has inflicted on me, this one stings more than all of them fused together. The fact that she is not even blinking as she gives me the honor of affirming her declarations through her horrific glares is more than appalling.
How can there be a living being like this one before me among humans? Her place is not even among the animals, but on the right-hand side of the devil. That is where she is fit to be.
"I knew you were a devil, but I didn't know to what extent, Gracia." I say as I dry the tears from my eyes, sucking the rest until I don't feel them anymore.
"And I wish you had taken your time to know me better before messing with me! It's already too late now. You will suffer severely for your actions." Her heinous tone is affirmative and dreadful.
My phone starts vibrating on my phone, evoking a cold stinging adrenaline rush down my spine. I check it, and seeing Mr McCall's name on the screen warrants this numbing sensation.
Hell has probably broken loose somewhere. I should rush there immediately.
Before thinking, I am already picking my pace and rushing out, but this devil thought it wise to send me with a warning.
"You and your husband better brace yourselves for what is to come! Time is ticking so fast. You both will soon regret robbing me!"
I turn around, her words echoing with rebounds in my head, but not loud enough to cause me deafness nor intimidate me.
"I will take your advice seriously, Gracia. And just to ease your worries, I have steadfast faith and trust in my husband. I hope you feel the same way with your accomplices too. Anyway, whatever happens from this second, not even on your death bed should you remember my face, nor my name, Gracia Motero!" She remains mute at that, and after giving her one last glance, I hike outside!
That is a dark chapter closed. All visual and possible bonds between me and that witch have been broken and burned today. Nothing will ever bring us back together. Our relationship, if ever there was, is beyond repair, and I am not interested in any fixing. There is absolutely nothing, nothing at all to fix between us. There is no longer us.
My life, my entire life, is Jerol and our kids!
"Step on it, Mike!" I order as I settle back in the car, and Mark is just a beast on speed.
If you ask me how we have not bumped into any traffic police on the road, I would say it is sheer luck. The heavens perhaps know the kind of rush we are in and what this entails. That is why we haven't been stopped by any police officer for overspeeding. God keep them wherever they are.
My phone buzzes again, and this time around, it is Mrs McCall calling. My heart picks up the throbbing pace while I swipe the receiver button.
"Hel..."
"Where the heck are you, Tessa?!" She screams through the phone, and upon hearing the loud barkings in the background, I honestly can not blame her for yelling.
There are two voices of two enraged lions roaring at each other, and another one of a woman trying to beseech them. The noise seems intense.
"What is going on over there?" I implore.
"Jerol..." She pauses as a loud growl echoes. It was so loud that it made my heart skip several beats. "Stop it Jerol for God's sake!" She screams in an almost cry, making me lose all the hopes that anything was okay. It is not like her to plead like this, and the noises are so scary.
"Mother? What was that? What is happening?" I implore once again.
"Jerol is about to kill his brother, Tessa! Where the heck are you?" She cries.
"I... I am on my way. I am close by!" I respond.
"Hurry the hell up before they..."
A female cry echoes, cutting her off, while my lips get hooked apart in the air.
What just happened?
"Mrs McCall?" I Call when I recoup from the dilemma, but I get no response. "Mother? Mother! Talk to me, mother! What happened? What's... Mo..." There is no need for howling. Everything is silent. Dead quiet!
I take the damn phone from my ear, and I realize that the call went off.
"Is everything okay, ma'am?" Mark asks.
"Just step on the damn thing Mark!" I howl, investing all my apprehensions in the howl. Funny though, because I am holding on to my seat due to the high speed at which Mark is driving, but it is still not enough for me. Time is of the essence here.
Every single second is ticking with more dread and anxiety than the previous, and I am hating the feeling.
He asked if everything is okay? What damn thing is okay? What is okay about today? Jerol is about to become a murderer according to Mrs McCall. How can that be okay? I don't want that to happen! I can not let him soil his clean loving arms. I can not let that beast possess him ever again. No!
After long appalling minutes of chewing my nails from anxiety and inhaling out terror and in more terror, we drive through the McCall's gate which is wide open.
Danger sign!
With all the tight security I saw the last time I was here, why isn't there even a fly loitering around, huh? This speaks nothing but dread!
Total dread!