Chapter 39

"Now the first question. Mrs Priscilla Reynolds, you would read your question to the hearing of everyone." The current association president said.

Reynolds was very confident that he would win. He urged Priscilla on with a smile and she smiled back.

"When did your husband inform you about being nominated for the position of an association president?" She read out her question and Reynolds' heart skipped a beat.

He hadn't told her anything about the nomination and he suddenly remembered how the association president used to urge all businessmen to involve their spouses in every detail of their lives. He wondered how Priscilla was going to answer the question.

"Mrs Reynolds, your time starts now!"

The association president told her.

"Errrmmm I... Sorry I mean my husband wanted to surprise me. Therefore he didn't tell me until we got here. He actually wanted to surprise me with the news." She managed to say.

"Thank you for your answer. Next question." The association president went to another spouse of a nominee who read out her question.

"How loving is your spouse towards you? She read out her question.

"Mrs Smith, your time starts now." The president said.

"My husband is a very wonderful and loving man. He kisses me every day and attends to my every need. He is always there for my kids and me, and he is very romantic. He shares business ideas with me and even told me ahead of time about tonight's dinner and his nomination. It is my prayer that he would become the next president of this wonderful association." She ended her speech and there was a thunderous round of applause that echoed in the building. Even the association president was beaming with smiles.

Later that evening, Priscilla and Reynolds went home. There was total silence in the car on their way home. Even the driver at a point had to look through the driving mirror to be sure as to whether they were inside the car or not.

"Probably they are too tired to say anything." He thought to himself.

When they got home, Reynolds just got out of the car and went straight inside his room. He never said a word to anyone; not even to Priscilla.

"Well, he would definitely come around. Maybe the loss in the election is what has affected him. He'll speak with me after he calms down." Priscilla assured herself.

She also went inside of the room and saw that Reynolds was fast asleep. She felt he was tired and needed a sound sleep. Therefore she tried not to do anything that would distract his sleep.

The following morning, Priscilla woke up to the voice of Anita.

"Mummy, mummy, won't you wake up already?" She heard Anita ask. She opened her eyes and saw Anita beside the bed.

"Hey Sweetie, how are you? You're up so early." Priscilla said to her daughter.

"Well mummy, you have been sleeping for a long time now. Daddy went out already." Anita told her mother.

"Waoo really?" She asked Anita surprised.

"Yes, Mummy." Anita responded.

"So what did Daddy tell you before going out?" Priscilla asked her daughter curiously.

"Come on Anita. You know you don't hide anything from Mummy." She tried to convince Anita who seemed to not want to say anything.

"Mummy, you know Daddy never tells me anything. So why do you think he told me anything?" The little girl asked her mother innocently.

Priscilla was lost for words and didn't know what exactly to tell her daughter.

"What exactly had happened? Perhaps yesterday's dinner didn't go the way he had expected it to." Priscilla convinced herself.

"He'll surely be back to normal. He surely would." She assured herself and Anita just looked at her mother, unsure about why she was talking to herself.

It had been more than ten hours since Reynolds left home. He hadn't come back yet and Priscilla was very worried.

"Lordina, is he still not back?" She asked her maid for the umpteenth time.

"No madam. He is still not back. I'm sure he must be busy somewhere." Lordina tried to calm the already impatient Priscilla down.

"For how long Lordina? For how long?" She asked Lordina who had no more answers to her questions.

"So can you explain why he hasn't been picking up his calls? Can you?"

Priscilla asked Lordina again.

"It's half past seven in the evening, and he is still not back? He didn't even come over for lunch." Priscilla lamented.

Just then, the security guard opened the main gate to let in Reynolds' car. There was loud music playing in the car and Priscilla wondered whether all was well with her husband.

"Lordina, you can go now." She told the maid who quickly left after seeing the anxious look on her boss's face. That look told her to vanish immediately.

Reynolds struggled to get out of the car and one of the servants hurriedly went towards him to help him.

"Damn it. Who asked you to come here? Hmmm I totally understand. You are trying to mock my position right? You are so happy that I didn't get the position of association president?" He asked the servant angrily.

"No Sir, no please, I, I, I am sorry." The servant said, very scared of what Reynolds would do to him. Most of the time, he fired servants who got in his way.

"Nonsense! Then leave my sight immediately!" He shouted at the servant who quickly ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

He wouldn't risk losing his job especially not at this time when the month was almost ending and salaries were soon going to be paid.

Priscilla had been watching all that had transpired through the window of her room. She still felt that the reason for which Reynolds was behaving in that manner was due to his inability to get the position of an association president. She began to blame herself for not being able to help.

