Amy bit her lower lip as she carefully watched Stella. Her heart was thudding a little too fast. Did she make a mistake? Should she have not asked? Seeing Stella like this, Amy figured it must have been a horrifying incident that pushed her to leave her home.
"You don't have to tell me...", Amy said. Even if she was curious, she was not one to force matters. If Stella was uncomfortable, that was fine. 'After all..... it has nothing to do with me', she mused.
"No dear", Stella shook her head. "But, you might see me differently after this...."
She had fallen silent because Richard had told her to leave the matter. But even so, she could not help but hope this involved Amy. But, she was afraid of how Amy would react to this but was also curious. A glimmer of hope started to bloom in her heart and that helped her will courage and confidence to retell her past.
"Was it when Alex was seven or eight..... Richard and I were still in New Jersey by then. As you know, he was truck driver and so he moved around a lot while I was a stay at home mom. He didn't know I was part of the wolves gang. So while he was away, I'd look after Alex and if I had a job, I would leave her with my mom. Not so great of me as a wife and mother but I just loved the way things were. Everything was perfect, except for my secret, but things were good. That was until the one job we were given. A deal with the dark waters."
Amy's heart dropped to her stomach when she heard the name. These guys have really been in the business for a long time. Her attention did not waver as she continued to listen.
"The King had personally come to the U.S to set up distribution links for their 'products'. In this line of business, one side tends to always have the upper hand so negotiations went on for a few days. During that time, I saw a girl on The King's side, a teenager about sixteen or seventeen years old. Brunette, big and piercing blue eyes, very skinny, but heavily pregnant. She wore a maternity dress but nothing too fancy.
"I wondered what the girl was doing with such people. Was she the King's mistress? But she was not treated like one, more like a dog but he kept her by his side still. I was curious. And you know how I get when I'm curious."
Amy chuckled with her on this. They both knew that Stella would not sleep a wink until she satisfied her curiosity.
"So, without alerting anyone, I followed the Dark Waters on one night. They had left furiously as they still had not reached an agreement with us. We were quite a big deal by then. I wanted to talk to her, hear her story, maybe help her escape. Before I could reach her, they had boarded their cars and left.
"Of course, I followed them on my motorbike. It was a very cold night so I threw on a lot of warm clothes. I tailes them from a distance, making sure I blend in with the late night traffic so they don't detect me.
"At some point, they took a detour along a road that was surrounded by deserted buildings. I made sure to kill the lights as I followed. They drove for a while until they suddenly stopped. I hid too and waited.
"Their cars had hidden whatever it is they were doing so I waited. I could feel it in my heart that something was wrong but I just stood there. I had witnessed a lot of bad things but never this. Because when they left, that's when I learned how cruel humans can be."
There were tears in her eyes threatening to fall and she wiped them with her hands. Amy had a foreboding feeling. She knew the Dark waters were cruel. Her stomach made an unpleasant twist as she wondered what on Earth they did to that girl. She stood up to get Stella a box of tissues and passed it to her.
"Thank you", she sniffled and Amy nodded as she paced around the room. "You've been sitting for too long."
"Mm. I need to stretch a little", she said.
Stella nodded and wiped her tears. She cleared her throat and proceeded with the story. "I waited until all the cars had left and made sure no one else was in aight, before I rushed over."
She shook her head. "A baby. A new born baby girl with a jacket carelessly thrown on top of it was left to die. The girl had given birth and she had been taken with them leaving her child behind. I tore at my shirt and tied up her cut umbilical cord and quickly wrapped her in my jacket.
"I rushed home, not knowing what to do. I thought no one was watching me but Lily was. It took a lot of convincing for her to help me. That night, Richard found us nursing the baby and I had to come clean. We knew how dangerous it was for us especially with the child.
"So we went to West Village, a place he was already going and we dropped the baby in front of Good Hope orphanage. In fear that it would be tied back to us, we didn't leave a clue as to who we were or the baby's story. We just hoped the little one will be safe. When I went back, I learned that the deal had passed. With Richard finding our about my secret life and knowing we would be working with these cruel people, I decided to leave.
"Lily thought I would die the moment they found out what I did. So she set her eyes on Richard. I used that as a cover for us to leave New Jersey and go to West village. Although I couldn't visit the child, staying in the same city comforted my guilty heart. Twenty three years later, guilt still eats at me."
Amy stopped and looked at her in shock. "Did you say twenty three years?"
"Yes dear, twenty three."
***
Amy sighed as she turned in bed to find a comfortable position as she adjusted the pillows. She hasn't been able to sleep a wink after hearing Stella's story. Zach who couldn't sleep because of Amy, opened his eyes as he pulled her to him.
"What's wrong? You haven't been yourself since I came back", he asked gently.
"It's.... It's something Stella said today", her brows were knitted in confusion.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He started caressing her hair.
"It's a long story", she warned.
"I'm all ears."
This she recounted everything the older woman had told her, pouring all her concerns to him. "The number of years could be a coincidence. And I didn't bother looking much into my background because I thought I was just one of those cases of an abandoned child."
"Should we look into it again?" He asked.
"We could.... I'm curious. But what if.....", Amy's heart was thudding in anxiousness as she voiced this worry. "What if it turns out I'm related to the Dark Waters?"
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