Grounded
CHAPTER 19

Marie was upset that Gina made her go all the way to the Police station with Michael at such an odd hour of the day. "We're going to see your daddy"; she kept telling the little boy as she rode down the road in her recovered vehicle. "Stop looking at me like that, you've been doing that since we left your place." Gina whispered as they sat in a consulting room waiting for Monte, she didn't want Michael to notice that they were quarreling. "You could have chosen a better time for us to do this, it's late already." Marie attacked.

"It's just quarter past eight Marie; is the time all there is to this?" Gina asked making a face at her as though to mock her.

"Lydia said never to mention to anyone that she has a son." Marie stated almost in a whisper.

"Okay, so you intend to raise him up all by yourself?" she asked her.

"We could replace another way." Marie replied.

"I'm all ears, wow me. You don't even have a job; I mean we don't have jobs anymore.

This will make Monte rethink opening the bar again; Lydia was his wife for God's sake and besides I heard her real name is Sharon." Gina defended.

"So now we get to believe him over her, is that it?" Marie asked unimpressed with all she had said.

"I'm sticking with the one who is alive, play your cards well." Gina replied.

The door opened and Monte walked in bringing in an aura of calmness with him. He looked at the women with a smile on his face and swallowed hard when he saw Michael.

The little boy looked at Monte, both spent seconds looking each other; each one not knowing the right action to take. Michael climbed down from his seat and opened his mouth; "Daddy." He called out to Monte who embraced him so tightly yet so tenderly.

"Where have you been?" Michael asked further as he was locked in his father's warm embrace. The tears that welled up in his eyes began to flow down his cheeks freely as he did not know what to say to his son.

"I'm here now, I'm never letting you go again." Monte reassured him as he looked in his eyes.

Gina and Marie looked on, both becoming teary as they watched Michael dry the tears from his father's cheeks with his small hands.

"Thank you much." Monte expressed his gratitude as they all walked to his office.

Gina smiled at him; she knew how much this must mean to him and how happy he was to have found his son.

"About Cadbury's Place; he said looking at Marie, "How would you like to be in charge?" he asked Marie.

Marie became emotional suddenly and began to sob, she didn't expect it to happen so fast and not with an instant promotion which also signified a raise in salary. Gina took her hand and rubbed her back to console her; "It's a win-win for everyone." Gina said removing a tear drop at the base of her eyelid with the flick of a finger.

"I think I'd be leaving before any of you." Gina stated getting on her feet. She gave Michael a high five and watched the little boy smile radiantly.

"You could just wait a little more, if I could just replace that file." Monte replied searching in his drawers.

"Marie would be here to collect the document and every other necessary thing. Today, you and Michael reminded me that family is everything. I haven't seen my family in days now; I can't wait." She laughed with tears in her eyes.

Monte smiled and nodded; he was in agreement with her.

"I hope you've taken your car to the mechanic." Monte chipped as she walked out of the office.

"That can wait too." Her voice filtered into his eardrums and made him smile again.

Gina threw her jacket in the back seat of her car and started the car's engine; she was ready to set things right with her family. She could finally understand why there was a large vacuum in her heart, no matter how she tried to fill it, nothing could replace it. It was the space for family, she had been handling it with levity. She peeked into her ringing phone as she drove down the road, it was her mother calling; she suddenly felt a yearning, an urge to tell her how much she missed her, how all she ever craved was her love and affection and nothing else. She wanted so much to say all that she had kept hidden, bottled up since her father died, she wanted to drop all the envy, hatred and malice. She pressed harder on the accelerator as her phone kept ringing; "I'm coming Mother." She muttered under her breath.

As she approached the church that was a few meters away from the house, the car began to slow down. She navigated towards the side of the road to avoid causing any road accidents.

"No, no, no, no!" she exclaimed as the engine coughed one last time and went dead. Her car had stopped at the side of the road; she tried to start the engine again, but it wouldn't respond. She looked into her wristwatch; it was already half past ten. The street was quiet, dark and cold; she grabbed her jacket from the backseat and threw it on. She alighted and locked the car properly, she tugged at one of the doors to ensure it was properly locked. When she was satisfied with her replaceings, she began to walk back home. Her phone was no longer vibrating, no other calls were coming in. She hissed, she hated that she had to walk all the way back home. She looked around; the moonlight was the only source to light her way. The bells in the church rang loudly sending shivers down her spine, she looked at the far-right corner of the road, the baker's store was closed and so was the tailor's. She took a deep breath and focused on the road. She basked in the thought of reuniting with her family in no time and just at that moment, she saw a shadowy figure on the ground, and then it suddenly disappeared. She was frightened but she was certain her mind was playing tricks on her. "It's all in my head." She muttered, gathering courage and increasing her pace. As she got the alley that led to the street where her house was, she heard footsteps trailing behind her. She began to slow down to listen for any sound and as she did, she felt someone breeze past her.

"Who's there?" she shouted into the cold night; her voice bounced back to her as an echo. She listened for a few seconds; she could only hear the crickets as they worked to get a mating partner for the night. She made to resume walking again trembling like a leaf and then she heard the footsteps behind her again, this time louder than the last. She broke into a fierce run, she ran against the wind wildly, refusing to risk losing her life by slowing down. She saw a big truck ahead of her and threw herself underneath it. She began to dial Monte's number, her fingers shaking, and her breaths short and hard.

The cold night had suddenly become so hot as she was sweating from every part of her body, her body hairs stood on end from fright.

"Gina." Monte spoke from the end of the receiver as he took her call.

"Monte; she spoke shaking with fright; "someone's trailing me, I think he wants to harm me. You've got to come get me, hurry." She said trying to keep it in a whisper, sobbing as she spoke.

"What's your location?" Monte asked jumping on his feet and storming out of his office leaving Marie in shock.

"Uhm, I can't think, I don't know." She wept.

"Hey, Gina come on. It's the only way I can get to you quickly." He encouraged her.

"Under a big truck, past the alley next to the large church downtown." She stated hurriedly.

She turned over on her back to get a good lying position, she saw his feet, standing right beside the truck.

"Gina, whatever happens, make sure you survive. Gina, Gina!" Monte screamed waiting to hear her talk.

She covered her mouth with her hand to prevent herself from screaming; she closed her eyes tightly and prayed quietly hoping for a miracle. She did not want to die like all the other women she had heard about, beaten, battered and abandoned with a stalk of black rose in their ice-cold hands. She opened her eyes as she felt the dead silence that grew around her; the first thing to meet her eyes were his dark, fiery eyes. He had bent low and was looking at her under the truck, he smiled as she saw her eyes opened to meet his. She screamed on the top of her lungs, crawled out from underneath the truck in the space of a second and made to run. He was faster than she was, he grabbed her from behind and threw her to the ground with a heavy thud.

Monte heard her scream, he listened to the mighty thud and hung up the phone.

"Hazel! Call in the patrol team, everyone, the killer is out there." He shouted running out of the Station, a pistol in his hand.

"Out where sir?" Hazel asked following behind and dialing numbers on the landline.

"The alley beside the big church downtown." He yelled jumping into one of the Police trucks and driving off, leaving behind a gust of wind.