Chapter 4
As I walked out of the carved door, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching me.
It was Leland. He caught up and grabbed my arm, trying to reason with me, “It’s just a bedroom. Do you have to stay at a hotel because of it?”
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I looked up at him and blurted out, “It’s none of your business. Who do you think you are?”
Leland paused for a moment but didn’t take his hand off my arm. “You are not pregnant, right?”
I got impatient, took out the pregnancy test report, and showed it to him, snapping, “Take a look at it. Make it quick! I’m in a hurry to leave.”
The next second, Leland stepped back in fear as if the piece of paper was a horrible monster. He tightened his grip on my arm.
It hurt. I gasped in pain and broke free from his grasp. After putting the paper back into my bag, I ordered an Uber.
Looking pale, Leland stood beside me and asked, “Glinda, how
could it be?”
I was puzzled by his reaction. Why did he suddenly get so upset
over me?
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“Isn’t this what you want? Now, your ex is having another man’s child, and she will no longer be in your way to seek your true love.”
Leland took a deep breath and shook his head. “But I don’t want it to be like this.”
He rubbed his temples and continued, “Since he took you, I’ve been in despair every day. Only then did I realize that you matter to me.”
“Stop it. Enough with the nonsense,” I raised my hand impatiently and cut him off, “There’s my Uber.”
The next moment, I got into the car without hesitation.
Just when I was about to close the car door, Leland grabbed it and stopped me. He said urgently and humbly, “Glinda, can you get rid of the baby? The baby… It makes me sick.”
I sat in the car and looked at the man in front of me. His eyes were bloodshot, and he pressed his lips, looking harassed and
nervous.
If only he had chosen me that day. But sadly, there was no way back for us all.
Then I unclasped his fingers from my arm one by one,
asking, “So, in what identity did you ask me to get rid of my baby? My ex? My sister’s current boyfriend? Or my future brother–in–law?”
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Leland was silent.
I pushed his hand away and closed the car door.
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I lay on the hotel bed, thinking about my stolen bedroom.
It was the room with the best lighting and view in the villa.
My mom decorated the bedroom for me. She carefully selected. the curtains, the floor, the bed, the sofa, and even the dresser. Every time I looked at them, I thought of her love for me.
Yel, Tamia stole the bedroom from me.
As I looked out the window at the night sky, I thought of a story that Harold shared with me before.
It was the second night after Leland turned his back on me.
Harold gave me a roasted chicken drumstick and said, “Stop crying. Your boyfriend got stolen. So, what?”
I was so sad at the time that I forgot I was supposed to be afraid of him. I sobbed, “You’re the one to talk! Do you have any idea how heartbroken I am?”
Hearing my words, Harold chuckled.
He lit up a cigarette, sat beside me, and looked at the night sky.
Chapfer 4
Then he began telling his story.
“No one has ever stolen my girlfriend. But someone indeed. snatched my chicken drumstick.”
With that, Harold raised the chicken drumstick in his hand.
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“I was homeless at that time, and I hadn’t eaten for a week. A kind person gave me a chicken drumstick, but a man robbed it. If I didn’t get it back, I would starve to death.”
I widened my eyes in shock. I had never thought that there were actually people out there, fighting for a drumstick just to
survive.
Then I stopped crying, and listened to him quietly.
Harold continued, “I was scared, too. At that time, I was still
a teenager, but that man was tall and strong. He took all my food away. That’s why I ended up getting starved for seven days straight.”
“I knew I couldn’t beat him, but I just couldn’t take it anymore. I didn’t want to starve to death or let him have his way again. So, I jumped up to his back and sunk my teeth deep into his car. No matter how much he stroked me against the wall or how painful it was, I didn’t let him go. I got to survive. That’s what I had in mind back then.”
Harold’s story dumbfounded me. I completely forgot about Leland and asked Harold, “Then what happened?”
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Harold took a bite of the drumstick. His beautiful eyes were squinted while he was smiling.
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“Anyway, I survived. From then on, no one in that area dared to steal my things.”
He pointed at my chicken drumstick and motioned for me to eat. “Every time I ate a chicken drumstick, I would think about that thing. It doesn’t matter even if someone robs my things. As long as I’m tough enough and strive back, they won’t dare to lay their hand on my stuff again.”
That night, Harold left after finishing the drumstick.
I looked at the night sky and contemplated my life for a long time. Then, I took a big bite of the drumstick that had turned cold in my hand.
And now, I suddenly wanted to eat chicken drumstick as I watched the night sky.
Before ordering a takeout, I sent a WhatsApp message to my dad: [I want my room back to the way it was before. Get it done. before tomorrow noon, or I will cash out all my mom’s stocks.]
Two seconds later, he called me. I didn’t answer his call.
I muted my phone, ate the chicken drumsticks, and went to bed. The next day, I would go home to see if they had done as I said.
