SUMMER 2002

                                 SUMMER 2002

        Faith had spent days sitting on the veranda, watching and waiting for her mother to come home. She had refused to be happy and had refused to eat anything for days. Joshua had to talk and coax her into eating the few times she ate. 

       "Mom travelled and would soon come back with a lot of goodies. She wants you to eat now, "  he would always say to her. 

       "Did she talk to you?" Faith would always ask. 

       "Yes. She said she is not happy that you are starving. She said she would come and take us soon." 

      But their mother never spoke to her nor returned to take them again. 

      That evening as the sunset Faith sat on the veranda, as usual, crying for her mother to come back. But it was her father that came back instead with Father Bernard. The priest was the only one allowed in their house from outside. Their house was always gloomy and impending melancholy always hung above the doors. The house was unusually quiet. 

       Her father had asked her to stand up and go into the room, but she had clung to the rails as her life depended on them. She had refused to follow his instructions. 

        "I want mommy," she cried. 

   Her father, who wouldn't show who he really was to any outsider bent down and ran his hand over her hair.  He smiled at her too which was very unusual.  

       "My darling, mom is not here now, but I will call her tomorrow. She would come home soon to you, to us." 

        "I want my mom!" Faith cried. 

      Father Bernard came closer to her, stooped and gave her a piece of candy. She looked at it, removed her eyes and kept crying. The priest stroked her hair and she turned and looked into the priest's eyes. He smiled at her, his eyes were kind and his smile was soothing and genuine, unlike her father's own which looked forced and daring. 

        "Come child. Mommy, won't be happy to see you like this. Do you want mom to see you this miserable? It would break her heart." 

       Faith kept staring into the priest's eyes and he kept speaking kindly to her until her fingers were untangled from the rail. She nodded to whatever the priest said.  Josh came out of the living room at that moment, he looked from the priest to his father and then to Faith.  

       The priest coaxed Faith to leave the rail and he made her stand up and he handed her over to Joshua. Joshua hugged her and took her into the living room. 

         "This is what she taught them. She has turned them against me. To them, I am a monster. I just want to inculcate godly principles in my kids it's that too much to ask?" she heard her father asking the priest but she didn't hear what the priest had said. 

      "Are you okay? Did dad beat you?" he asked once they were in the living room.  Faith shook her head, looking at her brother.  "Don't worry, we would find a way and run away from this house and go to a place he won't be able to hit us anymore." 

       Faith nodded again and her father came in with the priest and looked at them and smiled. Faith might not have known but Joshua knew what would happen once the priest leaves. 

       "Kids, let's have an early dinner with Father Bernard. Go wash up while I go make dinner." 

      Their father's words were law and order. Josh grabbed her hand and started leading her up the stairs. 

     A few minutes later, Josh had washed Faith up and they had changed into their nightwear and headed down to the dining. Their father and Father Bernard were already seated when they came downstairs. 

       "Hurry up kids, you have kept us waiting for so long," their father said. 

       The Priest blessed the food and they ate in silence. As usual, Faith didn't have an appetite for food. She kept looking at the priest. The priest kept smiling kindly at her. 

       "Faith, don't you think you are making Father Bernard uncomfortable and shy? Can you stop looking at him, dear?" 

        "She is not looking at Father Bernard, that's the chair where mom sits," Josh said more to himself, but his father and Father Bernard heard it. 

        "Oh, is that so?" Father Bernard asked and stood up. 

       "Father Bernard, you are clearly not listening to a child like Joshua. He is just eight. " 

        "No, Alfred, I am fine. I understand their plight, it is difficult for them now especially when their mother had left without any explanation. Allow them to miss their mother, no matter what." 

        Faith had seen her father grip his cutleries firmly and his hands shook on the table, but she hadn't understood that it was out of anger. He glowered at Joshua who stared back at him coolly and innocently. 

       Their father didn't wait for Father Bernard to leave before he started mating out punishment on them. He grabbed Faith by the hair. 

      "You stupid child, you dare to embarrass and humiliate me in front of our Priest?" 

