Seven

Ezekiel’s POV

The ride back was graveyard quiet, save for the steady humming from the car's engine as my driver drove us back to wherever home was for Kamille.

Confusion overwhelmed me as I stared at her and the children. Could they be hers? Is there a world where she is the mother of these children? If she is, then just how much did I drink from Ellen's bowl of enticing lies.

The more I thought about it, the more curious I became.

Kamille must have moved on. She and the kids belong to another!

I cringed in annoyance at such upsured thoughts. But what if it was true? A different kind of anger shot through my heart. Jealousy. I managed to stay quiet and continued staring until my eyes locked with the children.

They too began staring at me and their mum. Curiosity engulfed their stares. Then I heard the boy who held their backpacks at the airport, whisper to the girl. “Does this gentleman not look familiar to you? I see him stealing glances at mummy.” Yeah I remember, Roen and Tyris. The other two were Torin and Royer.

They nodded and suspiciously looked at me. I stayed mute as we continued the journey.

“Excuse me Mister,” Tyris suddenly waved at me and I turned to look at her. “Do you by any chance know who my dad is?” She asked throwing me off balance for a split second. I was shocked at the question she asked, but clearly not as shocked as Kamille was.

“Tyris!” She exclaimed, trying to make the girl stay quiet, the little girl recoiled. Her eyes popped as though they would fall out and her mouth stayed open. Then she cleared her throat and stayed calm, or she pretended to be calm.

For a moment, I felt the silence return but it was shortlived.

“Mummy,” Royer called out. I was calm and listening to what he wanted to ask his mother. She replied by fixing her gaze on him. “You promised us that Dad was going to come back for us, but…” he paused and took a glance at his siblings. “…but he has not come yet. Mummy, did you lie to us?” He asked.

Kamille gasped but quickly composed herself. “No Royer. Mummy did not lie.” That's all she said. I wanted her to say more, I prayed Toyin would ask her more questions. But he didn't.

His words broke me. They fed the sadness that was inside me and made it grow even bigger. I tried to look at Kamille hoping her expression will give her away but I couldn’t make eye contact. She was avoiding my gaze, making it obvious that her actions were deliberate.

She maintained her calm facade but I saw the uneasiness she concealed and I knew something was wrong. I just couldn’t wrap my head around what it was.

Damn it Kamille! What are you hiding?

“We have just passed the toll gate. Where exactly are we headed, Sir.” The driver asked looking at me from the rear mirror.

His question interrupted my thoughts, but it was necessary. “Hey, Kamille. Do you think you are ready to give us an actual address of where we are headed?” I redirected the question to her.

She finally allowed her eyes to meet mine, then she looked away again without saying anything.

After a few seconds, she took out a piece of paper from her purse and handed it to me without uttering a word.

If I didn’t know better, I would have thought she took an oath to stay without talking to me. I collected the paper and passed it to my driver. He nodded and continued driving.

Kamille stayed mute. She didn’t want to talk to me, so I started talking to the kids.

“Hey, do you guys like ice cream?” I asked.

“Yes!” They chorused with excitement in their faces. I smiled, right conversation starter I picked.

“Are you getting us ice cream Mister?” Royer asked.

“Yes, only if you tell me your favorite flavors,” I responded.

“I like Chocolate and strawberry.” Tyris replied with more excitement than her brothers.

Reon was still quiet although he now wore a smile. Kamille's silence was hard to ignore but I felt so eager to know the children that I decided to allow her brood.

“Where is your best ice cream spot?” I asked Tyris.

“Me? It’s Mr. Buckin's cream, close to our house in the US.” She responded.

“You guys are just coming from the US?” I asked in surprise, hoping Kamille would say something but she didn't.

“Yes, we are,” Torin replied.

“That’s a beautiful place to live. So, why are you back here?” I was curious.

“My mum said we are here to meet our father.” Reon finally said something. I was dumbfounded.

I thought meeting them was fate giving me another chance. I looked at her and then focused on the children. “That’s good.” I smiled and then stayed quiet until we got to the address that Kamille gave.

Reon's voice silenced mine.

“We are here.” The driver announced.

“Okay.” I replied and stepped out of the car and so did Kamille and her children.

I signalled to Andrew and he got the men with him to help take Kamille's luggages ito the house.

Kamille took the backpacks from Reon and was about to go inside when I held her hand and stopped her.

“I need to speak with you for a moment.” I said.

“Mmm hmmm!” she responded uninterestedly. “Go on.” She added.

The children ran into the house while she stood there and looked me straight in the eye, waiting for what I had to say.

“How are you? How have you been? Where have you been the entire time? The kids told me you guys were in the US. How did you even cope there with them?” I just kept on asking questions out of true concern.

“I am fine. I have been good. Yes, we were in the US. I was doing just fine over there.” She responded to all my questions and didn’t say a word further.

It made me uneasy. I thought we would have had a good conversation.

“So, did you hear about the lawsuit against your family company? They were sued for fraud taxes.” I asked deciding to thread other grounds.

“Yes, I did.” She retorted.

I knew she was still angry and I couldn’t even blame her. It won’t be easy to get her forgiveness after all I did.

“Can I help you guys settle in?” I asked, my enthusiasm clearly defeated.

“No, I am fine. I can take care of myself and my kids.” She replied coldly and started waking away.

After she took few steps, I remembered Royer’s words. So I asked, “Who is their father?”

She paused and turned. Then she showed me a rage I had never seen her in before. Her brown eyes clouded with rage as she yelled, “Stay away from me! Stay away from my children! I don’t ever want you around us!” She walked hastily into the house.

Heart bleed.

The feeling stained my emotions and I couldn’t shake it off no matter how hard i tried.

“Sir…” my driver wanted to talk but I cut him off.

“This is none of your business. Just take me home.” I said.

He stayed quiet but kept staring at me from the rear mirror. “Out with it.” I couldn’t take the stares any longer.

“Forgive my intruding Sir, but I must say those children do have a striking semblance with you. It is just there like a big evidence to the truth.” He said. “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. I believe the young Miss hid your children as some form of punishment.” He added.

I sighed but for some reason, there was so much sense in what he said. So I thought about it for a bit. Could it be true? But I don’t even remember sleeping with her. The memories with her were blurry. I could not affirm the driver's analogy to be true.

Sooner than I thought, I arrived at my house. As I entered the house, Ellen’s tiny voice welcomed me.

Oh not again! I screamed in my head but the disdain was evident on my face.

“Hi, welcome Zeke. How was your day today? How was your trip?” She sounded caring but I was not having it.

“How the fuck did you get in?” I asked coldly.

She dropped the fake gentleness, “Now that's not how to welcome the mother of your unborn child or is it?”

I paused for a bit, a couple of responses ran through my mind.

“Get lost!” I said and walked past her. I didn't wait for a response or catch an expression.

She wasn't worth it.