2. Memories

Walking away from the Davison Mansion she recalled some of her childhood memories, she smiled bitterly as she remembered how sad and disappointing her childhood had been.

She had never visited toy shops nor amusement parks with her parents when growing up, that privilege was left to Linda only. She was always given old toys and clothes Linda didn’t want or use anymore and most times, Linda turn to disgrace and humiliate her over them. Then she had thought it was because she was younger than Linda by a few years but now she understands it all, she was legitimate daughter and she was a mistake, the illegitimate daughter.

She never had the privilege to be looked after when she falls sick by Nina, nor was she given medication or chicken soup. Although they were rich, her school fees were never paid on time nor was her text books bought for her for school, so when she was sixteen years, she got a job secretly to enable her buy her text books and her necessities without their knowledge.

As she remembers, it was only shelter and food the Davison family had ever provided for her throughout the years, they never gave her affection nor security because she felt most unsafe in their presence. She shudders as recalls the events leading her going to bed with hunger several times in the past.

The sad reality got her to break down in the middle of the road, kneeling in the middle of the road, she cried her heart out. Overcome with grieve and the realization that as it stands now she has to consider herself an orphan got tears running down her cheeks sliently as she ponders the issue.

‘What kind of a woman was my supposed mother to have an affair with a married man that already a child?, how was she like?, was she beautiful, short, tall, slim or fat. What was her story?, what really…..’ a lot of questions was going through her mind as she walks in the silent and cold night.

This and many more question were running wildly in her mind but she didn’t know who to go to for answers nor what to do with the small information she had gathered so far.

Growing up with the Davisons, she had always felt like an outsider and a loner amongst them. If not for nanny Syan’s encouragement and reassurance along with the affection she has shown her, she was sure she won’t have coped well living with the Davison not survived as long as she has. Nanny Syan will sometimes sneak food into her room on days she was made to sleep with an empty stomach.

An idea popped up in her mind ‘I’m sure nanny Syan will know something about my birth mother and the circumstances surrounding my birth, I will have to go see her after I’ve settled down and found a place to sleep for the night’, she concluded to herself with a new found hope.

It was a long walk from the Davison Mansion to the Main Street, she won’t get any car around the estate until she gets to the street where she can find a taxi but the question she kept asking herself over and over again was were she was headed penniless.

“where at all am I going without a penny to my name?”, she muttered to herself.

After giving it a lot of thoughts, she came to a conclusion,” I guess I will have to go to Ava’s place, she’s the only one I have. Maybe I can ask to stay with her for a bit till I can stand on my own”, she uttered to herself underneath her breath as she changed the route.

Ava had been her rock for years after meeting in a drama club in high school, she was a loner and it took her quite a long time to get use to Ava personality, Ava was bubbly and spoke a lot which was out of her usual character which was a quiet nature.

Whilst she liked reading and listening to music, Ava was dramatic and loves food. When caught in compromising position with food, Ava will recite proudly,’food will always be there to cheer you up and won’t disappoint you unlike humans’

Alice smiled as she when recalled her petite bubbly self went in search for Matthew to beat him up for using her.

Lost in her thought she didn’t know she was at the Main Street until she heard the sound of various cars passing by, since it was a busy town and this street being the main one, it was busy all the time with people of different agendas. It didn’t take long before she got a taxi and headed to Ava’s place at First Street.

When she got there Ava wasn’t around and she didn’t have her phone with her to make the call through to her. Frustrated, she cursed her luck and sat on the floor dramatically.

“Looking at the time, I think she should still be at work if she’s working the night shift.” She whispered to herself with a sigh.

Not having slept well before she was rudely interrupted, she dozed off to dream land within minutes of settling down.

Ava was coming back to house after such a busy night, she had to run another swift for her co-worker Belinda who who pleaded with her to come to her aid because she had to take her sick son to the hospital. She had to excused herself from work for a while to take some rest as soon as her shift was over before going back to run Belinda’s shift for her.

She works at a five star restraurant that was open 24/7, she loved her work because she gets to feed both her eyes and stomach with the delicious delicacies and get paid on top of it but currently, she was far from loving her job. She smiled as remembered the fried vegetables and strimp noodles that was bagged for her by the chef.

‘Ohh I’m so smart! how cunning of me to intentionally befriend the chefs because of food but anyways it is worth it. I will befriend even the tables if I have to because of such delicious food’, she thought to herself with a smirk.

She paused when she saw a figure coiled up in front of her door as she got out of the elevator.

‘A thief by this time of the night, it’s just past 4am, oh how shameless of that thief, to want to steal from a poor girl like me! This is the lowest level of greed I’ve ever seen throughout my entire existence on earth!’, she thought to herself with a sneer as she slowly dropped the bags she was holding on the floor and reached out to her legs.

She slowly took off her slippers and approached the thief, making sure not to make any noise so as not to alert the thief about what she had in mind for him.