DREAM DAWN THREE

                              DREAM DAWN

                                THREE

Credited to Hannah Umoh Joshua

DREAM DAWN

THREE

Thursday dawned bright and beautiful; a complete contrast to how Debby felt. It was the anniversary of Henry’s death. All she wanted was to crawl into bed and cry till she could cry no more, but she needed to be at work. Completely exhausted, she forced herself to get ready for work. She made and served her father’s breakfast but made nothing for herself.

“Have you eaten?” Mr. Ukpong asked his daughter as he went to sit at the dining table.

“No,” she responded simply.

He raised his eyebrows questioningly at her. His features softened when he noticed that she was sombre.

“What is the problem? Are you not feeling well?”

“I’m fine. Just not hungry.” She felt no need to give him the details.

After staring at her for a few more seconds, he went back to his breakfast.

Her colleagues in the office also noticed she was not her usual self. All effort to get her to talk proved abortive. Like a zombie, she went through the day at work and was out of the office before it was four pm.

Feeling the need to talk to someone, she called Patrick. He was not back from work yet, but promised to head out to his house shortly, when she requested.

She hung around in a restaurant close to her office with a bottle of soft drink until she got a call from Patrick that he was close to his house.

They arrived just threw minutes apart. Patrick was still fully dressed and was just returning from the kitchen to the sitting room with a glass of water in his hands. He was trying to call her when she appeared and without the courtesy of a knock, went in and plopped on the sofa. As if on cue, the floodgate of tears opened up.

“What is the problem?” Patrick was slightly taken aback, seeing her cry so much. He had known that something was not right when she called earlier but didn’t know the severity of the problem.

Still crying, she lifted her face that was nestled in her palms and looked at him briefly. She had the mind to explain what the issue was but was too choked to speak. She dropped her face back in her palms and continued weeping.
Patrick, torn between going to her and standing right where he was, took a drink from the glass in his hands, while still trying to make a decision.

Finally, he moved slowly and sat next to her. He placed his right hand on her back and waited.
They were still that way when someone knocked on the door.

Not wanting to leave her side, but seeing no way around it, Patrick got up and went to get the door.

Surprise quickly gave way to anger and intense anger when he saw who was at the door.

“What do you want?” he barked.

“Patrick, please hear me out. Let me come in and talk to you.” Determination was written all over Patrick’s ex as she stood by the door and waited to be let in.

“Leave my house and don’t ever come back.” He made to shut the door but was surprised at the resistance he got.

Debby was quietly listening to the exchange but quickly became uncomfortable when it looked like it was turning confrontational. She was about ready to get up to intervene when Peace sighted her.

All hell broke loose then.

“So it’s because of this harlot that you don’t want to listen to me. I had always known there was something between both of you. You lied to me, you cheated on me. So she is here to take my place. Patrick, it is less than two months we had that little misunderstanding, less then two months,” she emphasized, “and already you have started flaunting her all over the place. You even left work to come and see her. Have you ever done that for me?”

She could have gone on and on if Debby had not come to the door then and Patrick reached out to hold her. She broke down and cried.

“You can leave if you are done,” Patrick said coldly.

“Pat, please. Forgive me.” She managed, amid sobs. “I terminated the pregnancy. Sam was hitting me.”

Debby stood rooted to the floor, not knowing what to say or do. She felt both anger and pity for the woman who stood on the front porch of her friend’s house. She was wondering why she ever left him.

The expression on Patrick’s face gave away his pain at hearing that she was being physically abused. However, the emotion passed quickly.

“I’m sorry you are facing that, but please go and don’t come back.” With a little pressure on her shoulder, he shifted Debby backwards, just enough to make space to shut the door.
Silently, they walked back to the sofa and sat.

“Don’t you think she has changed? People do change, you know.” Debby knew she was venturing into stormy waters but she tried anyway.

“What are you talking about?” he asked in sincere confusion.

“I’m saying you should give her another chance.”

“Another chance? For what exactly? To get my heart broken all over? Debby, I thought you were my friend.” He was getting angry.

“What if she has changed?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he responded, no trace of the anger of a less than a minute before.

“Why’s that? We all deserve second chances…”

“Because I’m in love with you!” he blurted out before he could change his mind.

#StoryTeller
#Ephraim Writes