Prologue
Morning After Dark
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17 years ago
An older woman looked at the rearview mirror, checking on her two young grandchildren excitedly chatting away as she was on her way to drop them home to their mother.
What a rainy Sunday night? she thought to herself, gripping the steering wheel. Listening to the window wipers squeak in a beat, she needed new wipers.
Pulling out of the complex building, her headlights shine as across the road from the complex building was a woman limping covered in dirt. Upon seeing the woman's face, the old lady's face paled as if she was seeing a ghost from the past. The old woman was going to ignore the situation and drop the kids off, if not her firstborn grandchild spoke after seeing what her grandmother saw: "Oemie, that auntie is hurt. Must we help?"
The old grandmother sighs in frustration, hating her granddaughter's big heart for such a young age and that sharp observation skills. She hummed in agreement, "That's right tosisse, Oemie will help the poor auntie." the little girl excitedly hopped in her seat at the thought of her granny helping a person. The old woman flicked her headlights at the limping woman, to get her attention.
Getting out of the car and into the rain, the old woman approached the limping woman. She knew who this lady was, checking her surroundings with her hands in her pockets. "Are you being followed?" the old woman spoke in a gentle voice, but her face was stern. "Ek weet nie Haji, I'm on my way to the police." the old woman looked ahead at the dark road, the police station was far from here in walking distance. The old lady got the poor woman in the car, watching her groan in pain. "My kinders titi,"
"Where are they?"
"At home, with him."
"Who is him?"
"My man,"
"Did he do this?"
"Ja, because he didn't like the fact that I didn't want to naai him." the old woman gave the injured woman the side eye, looking at her grandkids in the backseat. The injured woman saw the kids in the back, as a way to say check her language. "Maaf titi,"
"It's okay,"
The old woman arrived at the police station, letting the injured Lady lay down on the bench. She arrived at the desk, the officers nudged each other snickering at the old lady in the scarf. "Hello Auntie, how can we help you?" the officer spoke in a sarcastic enthusiastic tone, the old woman narrowed her eyes folding her hands neatly over the desk. "Miss Wednesday, Nineteen-seventy. Codename: 'John chachos',"
The Police officers all immediatelysat up straight in a professional ethnic manner, "Is it a child case?" the old woman watched the injured woman writhed in pain, "She was mine back in the nineties, I found her in Rylands." the officers looked at the woman laying on the bench, then back at the old woman. "Domestic?"
"Domestic,"
"Kids?" the officer was typing on the desk, searching up information on the victim. "With the perpetrator," the officer motioned his colleagues to get something for the old woman, a few minutes later the other officer came out with a small briefcase. Handing it over to the older woman, "Here you go Miss Wednesday, sorry for the delay."
"No stress, watch my grandkids." she took
the briefcase blowing kisses at her grandkids, before leaving the station.
