Chapter Seventeen

"Hello. You're Sonia, right?"

I turned back at the sound of the voice, wondering who still remembered me. I tried to place her face, but I don't think I'd ever seen her before.

She was tall and slim, so slim you'd think she was a sickler.

"Yeah, I am. I don't think we've met" I responded, and stopped walking.

"Yeah, we haven't", She eyed me scornfully.

I tried racking my brain, trying to decipher where I'd met this kind of person. She wasn't part of my friends in high school or even college.

"So how do you know my name?" I asked.

"You're pretty popular. After your name made the headlines 5 years ago, you still garnered a whole lot of nerves to come back here. Aren't you even ashamed of yourself?" She said with so much contempt and disgust.

I paused, thinking she was having an unfinished beef with me or something like that.

Moreover I couldn't seem to place her face anywhere.

"Who the hell are you, and what gives you the audacity to speak to me in that manner?"

"I'm Olive Marlowe, soon to be Olive Caldwell" She said, and proudly displayed her middle finger, glistening with an ugly gold ring, even my grandmother whom I didn't know, won't be caught dead in.

I was apparently hurt by that revelation, but I wasn't ready to give this woman the benefit of satisfaction, so I smiled.

"Oh sure Benny sense of specs have sure deteriorated since the last few years" I smirked and kept walking.

She walked fast behind me; it sounded like a duck trying to keep up with a set pace.

Her mouth set in a hard line, as she apparently figured out what to say to get back at me.

"Well, I have no idea what you came back to do, but I warn you" She stuck her fingers at me, "Stay away from my boyfriend and our daughter"

My expression hardened, when I realized that she was referring to My Benny and my daughter as hers.

Not wanting to give her any reason to continue our unwarranted discussion, I rolled my eyes and winked at her,

"Well, I'm not here for Benny anyways, I'm here for my daughter" I said, laying emphasis on *Benny* and *my daughter*

She pouted and turned away.

Good riddance to bad rubbish!!

I wondered what exactly Ben saw in her anyways. She had large, sunken, cat-like eyes, which were coffee brown in colour, huge forehead with a receding chin, aquiline nose with glossy mouth, lined with blue thick shiny lip gloss. She obviously had no professional knowledge in make up.

The only thing worthy about her features was her luxuriant bouncy hair.

After walking around for a while, I went back home.

Mum had already made fried potatoes with scrambled eggs for dinner for the both of us. She put a Christian movie CD in the DVD and we were watching it together.

My childhood was never like this. I really wished mum had found God in my early years so I'd have enjoyed this loving nature of hers.

"We're going somewhere tomorrow"

She said and jolted me out of my thoughts.

"We are? Where are we going?" The corner of my eyes crinkled with absolute interest.

"Birmingham!!" She stated, with a look of defiance and turned towards me with a fake smile on her face.

"Birmingham?!! Mum!! That's a 15 hour drive from here"

"Who says we're driving?? We're taking flight of course" She said, and pulled out fruits from the fridge, for blending.

I helped her get the blender set, and washed the fruits.

"Who are we going to see in Birmingham?"

"My mother" She responded, and looked at me, obviously to see my reaction to that.

"Your mother? I thought you said she was dead"

"She isn't. She's alive and a healthy 69 year old woman, longing to see her granddaughter"

"Mum, how could you deny me the privilege of having a grandmotherly love?" I asked with pain in my heart.

Seeing the enlarged framed picture on the wall of mum and Catherine, cuddled together, didn't make me feel better.

It was a reminder of the things I'd lost. The things my mum made me lose out on.

I was about to lash out at her and walk out again.

But then I heard the voice again, loud and clear.

'Aren't you tired of running?'

I looked at my mum. "Did you say something to me right now?"

"Yes. I said I'm sorry"

"No, I heard something else. I heard a voice, It was like a whisper, but it was audible. It said 'Aren't you tired of running?'"

"That's the Holy spirit darling. Oh, come to think of it, you're wearing my prayer attire" Mum said with a laugh.

"I thought they were your PJs. And how do you know it's the Holy spirit? and don't I have to spend a lot of time in Communion with Him, before hearing him. Besides isn't it only Pastors and Reverends and Priests that hear the Holy Spirit?"

"No baby. Once you recognize that you Have the Holy spirit in you, you begin to hear him. He's not difficult to hear from. I converse with him - get that; converse. He tells me what to do, who to see, where to go. One without him is lost. It's easy to hear from Him. He's the best friend I've ever had. He makes me happy. Can't you see?" Mum explained with so much passion that I knew I needed to seek her advice on getting to know about This Holy Spirit.

The knowledge I had of the Holy spirit was that, He's a spirit, and he reveals himself only to those who have a strong Communion with him.

"Yeah, I can see. So tell me about my grandmother" I said to my mum, and she smiled broadly.

She seemed to be doing a lot of that smiling lately, and it warmed my heart to see her so free-spirited.

"She's a strong woman, like you and me.."

"Aren't all the Gordon women strong?" I interrupted with a wink, and mum laughed, as she continued.

"She's very beautiful, no doubt, at her age. She's caring and might definitely treat you, like a baby"

"Is that all you can say about your mother?" I asked mum.

"Well, there's nothing much. So what can you say about me, if someone asks you to tell them about your mother" Mum quizzed.

"Well", I sighed dreamily. "I'd say... She's surprising. I like the new *Lisa Gordon* more than the old one. The old one was more of a cold bitch, no offense"

Mum laughed at that. I continued.

"But the new one is better. She looks younger, now that she smiles more. I love her devotion to God and the Holy spirit. I love how she does on her granddaughter. I love how she's so nice and caring. I love her so much and wish she actually featured more in my childhood, rather than the old *Lisa Gordon*. I really couldn't have asked for a better mother all the same"

Mum hugged me and I felt warm tears trickle down my back. I hugged her back, with a smile.

I knew that things were really going to be better now, and I looked forward to the meeting with my grandmother.