BITTER_LOVE.
CHAPTER 26
ALICIA’S POV
..3 MONTHS LATER..
“Alicia, wait up!”
“Shit,” I cussed aloud. Of all people, I just had to run into Baison and Diana at the clinic where I had gone for my first prenatal session.
I leaned against my car and waited for them to catch up with me.
“Does Curtis know?” asked Diana accusingly.
I shook my head. “No.”
“Do you think you’re being fair to him?” Baison asked. His right hand was wrapped round Diana’s waist.
Both Diana and I were pregnant but unlike me, she had a caring man by her side.
“Baison, I don’t care whether I’m being fair or not. He’s the one who broke up with me, not the other way round so I don’t care whether he knows I’m carrying his child or not.”
“But the pregnancy will start showing sooner than you think,” retorted Diana. “Besides, wasn’t you keeping his daughter from him the reason why you two broke up in the first place? How do you think he’ll react when he sees the baby bump or better yet, when he learns from someone else that you’re pregnant?”
“Are you planning on telling him, huh Dee?”
“No, Alicia. But-”
“I think this conversation isn’t heading anywhere. There’s a lot going on in my mind so please excuse me, have a nice day.”
I got into my car before either of them could say a thing. I started the engine and took off.
When I arrived home, I found Bob waiting for me in the living room.
There was still no evidence as to who might have murdered Angie. Bob had refused to go back to Kenya saying there was nothing for him to go do back there. Fred hadn’t turned up yet and so far, our search for him was proving to be in vain. Curtis showed up at my house to have chats with Faides and maybe take her out almost everyday. Him and I were on talking terms but that didn’t mean we were back to being boyfriend and girlfriend. I recall he had attempted to get us back together about a month ago but I had been blatant with him.
“You had called me selfish,” I told him. “What changed? Curtis, I had pleaded with you to please reconsider but you were adamant and insisted we break up. You made this bed now lie in it without causing drama.”
And then there was Bob who had been hinting at us getting back together and I had been blatant with him too.
“Bob, I’m not a museum for storing feelings. I thought I had made myself clear the other day, hadn’t I? Just because Curtis and I are having some couple drama doesn’t necessarily mean I’m willing to come running back into your arms. You had had your chance with me, Bob, but you had screwed it up real bad. I’m afraid there can be no other relationship between us besides the one we have which is us being each other’s ex’s and baby mama and baby daddy.”
So seeing Bob in my house today kind of set me on edge. And lately, I was losing my temper easily all thanks to my hormones and emotions being all over the place.
“What do you want?” I asked Bob without preamble as I sat opposite him.
“Good afternoon to you too,” he was being sarcastic as usual. “Any news on our beloved son?”
“That’s why you’re here? Like seriously Bob, you can do better than this. If you wanted to know about Fred, you’d have contacted the police station and asked for information from them. Tell me why you’re here.”
“Alright,” he tonelessly said. “I want us to get back together. Before you argue, here’s why. I love you and I know you still have feelings for me, first love thingy. Curtis and you are incompatible and Angie’s dead, leaving both of us single and free to mingle. Do you know what this implies?”
I studied Bob and couldn’t believe the nerves on him. “No, you tell me.”
“It means you and I were meant to be together.”
“Oh really? And what does the fact that I’m carrying Curtis’ child mean?”
“Come again?”
“You heard me right the first time, Bob. I’m pregnant with Curtis’ baby so I’d appreciate it if you leave my house and stopped coming here to try and persuade me to come back to you cause that ain’t happening in this lifetime nor the next if there’s any, Bob. Read my lips, you and I are never ever ever getting back together!”
“Jesu,” Bob abruptly stood up. “You don’t have to throw a song in my face. I get it, you and I are history, blah blah blah.” he was making dramatic hand gestures. “I’m leaving, Alicia. But just in case you change your mind, you can holler me on my phone.”
“In your dreams,” I scoffed, standing up and gesturing towards the door. “You can take your leave now, Mr. Bobby Chizinga.”
*******************
I was seated in the living room with Faides where we were watching Blood Sister on Africa Magic Epic when I heard a soft knock at the door. I knew it was Curtis. Don’t ask me how I knew cause I just knew. I had kind of memorized the way he knocked.
“Mulenga, go open the door for Curtis!” I called.
“Okay, madam.” came the response from the kitchen.
Curtis stepped into the living room about a minute later with lots of shopping bags.
“Daddy,” Faides rushed to hug him. “What have you brought for me tonight?”
“Your favourite,” said Curtis sweetly, putting the shopping bags on the floor and scooping Faides up into his arms. They then sat on a one sitter sofa.
“Hi, Ali.”
