Chapter 7 LEO, MY BABY
Godiva's POV
That night, Mama gave in to the sex, and she enjoyed it.
After sex that night, things became a little bit better; he was around on some occasions and absent on others.
Mikey’s temperature rose so high that night. It was a few minutes past 12:00 a.m., and Mama was home alone. She was clueless about what to do because she had already exhausted her options.
She administered every treatment she could think of, but it only got worse. It was 2:00 a.m. already, and Mikey’s health was deteriorating.
She began calling Mr Blank, hoping he could get a car from their workshop so they could rush Mikey to the hospital.
She knew there was no hope when she called fifty times with no response. She quickly wrapped Mikey in his shawl and took to her heels.
The hospital she worked in was quite a distance compared to St. Louis Hospital, where she had worked before.
She had sworn to herself never to set foot in that hospital after being sacked, but she knew time was her enemy, so she headed straight there. Mikey was rushed to the emergency ward.
They had barely started treatment on him when a message came from the C.E.O’s daughter-in-law to discharge Mikey at once, claiming Mama’s drama at the hospital when she got sacked had ruined their reputation.
Mama fell on her knees and pleaded, even promising to restore the hospital’s image. Her pleas fell on deaf ears.
Mikey gave up the ghost just as they were about to commence treatment at her place of work. Mikey’s death shattered Mama.
She wondered what Mr. Blank’s reaction would be like if he found out he had contributed to the death of his precious Mikey.
Before she reached home by 6:00 a.m., church members and a few neighbors were already at her residence because she had communicated with the pastor through the whole process.
She sat in the parlor with tears gushing uncontrollably from her eyes. She had yet to see Mr. Blank in sight when, just as she was about to ask about him, a letter came from a postman.
The letter read:
“Dearest Gabelle Scott,
I’m not going to ask you to forgive me or anything of that nature, but I want to let you know I had fun in bed with you. Truth is, I couldn’t get my first love, Nina, out of my mind. When I realized you really loved me, I decided to give it a shot. I decided to start a family with you to get rid of my love for Nina.
The moment Nina showed up in my life was when I knew I needed to do all I could to please her. I got her a house right beside ours. Yes, your guess is right, your only neighbor and friend, whom you so much confided in, is my love.
The night I came back excited and asked for sex was when I knew Nina was pregnant with my baby. I knew I now had the responsibility of taking care of my new family, which is why I needed to get out of the house briefly to access every document I needed for the house and our savings.
The only way to get you out of the house was to feed Mikey with something to get his temperature really high. I left you part of the savings and two gifts. One is my clothes, give them to my Mikey when he gets old. Lastly, I’m sure you haven’t noticed, but I planted a baby in you. Since I’m actively fertile, I hope you love my gifts. Bye.”
These words sounded like a prank to Mama. She mourned that period not just for Mikey, but for what Blank did to her. Mama knew it was no prank the day a group of people came to the house and introduced themselves as the new owners, showing her the legal documents.
Mama said she attempted aborting me thrice because she wanted nothing to do with Blank.
According to her, when she saw me during the scan, she felt comfort all of a sudden, which was why she named me Godiva, meaning “God’s gift.” With the help of the church, Mama got a job here and moved into Mavick City, leaving all of her problems back there.
At this point, I turned to Dina, who was in between sobs. “So, my friend, you see why Mama is so against love and why I also need to obey her. She still hasn’t healed.”
Dina was searching for words to say to me when I interrupted, adding, “Babes, do you know Mama still has that letter?”
Dina suddenly burst out laughing so hard while cleaning her tears. “What is she doing with the letter?” she said, and continued laughing.
The next day at school, we stood in groups in our multicoloured sportswear as we got ready to play dodgeball. Dina asked me in her usual sneaky manner, “Babe, walk with me to that group,” she said, pointing to a group of 12th graders.
“That’s crazy, girl. I’m not doing that,” I replied while dusting my sports shorts.
Dina pulled me so hard, dragging me toward them. At that point, attention was drawn to us. I obliged and followed her, removing myself from her grip.
“Excuse me, Leo, a word please,” her voice echoed. It was only then that I realized Leo was standing in the group.
“What are you doing?” I whispered calmly in her ear.
Ignoring me, she smiled and began talking to Leo, who had left the group of guys. “Can you please partner with Diva for the game? I really need to use the restroom,” she said.
I watched her run out of the gymnasium while waving. I needed to say something to end the awkward vibe.
“I got you. Just stay behind me at all times,” Leo said as he smiled, taking my hand and walking away from the group.
Doom doom doom doom. I could hear my heart pounding so loudly as I locked fingers with Leo, following him behind like a sheep led to slaughter. That was a first.
I had never been in that position with anybody. Maybe it felt so great because I was holding the hands of Leo, the almighty captain of the Atlantis.
I could notice people’s cold stares on us as we walked, but who cares? I was enjoying the moment. My joy was cut short when a ball landed right across my face.
Yep. You guessed right. It was Hakeem.
“Sorry about that,” his unapologetic voice filled the air as he turned, shaking hands with Jerald and laughing.
Everyone’s eyes lingered on me as I staggered to regain my balance, and my heart started to pound rapidly.
Some girls giggled, others stared in awe. I felt lightheaded and was about to drop to the floor.
The pain tore through my skull, but the humiliation was far greater.
How will I escape this despair?