Chapter Three

Amaryllis Burton

After two hours of sitting in a cafe, not ordering more than a cup of coffee, the attendant was already giving me the stink eye. I couldn't even blame him because I was giving myself the same stink eye too. I had gone through some crazy rounds of emotions in this past two hours, and I'm sure I've caused them loss of customers too.

Who would sit in the same cafe where a girl would burst out crying loudly, then start to laugh almost immediately after? Not a lot of people. So, before the guy could walk over to me and ask me to get out of his cafe, I decided to get a move on.

I knew I would still eventually have to call my dad (if I could still call him that) to come get me, because walking home would lead to my death. My school is totally not a walking distance to my house, and no amount of anger on earth would make me make such a drastic decision such as walking home. Nope!

I stared at my screen and saw five missed class, two from dad, two from mum, and one from Rose. They all knew me well enough to know that if they should bombard my phone with missed calls, it would infuriate me the more. The fact that they still respected my opinion even though they were trying their best to get a hold of me made my anger lessen a little bit. But, boy, was I still furious.

I had thought of every single scenario in life and only one thing just makes me want to hit my head against a wall.  WHY DIDN'T THEY TELL ME?! They have no bloody excuse! I've lived with this people for seventeen years of my life, they told me stories of how I was born! How I gave mum so much trouble in the belly and Oliver was a calm baby, who ended up a monster.

"Oliver!" Another round of fresh tears escaped my eyes upon the realization that Oliver wasn't my blood brother. The little boy whom I loved more than anything in the world wasn't my blood. The betrayal from life and my parents hurt more than anything I've ever experienced, and I didn't know when I crouched on the pedesterian walkway and cried my eyes out, with my hands covering my face. I could hear murmurings around me, and footsteps halting whenever they were within close vicinity but I didn't care. I couldn't care, my life was spiralling down at the speed of light and I could do nothing about it. What if the Lexingtons came to take me away? What if they tear me away from my parents? I might be mad at them, but hell I didn't want to live without them!

I didn't want to wake up to a day when dad wouldn't be there to call me the Queen and kiss me on the forehead like I was the only one who mattered the most. I wouldn't want to live a day when mum and Oliver won't be there to taunt me when they make me run stupid errands and wake me up in the worst of ways!

I knew what I had to do! I would go on my knees and grovel at the feet of the high and mighty. I would beg them to leave me with these people and pretend they never found me. They might have given birth to me, but they were not the one who raised me, and that's what parenting is. I stood up from my embarrassing position and hurried away from he questioning gaze that people shot at me.

I picked up my phone, and instead of dialing my dad, I texted Rose. She had a car, she could come get me. She replied immediately after, and in ten minutes, I was opening the front door of her car.

"You look like a mess and I can bet you're feeling the same way too. Wanna talk about it?" Rosaline doesn't know how to beat around the bush. If she wanted to say something, she would give it to you straight up. Consequences be damned. Not exactly the best trait but it wasn't bad at all.

"You wouldn't believe it. I can't believe it myself, Rose, but one thing I know is that my life is on the verge of being over." The worry that clouded her eyes made my chest tighten and tears gather in my eyes. If they take me away from here, I wouldn't get to be with my best friend. My best friend who loved me so much and would cross fire just to get me to smile. My best friend whose worry was the only one that could almost match mine because our hearts were intertwined.

"Talk to me, Amari. Everyone is worried about you. The way you dashed out of school, and your parents and the Lexingtons came out looking like a wreck pretty much got everyone talking. People were asking me stupid questions and I mistakenly kicked a guy in the stomach when he said something stupid about you." See, how am I supposed to leave this girl behind and start over somewhere new. There is no way that would happen!

"I don't have the answers myself, Rose. I...damn!" Tears were spilling from my eyes at unhealthy amounts again and I didn't know how to stop it. I didn't know how to bring myself to say the words that left a crack in my heart. I didn't know how to say the words I so badly wished were never spoken.

