ROSY
I heard a crash followed by a louder one then a horrific scream. My eyes snapped open and I shot up my head from the tear-drenched pillow. “Caleb? Is that you?” I called out, but my voice only came out as a ghostly whisper. I rubbed my sore throat and cautiously stepped out of the bed that had been my abode for many days. My eyes caught my daughter’s picture and I sobbed, streaks of tears flowing down from my puffy red eyes. I had Sherry two years after my marriage with Caleb. We couldn’t have another baby due to my reckless attitude. Sherry was everything to us, she was our happiness, our joy, and the bedrock of our home. Unlike some kids from wealthy families who turn out to be nasty, Sherry had always been the sweet loving child any parent would wish to have. I and Caleb were the envy of the parents in her middle school. She wasn’t only kindhearted and lovely, she was also the most intelligent in the entire school, and her grades were the best. When she came, I and Caleb knew that an angel had been sent down to us from God and we promised to protect her with our lives. A promise we never kept. I shut my eyes and snapped my head away from the picture. This isn’t the time to coil up and cry. It’s high time I accept the reality of Sherry’s death. “Caleb?” I muttered as I twisted the door open and descended the stairs. My jaws dropped when I saw the broken vases scattered around the living room. “Mrs. Joyce? Caleb?” my voice managed to crack out their names. Silence responded to my call. I waited for a few seconds but it yielded no result, the house was as silent as a graveyard. “Mrs. Joyce! Caleb!” the tempo of my voice increased as fear gripped my entire body. Where could they be? Am I going to lose someone again? I shook my head vigorously as negative thoughts bounced across my distorted mind. I wheezed into the kitchen but couldn’t find Mrs. Joyce or Caleb. The rooms upstairs were empty too. “Oh God help me. If I lose Caleb I’ll just kill myself,” I muttered, clasping my hands together as I started another round of unending tears. Should I go outside? The thought rummaged through my head as I stared at the door. No, I am not ready to go out and face the world, not now! As if to assist me in my peril, the large doors burst open and Mrs. Joyce rushed in, breathing heavily. “Mrs. Joyce?” I muttered. A greater shock met her when she saw me standing in the middle of the living room. “Ma’am Rosy, you came down!” she gasped and sprinted to where I stood. “Do you need water or food, will you like to take a shower?” “I want to see Caleb,” I replied bluntly. She looked at me, startled, and then she glanced back at the door. “He… he’s in the garage,” she responded. I summoned courage and wheezed across the room, stretching out my pale hands to grasp the door handles. “He’s destroying the cars!” My hands froze midway, I slowly turned around, my eyes popping out in shock and confusion. “Why?” I asked in disbelief. Caleb has never been the violent and aggressive type. He has always turned out to be a nice man endowed with a lot of patience. Caleb hardly destroys a teacup when he’s upset and talks more of a car. “He’s destroying your cars in the garage. I tried to stop him but he wouldn’t listen to me.” I gasped and chuckled, shaking my head. “Caleb can’t do that,” I defended my husband. The door burst open and a pair of strong hands shoved me roughly to the ground. My palm brushed the splinters on the floor and gave way to blood-filled holes in my palm. “Caleb!” I gasped, gripping my bleeding palm. The hard steely feet shuffling away stopped and Caleb spun around, his bloodshot eyes glaring contemptuously at me. “Caleb,” I muttered again and staggered up to my feet. “Is this the way to mourn Sherry?” He chuckled and burst into an unexpected wild laughter. “Mourn? Are you done putting your act together?” he replied when his laughter died down. “What are you talking about? Sherry is my daughter!” I yelled at him. He frowned deeply and gripped my arm. I winced as his nails dug into my flesh. “And you killed her!” he blurted out. Silence fell between us as we stared at each other. He with a hateful glare and me with a solemn gaze. “Why will you blame me for killing Sherry?” I whispered, sobbing lightly. “That’s the truth, Rosy, you killed her and you know it. You’re too dumb and irresponsible to be a mother!” He fired. My sobs broke into loud whimpers. I sprawled to the floor and shielded my face with my palm. “ I don’t think I can stand you anymore, you disgust me,” his venom-filled voice broke through my heart, piercing out every single life in me. “I’m getting a divorce! I can’t stand you anymore. Besides, Sherry is dead and the company has been handed over to me, what’s the use of putting up with a loveless marriage?” he sneered. I slowly raised my head and stared at him, my vision blurred slowly. “A divorce? Why do you want to do this to me despite how much I have loved you?” my voice quivered as I asked. Caleb brushed