Ties Read online

  “What?”

  She rolled her eyes. “As if you care”

  “Your dad is coming home very soon” She stretched on the recliner

  “Really, did his big business suddenly crash?”

  “Karen, stop it, I won’t let you talk about him that way.” She spoke in a strained voice. “Your father is working really hard so we can live comfortably….”

  “Yea, live comfortably without him”. She stood to go.”He might as well want to file for a divorce.”

  Her mother fell silent, Karen turned around, eyes narrowing.

  “Mom, you kept this from me?” Tears sprang to her eyes.

  “We thought you wouldn’t understand but it has to be done, Karen”

  “Oh, cut me some slack, I’m not a kid anymore” She sighed. ”You two are filing for a divorce without letting me know?”

  “Some issues just have to be handled differently, Karen…”

  “To hell with that, I mean I have the right to know.”

  “Why this attitude, Karen, You’re given everything you need, don’t just stand there and be an ingrate.” She spoke to her face, annoyed.

  “Ingrate, I’d rather be broke than be in this kind of mess, mom” She screamed, weeping

  “This wasn’t your personality, Karen; you’ve changed a great deal.”

  “Whose fault,thishappens when someone is left in the lurch.”

  Her mother went silent-

  Karen swallowed hard. ”What’s he coming here to do, anyway?”

  “To clear off some things and see you, he really loves you, Karen.”

  “Oh, bring it down a thousand; you really think I’m going to believe that?” She looked at her one more time and walked away letting out a loud hiss.

  Her mother sank onto the sofa-almost in tears.

  -------------------------

  Annabel observed her face, searching her eyes. “Your eyes are all bulgy, did you get in a fight with someone this morning or something.”

  She looked at her, eyes tensed-silent.

  “Sometimes, you just need to let the tears flow.” Annabel told her.

  She lifted her face. “You don’t know anything about me.”

  Annabel shrugged. ”Do you want to share?”

  “Not really.”

  No one said anything again-Karen stood gruffly and headed for the door.

  She yanked open the door in the basement, she sneezed as she stepped into the dusty room stacked with base drums, guitars, broken furniture and books. Pulling out a chair and taking a deep breath, she began to cry. She cried till she thought her eyes would pop out of its socket

  “Why! Why! Why!”She chocked and sniffed. “I also matter, don’t I? You chose your career in place of me; I don’t need any of your damn money.” She took her voice down. “Is getting your love and attention too much to ask?”

  She sat silent for the briefest moment. “You’ve changed my life in just four years…I hate you for making me hate you.” She whimpered and then let out a throaty loud cry before burying her head on her palms, sobbing quietly.

  She dried her eyes few minutes later and walked back to the classroom, Annabel shook her head.

  A teacher walked into the class as soon as she sat. She was a thin woman with long legs and wobbly arms, broad shoulders and considerably flat chested.

  She placed a hand on Karen’s shoulder. “A new kid, Stand up, darling.”

  She stood lazily.

  “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

  She scoffed. “Karen Adams.”

  “So pretty” She reached out to touch her cheek, she retreated.

  “Karen Adams. Are you by any chance the daughter of Mr. Adams south?”

  Everyone turned to her, she hesitated. ”I am.”

  “Gracious goodness, I never…”

  “Can I sit now?”

  She grinned “Of course you can, child”

  The woman talked of her father and all he had earned; she started feeling drowsy, and rested her head till lessons ended.

  Jason fixed his eyes on her. “Jason is into this one, I’m telling you.” Justin said, grinning

  William laughed. “He’s human, he falls in love too.”

  Jason stroked his front hair-ignoring them

  “Did she say her dad was Adams?”

  Jason shrugged. ”Don’t know.”

  Justin glanced at Karen. ”She’s a Hermit, I don’t like her.”

  “How can you? When you still have eyes on Annabel…”

  “Stop it, William.”

  “Seriously dude, it’s been years now and she still catches your eye?”

  “Stop,it’s not like that.”

  “It is like that. You continue giving genuine reasons why I should flee from you.”

  They laughed and fell silent for a split second.

  “Rumors have been going on about Jason’s mom”

  “What’s it about?”

  “I don’t know, I just heard…”He stopped; Jason was listening to them, an odd expression on his face.

  William feigned a cough. No one said a thing to each other again.

  3

  She made it to San Francisco that bleak afternoon. She whiled away time at a bar and a sun-drenched beach until she thought he would have dismissed from his office.

  Raymond Blackwell walked out of his office mid-evening. A dark skinned man on a grey suit, kept a crew cut and had an ear pierced. His dapper and boyish appearance didn’t match with his personality.

  He looked impatiently at his watch as if waiting on someone. He had a glimpse of the black car parked in the office area; he looked again when the car door opened.

  “Jasmine” He muttered

  “You too have begun calling me by name” She grinned, walking up to him

  “What do you want?”

  “You know what”

  “I can’t do what you’re asking, Jasmine.” He rested on his car, famished.