"But he should have told me about the nomination. Or what did I have to do? Or what answer was I supposed to have given?" She kept asking herself until Reynolds entered the room. She turned to see him and feigned a smile to welcome him.

"Oh darling, I have been expecting you. Where were you all day?" She asked as she got closer to him. She put her hand on his shoulder and he quickly threw her hands away to her shock.

"Get your filthy hands off me, woman! Don't you ever come near me! After disgracing me at the dinner, you now call me 'darling'? Go and look for someone else to call by that name. You couldn't do anything to help me win this position. And you are here calling me that? Don't you ever try such again!" He warned her and Priscilla burst into uncontrollable tears.

"I thought you had truly changed for the better Reynolds. I didn't know you were just pretending to have changed, just because of a common position. You prefer position to your family's happiness?" She asked sobbing.

"So that was the reason for which you suddenly started being nice right? I should have known better. I was a fool to have believed you. Thank God you didn't even get that position." She said and he looked at her in extreme annoyance.

"What did you just say?" He asked her.

"So you are happy I didn't get the position right? So it has been your plan all along, right? You are happy right?" He asked and went closer to her and held her neck. She struggled to breathe as he kept pressing her neck. Then he freed her. She suddenly started coughing and tried to regain her strength.

"Oh God, this can't be happening." She sobbed and he chuckled as he went to take his bath.

"Stanley, any progress so far?" Sonia asked him.

"So far, so bad Sonia. I don't know why however I'll continue to try my best. Hopefully, I should come across information that would help us locate your sisters." The investigator told her.

Sonia had tried for many months now to locate her sisters. She guessed the foster parents who had adopted them probably took away every trace of themselves so that nobody would come looking for their adopted children.

"No, this can't be happening. I have to find them and definitely I will. I have promised myself that." She assured herself.

"Good morning everyone." Sonia greeted as she entered the workplace. She walked gorgeously into her office, ready to start the day. Working as a court Secretary was somewhat stressful and relieving in a way. That morning, there was going to be a hearing between a couple. Most cases they were faced with as a court had to do with marriage. Divorce was so rampant in the court and it scared Sonia to get married someday. She was even reminded about the fact that her parents also didn't have a good marriage, and it made her boil with anger anytime she remembered.

"Mr Dominguez, what do you have to say about what your wife just said?" The Judge asked Mr Dominguez whose wife had accused him of having an affair with a lady in his office.

"Thank you, your honor. I must say that this woman I call my wife is a great liar and a thief." He began.

"He is lying your honor. I'm not lying." His wife retorted.

"Mrs Dominguez, could you please allow us to hear what your husband has to say? He was quiet when it was time for you to talk. Please don't interrupt him. Allow us to hear him out." The judge told Mrs Dominguez.

"I'm sorry your honor." Mrs Dominguez apologized.

"That's okay. You can go on Mr Dominguez." She urged him on.

"Thank you your honor once again for the opportunity. As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, this woman who is my wife is a liar and a thief. She has been stealing my money from my pocket anytime I get home. She also steals meat from the soup."

Sonia listened as Mr Dominguez brawled and brawled about his wife. To her, none of what he said made any sense.

"Who prepares the soup at home, Mr Dominguez?" The judge asked him.

"Well, she prepares the soup, your honor." He answered.

"If she prepares the soup and decides to take the meat out of the very soup she prepared herself, would you call it stealing?" The judge asked Mr Dominguez who became silent and didn't know what to say again.

"But your honor?" He tried to defend himself and the judge signaled to him to keep shut.

"Mrs Dominguez, let's hear what you have to say about this." The judge told her.

"Your honor, thank you." She began, sobbing.

"I have been married to this man for ten years now. All he does is womanize and get drunk with the money he gets from work. Whenever I complained about it, he would beat me to a stupor." She continued while sobbing.

Sonia didn't realize when tears had begun to well up in her own eyes. She was very much touched by the woman's story.

"Sometimes I would wait for him to get back home so we could eat together. But when he got back and was so drunk, he would just go straight to bed. Most times, I have to carry him to bed myself. After this, I would be so hungry that I have to fetch the soup to eat alone. When he gets to know that I have eaten, he begins to accuse me of stealing meat from the pot of soup. Is this fair your honor?" The woman asked, crying.

"Most of the time, I decide to endure just because of the children we have together. I do not want our children to go to foster homes or be separated from us. I want them to grow up together in our home. Therefore I try everything possible within my power to make my marriage work. However Mr Dominguez seems to be making everything very difficult for me. I'm fed up and tired of all this your honor! I'm tired." She sobbed.

