Twenty One

Twenty One

That night, Juana didn't go home straightaway. She knew her dad wouldn't be back until eleven as usual, and it was barely 6pm. She rode her bicycle to the hospital, where her mother was admitted. Although she knew that it was past visiting time, she had to see her. She wanted to talk to her, even though there'd be no reply as usual. She wanted to tell her many things, and that included 'goodnight'. Visiting time began at one and ended at five. While riding, she began to think of her last birthday, which was never 'celebrated'. It was already April, and her birthday was just four months away. Her mom would have been in a coma for twelve months, come August.

Juana rounded the bend that led towards the hospital and hid in the back of some flowers. The doctors were awake and active.

"It'd be hard to enter now" she said to herself. So she rode to her granny's hospital instead. She was going to return here when everywhere was dark. Visiting hours were almost over when she went to her granny's. She was awake and smiling. She looked better and it pleased Juana

"Sweetheart, why are you here this late? Is your dad home?" She asked

"No he's out and I came to say goodnight."

"You're so sweet, darling" she smiled

"How are you feeling?"

"Better. But my appetite has not returned yet" she said smiling

"It'll return. I'm praying for you"

"Thank you darling. Is there anything you need to tell me? Hun" she looked at Juana in a way that made her uncomfortable. That was the second time she'd be uncomfortable with her granny. The first was when she was hiding the news of her mom's accident from her.

"No. What do you mean?"

 "I know your mom's back, and I'm glad about it. I hope we both make it out of our sick beds alive, so we can be together again" she said and her smile disappeared

"Amen. I hope so too"

"Is there something you're hiding?" She asked again.

"Kind of. I need to tell you something"

"Oh" Granny's eyes widened. She looked at her grandaughter apprehensively

"I want to say to you, granny that I love you. I haven't been saying it often enough" Her granny laughed and Juana just smiled.

"Is that all?"

"Yes"

"Didn't see anything about me?"

"What?"

"You know what I'm talking about"

"Yeah mama, you're not going to die. You're going to get out of here alive" she said, and her granny just smiled, holding her hands.

After a while, she said "I need to go. Make sure you sleep like a baby"

"I will honey. You just made my night" 

Juana got up and walked to the door "I love you" she said before stepping out, leaving an excited granny behind.

She was glad that she made her granny's night. She was going to make her mom's night too, and her dad's. She was going to be a good girl, patient, prayerful and strong, and happy. She missed when her family was together, when everyone was hale and hearty and happy, when she was still attending her former school, when Lisa was still alive and well, and they all bullied her. 

She knew she was losing her dad slowly. She had to take him back. She had to be sane for the three of them. 

It was starting to get dark when she got to her mom's. The hospital was almost silent, but there were lights everywhere. Juana crept carefully towards the lawn and hid there. She was careful to avoid the cameras. She walked towards the window of her mom's ward, it was closer to the back door. She heard voices in the room, so she just sat at the window side and waited. She waited for twenty minutes and then crept into the ward through the back door. She bent her body all the way to the room, and shut the door behind her.

Her mom's room was silent, except for the noises the machines made. Tonight, her mom didn't look dead. Her face looked lively, as if she was just sleeping. The doctors must have wiped her face and applied a sweet ointment on her body because she smelled nice. Juana half smiled, half sighed. Her mom's hands were less pale too. 'You're going to recover' she thought

"You're going to recover, mom" she said out loud. She held one of her hands and prayed for a minute.

"Mom, I know you can hear me. I'm not sure if you hear me clearly but I know you can hear me. It's me, your best friend, your daughter, your everything. I love you mom and I want you to come back" Juana paused and began to imagine her mom smiling with her eyes closed. It looked so real that she almost squealed in excitement, but she cautioned herself. It gave her joy just by looking at her face and imagining her face lighting up with a smile so broad and sweet.

She rubbed her hand carefully and looked into her face. 

"Mom, I think I am in love. With someone called Colin, you know him, don't you? He's dad's closest ranch hand, on the ranch. Mom, I kissed him two times, and it felt good.