  Her hands slid down his chest “Why not?”

  He dropped her hands. “We’re divorced for goodness sake”

  “You can’t cut someone away from your life completely, you know?” She smiled clumsily, pressing even closer.

  “Jasmine, I um…” He looked around uneasily

  She laughed, looking at him with a dark expression on. “I’m not asking you to take me back, but don’t you think the companies are a little too large for you to handle?”

  “I’ve have employees, Jasmine”

  “We started this foundation together, remember”

  “And I gave you your percent”

  “Raymond”

  “What are you even saying, Jasmine?””

  “All I’m saying is I’m ready to relieve you of the burden, I can help run the company in New York”

  He was silent, listening to her.

  She bit her lip, proactively. “And of course I can take care the other part of your life, if you don’t mind. ”

  “You should go now”

  “What’s wrong?” She chuckled. “I don’t think your girlfriend would get mad seeing me talking to you.”

  “What do…?”

  “About my request”

  ”I’ll see what I can do” He hesitated before entering his car

  He started the engine and drove out of her sight, she laughed humorlessly, jangling her keys. She sped off on the tarmacked road, cigarette stuffed between her lips.

  ----------------------------

  Karen alighted from her car, there was another car parked beside the garage-she had not seen it when she left that morning. She paused and glanced around before pushing the door as an afterthought. Her mom and father were conversing deeply when she came in. She walked past them, her dad called and she turned to him, laughing.

  “Oh, it’s you”

  “Karen.”

  “Sorry, it’s been such a long time, didn’t recognize you earlier.”

  “Come here and give daddy a hug.”

 
She moved closer and sneered. “Do you think you mean that much to me?”

  His mouth dropped in surprise.

  “How dare you talk to your dad that way?” She raised a hand to spank her but stopped

  “Oh, really, go on and hit me, this monster walks in here after many years and you want me to act like everything is fine?” She gave a short derisive laugh “Now, you have a more justifiable reason to slap me”

  Then was a deafening slap on her cheek that sent her sinking onto the sofa.

  He held her arm “Martha, enough.”

  Karen stood fighting back bitter tears; she tucked a stray hair behind an ear

  “Karen” He called

  She had her back turned to them-silent

  He kept his cool “Ka…”

  “Why won’t you leave me alone” She screamed with tear stained eyes.

  “What have happened to you, Karen?” He turned to her mother “This city is doing her no good”

  He faced Karen with his eyes dark with rage “Now, you tell me young woman, what the hell is wrong with you?”

  “You don’t have the right to ask me that”

  “Oh yes, I do.”

  She clenched a fist, trying hard not to cry any longer. Sighing, she made an attempt to leave, her father held her arm, drawing her back

  “You won’t walk out on me”

  “But you did, four years ago.”

  “What else do you want? I make sure I give you everything you need and… ”

  She looked at both her parent “Your love and presence is all I’ve ever asked for”

  Her mother sat on the sofa, keeping her head down

  “Things weren’t working out any longer and I had to leave, you should understand that, Karen”

  “I do. I understand you chose to invest in your career than your family” She gave a curt smirk “I’m not a kid anymore, though you made me an adult a little too early”

  “I didn’t come here to exchange words with you”

  “Then, don’t. Clear whatever and leave my life alone.”

  -----------------------------------

  No one came down for dinner that night-she had heard her parent exchange words in the living room, his voice suppressing hers, she went silent and then there was a loud thud at the door-He had left that night and then began a loud wailing from her mom.

  Her mother didn’t water the freesias flower in the garden the following morning; she only came down to get water to take pills, then, sat on the settee staring at nothing in particular. Karen began hating her father even more and if there was anything she hated to do that day was go to school

  Mr. Jones had summoned her to his office-she wasted as much time as she could

  “Karen, do sit down, child”

  She hesitated before sitting on the farthest seat from him

  “The room is now dust free, so you wouldn’t be having any problem staying here” He barked a hard laugh

  He was wrong- she knew was going to have a lot of problems staying in the room with him

  He looked grim “Your dad called the school”

  She lowered her head, muttering some meaningless word

  “He was a bit skeptical about your behavior in school”

  “Was he?”

  “He asked us to keep an eye on you”

  “Looking for someone to play his role?” She crossed her arm and leaned back

  “Actually, we should be responsible for you too”

  She rolled her eyes and crossed one leg over the other “Humph”

  “I don’t know why, but he was expressing his apology for your unruly behavior.”

  He leaned forward, grinning “I told him you are a nice little girl and you have a great personality”

  “Hmm”

  “Although, I don’t know you well enough to say such things.

  “He gave us some benefit” He grinned “With what he gave; we can run the school for months without stress”

  “God blessed you with such a great father.”