off my reaction and walked steadily into the master’s bedroom, banging the door heavily behind him. I and have been childhood friends. Though, he was four years older than me. I never had an older brother, so, I looked up to Caleb as one. He has always been there to protect me from bullies and criticism, he has always been the shoulder I always cling to and cry on when I’m faced with rejection. He was a shield that covered up my scars. When I turned twelve, I had my first kiss and that was with Caleb. I remembered standing on my toes and placing a light kiss on his red, full tasty lips. He was taken aback at first, but he leaned in and enclosed our lips, giving me the sweetest, hardest kiss I have ever had. The pain sprawled across his face after the passionate moment proved that he regretted every bit of it. But how could a twelve-year-old naïve girl figure that out? All I wanted was more, and he never gave it, he preferred keeping his distance knowing fully well that it was killing me. I confessed my love severally to him but he only walked away without a word. ‘Little red Rose, you’re too young to talk about love.’ That was his constant reply if he ever replies. He left for college and I never saw him again until the day he graduated. I knew Caleb was with other girls, girls older and much better than me. It killed me whenever I imagined Caleb bringing home a girl as his girlfriend or worse, fiancée. I decided to make the biggest mistake of my life, was it a mistake? I never believed it was a mistake until now, it was the best decision I have ever made. I persuaded my father to get us married, my dad saw that as a great opportunity to push me out of his life, and he augmented with immediate effect. Against his wish, we got married. Caleb wasn’t a cold husband. He tried his best to be the best husband, and when Sherry came, he became the best father. His hard footsteps pulled me out of my reverie. He got to where I sat and directed a scowl at me. I tried to touch him, but he slammed his fist on the coffee table. I jumped in fright. The coffee table shook violently beneath his fist. He glanced at me and pointed at the table. “I'll return with the divorce papers, get ready to sign them!"“A divorce… a divorce… a divorce…” I kept stuttering to myself. The glass doors banged together, signifying that he was gone. “A divorce?” I whispered and a bitter teardrop fell off my rheumy eyes. I took in a sharp deep breath to cool my burning lungs and prevent myself from knocking out of a conscious state. Sharp movements from the kitchen startled me. I’m sure it was Mrs. Joyce, she heard every bit of the argument I had with Caleb. I staggered to my feet and slowly gripped the hem of my dress. I shut my eyes and avoided the pictures on the wall, I couldn’t bear to glance at my smiling face on the frame. It felt like poison, a poison I couldn’t elude. I staggered up to the bedroom and collapsed into the bed, tossing and turning in deep grief and pain. How many hours passed after that terrific moment? I couldn’t tell. I hardly glanced at the clock fixed on the cream-colored wall. All I knew was that I fell into a deep sleep that helped to keep me sane for a few hours until a
My eyes slowly snapped open and took in the blinding light rays radiating into the unfamiliar room. I wheezed as the smell of antiseptics swung past my broken nose. “Do you think that act you put on will make me change my mind concerning the divorce?” That was Caleb’s scornful voice. I cranked my head to the opposite side of the direction of his voice. “You better sign the papers, you have until tomorrow,” he grumbled annoyingly. I heard his feet grudgingly shuffle towards the door. I’m sure that the man beside me is not Caleb, he can never be this irritating. Why the hell is he doing this to me? Tears threatened to start a new course but I breathed it in as my mind swung over to Sherry. Perhaps, if he finds out that Sherry is still alive, he will drop the childish behavior. “I saw Sherry,” that was the only reply I gave him. The shuffle stopped and a dead silence fell over the room and lasted for killing minutes. “What did you say?” he finally breathed out, di
She stirred but quickly composed herself and nodded. “Of course.” She walked out of the room in search of a pen. I reached into the drawer and fetched out the papers that Mrs. Joyce had earlier hidden in the drawer from my sight. I flipped through the pages, sniffing. His signature has already been placed, mine was the only one required to officially make us ‘exes’ Gruesomely, my watery eyes scanned the terms of the divorce. I chuckled when I noticed the alimony offered if I accepted the divorce. I had to re-read the papers more than three times before every bit of it sunk in. I was getting a divorce. I was getting a divorce with Caleb. After all my sacrifices and selfishness, I ended up losing him. I sighed and chuckled sadly, the chuckle rose into a horrific laugh that left me choking on my breath. “We are finally getting a divorce, Caleb!” I yelled and laughed, swinging my hair into disarray. The door swung open and Mrs. Joyce scampered into the room, looking mort