What Mrs Dominguez said concerning the children made Sonia suddenly remember her sisters and what she herself had been through. She began to wonder if her sisters had had a good life. She remembered clearly that the couples that had adopted her sisters were very wealthy. She just wasn't sure as to how well they had treated her sisters. This was because they were adopted and were not their own children. She hoped they had treated them well.

"My sisters, I miss you so much." She whispered to herself as she got back to her office after the hearing.

"I don't know what you are going through now, or how well you are doing. Oh God, please help me find them. Please help me." She prayed.

She picked up her phone and dialed Stanley's number again. The phone rang twice before he picked up.

"Hey Sonia, what's up?" He asked at the other end of the line.

"I should be asking you that question Stanley. I need results about my sisters. I've been patient enough haven't I?" She asked him.

"Relax Sonia, relax." He encouraged her.

"Relax? No, you expect me to relax when I haven't seen my sisters in about how many years? This is not the time to relax Stanley. I need to find them and the time to find them is now. Now is the time Stanley! I have no idea how they are faring and you expect me to relax? Time waits for no man Stanley." She said to him.

"I understand how you must be feeling now Sonia." Stanley said.

"No you don't understand how I'm feeling right now Stanley!" She retorted suddenly.

"Have you ever had the experience of losing both parents almost at the same time, and being carried away to live with people you don't have close relations with? Have you ever experienced that before?" She asked and Stanley was silent on the line.

"I guess you haven't had such an experience before Stanley. I'll see you later." She said and ended the call.

Stanley gave a heavy sigh after Sonia ended the call. He felt very sorry for her and what she had to go through as a little girl. He wished he could do everything possible to make her happy, however it seemed impossible to do so if her sisters were not found.

Sonia put her head down on the desk in her office, after ending the call with Stanley. She was very tired and exhausted after the different court sessions in the day. She began to remember the day Auntie Paulina had given her sisters out for adoption. She was little by then and didn't have any power to control the situation at that time. She remembered how she ran after the car that transported Priscilla and the tears flowed freely onto the desk.

"Priscilla, Hilda, where are you two?" She asked herself rhetorically.

Back in the Reynolds household, Priscilla began to wonder why she was the only child of her parents.

"Perhaps if I had siblings I could confide in, Reynolds wouldn't behave this nastily towards me." She told herself.

"Mummy, are you okay?" Anita asked after seeing her mother shedding silent tears. Priscilla quickly wiped her tears and composed herself well so that Anita wouldn't see her tears.

"Anita darling!" She said and feigned a smile, expecting Anita to smile back. However the little girl just kept staring at her mother with a sad face.

"Why are you crying, Mummy? Stop crying." Anita told her.

"You are wrong Anita. I'm not crying, I'm just relieving stress. You know, anytime I'm tired and exhausted, I express it in tears." She lied to her daughter.

"Tired? Are you tired because Daddy beat you?" Anita asked innocently and Priscilla reeled with shock. She wondered how Anita came about with the statement she had just made.

"Beat? Who says Daddy beat me?" Priscilla asked her daughter.

"Well, I heard you two from my room and I couldn't sleep." Anita innocently responded.

"No, my dear. Daddy didn't beat me okay? We were just talking about something." She lied.

"Are you sure Mum?" Anita asked.

"Yes, my darling daughter. Mummy is very sure about this. Now come, give mummy a big hug." Priscilla said excitedly and Anita jumped into her arms. Just then, Reynolds stepped inside the bedroom and saw Anita and Priscilla hugging. He suddenly cleared his throat, causing them to turn to see who had entered.

"Daddy, Daddy, Anita yelled excitedly and ran towards him. He opened his arms to receive her and Priscilla was glad he did.

"I thought you and Mummy were fighting after hearing your voices from my room. I asked mummy and she said you two were not fighting. She says you were only talking loudly. Thank you for not fighting Dad. Michelle always cried to herself in school whenever her parents fight. It's so terrible to see her crying. My other classmates laugh at her whenever they see her crying. They even nicknamed her 'crybaby'. I don't want to be called a crybaby in school. So Dad, thank you so much for loving Mummy and me. Thank you, Daddy." Anita said innocently to her Dad whose eyes welled up in tears.

He was very much touched by what his daughter had said and he felt ashamed of himself. He turned to look at Priscilla who quickly turned her face away so he wouldn't see the tears in her eyes. He knew very well that he had hurt her feelings very much. He knew she must be very angry at him and didn't know whether she would ever forgive him or even trust him. Deep down within him, he knew he didn't like how he treated her. However his pride wouldn't let him. He really wished he could change however he thought it was too late for him. He was very surprised that Priscilla had defended him before their daughter. He was however glad she had done so.