Mending ✔︎ - BWWM ~ (By @RachJoyy7)

25 ~ Confessions

"How do you know the deceased?"

"He was my boyfriend."

"And why did you decide to call it quits?"

"He d-... It didn't work out."

"Miss Brown ... You don't have to lie to me."

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"You liar! All this nonsense about love at first sight! You already knew who I was before you approached me! You're a monster!"

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Incoming call: Jason.

"Not now, Jas-"

"Destiny! Y- you have to come quick!"

"What is-"

"Mom had a miscarriage."

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"Destiny. Des-" My heart jumped when it had no reason to. Jason stood staring down at me, his hand on my shoulder. I briskly stood from my seat.

"How is she?" I asked about our mom, witnessing as Jason's face modified into hopelessness. His heavy shoulders sank as he glumly sat down, the hospital waiting chair producing a squeak sound at his weight.

"She won't stop crying. She keeps blaming herself for what happened?"

"Jason. What happened?"

My brother's eyebrows bunched up together and his forehead wrinkled. He was clearly displeased by my query.
None of what he told me afterwards surprised me, but I was enraged. Fuming.

"I'm so stupid. I should've known it wouldn't have ended well when we stepped into his house."

"Yeah. Pretty stupid," I mumbled.

"What?"

Oh no. I was not going to be the comforting sister just so he didn't feel so bad about himself. My rage had no boundaries, so right there, it was all his fault.

"You had one job, Jason. One job to take care of the most important person in our lives and you couldn't!"

"What? Where's this coming from?" Obviously confused at my sudden blame game, he frowned deeply. Jason had never cared to respect the fact that I was older than he was. He was ever willing to argue if he felt he was being cheated.

"Why didn't you convince mom to leave dad's house after you found out his French wife live there also?" My heart beat faster with every memory of mom that came in mind. She was suffering. There was the need to blame someone and make that person pay for the pain caused.

"Are you dumb? There was no place to go. Mom gave up the house because she couldn't come up with the money for the rent!"

Money! Dad! Jason! ... Me!
Everything and everyone was to be blamed except mom.

"Who has been by her side all this while. While you swam in love and affection and kisses and what not, I stood by her side and comforted her!"

"You pushed her to our wicked father. You let that monster deceive you into thinking he's changed. What did I tell you about 'once a fox, always a fox'? Huh?"

"She was happy! Did you think it was my intention to push her to her grave or something? All I wanted for her was to be happy." His voice was breaking.

"Well you darn made her happy alright," I sarcastically commented.

"Shut the fuck up! You're by far the worst sister and daughter I've ever known-"

"You th-"

"First you run away from your family when they need you the most. You don't pick my calls or mom's. You shut us out for three months just so you can continue having fun with your Alessio! And now that this woman needs us the most, you come here playing the good detective looking for the culprit? You're no hero!"

Our voices had echoed the serene facility, enough to get everyone's attention. A nurse dropped by to warn us to keep our voices down or get thrown out.
My inability to express my anger clearly made me feel like punching the wall.

The last 48 hours had been hell: Alessio's arrest; His confession on how he'd been Mark's accomplice in beating me some years back; Me finding out he's not my knight in shining armor after all; Mom having a miscarriage as a result of a quarrel with dad's French wife; My own quarrel with Jason.

I sighed. I needed a long rest and a long shower. Going back to Alessio's place for that wasn't a good idea because I didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore. After identifying an unlicensed gun in his car, it got seized. His bank account which I was relying on had been frozen, too. Luckily, I still had some physical cash on me to sustain me.

The water dispenser had half filled my cup when a tap on the shoulder got my attention. It was Abigail. She hadn't gotten her chance to watch her favorite sitcom live because she wanted to be by my side. She left for home to freshen up and said she'd meet me at the hospital.

"How's your mom doing?"

"They injected her to calm her down when she wouldn't after she found out she lost the baby."

Abigail hugged me tightly. I needed that.

More hours later, I was sitting beside my mom and comfortingly holding her soft IV-connected hand.

Amahle Brown: 38 and the most beautiful mother in the world. She was the strongest, too. She made an effort to smile at me, and I squeezed her hand to tell her it was okay to cry. She angled her head to the other side where Jason stood. After a brief silence, she finally spoke.

"Have you two been fighting again?" Her sad eyes met my raged ones. Before she spoke again, Jason excused himself and immediately left the room.

I rolled my eyes at the door where he'd left and looked back at my mom only to meet her disapproving stare.

"He started it," I lied.

"I don't care who started it, Destiny. All I'm asking is you both end it so I can have my two children together by my side," she feebly uttered.

"Jason told me you had a quarrel with...um...your rival?"

"Let's not talk about that. How is Alessio doing?"

"He's fine." That was too fast.
"Mom, I'm really sorry for calling you stupid the other time at the beach-"

"No, no. You were right. You've always been right all this while," she sniffed. "I shouldn't have let him convince me into moving in with him."

"But you were left with no choice. The rent-"

"I had money for the rent. I lied. I was just so eager to get back to him. I still love him. I still do." She sharply wiped off a tear that was rushing down her right cheek.

I should have been mad at my mom for pulling up such a scheme just so she could end up with her lifetime crush, but I had no rights to be. Even I would have fallen victim to the demands of love. If I were required to die for Alessio some months back, I would have.

I still loved Alessio, but I was too hurt. He knew Mark. Mark was from his childhood. He didn't want to talk about his childhood because it had Mark in it.

"I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid you'd leave me!"

Bullshit! Nonsense! If he loved me, he wouldn't have kept something so delicate away from me. That explains why he was on my tail 24/7 the minute he saw me.

It was pity he had towards me and not love! What an asshole!

"Destiny?"

"Mo- mom," I swallowed, at war with my own tears.

"I asked how Alessio was-"

"He's alright," I cut her off. "I'm gonna get Jason."

Tension left me when I left the room and I was relieved. That was what I was going to do: keep avoiding any questions concerning Alessio until I was ready to tell the whole truth.

Jason and my mom needed to know the truth about Mark and what I went through in his hands.

"Hey, are you okay?" Abigail asked. My phone dinged with a notification.

It was from Jason: I'm at the police hq and I just saw Alessio in cuffs. Do you know anything about this?

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WORD COUNT: 1346 words
*UNEDITED