Obsessed? Yes, that was what I was. I was obsessed, madly in love with a man who never cared an ounce about me. Should I be happy that the death of Sherry liberated Caleb? If I were to choose between losing Sherry to grant Caleb’s freedom or having both of them subdued in my obsessive claws forever, which would I choose? A tear dropped from my eyes as I stared at the street I drive through every day. A street I don’t think I will ever visit again. “Wait,” I called out to the chauffeur and he decelerated the car, craning his head to glance at me. “Take me to Caleb’s family Villa.” I need to visit his parents. Leaving like that without a word from me will seem disrespectful Though, I never shared a good relationship with his family, especially his mom, they are still people that I cherish and respect. I can’t just walk away like nothing happened. They need to know about the divorce too. I rested my head on the headrest as the chauffeur swerved to the right, heading to
Caleb looked shocked to find me in his parent’s house. His well-pointed nose flared and his grey eyes darkened as he balled his fist. He must have thought I came to cry about the divorce from his parents. I sighed, and put on my sunglasses. “I have signed the divorce papers, your parents will tell you the rest,” I said. “Huh?” Caleb muttered, his eyes widening in shock. “Goodbye,” I mumbled and walked out of the house. I felt Caleb’s eyes on my back as I disappeared into the garage. The chauffeur opened the car door and I got in, sighing repeatedly. I faced Caleb without fear or intimidation. We are no longer couples, we are exes. Caleb is no longer the boy I fell in love with, he is no longer the guy I shared my first passionate kiss with. Caleb is my ex. “Where do we go?” the chauffeur asked, interrupting my thoughts. “Take me to the cemetery.” He nodded and ignited the car. My eyes lingered on their building as the car rolled away. I remembe
CALEB The music from the speaker drowned my friends’ squabbling. I sighed for the umpteenth, ruffling my hair in confusion. I made her leave, though, I know I made the right decision, I was finally free from her. But, why don’t I feel relaxed and happy? I should be drinking and chatting with my friends, but, here I am, sitting obscurely away from them. “Hey, Caleb, what’s wrong with you?” Kim asked, waving his hands across my face. I sighed and forced myself to draw closer to them. Julius and Casper ended their childish squabble, their eyes bored into me, expecting an answer that I didn’t know how to give. Julius is engaged, though it’s a marriage allegiance between his family and Sophie, but he never seems to have a problem with it, as far as his numerous affairs don’t affect their relationship. Casper is still single, but not searching or ready to settle down. He’s a dangerous flirt. I can’t count how many times I have caught him flirting with Rosy while we w
5 years later ROSY The customized shrill ringtone of my phone blared out, making me snap my eyes open. I groaned, wondering who was distorting my blissful sleep. I propped up on an elbow and scrambled for my phone which repeatedly kept ringing in the drawer. I dug it out of the pile of books filled up in the drawer, and glanced at the screen, half awake. “Evan?” I muttered. A smile crept into my face as the name flashed back and forth on the screen. Taking a deep breath, I accepted the call and placed the phone on my ear, waiting to hear the enchanting voice of my fiancé. “Honey, still sleeping?” his assiduous voice boomed into my ear. “Ugh huh,” I muttered in reply. He chuckled lightly and my cheeks heated up. “I’m thinking of coming over for breakfast, what do you say?” Evan asked. The heat on my face intensified at the mention of ‘breakfast’. I knew what Evan’s breakfast was like, it always comes with a lot of hot make-outs and kissing.
ROSY The receiver dropped from my shaky hands. My heartbeat increased, it felt like my heart would explode from my chest soon. I gasped, staggered back and almost fell to the ground. Evan caught me by my waist and led me to a couch. My body shivered in fright, I felt like I would die the next minute. Even though my father and I never had a daughter-and-father relationship. I still love him so much. Is everything going to be alright? Is my dad safe? Different negative thoughts ran through my head. “I need to head back to Sicily. I can’t spend a minute here any longer.” I sprang up before Evan could try to stop me. In a mad dash, I headed into my room and ran to my wardrobe, dragging out some of the clothes in it. I flung out a suitcase and started piling the clothes into the suitcase. “You should take it easy, don’t rush too much. You might end up hurting yourself,” Evan spoke up behind me. “I’m fine,” I snapped huskily, dumping the last batch of clot