38. Rachel Baker-2

Khalinda Baker is the complete opposite of Rachel, she appeared to be compassionate and caring, and most of all, she appeared to be more apologetic. She was around my manager's age, she had blond bleached short hair, which gave her a rejuvenated look.

She took a sip and then crossed her legs, "Rachel is my adoptive cousin, her biological mother left her at an orphanage when she was just a year old, and my uncle who was working there as a caretaker at that time couldn't help but feel drawn to her. He then adopted her, without his wife's consent ofcourse, which is why she dropped her at our home a few weeks after he passed away, I think she was about 8 or 9 years of age. However, the back story is that shortly after my uncle passed away, Rachel started showing up at school in dirty clothes and she had bruises all over her body, especially her neck. The teachers called my mother to inform her and my mother told the rest of the family. The family forced my late uncle's wife to give up Rachel or they would open a case where she would be properly investigated, they woke up the next morning to find Rachel at the door with nothing but a small shopping bag with the baby clothes my uncle adopted her in.

Rachel struggled to fit in at first, but after months of therapy and a proper nutritional food plan, Rachel finally recovered and started being normal again. I know you are wondering why I am giving you the back story instead of just getting straight to the point...". She took another sip.

I honestly started to feel sorry for Rachel, but still, that didn't excuse her dragging my name through the mud. I was getting angrier because I could not figure out Khalinda's angle, 'Was she telling me all this so I could feel sorry and forgive Rachel?', I pondered.

I took another sip, it was like Khalinda could hear my thoughts, and she quickly reverted, "Don't worry, I am not telling you this so you could feel sorry for Rachel and not fight back. I mean your name had been dragged through the mud and people are looking at you in disgust while she remains a helpless victim, by all means, think of this as me leveling the playing field." She sighed at then continued her story, "Rachel had no friends and so, I used to take her with me when I went to hang with Jennifer, but Jennifer didn't like the idea of two 16-year-olds hanging out with an 11-year and so she introduced her to the only younger person she knew, that was Walter. Every time I met up with Jennifer, Rachel would hang with Walter, and eventually, they started to hang out without our knowledge, but my family had no problem with it because Rachel seemed to be getting more social and she was becoming more lively.

Soon, my parents enrolled Rachel in Walter's school, their friendship quickly progressed to a relationship that remained throughout junior high and senior high. To be honest, their high school romance was beautiful, we all thought they were going to end up together, especially when they enrolled in the same college and were still crazy in love. They were each other's first love, and our families got along very well, especially Walter's grandmother, she was very fond of Rachel, I mean who wouldn't want to have a beautiful, smart, and humble young lady as their granddaughter-in-law?

Unfortunately, in their final year of college, Rachel fell pregnant which infuriated my parents and to hide the shame, Walter's grandmother forced them to get engaged. Rachel was forced to complete her remaining college period at home, so she moved in with the Sekulus, and Walter's family took care of all the financial obligations. We all thought Rachel was copying despite hearing rumors that Walter had been seen hanging out with different girls, every time we saw her, she was always smiling and bragged about how the Sekulus treated her like the queen, especially since she was carrying an heir. Rachel loved being pregnant, she wanted to give her child a life she never had, both her parents.

One evening we received a call that Rachel had collapsed and she was found covered in blood in her study. On her laptop, were pictures of Walter and some girl in bed naked. I guess her body could not take the stress, and she collapsed, just like that, she lost the baby. On the same night, Water's grandmother sent the family driver to fetch Walter, and he was found drunk, in his drunk state Walter had a heated argument with his grandmother. It looked like Walter was fading away, but no one noticed because he was away from home, and all the attention was on providing Rachel with a stress-free environment. Walter blamed his grandmother for making all the decisions without talking to him, realizing that there might be some truth to Walter's drunk words, the old woman's heart could not take it, so she succumbed to her guilt and was admitted due to high blood pressure. Unfortunately, she passed away that very same night they lost the child.

The next day Walter was hit by a harsh reality, realizing that he may have caused both the deaths of his unborn child and grandmother, Walter vowed in front of everyone to never be happy ever again, not until Rachel became happy, he felt he owed her his happiness. The death of the baby caused a rift between the two families, Rachel was depressed for months after that, and one night, she tried to take her life, causing the family to have her admitted to a psychiatry clinic. Walter visited her every day, despite my parents' disapproval. Walter then promised Rachel that they would always remember their unborn baby, every year around October, they will always meet to remember both his grandmother and their son".

After hearing the story about Rachel, I could not help but feel sorry for both of them, their once innocent, blissful love had such a tragic ending and they were both still young. I don't think none of them understood what they were getting themselves into when they made such deep vows, especially Walter. He still harbored the guilt of his grandmother and he had to relive it every year.

I was however curious, since Walter cannot be happy, "Does it mean that Rachel hasn't found happiness?", I asked Khalinda

She took a deep breath, and her face darkened, "No, Rachel's happiness comes from seeing Walter suffer. See, when Walter left that night, Rachel made a vow of her own. I honestly blame my parents."