The Unforgettable

Pandora's Box

Fijian vocab used in this chapter
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Chillow - Excuse me
Nei - Aunty
Tata ī nana - Father and Mother

This chapter in unedited so please forgive any mistakes.
Get comfortable and grab a lil snack because this chapter is about to be a long one.... Y'all ready????😗
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Davina

"Mama...why is my name on this box?"

She began to cry and her shoulders shook as she kept shaking her head. She buried her face in her hands and my heart shattered with every tear.

I leaned over and took her in my arms, whatever was in this box was more serious than I had initially thought. I rubbed soothing circles on her back as she calmed down.

"I only know one person who called me by that name..."

She pulled away and ran a shaky hand over the box. She took a deep breath, finally looking up at me. I couldn't decipher the look on her face it seemed like she was silently asking me for forgiveness, but what would she need forgiveness for? 

"A year and a half ago I got a phone call from Malakai." My stomach twisted into knots at the mention of my father.

"This was around the time where his health took a turn for the worse."

"He knew he wasn't going to survive, so he made me make a promise to him that day. He told me he would be sending me something in the mail, and that when he passed, I wouldn't ever let you find this box."

"This doesn't make any sense, why wouldn't he want me to find it? What's inside?" She shook her head again, pushing the box away.

"I made a promise to your father Davina." I stood to my feet abruptly causing the chair to fall over as I shouted.

"Well he's not here anymore!! So he has no right to keep things from me!!" She flinched at my outburst and I instantly regretted it, I've never raised my voice to her this way in my life.

I began to silently pace around the dining area with my hands in my hair.

"Chillow nei, I don't mean to be disrespectful. This is just really confusing and I don't understand any of this."

"Vina, sit down." Her voice was soft and calm like the wind but held an undeniable authority.

I stopped pacing and picked up the chair after calming down and I sat in it, waiting for her to say something.

"You're right-he's not here, and you deserve the truth." We sat in silence for a moment as we both prepared ourselves for what was next.

The room was eerily quiet and I didn't like it one bit. If only I would have recognized it as a sign of what was to come, I would've stopped everything and threw that damn box in the garbage.

"This is from my mother isn't it?" I asked.

"Yes, it is."

She slowly got up from her seat and walked into her bedroom.

After a few short moments she returned with a key in her hand that was hanging from a thin red string.

I held my palm out waiting for her to give it to me, but she hesitated slightly.

"Before you open it, I need to tell you about your tata ī nana."

I've never heard my mother and father mentioned together in one sentence. The topic of my mother was always something that was whispered about and kept secret.