     Faith had started yelling as he inflicted the pain on her. Joshua came to remove his hand from her hair. But their father was bigger and stronger. He hit Joshua with the back of his palm so hard on his face that it sent Joshua crashing on the ottoman and it broke. 

    He turned to Faith who was yelling cries.  "Shhh!" he ordered. "Do you want me to hit you?"  Faith shook her head. "Now, listen to me. This is the first and last time you would act foolishly. This is the last time you will seat on that veranda and cry about your mother.  You stubborn child. Like mother like daughter..." 

      Joshua jumped on his back.  "Leave her alone!" he yelled.  

      Their father left Faith's hair turned and tried to yank Joshua off his back. Joshua turned to Faith. 

      "Run, Faith! Go into your room and lock the door!" Joshua yelled. 

    But Faith didn't run nor run into her room to lock the door. She stood there watching her father and Joshua as they fought. Finally, his father yanked Joshua away from him and Joshua fell on the couch. His father immediately took out his belt and started wiping Joshua on the couch. 

       Joshua screamed and wailed, Faith just stood there watching them crying at the top of her voice. 

       "She is crying now, Doctor. I think you should stop now," Ethan said. 

     Dr Adriana went over to where Faith lay and turned off the light that was shining on her face.    "Faith, open your eyes," she said softly. 

       Faith's eyes flared open and darted from the doctor to Ethan and back to the doctor.  The doctor smiled at her. 

        "What do you remember about your father?" she asked. 

         "I remember that he is a monster." 

        "You have always said that even before the hypnosis. Is there something significant you remembered?" 

          "I cried a lot for my mom then and my father hated it. There was something Father Bernard said that night." 

         "Who is Father Bernard?" 

          "The priest at our local church then. He was the only one my father respected and even allowed into our house."

         "What did he say?" 

         Faith appeared thoughtful.  "He told my father to let us miss my mother no matter what. There is more to her leaving than I know. Well, I don't even know anything about her leaving. I need to see Josh." She sat up on the chair. 

        "Don't you want to find it out yourself?" 

        "I don't think I have that in my memory." 

      On their way to Douglas' office, she kept checking her phone for any texts and she kept rubbing her tummy. Ethan noticed. 

         "What's wrong? Are you alright?" 

      She jerked and looked at him.  "Yes, yes." 

        "You seem agitated. You can talk to me." 

    She nodded and kept looking straight.   "What do you think of us, having a baby?" she asked after a while, with a smile on her face. 

       Ethan went off the road immediately and slammed the brakes of the car, throwing them forward. She looked at him surprisingly. There was a look of dread on his face. 

       "What is wrong?" Faith asked. 

      "You are not pregnant, are you?" Ethan asked still looking straight. 

         "What?" 

        He turned to look at her.   "Are you pregnant?" 

   She was confused by the look on his face, she swallowed hard.  "I don't know, I just have the feeling..." 

       "Have you gone for a test?" 

        "No, I gave Dr Adriana my blood and urine samples, which she would give to her lab friend. But, why are you like this? You don't want me to get pregnant? You don't want a baby?" 

        "It's not that... Faith, we are not ready for a baby now." 

         "Babies don't wait for you to be ready for them. They come when you have sex." 

           "I didn't mean it that way. We are not even married yet." 

           "That's some religious shit." 

          "It's not some religious shit. It's...It's…It's the right thing to do." 

            "Ethan, you are not even religious." 

            "I am not, but I believe in God," he said and looked at her.   "I believe in him and his..." 

          "Enough, please! That cruel being." 

          "God is not cruel, your father was."  He readjusted in his seat, turning fully to look at her.  "I love you so much and I feel we should just give a baby a little time until we get to know each other. You are dealing with a lot now and a baby would only add to your stress." 

      She was looking into his perfect green eyes and she couldn't even get angry at him. She leaned closer and kissed his lips. It sends a chill down her spine, each time their lips meet. 

         "I love you too, so much. Let's go to Douglas," she said when she pulled away. 

       She was always leaving him transfixed each  time she takes his lips like that. He just stared at her even after she pulled away from him. She kept smiling.  He turned slowly and ignited the car.