A worried Father
Broken Vows
A novel
By
Jessica Cue-Ann
Clara Addas
Mama left in the middle of the night. No goodbye. No promised visits. Just a three sentence letter addressed to Papa:
Zayed,
I’m leaving. Don’t come looking for me. Being a wife and a mother is not for me, so ... bye.
Ahd.
No one knew about it except my brother and me. Papa made sure of that.
Today is the three-year anniversary of her ‘disappearance’. Maybe that was why dawn found me awake.
The sun has wiggled through the small cracks of the blinds. I’m curled up like a fetus in its mother’s womb, knees digging into my chest, but still can’t ward off the chilling cold.
Mama and I didn’t have the mother-daughter spa treatment kind of relationship; I’ve always been a daddy’s brat. She lived for my brother—I’ve always known if it came down to it. If she absolutely had to choose, it’d be Daniel. She’d throw me to the wolves, no second guessing, if it meant saving my twin.
I don’t hate her for it. This is how all parents are. They have a favourite.
My phone rings. Like a football kicked too hard, I roll to my side and peer at the screen. It’s a restricted number, which I would normally ignore, but for some reason, I feel compelled to answer.
I’ve been receiving these weird phone calls for over a month now. Always at five o’clock. Never a second later. Always on the dot.
“Hello,” I say, keeping my voice cautious.
“He killed her.” The voice warns, deep and slow.
I ignore that. He’s been saying the same thing for close to a month and a half now.
“Who are you?” The question holds more interest for me than anything he ever said.
“I’m the guy hired to kill you.”
The thump of my heart overwhelms the surrounding darkness.
