>>Seraphina
I ran out of the taxi as soon as it arrived at the kindergarten.
The police car was right there and I just had to step out to see all the people I needed to see.
"Sera!!!" Eris was the first one to call out to me!
"Eri!!" I ran to her, she was standing by her class teacher's side. "Oh! God!!" I went and kneeled down to hug her.
I looked at the woman in question, and the moment our eyes met, I felt something boil in me. It was indeed her, Eris's mother, Ariel.
"Why are you here?" I hugged Eris tightly.
"I'm here for my daughter," She replied, "And now that you're here, you should give her to me."
"You don't have any right to call her your daughter." I replied.
"Yeah!!" Eris yelled, "You're not my mom!!" She glared at the older woman.
Ariel was baffled at Eris's words, "I am your mom," She said, "You might not believe me, my baby, but I am telling the truth."
"No," Eris grabbed my pants and hid from her.
My baby?
She has the audacity to call Eris that when she abandoned her? I came back from school that day only to find a baby crying her lungs out. She was barely a week old at that time, and I was the one who took care of her
Me!!
Not this vile woman claiming to be her mother.
I stood up and moved Eris to hide her behind me, "Leave, she's not going with you."
"I'm taking her back with me." She folded her arms, "No matter what you do, she's going with me."
"You abandoned her," I looked at the officers, "She left her to die! If I wasn't there, Eris would have died as a newborn!" I looked back at her, "I don't think you can take her away. Right, officers?" Wait, that male officer looks familiar.
The officers looked at each other, "Well," The female officer stepped ahead, "In normal circumstances, it would be difficult," She tried to reach out for Eris but Eris slapped her hand away.
"See!" I said, "You can't take her! Not when you are an awful person!!" I was angry, "She doesn't want to go with you."
"I didn't leave her because I wanted to," Ariel stepped forward, "I had no other choice!!"
"Lies!!" I yelled back as I pointed at her with my index finger, "You're a liar," I tried to contain myself, "Saying you had no other choice? You left a baby at the doorstep of an alcoholic and a minor?!"
"I had no resources to raise her then," She barked.
'And I did?!?!" I looked at her in bewilderment, "What did I have?!? Nothing!! And still I raised her!!" The memories flashed in my mind.
Memories of when Eris was tiny, so tiny I was afraid to pick her up. It was already a shock that a baby was at our doorstep, how was I supposed to pick her up? But I did because she wouldn't stop crying. I spent hours trying to calm her down before I realized she was crying because she was hungry, but I had no money to buy her formula milk.
That was that one time I stole dad's money. He was going to gamble it all anyway. I stole that and bought the things I could with it and fed Eris. Of course, dad found out.
He beat the shit out of me that night. I lay on the cold, unforgiving floor, the sting of my father's blows still fresh upon my skin, I felt every inch of my body throb with pain. Each breath I took felt like a struggle, the air heavy with the weight of my injuries. But amidst the agony, one thought consumed my mind: Eris.
Summoning what little strength remained within me, I forced my battered body to move, each movement sending searing pain shooting through my limbs. I crawled across the floor, my hands trembling with effort as I made my way towards the kitchenette.
With trembling fingers, I reached for the meager supplies I had bought, my movements slow and labored. Every motion was a battle against the pain, but I refused to succumb to it, driven by an unwavering determination to care for the baby
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I managed to prepare a bottle for my sister. Then I went and picked her in my arms, cradled her and softly put the feeder in her mouth, her innocent eyes filled with trust and love, a sense of exhaustion washed over me.
But even as fatigue threatened to pull me into the depths of unconsciousness, I fought against it with every fiber of my being.
I was confused why I even did all that. I had no reason to take care of a baby my father's fling left behind but when Eris kept looking at me with those pure eyes, and when she wrapped her hands around my single finger, in that moment, amidst the darkness and pain, I found solace.
It was weird, but her tiny tiny touch felt so warm.
From that day onward, I let everything go to take care of Eris. I didn't even try to go to college. I took on job after job, just so I could feed her.
So that I could take care of her.
If I could do that, why couldn't she?
"The circumstances were different," She said, "I left so I could come back and take her with me when I'm stable. And I am now. I can give her a really good life."
I shook my head, "You can't do that. The fact remains unchanged that you didn't care about your daughter enough then, you left her to die."
She let out a sigh, "Oh, I can't do this," She shook her head, "You can't win this, I was just trying to be nice." And took out her phone from her purse, "But I'm not arguing with a brat like you."
"Excuse me?"
"Look, I have all your messages," She showed me her phone, "The ones you sent to your 'mother'" My heart fell to the pit of my stomach, "I have all the proof I need to take my daughter away from you."
"What?" I was baffled, "You-" I shook my head in denial, "You have my mother's number?" I stared at her phone screen. And there they were, all the texts I sent to my mom.
A realization dawned upon me.
My mom's number wasn't reissued like I was fearing. This woman stole her sim and has been using it!!!
"Just give her to me, I can give her a way better life than you can."
Anger simmered beneath the surface, hot and fierce, as I struggled to come to terms with the injustice of it all. How could they just come in and tear our family apart like this? It wasn't fair—it wasn't right.
"What are you going to do with that?" I asked, my heart pounding like crazy. If she's been using that number, everything bad that has happened to me, she has a record of that.
"Look kid," The male officer stepped forward, "I already warned you last time that if the kid gets in trouble again, she'll be taken from you."
!!!
I remembered then. It was the same officer who came to question Eris after she burned the apartment down!
Oh no!!
Shit,
"But, nothing has happened since then!!" I said, "I even sent her to school!!" I tried to make a good statement on my behalf.
Unlike the female officer who was trying to be nice, he just came and grabbed Eris, pulling her away from me.
"Hey!!" I tried to grab her but the female officer grabbed me and pushed me back, "Hey! You can't do that!!"
"This is enough proof for me to take Eris from you." Ariel mocked me with a sinister smile while the officer took Eris to her.
"No," She resisted, "I'll stay with Sera," She looked at me, "Sera!"
"Give up," Ariel put her phone away, "We both know how bad your life is. Eris is growing, she needs a better environment. Do you think you can give her that?"
"I-I, I can..."
"Oh! Please," She rolled her eyes, "You're a girl with a pretty face and nothing else. You're in debt, your father is an alcoholic and you don't even have a house you own anymore."
Her words stung. They hurt so bad because they were true
"Sera!!" Eris tried fighting with the officer and he started manhandling her.
I couldn't.
I can't do it
My heart pounded in my chest like a drumbeat, the sound echoing in my ears as I watched helplessly. Eris stood before me, her tiny hand reaching out towards me as tears streamed down her cheeks, her eyes wide with fear and confusion.
I reached out to her, but the female officer blocked my path, "Give it up kid," She seemed sympathetic, "You can't win,"
"No!" I cried out, my voice hoarse with emotion as I tried to protest. "You can't do this! Eris belongs with me!"
But my words fell on deaf ears as the woman ignored me, her gaze fixed solely on Eris. With a firm grip, she reached out and took Eris's hand, pulling her towards her with a force that made my heart ache.
"Please, don't do this!!" I begged, "You can't take her from me! She's all I have!!"
Desperation clawed at my chest as I reached out towards Eris, my fingers grazing the air as if trying to grasp onto something that was slipping away from me,