Ali? “Hello, Curtis.” ever since we’d broken up, he called me Alicia so I wondered why he seemed so jovial tonight.
I don’t know if it was the pregnancy or what but I didn’t want to spend much time in Curtis’ presence so I grabbed the shopping bags and took them to the kitchen where Mulenga was busy preparing supper.
I began unloading the bags and stuffing the citric fruits, bottles of pure joy, butter, ice-cream, loaves of bread and milk that Curtis had brought, in the fridge.
“I brought you some fruits.”
Startled, I gasped. I hadn’t noticed Curtis standing in the doorway until he spoke.
Fazed, I asked, “Fruits for me? What makes you think I’m craving fruits?”
“I didn’t say you’re craving them so don’t put words into my mouth,” Curtis smiled. “Mule, can you kindly excuse us?”
“Sure,” Mule replied, turned off the stove and left the kitchen.
Curtis approached me so that him and I were now standing so close I could hear his heartbeat.
“How’s my little one?”
I swallowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He rested his right hand on my still flat tummy and caressed it. “Don’t you lie to me. I know you’re carrying my child.”
“That b—h Diana couldn’t keep her mouth shut, could she?”
Curtis chuckled. “I’ve heard women get so temperamental when pregnant so I’ll ignore you just called my dearest cousin a b—h.”
“Whatever,” I snarled. “I’m carrying your child, so what? You’ll call me selfish for not telling you I am pregnant and then dump me for the second time? Well guess what, I don’t give a d–n what you think nor plan on doing.”
Curtis sighed and wrenched the fridge open and the door almost slammed into my face.
“How rude,” I thought aloud as I settled down at the coffee table, scowling and folding my arms.
He got an apple and crunched on it. Curtis closed the fridge and then sat opposite me.
“I’m mad,” he began. “Not at you but at myself. Ali, I shouldn’t have broken up with you three months ago. You had kept Faides from me for a reason and instead of reacting hastily, I should have thought your motive through but no, I acted like a jerk.”
“You’re a jerk.”
“Fine,” he calmly said, still crunching on his apple and displaying his set of perfect white teeth. “Call me a jerk, a douche bag or even hit me but please take me back into your life. I promise- No, I won’t make empty promises. Ali, I’ll try my utmost best to do right by you. Yours and my love is still young, we shouldn’t let it suffer because of a trivial dispute.”
“Trivial dispute my foot. It didn’t seem trivial three months ago, did it?”
“Come on, Alicia. Don’t be like that,” Curtis patted my hand, the apple he’d been crunching on was now a thing of the past. “I’m sorry. Let’s forget about the past and move on with our lives, for the sake of our Faides, Fred and the unborn baby.”
I shut my eyes in a bid to comprehend what he was saying. I hate to admit but Curtis was really making sense. What would me holding a grudge against him solve, nothing. After all, he was remorseful and willing to patch things up so who am I to complicate them? “I forgive you.”
“Like for real?” Curtis asked in disbelief.
“Yes, Bae. Like forgiving you and willing to take you back into my life.”
“I promise I won’t screw this chance up!” He was ecstatic even as he scooped me off my seat and kissed my lips passionately.
“Oh how much I missed this,” I breathlessly said in between the kiss. “Tell me you’ll never leave me again.”
“I won’t, my love.”
That night, Faides, Curtis, Mulenga and I had supper together and laughed so hard. It had been ages since I had been this happy. I was even beginning to forget what being happy felt like. But thanks to my Curtis, there were smiles on Faides’ and my face all through dinner.
After supper, we watched T.V for a few hours before finally deciding to call it a day and retire to bed. Curtis said he wasn’t going home tonight as he had missed me and I couldn’t contend my happiness and excitement.
As soon as we were in the bedroom and the door was locked, Curtis and I started making out and one thing led to another. We ended up making love. When we were spent, we lay cuddled in tangled bed sheets and fell asleep.
I was awakened by the persistent ringing of my phone. I checked the time and frowned, it was past 1 AM. I checked the caller ID and frowned more, why would Baison give me a call at this hour?
“Don’t you have the curtesy of knowing normal people like me are asleep at this hour? What are you, a wiz@rd? An owl? Or perhaps a bat?”
“Drop it, Ali. I’ve got some very disturbing news,” said Baison in a serious tone.
“What’s the news? Humour me already.”
“Sibajene just gave me a call, they’ve caught Angie’s murderer.”
“Really?” I was instantly wide awake. “Tell me, who is it?”
“I can’t tell you over the phone, I’m getting dressed right now. Expect me at your place in an hour. Ali, you won’t believe who the killer is,” Baison said, disconnecting the call.
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