Rose parked the car and engulfed me in a hug. I stayed in that position till my eyes went dry and I was sobbing without tears. Today was supposed to be the best day ever. Today was supposed to be the day I would be picking clothes with Rose in preparation for my date with Jordan. Damn, Jordan! Another reason why Halloway could never be left behind.

"It's okay if you don't wanna say anything now, baby girl. I understand. I'll wait, we have the whole of our lives to figure this out." That caused me to spark, and I jerked out of the embrace like I was struck with lightening.

"But we might not!"

"We might not have the whole of our lives together anymore, Rose! I might get whisked away from here faster that I can say my own name. My life is over, Rose. The one who got backstabbed by life was me. I am the one whose life is ending up in smoke and there's nothing left but ashes. What am I supposed to do?" If I thought I had run out of tears, the wet liquid running down my cheeks proved otherwise. Rose looked really confused, and you could also see the tears in her eyes. She didn't even know the whole story but she was already tearing up. What would she do?

"The Lexingtons. Dad said the Lexingtons are....they are my real parents." A loud gasp escaped Rose's lips and I let out a humorless laughter. Me and you both, girl.

"How? When? Why? WHAT?!" All of these questions, yet not a single answer.

"That's what I'm about to figure out. Please take me home." And she did. We didn't say another word to each other, but not because we were mad at each other, but because we were both analyzing the situation and trying to find a reasonable explanation for all these things.

"Call me when everything is over. God be with you." Rose said when she dropped me off at home and wrapped me in a big hug. I didn't want to let her go, because as far as I was concerned, she was the only one I could trust.

"Oh God. Thank God you're safe." Mum ran to me immediately I entered the house and wrapped me in a hug. Her familiar scent trickled my nostrils and my tears came rushing back. How could she not be my mother? How could someone who loved me so not be my biological mother?

I looked around and I saw that the Lexingtons were still in our house. Two duo stood close to my dad, and I could tell they were fighting the urge not to tackle me down with a hug, especially Mrs. Lexington. Her eyes were red with tears and you could see the despair so evident in her eyes.

"Yes, I am. Now, can someone please explain to me what's going on. I'm trying so hard to understand why you lied to me. Dad, you said we were like two fairies born of the same laugh, but how could we when you aren't even my biological father? Or is this a prank? Are you playing an expensive prank on me?" I rushed out, but I knew it wasn't true. They were not playing a prank on me. The broken look on their faces made that very obvious.

"You're my daughter, sweetheart. I might not have birthed you but I birthed you with love. The very first moment your mother and I laid eyes on you, you captured our hearts. We wanted to tell you. We wanted to tell you long ago but....we didn't know how to. We were scared you might try to start looking for your parents and....we realized we loved you too much and we became selfish. Although we were not capable of giving the world to you, you were happy and we saw it. We got too carried away with our little bubble of happiness and we just couldn't imagine dropping such a bomb on you."

"How about this bomb, dad? This isn't just an ordinary bomb. It's an explosion! You should have told me. You guys should have said something!" I slid to the floor, my shoulders shaking with tears. I lifted my gaze again and landed it on my biological parents. A lot of emotions were whirling round my head and I didn't know what to do with them, but I had one question. One question that would decide if I would throw them out this instant or entertain their own side of the story.

"Did you guys throw me away when you realized you didn't want me?" As if I landed a slap on their faces, they looked stricken. Mrs. Lexington covered her mouth with her hand and let out a painful sob. Like her heart was being shredded to bits. I felt really bad for her, but I had to know.

"Oh, Adrian. Adrian, our baby thinks we didn't want her." She sobbed into her husband, and he held her gently. You could tell they were very much in love and I was a little bit glad that I at least had biological parents who loved each other.

"Zara. We wanted you, Zara. We prayed for you. We begged heavens for you. Your mother had difficulty in carrying a child. Five years of trial and failed medical treatment, and then you came along. Our miracle in flesh. Everyday leading to your birth was backed up with prayers and utmost medical care because we didn't want to lose you.....and then we did. Fifteenth of February, in the year 2002, your mother and I tucked you into the crib and placed a kiss on your head." Adrian Lexington smiled softly as he recalled.

