Stolen

(6) The Girl in the Secrets

Dakarai woke up on a Wednesday morning feeling dazzled. He rubbed at his eyes and groaned, getting out of bed. He could hear his baby brother who was already up quietly weeping for a warm bottle of milk. He sighed and walked to his mother's room. At least his other brothers and sisters were still sleeping.

When he reached his mother's room he quietly opened the door, trying not to make the door creak. His mother was sleeping in the double bed on her own. She had tear marks on her face which meant she had spent probably the whole of last night crying. Dakarai knew the things his father could get up to, he had experienced it all.

One time when he was seven his father took him in their car to a motel room. A woman had opened up the motel room door, and when she saw his father her eyes lightened up. At the time he wondered why the single woman was batting eyelashes to a married man.

His father and the unknown woman spent the night together, kissing each other. His father then took off the woman's top and laid her down on the bed, until his father remembered that Dakarai was still in the room watching them. He gave Dakarai his car keys - to play with - and then locked him in the motel bathroom for the rest of the night while he listened in on the woman giggling and his father panting.

He had once told his mother about it, but the woman was too drunk to listen to him. She was drinking the bottle of whiskey like it was apple juice. His father hadn't come back that night. Dakarai's siblings were crying for no valid reason while his older sister shook her head at their mother. He managed to get the children to bed and get his sister to go back to whatever she was doing. He tried to convince his mother that he was telling the truth, but by that stage she had thrown the empty whiskey bottle to the wall and let it shatter into fragments.

Dakarai picked up his baby brother and held him carefully. Neo - the little baby boy - had stopped weeping and looked up at his big brother in admiration. He wiped away Neo's tears and gently kissed his forehead. He glanced over at his mother, who was thankfully still asleep, and then exited the bedroom.

They headed for the kitchen, and Dakarai sat Neo in his baby chair while he lurked in the cupboards for the baby powder. When he had found it, he switched on the kettle and then got a milk bottle. He put in two spoonfuls of the milk powder and while he was waiting for the kettle to boil up he went over to Neo and put his baby rattle and plastic keys in his reach. Neo gurgled in excitement and shook the rattle noisily while he put one of the plastic keys in his mouth and sucked on it. Dakarai chuckled at his cuteness and then sat on a chair, watching him. He ran his hand through Neo's soft hair.

He loved Neo, he wasn't such a burden. His mother couldn't even take care of him properly nor keep him enough company. Dakarai thought of how good of a father he would be to his future child, how good of a husband he would be to his future wife.

The kettle began to boil, so Dakarai quickly switched it off. He filled the milk bottle near the top and then closed it, shaking the powder and hot water together. He knew that it was too hot for Neo to have, so he went back to Neo along with it and placed it on the kitchen table. Neo reached out his stubby hands for the bottle, but whimpered when he couldn't get it. Dakarai took Neo out of his high chair and put him on his lap, bouncing his knee up and down.

Neo began to weep again, so he reached out for his pacifier and put it in his mouth. Neo stopped weeping and sucked on it, putting all of his concentration onto it.

A few minutes later, Dakarai tasted the milk to see if it was suitable for Neo to have yet and then he took out Neo's pacifier and put him back into his high chair. He squirmed, trying to retrieve the pacifier but his eyes lightened up when he spotted the bottle of milk. Dakarai put the bottle into his mouth and held onto it while Neo sucked from it.

When the bottle was almost finished off, and Neo was half-asleep and calm, Dakarai took him out of his high chair and patted him on the back. He wiped the spit and milk from Neo's mouth and then picked him up. He went back to his mother's bedroom and placed Neo back into the cot and left when Neo was fully asleep. He looked over at his mother to see that she was still asleep in bed with his father next to her who had properly snuck into the bedroom by the window. Dakarai shook his head and left.

He went to sleep again, since it was too early for him to get ready for school. He went into a deep sleep about a certain someone.

"Get up you lazy piece of crap!" someone shouted, and then all of a sudden a bucket of cold water was poured over him. He blinked in surprise and then saw Hada, his older sister, in front of him with a bucket in her hand. "And make sure you make us breakfast" she shouted, throwing the bucket in his face and walking away.

Dakarai decided that it would be best not to react to her actions so he got up from his bed and got ready. When he had washed himself he changed into his school shirt, trousers and shoes. When he was ready he started making breakfast. He ended up making cereal since there wouldn't be enough time for anything else.

Irena, David, Marina and Tayla entered the kitchen and obediently ate their cereal. When Hada entered the kitchen she realised that there was only cereal at the table. "Is this all you could make?" she said and rolled her black kohl eyes. Dakarai ignored her and ate his Cheerios’. "Whatever, I'm out" she mumbled and left, slamming the front door.

"Dakarai, why is Hada so mean? She said that I was too old to play with my Barbie dolls," Marina sniffed. "Yeah, she said that I was too wimpy to be playing with my monster truck cars!" David said while baring his teeth to prove that he wasn't wimpy.

"Don't listen to her, she seems to be going through a hard time," Dakarai said. He had once heard Hada rush to the bathroom to throw up.

"Fine" Marina and David dragged out, finishing off their Cheerios’ and then drinking the milk in the bowl left over. The five of them dumped their bowls and spoons into the sink and left the house.

When he had dropped his siblings off at school he went off to school and met up with his friend Joseph. They waved at each other and then Dakarai let his arms drop down to his sides.

"Oh please, can't we do our secret handshake?" Joseph pleaded. Dakarai sighed and did their 'secret handshake'. Joseph started to talk about something, but he wasn't paying attention. He let his eyes wonder around for her. When he had spotted Camilla, he grinned.

Joseph seemed to think he was grinning about what he was talking about, "I know right, it's so cool!" Joseph exaggerated. Dakarai turned his eyes back to Joseph and nodded sympathetically.

"Um, I'm going to go somewhere" he said, walking off in Camilla's direction. Joseph shrugged and followed after him.

Camilla was with Hamila, and Tafari's group were blocking their way. When Camilla stepped to one side Mosi grabbed onto her arm, and then pushed her against the school gates and kissed her. Dakarai held in his breath, and stormed off towards them. He ignored Joseph telling him to not go near them. He clenched his fists.

"What was that Mosi?" Dakarai shouted with rage and jealousy. Mosi chuckled and stopped humming.

"I was only just getting my girl back" he replied simply.

"Your girl?" Dakarai quoted in disgust. "She was never your girl! You know how I feel about her" he finished and then felt his cheeks warm up. Now Camilla knew.

"Oh really?" Mosi laughed, and turned around to walk back to the group of boys but was quickly turned around by Dakarai.

Dakarai punched him and kicked him to the ground. They rolled about just like in the movies, grunting and hitting at each other. Dakarai kneed him in the stomach and heard Mosi groan. He heard Camilla's squeals of terror continued and to punch Mosi even harder.