CHORALE SANDERS

CHAPTER 14: SLIP UP!

It's Carmen’s birthday today. She took Chorale’s number from Margarita and called her to remind her to not forget about the party. Last night too, she face-timed Chorale to tell her a list of the many things she wanted for her birthday and made Chorale promise that she wouldn’t forget anything on the  list.

Today, Chorale had given Margarita the day off so she could prepare for the party. She planned that, she would pass by the mall to buy some things for the girls, on the way to their home.

She spent the whole day thinking mostly about Kay and also about the information she had heard about Alvin from Antonio and Margarita. She had never known him to be like that. The truth was, they were not so close in college. It just happened that, one day, she had misplaced her glasses and he had found it for her. Later in the academic year, she realized that they had a class together and then they started going together. She had never really known much about him, she still didn't.

She was vulnerable and he had been there to help. She accepted his help because there was no other option. She did not know what to do now. If she knew anything about people who behave the way he is, it was that they were trouble. She became worried, for herself, her baby and all those she had just started warming up to. But Kay would know what to do. So she took her phone to dial his number and just as she was about to let the call go through, she felt the urge to throw up. She rushed to the bathroom and emptied the contents of her stomach into the sink and washed her face. When she got back into the bedroom and saw that she had almost called Kay, she rebuked herself and turned off her phone, reminding herself that she was all she and her baby had and therefore no weakness was going to be tolerated. She drifted off to sleep shortly after that.

The alarm went off and she woke up with a start. She had been dreaming. It was a bad dream, again. In it, someone was chasing her and she kept running towards Kay but the more she run closer to him, the farther away he went from her. She didn’t like the dream at all so she did what she always did in times like this. She prayed. After she had calmed down, she went to take a shower and then started to get ready for the party which would start in about an hour.

She chose a light pink sundress that ended a few inches above her knee and black Vans shoes. She wasn’t a fun of make-up so she just applied nude lipstick and light mascara. She put the lipstick and mascara (just in case she needed it), her phone and some dollars into a black purse and placed it on the bed. Now she had to deal with her hair. She had really stubborn hair that just simply obeyed the wind and Kay had always teased her about it. She decided to leave it in a high ponytail today. After checking out herself in the mirror, she took her purse and car keys and left the room.

She got to the mall in less than twenty minutes and went about her shopping. She was always indecisive when it came to shopping that’s why she always went with Val. She had missed her family a lot.

She headed toward the sweets section. She bought so many boxes of chocolate and some mints which Carmen had asked her to not forget. Then she headed towards the baby section to get a princess dress for her as birthday present. She found a really cute red princess dress which had marching shoes and a tiara. She immediately liked it and called one of the shop attendants to wrap it up for her.

On her way to go pay for the dress, she spotted some really cute baby shoes and stared at them for a long time. She considered buying it for her baby but then decided against it. She did not want people to ask questions. So she paid for the dress for Carmen and left the shop.

“I thought you said you wouldn’t care what anyone said anymore” an inner voice mocked.

“You know what, that’s true. I don’t care” she said to herself and then headed back into the shop to buy the shoes. She put them on the dashboard of her car and started off for Margarita’s house which, according to the GPS, was thirty minutes away.