Page 21 of Broken Clocks

---

I left his house telling myself I’d never look back.

Chapter 8- Eshe

PAST

I didn’t cry until the day I laid back on that table at the abortion clinic.

The medicine they injected into my veins knocked me out cold.

I dreamed of a baby girl with his eyes and a soft halo of an afro. She stared at me with so much love, I felt it in my bones.

I woke up sad—missing someone I never met. That sadness stayed with me for a year.

During that time, I stopped speaking to everyone except Granny.

Sinica moved to Atlanta after passing the Georgia bar. She emailed me with the good news, never once asking anything about me.

That’s when it hit me—she never cared.

She had always been the taker in our friendship, and I’d always been the one giving.

I deleted her email and blocked her address without a second thought.

Another year passed.

The sadness came and went now.

I got another job.

Same as the last. Just a job.

Granny passed away on a Tuesday.

Four days later, Sinica showed up at my door.

“I’m sorry, Eshe,” she said. “If I had known, I would’ve come for the funeral.”

She pulled me into a hug, and I let her.

I cried on her shoulder without meaning to.

It wasn’t until we pulled apart that I noticed the swell of her stomach.

She was pregnant.

I managed a small, hollow smile.

I told her I was happy for her, even though my heart sank.

My daughter would’ve been walking by now. Maybe even talking.

Then I heard his voice.

“Hey, Eshe.”

Just like that, I was angry.

I raised my eyes and saw him step behind her, close. Too close.

---