Chapter Twenty-Four: Getting to Know Each Other
Kyle
We were in June, and Nyla was now four months pregnant and this also meant only five months were remaining before our wedding. We wanted to go on more dates and enjoy each other’s company before we got married. I was sitting in my room, reading an email found on my phone while Nyla was busy reading a book. “Nyla” I called out, “I should’ve asked you this from earlier but I didn’t want to bring up old memories.”
“What is it that you want to ask?”
“In the hospital, you said you had seen your parents in your dream. What happened to them?”
Sighing, she took a deep breath and I heard her sigh. Laying on me she started talking,
“I was ten years old when my father died in a car accident a few meters from my home.”
Flashback
“Hey Sally, see you later,” I shouted after my best friend after I exited her dad’s car. Waving goodbye, I waited until their car had disappeared before I turned to walk inside but had suddenly stopped short when I heard a car a loud crash coming from down the street. The car that seemed familiar was hit by a truck and was spinning out of control and had come to a stop right at the front of my house.
“Mom,” I screamed when I saw that it was in fact, my dad’s car. Running inside the house, I grabbed her hand and led her outside. Screaming at the top of her lungs while crying, she ran over to his car, but before she could reach it a loud explosion was heard that made her fall to the ground due to the impact. My dad's car was now up in flames and I could hear her scream in agony. I stood there paralyzed, unable to move to give her the support that she needs. Tears were flowing like water in an ocean body. Persons had come out to investigate what happened, when they saw that it was my dad a few persons immediately run to my mom while the other few ran to me to offer her their condolences. The funeral was a drag; my dad had to be in a closed casket because he was burnt so badly that he was unrecognizable. I was traumatized for months.
My mom wasn’t eating much and she got sicker as the day goes by. Six years after their anniversary, I had come home to find her dead. The doctors had said she suffered a heart attack but I knew the real reason was from a broken heart. I was left on my own; luckily everything was left to me because I was an only child.
I could see tears falling down her eyes, and I know I couldn’t imagine the pain that she had felt and had been through. Wiping away her tears, I hugged her tightly. Sniffling she asked me, “what happened to your dad? I had heard your mom told you were just like him on the night we were arguing. What did she mean? and why I haven’t heard you spoke of him?” On the mention of his name, I could feel my rage bubbling up ready to explode. Looking at Nyla, I saw that she was a bit scared. Calming down a bit, I started talking.
“That son of a bitch is still alive and breathing.”
“It seems you hate him. Tell me exactly why.”
“He had married his secretary and had left my mom and me to fend for ourselves. He had made my mom sign a prenuptial agreement so when they had divorced a month after, he kicked us out and she did not get anything out of the marriage of fifteen years.”
“If your mom and dad are divorced, why does she still have his last name?”
“It’s not his. My mother had married again two years after and had made me changed my name.”
“So, Emma is his daughter?”
“Yes, she is.”
“What happened to him?”
“He had died,” he replied sadly.
“I’m sorry for your lost.”
“It’s okay, and to what my mom said I was just like my dad she was referring to the situation. She had heard us arguing. When my dad had kicked us, she had told me to never treat women disrespectfully, and what I said to you that night was very disrespectful. Even if she didn’t hear what I said, but she did hear a little bit of our arguing and that’s why she said those words. “Was there anything else you would like to know?”
“What had made Emma crazy?” she asked curiously.
Chuckling at her choice of words, I replied, “it had to do with a boy that she had loved when she was fifteen. He had broken her heart. She had found him in a classroom with a girl and they were having sex. She had gotten so mad that she had beaten the girl to a bloody pulp. After that happened, she had stalked him. Broke into his house, spraying his car. We had taken her to a doctor and she was diagnosed and was admitted into a mental asylum for four years.”
A moment of silence had set in; after I had told her about Emma. I knew she was thinking about what I had said. Clearing her throat, she asked, “Kyle do you think it’s a bit soon for us to be getting married knowing the fact that we still hardly know each other?”
“Yes, I do, but we had come to a step closer today by sharing our past and I know after we are married, we can continue to learn something new about each other every day.” Smiling at me, she captured my lips into a kiss before she turned off the lamp that was her on side of the bed. Also, turning off mines, I placed my arm around her.
“Nyla,” I called, “I can’t wait to marry you.”
“Neither can I,” she replied.