Chapter 8 What Happened Seventeen Years Ago

THREE STRANGE WORDS

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CHAPTER EIGHT

Theresa's POV

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I paced back and forth. this secret thing isn't working out anymore. oh Lord, what should I do now?

Claire and Martha chose that exact moment to enter.

"Did you finally tell her?"

was the first question that escaped Claire's lips.

I shook my head "No I couldn't bring my self to tell the child"

"for how long Theresa. for how long will you hide this and pretend as if nothing happened seventeen years ago"

"give it a rest Claire. I understand that Theresa has to do this" Martha said sitting down

"The girl deserves to know who she is. forget the secret. and even if her mother decides to find her then where will she start looking? I mean our first orphanage was demolished years ago before we moved here so at least she deserves the truth" Martha half yelled. I shushed her and closed the door behind us.

"I have faith that she will come"

"No. she won't come. I'm gonna adopt Astral to anyone who comes for her this time" Claire said walking out of the administration room.

Martha stared at the door and right back at me.

"do what you have to. I'm completely with you. I'll try to make Claire understand" Martha said calmly before walking out.

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My little secret is about to haunt me now. I shouldn't have made that promise years ago. Astral has come of age and believe it or not, she's starting to ask questions and where will I find the answers to give it to her?

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Astral's POV

I wore the necklace on my neck. it was so pretty. My birth parents must have tons of money cause this is real gold. I danced round my room and sat down on the bed.

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I began to imagine what life would be like if I met them, I'd be rich and have a lot of good food and clothes. I would sit at any restaurant and order any thing I wanted with lot of cash. Sadly, I may not be able to do so cause I might never meet them.

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I raised the pillow from my bed and brought out the photograph. Whoever this woman was, I have to admit, she's extremely beautiful. she looks exactly like me. what a lovely smile and nice blonde hair too. something deep down kept on telling me that she was my mom but yet I wasn't so sure. But at least I've got some property of my own. I put the picture under my pillow and grabbed my bag. I need to start on the project since Mr-no-fun is not my partner anymore.

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I opened the bag and brought out my books. this project is gonna be tough cause I don't have enough money to buy supplies.

"wait let me see if I've got some change left" I said to myself as I turned the bag upside down letting all it's content fall out on the floor. I searched through and saw a piece of paper.

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I opened it. it's a number. OMG it's from that bakery. I forgot to call. I rushed to the administration office to use the landline.

"Hello" a voice responded from the other end of the line.

"Hello. I'm Astral, I um called about the job offer in the bakery." I paused to hear what she would say. it was obviously a woman I could tell.

"Um yes. Could you please visit my bakery tomorrow, let's talk things out. I'm kinda busy now" she replied "um Sally use the scissors. don't make a mess outta my kitchen" I could hear her say over the phone.

"sorry about that"

she apologized

"it's okay. so when will I be coming over tomorrow?" I asked anxiously waiting for a reply

"At noon. let's say 3:00pm. can you make that work" she asked. I guess I'll talk to her before taking my shift at ma'am Collette's restaurant.

"OK ma'am. will do. oh and what's the name of the bakery?"

"For Goodness Cake. down Mahline street. right next to The checkers court" she replied

"ok bye. have a lovely day"

I hunged up.

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For goodness cakes? what kinda bakery is that?

I shrugged and headed upstairs to my room to start my project. if this works out. bye bye to ma'am Collette's restaurant.

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"Astral? Astral are you there?" I heard Mom Claire's voice down the stairs.

I wore my flip flops and rushed down.

"Mom Claire. you called for me, is something wrong?" I asked tying my hair up in a ponytail

"no dear child. I would like you to buy some vegetables from the market"

"OK" I replied taking the money from her. "anything else?"

"no just come back in one piece without picking a fight at the market"

I giggled "if they don't start the fight first. I'll be right back" I opened the door to the orphanage and rushed to the market. it's almost getting dark and I want to come back early.

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I arrived at the market and bought the vegetables from my favorite stall. I payed the money and headed for home.

I was walking out of the market when I noticed a pick-pocket trying to steal money from a lady. she didn't realize cause she was buying goods from a store.

I rushed towards him and held his sleeve.

"wanna make quick money huh?" I asked holding him so close

"I was hungry that's all"

"shut up" I yelled. the lady turned to look at what was going on.

"my fist is this close to smacking your face. if you want money, work for it not steal from others got it?" I asked.

he was scared

"I promise. please don't hurt me"

"I'm not gonna hurt you but I don't want to see you wasting your life like this" I let go of his sleeve

"here take this. buy some food" he took the money from me. it was the change left from buying the vegetables.

"thank you" he said and ran away. I turned to see the lady still staring at me.

"be careful ma'am. these boys can really be something at times." I picked up my vegetables

"thank you" she smiled

I returned it and headed for home.

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I arrived and gave the vegetables to Mom Claire. she wanted to prepare our evening meal. I ran up to my room to continue my project. this project is gonna be a mess cause I don't have all the materials. Curse you Carl.

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Dinner was served later and I joined the others on the table. After that I gathered the kids to tell them stories. when they all slept. I retired to bed to get ready for the next stressful and boring day....