"Your mother was so adamant. She didn't want to leave you that night, she wanted to stay with you but I told her to get some rest. I knew she wouldn't sleep a wink and would stare at you all night, like she had done for the past week. The stress was beginning to tell on her and I wanted her to sleep under my supervision. We headed to bed and I was woken up by the loud screams of your mother. She had woken up in the middle of the night and she went to check on you, only to realize you were gone. We found the window open and we knew someone had come to take you. We searched all over for you, Zara." A painful look was etched on his face. His voice was laced with pure agony and my heart went out to him. What horror!

"We spent a whole year searching for you, then we were told you died. We didn't know it was all a plot. We were deceived and we were given the body of a baby that was destroyed beyond recognition. Your mother and I couldn't bare to look at it. We buried you and we didn't know how to move on, but we eventually learned to live with the pain.  A year ago, the devil behind the whole plot confessed on his death bed. He wanted forgiveness and he told me everything. He didn't know whether you were dead or alive, but he had to make us stop searching, so he arranged for the dead body we found. He gave us the information of the men who abducted you and we managed to find one of them."

"He told us he dropped you at Halloway. We brought him to the house where he dropped you at, but we were told the former occupants moved."

"It took us a whole year to pull resources and we managed to find out your current location. We didn't want to jump into conclusion, so we had undercover detectives follow you around. Although you might not know this, but one them followed you and bumped into you on purpose, just to get a strand of your hair. The DNA results came back yesterday night and it was confirmed. You are our Zara." My eyes widened. I had a faint memory of a creepy looking guy that bumped into me.

I sat there, trying to let the information sink in. I didn't know what to say or do. I knew they weren't lying to me. Hell, I felt bad for everything they've been through but it was too late. It was too late! I have a life now.

"I...I'm sorry you had to go through all that, but...this is my family now.  I can't leave them." If I've ever heard of hearts being broken through people's eyes, I watched it happen right in front of me. My biological parents' eyes reflected their devastation at my words.

"Mum, Dad, please beg them to let me stay. Please. My whole life is here, you guys are here, Oliver is here, Rose and Jade and James, they are all here. School! Mum, I have to go to school, right?" I scrambled on and on.

"Amaryllis, we made a mistake. We made a big mistake. Out of our selfishness, we refused to file a police report. We thought someone might look for you, so we just took you. We took custody of you and raised you as our own. If the police hears this, we could get in serious trouble. We have wronged you and your parents, Amari. They could have found you if we filed that report. Because of us, your parents missed seventeen years of your life. It would be more selfish of us to keep holding on to you." Oh. My. God.

"Amaryllis, I love you so much. I love you like you came from my very own loins, but I'm a mother too. I wouldn't want to imagine what your parents are going through. All these years, I convinced myself that your mother didn't want you and then abandoned you, but after hearing this story, how could I?" They were letting me go? After everything, they were letting me go?

"Don't I have a say in this? I'm grown now and I can choose who I want to be with!" I yelled, hoping it would be true, but somehow I knew it wasn't. Somehow I knew it wouldn't work. I knew I had to go.

"Not until your eighteen, baby girl.. And not even under this circumstances. Your parents have agreed to let you finish junior year and also spend the half of the summer with us. We are so sorry, Amaryllis. I wish you could see how much I wish this never happened, but I can't... I can't do anything. I'm helpless." Mum cried and I took retreating steps. Something was telling me to run, but I knew there was no point in running.

If I were a mother myself, I would fight tooth and nail to get my child back. I knew my parents were backed into a corner and the Lexingtons won't let go without a fight. I stared at the house I grew up in, and the fact that one day I would pack my bags and probably never come back filled me with emptiness on the inside, but then something happened.

Mrs. Lexington walked towards me and wrapped her arms around me. Call it maternal love or what's not, but somehow, some of my emptiness reduced and I knew I was moving from a dimension of love to another. Maybe it would be a greater form, or a lesser form, I couldn't say.

...........................

Author's note.

This was a form of a filler chapter.

The next chapter will start from Amaryllis's life at Lakeview, California.

Yours in sassiness and classiness,

Dee.