Sceptical

Secrets

The fast food place is filled with alot of buyers. Weekdays are always so busy. Pauline walks in with a somewhat angry face but I mostly notice what she's wearing. A short flowered red dress,blue denim jacket with black laced boots. I've always loved her taste in fashion. We've been best friends for so long I always felt she was more like a sister I never had.

"Dude, you were supposed to check out from work early today,you promised!"she yells as she bangs the counter. She is wearing rings on almost every finger.You see,my problem is exactly this.I notice the less important things and almost completely ignore the important details."Heey Pau! You should learn to always greet people first you know,"I say with a huge smile."I can't believe you Diana.How could you forget? You were to escort me to the cemetery today,"she says sadly. Pauline had lost her big brother last year.He was found dead in his car,no accident marks on his car or body neither were gun shots found. No one really knows what killed him.Some say it was a heart attack and others say he was chocked by his own saliva. People always have something to say. Pauline was so close to her brother. His death really traumatized her.
"Oh my God Pau!I'm so sorry I thought that was on Friday?"I say as I quickly removed my apron and hang it behind the kitchen door. "Today is Friday stupid,"she murmurs almost to tears.I hastily sign my work attendance book and grab my coat and handbag.

I do not have a thing for cemeteries.I often imagine the dead would all rise and Chase after me. Stupid I know.We pay our respects to her brother's grave,put some beautiful bouquet of flowers and after heavily crying we finally leave. We saunter along the pedestrians's walk as we head to my house. I still live with my parents. Pauline and I have just cleared our Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) and we are awaiting our results. We are hoping to join the best Universities in the state.

"Mom!Lucia!I'm home,"I shouted as we entered.My dad was never home until very late.I sniff around.I catch a sweet aroma and I immediately know Lucia is in the kitchen making dinner. Lucia has been our househelp practically my whole life. I do not remember a day without her in the house. I ran for the kitchen as Pauline struggles with the laces on her boot. As always,Lucia was smiling as I approach to hug her.She is beautiful,young,plumpy and very motherly. She has long natural black hair.I open the cooking pots to see what delicious meal she's preparing.
Pauline hugs Lucia and reaches for the tap to drink water as if her life depended on it.
"Where is mom?Is she not back from work yet?"I ask as I open the cabinets to look for something to eat as I wait for dinner.
"She said she had to leave for the mall to get some maize flour and laundry detergent,"replied Lucia with a soft voice.
I find some groundnuts in one of the cabinets and so Pauline and I go to the living room to watch our favorite show, SpongeBob, as we eat.
I realize a yellow envelope on the coffee table. It looks like it has a letter inside so I reach for it. The letter is addressed to me. I get surprised since I have never really received letters.It seems a little cliche. I'm used to emails.
"Lucia,who brought in this letter?"I shout.
"Oh!I forgot! The estate gate man gave it to me on my way to the market earlier today. He said it was dropped by the post office van,"she says standing at the living room door as she wipes her hands on a towel hanging from her waist.
Pauline starts opening the envelope. I sit waiting to see what's inside as I come up with hundreds of possibilities in my mind. Could it be from a lottery saying I've won something?or maybe I've been given a scholarship overseas but then I rule out the possibilities of a scholarship since I've not applied for any and also my results are not yet in.
I snatch it away from her once it's open.

Dear Dee,

May this letter find you well.It's been very long since we spoke. I'm actually not feeling well and the doctor says I only have a few days. My time here is elapsing. I have lived a happy life and have no regrets. The one thing I regret is keeping a big secret from you. My dear,you are not your parent's child. You can talk to you nanny Lucia to explain more to this. I have contributed to the truth and I believe she'll explain the rest.I feel light hearted and ready to go in peace. I love you my baby,you will forever be with me.

Yours,
Grandma.

My heart beats so fast. Increasing its speed every second as I adjust to what I just read. My hands sweat and I drop the letter to the floor. I hear Pauline murmuring some words but they fade away. After a moment,I notice Lucia sitting next to meholding the letter. She's looking shocked.
"Dee... I'm so.. I'm sorry, I'm the one to blame for all this..."she says with her ever soft voice and pauses to pour some tea from a thermos flask on the table to three white cups and hands it over to Pauline and me. I do not want to eat or drink anything but then I feel oblidged so that she can finish her sentence. She takes her cup of tea and hold it.

"Many years ago,when I was 17 ,as old as you are,I made mistakes. It's sad that my mistake was falling in love. I met this 27 year old man. He was handsome,romantic and he had a job. We grew into each other so well,I didn't care about the age difference or what my parents would say. We had been together for three years. I realized I was pregnant. I was filled with mixed feelings since I wanted to start a family with this charming man but then,I was still in school,"she sips some tea, falls quiet and then she continues,"On telling him about my pregnancy,he got so wild and even threatened to reported me to the police and get a restraining order if I ever approach him again. I was so sad,I cried bitterly every night..."she puts down her cup and picks up a napkin from the table to wipe her flowing tears, Pauline and I just sit and watch her,"my violent father chased me away from home and said he never wants to see my face again. My mother had no option but to respect her husband's firm decision and with that I ended up in the streets. The streets were tough,cold and lonely. Two weeks later, a woman approached me and asked me for directions to a certain avenue and since I knew my city well enough,I escorted her to the place.She was grateful and there and then she asked me to stay with her and her husband. I was so happy.These people had been too good to me.I helped around the house with no pay. Shortly after,this woman discovered I was pregnant and I thought she would send me packing but instead she was so happy for me. My baby was born nine months later and that was when I realized this woman had other plans for me and my baby.Plans for her own benefit. At the hospital,she took my baby and told me she had a deal.She was barren.She wanted me to sell my baby to her for a huge amount of cash. I ofcourse turned her down and fought to get my baby away from her.She threatened to even kill me and my baby no matter where we would ran to. I was young,broke and homeless so I agreed.Not to the money but I agreed to give her my baby as long as I watch her from a distance. My dear Diana, you are the baby in this story and the woman is your mother.I had to be her house help so as to watch you grow and take care of you. ."she says as she burst into a deep hearty cry."Please Dee...I did not...." I feel dizzy as Lucia is still talking.Everything goes blur to black.

This is the first chapter of my very first book on Wattpad. This novel still has a lot of intriguing challenges for Diana to face and so please guys, show some patience . Thank you and vote!