Did she say Africa?
Chapter Eleven
~ Clarissa
AFRICA.
I sit in a corner of the small room, my arms and knees shaking as I stare at the tatami spread beneath me.
It’s one of the world’s continents, I know, one known for its wildlife, its diamonds and its poverty, and so it’s not unusual for it to come up in conversations once in a while. In fact, I’ve heard of it many times before. Still, each time I do, the effect on me is the same.
Numbing. Weakening. Shattering.
No matter how many years have passed, I still vividly remember that night when Mama Molly told me the truth about who I was.
I was nine and it was a Saturday and I was rummaging around the house for something to use for my art project at school when I came across a picture of a couple, the man with the same hair as mine, the woman with the same eyes. When I asked Mama about it, she lied to me at first, taking the picture away. But that evening, after dinner, with Pa Henry standing by her, she told me the truth. She told me that she and Pa Henry weren’t my real parents but that she had been a friend of my mother’s. She said that my mother and father had a road accident while they were having their honeymoon in Africa. My father died on the spot but my mother survived. She was brought back to the US where she gave birth to me but died shortly after and so, Mama and Pa Henry decided to adopt me.
I cried myself to sleep that night.
Since then, I haven’t been able to stand seeing pictures of Africa because I always end up imagining my real Mom and Dad in that accident. It’s for that same reason that in spite of the many times the Lab has offered to send me to Africa for research, I’ve refused. I can’t bear to go there, knowing that it’s where my life began yet where my parents’ lives ended. Yes, my mother survived a few months more to give birth to me but I overheard Mama Molly saying once that the trauma Mom suffered from the accident, and the heartache from losing Dad took a toll on her body and mind and she lost her will to live long before I was born.
They were living their dreams in Africa until it turned into a nightmare, a nightmare I’ve been having over and over again. And the worst thing is that the nightmare isn’t over.
In fact, something tells me it’s only just begun.
“Hey.” Kyle enters the room with a small, plastic bag. “I got you some food from the convenience store.”
I quickly shift my gaze back to the floor, hugging my knees tighter to my chest. “I’m not hungry, Kyle.” As though instant noodles can cure anything.
“Are you sure?” He sits near me. “We climbed a lot of stairs today and you ran pretty fast back there.”
I say nothing.
“Let’s see what we have here.”
I hear the rustle of the plastic bag as he goes through its contents.
“We have triangle-shaped rice balls, which I think have tuna filling. My Japanese is a little rusty. Sorry. Also, we have sandwiches with what looks like egg, ham, lettuce and cucumbers. We have these fish-shaped cakes with red bean paste. We have cup noodles. Oh, and we have dessert. Yuzu and Wasabi-flavored Kit Kat bars...chocolate-coated squid...”
I raise an eyebrow.
Kyle grins.
“Well, that caught your interest.” He hands me the candy bar. “Why not try it?”
I look at it. “Great. A weird snack for a weirdo like me.”
“No fair.” Kyle reaches out to hold my hand. “You’re stealing my title.”
I lift up my eyes to meet his, finding them overflowing with kindness, concern.
I place my hand over his. “It’s okay, Kyle. I’ve always known I was...different. I never felt like I belonged anywhere.”
“Except at the Lab.”
“Except with animals,” I correct him, though for a long time it was one and the same. “Weird, isn’t it? Maybe that’s why I love animals so much. Because I’m...related to them.”
“Hello.” Kyle playfully punches my shoulder. “All humans are related to animals. Didn’t they teach you that in Biology?”