I'm confused about something though. As much as it excites me to be with him, I feel like maybe I'm doing something wrong? I need you to be here to guide me. Dad is waiting for you, we are all waiting for you. Granny is sick because of you. Please don't die" She kissed her forehead and looked around the room. Then she felt something. Like her mom's thumb moved. "No It must have been my imagination" she thought. She didn't know what was real anymore. 

"Did you just move your thumb?" She whispered.

But there was no response, no movement, just the sound from the machines. She thought about her discovery back at home: Half of her mom's clothes were missing, half of her shoes were gone. 'I have to ask dad about it tonight' she said to herself. She already thought of how she would bring the discussion up, without making her dad suspect anything.

"Goodnight mom, I'll see you tomorrow" she said and crept out of the room, quietly closing the door behind her.

The door was open when she got home. Her dad was around, it was just few minutes past eight and he was back.

"Dad" she called. He was in his room, and he left the door open. 

"Honey" he said quietly. She hugged him tight and kissed his forehead. "Sit here" he said letting her sit in his thighs.

"Where were you?" He asked. His eyes were bloodshot, but except for that, he didn't look strange.

"Where did you go, dad?" She asked instead.

"To Selena's family house" 

"Is that where you've been visiting?"

"Sometimes. I mostly go out to raise money for my wife's hospital bills, and granny's" he said

"Oh" Juana was relieved.

"Yeah. I sold some of my things, and her things too. I took permission from granny. She asked me to sell her house but I only rented it out. I've been visiting the place to make sure repairs are made for the new tenants" he replied. 

"Really?"

"Yeah honey" 

She sighed. And it was a sigh of relief. "Have you eaten?" She asked

"No. I was waiting for you. Where did you go to?"

"To see granny and mom" Baron looked towards the window.

"How are they? I haven't visited them today" he said absentmindedly. It looked like something caught his fancy outside the window

Juana took that time to survey the room. She noticed that the curtains have been changed. It was not the usual purple, it had been changed to a greenish-red curtain.

"Oh, you changed the curtains"

"Ah yes. The purple one's old already"

"Will mom like it?" She asked. He just grumbled something incoherent. Juana believed something was fishy, but she didn't dare ask. She didn't want to believe a new wife was coming, she didn't want to accept that her mom might die.

"My sister is coming here tomorrow. She wants you to cone spend the weekend with her" he finally said

"And you? Who will you spend your weekend with?" She asked, getting up. She was starting to get angry. Baron looked father sharply

"What do you mean? I'll be on the ranch. Well if you don't want to go, I can cancel"

"I don't want to go. I want to stay here, be with you and visit mom and granny and see ..see Colin" she said 

"Okay. I'll tell her to cancel"

"Thank you dad" she smiled, then quickly added, "Dad, can I clean your room tonight after dinner?"

"Sure why not?"

"Thank you" 

That night, Juana wondered if she had been wrong all along. Maybe her dad wasn't seeing someone else after all. While she was cleaning, she found nothing incriminating. Nothing strange. Nothing out of sorts.

While he was at the bathroom after dinner, she took his phone. She knew his password; he didn't change it. She quickly logged in to his WhatsApp and scrolled through his chats. Juana forwarded all the chats he had with any female to her own phone and dropped his phone on time.

Then back in her room, she began to read them. They were nothing strange, just normal pleasantries. Then her eyes darted to the chats he had with Selena. They still chatted two days ago. That was the only chat there. She didn't know if he had been chatting with her for a long time and deleted those chats. 

Selena: Hi hun

Baron: How are you? How's work too?

Selena: Spare me those greetings. You don't know how lucky you are.

Baron: What do you mean? 

Selena: You know what I want from you. Stop pretending.

Baron: Are we still talking about this Lena?

Selena: Not until you stop being stubborn.

You know where to find me if you come to your senses

That's where the chat ended. Baron didn't reply the last message

"Selena? But Selena's dead. What's happening? Is there any other female friend Dad has that's called Selena?" Juana thought. She had to find out. She would tell Colin about her findings. 

For that night, she would just keep her mind off it and write about Helen, and the haunted house. Her followers on Facebook and Instagram have been complaining that she hasn't posted any writeup for some days, so she had to write something that night. She started her laptop and began to type

"Helen And The Haunted House"

Once upon a time, there lived a girl called Helen...