Page 173 of Taeja

“With that out of the way, I’d like to know the truth about why you left me.”

“The truth?” Cassedi asked, her brows pulling together.

“Huh?”

“You always saythe truth.”

“Because Jerry basically told me that all I know about you leaving is a lie.”

“What did he tell you?”

“That… you ran away with Romar,” Taeja said, and Cassedi’s eyes widened. From guilt or shock? Taeja couldn’t tell. “And he showed me pictures of you hugging Romar at the airport.”

Cassedi chuckled, shaking her head at her lap. “That witch Teddy.”

“What does Teddy have to do with this?”

Rolling her shoulders, Cassedi looked at Taeja. “Teddy has never liked me since I met Jerry in university. Teddy’s a controlling mother, who always had a say in Jerry’s life, and when I came into the picture, it wasn’t like that anymore. When she ran off overseas, then filed for Jerry, he returned to marry me so he could file for me, too. When I got pregnant with you, it delayed the filing process.

“When it came through, Mummy told me not to go. She still saw me as her little girl, who shouldn’t go to an unfamiliar country and live with a man who still stayed with his mother. I didn’t listen to Mummy, and well, let’s just say I should’ve,” Cassedi said.

“I need the full story,” Taeja said. “I didn’t travel all this way for you to lie to me, too.”

Cassedi sighed, taking a moment to say, “It was hell living with Teddy. Especially when you were a toddler. I felt like she didn’t like you just because you’re mine. She’d always yell at you…Stop all the crying. No, you can’t have that. You’re spoilt. Go ask someone else.It didn’t even help that even though Jerry was attached to you, he’d take Teddy’s side because he thought she meant you well. It was stressful. I begged Jerry to let us move out, and eventually, he did. He bought that nice house on Crescent Street,” Cassedi said, a hint of a smile on her face.

“We— I mean,hestill lives there,” Taeja said.

Cassedi smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I think asking to move was my second worst mistake. Jerry became exactly like his mother. He wanted to control every aspect of my life. He didn’t even want us traveling to Jamaica anymore to see Mummy because he thought we wouldn’t come back. Him even cuss seh a must man me waa see, whole time I just missed my mother and wished I listened to her.”

The sorrow in Cassedi’s voice tugged at Taeja’s heart, making her shoulders slump and her lips twist into a frown. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t know that he controlled you this much.”

Cassedi reached over to wipe away the tears in Taeja’s eyes. “It’s fine. I didn’t want you to see that. He wasn’t like that withyou—”

Taeja laughed dryly. “He got like that overtime.”

“What?” Cassedi asked, her anger surging. “Wa him do to yu?”

“The same things he did to you…” Taeja said, then told Cassedi some instances. “I thought it was because he loved me, but I realized that isn’t love.”

“How him fi force yu fi go pon birth control?” Cassedi yelled, seething. “Jerry bright, eeh?! How him fi do that to yu?!”

“It’s fine.” Taeja fought the urge to touch where the implant rested in her arm, and reached over to lay a hand atop Cassedi’s. Taeja smiled as Cassedi clasped their hands. “I wish you took me with you.”

“I wish I did, too,” Cassedi said as a tear rolled down her cheek. “But Teddy and Romar were the ones who got me my documents. I should’ve known something was wrong when Romar kept touching me that day, but I brushed it off because I was happy. I honestly thought they were doing me a favor because nothing was changing Jerry’s mind. Romar stayed with me while I visited Mummy, but when it was time for me to come back, I couldn’t find Romar or my documents. It’s all my fault—”

“No, Teddy’s just evil,” Taeja stated angrily. “But Jerry is worse fi mek her rule him head.”

Cassedi slowly removed her hands from Taeja’s. “Do you want to know anything else?”

“Did you… miss me?”

“Yes. Every day,” Cassedi said without missing a beat. “If I knew you’d go through the same, I would’ve tried harder to come for you, but…”

“But?”

“I’m in a rough patch.” Cassedi waved a hand at her old house. “Have been for years. It’s hard to get a good job even with my degree. I went to my bed hungry many nights, but I slept better knowing this wasn’t happening to you.”

Taeja’s lips trembled. She reached over to hug Cassedi, taking the older woman by surprise.

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