  “Such blessings”

  There was a brief silence “As a matter of fact, Karen, I heard you’re pretty good in your studies but um…I also heard your relationship with others is sour”

  “I’m probably used to being solo” She answered coldly, looking for the closest exit

  “Oh no, you should mingle, there are a lot of your kind, I mean the wealthy ones if maybe you don’t roll well with people of the lower class”

  She had a feeling that he knew some things about her

  4

  He had gotten used to being alone-alone in the big mansion for roughly five years. He had all the freedom but still knew he was bound. He handed his jacket to a servant and sat on the large bed looking around the room.

  This was his life-abandoned and miserable. His real life, not the life others knew him to live. This was the real him- not the Jason whom everyone thought loved fun, girls, soccer, clubbing and all fantasies. He tried to get his mind away from his ill lucked life but he couldn’t and it brought him more pains

  He felt heavy in his chest, then a shortening in his breath, he gasped for air, groaned and managed to reach for his drawer, breathing hard, he scampered and searched-he found it and stuffed it in his mouth, pressing. He shut his mouth tightly and threw it back into the drawer.

  Jason paced around the room, this wasn’t the life he had planned to lead, but what would he do? He had to play the cards he had been dealt. He couldn’t fathom if the past five years were hell or something worse.

  He remembered the cold night when his mother had packed her bags and left-not that he liked her but things would’ve been a lot easier if she had stayed. And the day he came from school and saw a note lying on his bed-his father was gone too, to San Francisco, has he had written in the letter

  He hated to remember those times, moaning and shivering, he crashed on the bed as rain drummed against the window

  -----------------------------

  She was silly to think her life will be pleasant, all the time. Her father always came back from Las Vegas once in every two weeks. She couldn’t tell when it began, but her parent started conversing in low voices often.

  The night he was to go back to Vegas, she heard something crash then, a blow. Her father came out not long after her mother-there was no trace of tear in her eyes, only a croaky voice. She stared at them, confused, not knowing who hit the other, but they were still speaking with themselves that she resolved that there wasn’t a fight after all. The day he was to go back, he hugged Karen tightly, longer than he did other times, she felt scared-didn’t know why. And he never came back till few days ago, to clear something like her mother had said; the other part was some big fat fable.

  She hit her plate noisily with the cutlery, she wasn’t really eating anything and neither was her mother-she knew her mom was sick and so she was, sick, sick of everything, her family, her life. She didn’t even know what to make of her life anymore, just wanted to get away from everything

  When she was younger, she showed interest in helping her father run his company. But right now? Screw him-she wanted to be a doctor, to cure her sickness and her mom’s too-she didn’t know what her mother’s sickness was, though.

  She frowned-how could she ever think of being a doctor? She knew she wasn’t humane-she’d kill her patients with her ill luck.

  She walked to her room-the wind blew fiercely and rain beat heavily on the roof, blurring her mind. She thought the house was going to crash and collapse on her-just her.

  ---------------------------

  He saw her again in the company of huge looking men at the brothel, being the only lady and by far the youngest; she was drinking and smoking with them. She looked at him with dark hooded eyes when he caught her gaze.

  Then, they crossed paths at the door, he pushed the door open before she did, letting her go through first.

  “We meet again Mrs. Blackwell”

  “Jasmine”

  He
smiled “You seem to come here very often”

  “Yea, I come here most of the time, um…its work related”

  He sensed guilt in her voice. “Work, at a brothel?”

  She laughed, looking around “Don’t get me sued, it’s little um… too classy for what it is built for”

  He chuckled low “I understand”

  He considered her, weird. She was slender and always had red lipstick on; her large eyes were fairly noticeable when she had her sunglasses off. She smoked like it was normal-normal for a lady.

  “What do you say we go out sometime to get acquainted.” He asked her

  She gave a throaty laugh “I wouldn’t be in Vegas for some time, I’m leaving for San Francisco in a few days’ time and will be there for a couple of months”

  “Oh”

  5

  She shivered from the severe cold, her hands and feet felt dead, wrapping herself in a fur coat, she walked out of the door, not touching her breakfast. The vehicle sped, sending cold humid air on her already shivering body.

  She saw Jason walking alone in the hallway, hands in his pockets, he wasn’t bugging her lately, she was glad. Something fell off from his leather jacket, she moved closer and let out a soft gasp-it was an inhaler. She looked up and watched him continue to the classroom.

  He was sitting when she walked up to him, keeping a straight face.

  “Here, be more careful next time.” She gave it back

  That was the nicest thing she had ever said to him, he took it almost immediately and looked around, tucking it back into his jacket again

  “Thanks”

  “Yeah” She brushed her front hair aside and walked away, Britney walked past her nose up, saying something under her breath

  “What was that she gave you?” William asked

  “It’s nothing”

  “He looks dead.” Justin whispered to William, looking unusually concerned

  Karen walked to the basement, her head ached, she was glad she still had a hideout-away from everyone. She thought of the past days and wanted to cry but knew her head will ache even more. Her mother had thrown up the previous night and the housekeepers helped her out. She only met her that morning sitting glumly on the couch.

  She loved her mom, she really did but she was mad at her-everyone.