MISSING PIECE (14)
A Week Later…..
Jacinta entered the house, yawning. She was tired after the vigil in church. She had made a mental note to sleep very well before heading for her business. Thank God the children had what they would eat this morning.
“Good morning ma”, they chorused together.
“Good morning”, she replied, going into the room. Wait! Why are they up this early? She checked the time. 6a.m. She turned round and saw each of them seated together with arms crossed like they’d just had a meeting. She moved closer.
They were all dressed, she noted. They must have had their bath. “What’s going on?”, she asked finally.
“We’ve been waiting for you, mum”, Claire replied.
“Been waiting? Since when?”
“4 a.m.”
Jacinta’s eyes widened. “Four what? What’s so important that you guys couldn’t wait and tell me later? Claire, why?” She saw the look on their face and exhaled, taking a seat beside them. “Okay, what’s wrong?”
No one moved nor said anything. Hmmm…..no one’s saying anything. If no one talked, Laura would.
She turned to face her youngest daughter and saw her face swollen and rushed to her side. “Laura, what happened? Why’s you’re face swollen like this?”
“She’s been crying?”, Tony replied.
“Why?”
The little girl starts crying again. “Mummy, why does daddy hate us so much, especially me?” Her young mind couldn’t fathom her father’s hatred for her. He used to call her ‘My Favorite’, but things were different now.
Jacinta was stunned. Tears welled up in her eyes but she tried as much as she could to hold it. “Why would you say that? Daddy loves you, all of you.”
“Then why is he always angry at us, even you?”, Tony asked.
“And he hit me one time too”, Andrew added.
“Listen, dad doesn’t hate us. He’s just stressed”, Claire said for the umpteenth time, even though she was not to certain if that was true or not.
“Claire is right. Daddy is going through a lot. All that would change soon. You all need to keep praying for him, okay? Now, on behalf of daddy, I apologise for everything. Daddy is sorry, okay?”
Even though she didn’t know when that change would come, she was certain it would. Right now, she had to remove whatever negative thoughts her children had against their father.
“But why doesn’t he buy me chocolate or play with me anymore? He was my friend before but now, I don’t know. I miss him so much”, Laura said sadly, still not understanding.
“And I missed you too, baby.”
They turned and saw Armstrong standing close to the door, tears in his eyes and looking surprisingly clean.
(To Be Continued)
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ROOTED & EVOLVING 
@Unknown……thank you 💖
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Elsie, Pele. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
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Nice suspense
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I am literally shedding tears
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I am literally shedding teara
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