AncilChapter 19: The Altercation
Kate stopped in her tracks.
“The note she left for you before she died,” Vince continued.
“That note was ripped to pieces,” Kate turned around and said.
“I wrote it down before I ripped it.” Vince went into his top pocket and pulled out a piece of paper; the same piece of paper I saw him with back at the hotel. “It’s the closest thing I have to her voice. Her last words to you.”
“Read it to me,” Kate said, her lips shaking and her face forcefully stern.
The front galvanized area was now packed with spectators.
“As you wish.” Vince opened the letter, made some eye contact with Kate then started reading. “Katherine, my dear daughter. There will come a time in your life when you will have to make a choice; a choice between doing what’s best for you and what’s best for the people around you. I urge you to make the choice that’s best for you. Don’t let people take advantage of you or make you do things that you don’t feel happy doing. I know that you’re young but always remember that it’s your life, not theirs. At the end of it all, you’re the one who will have to look at yourself in the mirror and deal with the person looking back. And I want that person looking back to be happy. Don’t end up like me. Please! My greatest wish is to see you meet a man who will love you, respect you, and treat you like the amazing woman I know you will become. It’s no secret that your life isn’t perfect. No one’s life is, but we have to play with the cards that we’ve been dealt. I can assure you that Vince will take his anger out on you the same way he did on me. Don’t be fooled by his kindness. He’s stuck in his ways and is going to make you cry, even more now. He’s going to make you unhappy and I wish I could tell you what to do or how to escape but I can’t. But remember this my child, the mourning won’t last forever. Endure. This too shall pass. I love you Katherine, my dear daughter. I really do. You are the light to my universe. You were the reason my severe depression didn’t lead to suicide before but sometimes the pain is just too deep. Sometimes the darkness is just too much. Sometimes you just need to learn to make the decisions that are best for you.”
Tears fell from Kate’s eyes the whole time Vince read. She didn’t sob or make any crying sounds but her face was covered in tears. She remained silent for a while trying to keep it together but she eventually started sobbing then said, broken voiced with her head down. “mom.”
Vince ran up to her and hugged her and she hugged back, crying in his arms.
I guess Vince was being the father that Kate was proud of calling dad. The one she told me about back at her house. I began to recall what she said, “My father can be very cruel at times but just at times. He can vary between extremes and sometimes be the kind of man that I can be proud to call my father, but only at times. Every time I try to hate him he would make me love him again and I hated that about him. I used to look down on my mom every time she told me that she loved him but now that I’m older I understand why she loved him despite the abuse. It’s because you can’t unlove someone and if you do it means that you didn’t love that person to begin with.”
I wasn’t too sure if Kate was just being gullible to her father’s kindness or not and I had no idea what to do so I just gave out a lengthy sigh. Soon after my sigh, Tom Hiddens walked into the shelter with a couple of officers. The first thing I did when I saw Tom was look at Kate who was still embracing her father without even noticing Tom.
“That’s him officers!” Tom Hiddens said, pointing at me. “That’s the kidnapper.”
“What?” I was so confused. I didn’t kidnap anyone but that didn’t stop the police officers from tackling me to the floor.
Kate and Vince stopped hugging at that point but Tom ran up to Kate to hug her saying, “thank God you’re okay,” but Kate pushed him away.
“Tom, what are you doing here?” Kate asked.
“I came to rescue you.”
“I don’t need to be rescued. I’m fine right here.”
“But– but we were so happy together back in Washington. Why did you just leave? I gave you everything that you wanted.”
“No, not everything,” Kate said.
Tom grabbed Kate by her arms and pulled her a bit too rough for my liking but I was on the floor unable to do anything. “We’ll talk about this when we get home.”
Kate pulled herself away then said, “I’m not going anywhere with you.
“So you prefer to live here in Trinidad among these low lives?”
“Excuse me?!” Tanty Mavis said, placing her hands on her hips. “Who you calling a low life?”
Without responding to Tanty Mavis, Tom proceeded to roughly grab Kate by her arm again but Kyle came up from behind, pushing him away from her. “The lady done talk.”
“Get your filthy hands off of me,” Tom said, “Do you know who I am?”
Kyle pushed Tom forward and said, “A piece of shit.”
“Officers, are you going to let this man do this to me?” Tom said to the two officers who still had me pinned to the floor like some mass murderer or something.
The officers put me in handcuffs and left me on the floor while one of them got up and approached Kate, attempting to push Kyle aside but Kyle said. “You have to get through me first.”
The officer sighed as though he really hated his job and what he had to do. It was the kind of sigh that meant, “I’m too old for this shit!”
“And me!” Tanty Mavis said before standing in between Kate and the officer.
“And me!” Juliet shouted.
“And me!” Jenna shouted.
“And me!” Timothy shouted.
After a while, everyone at the shelter made their way in between Kate and the officer. I mean everyone, even Vince.
“The girl say that she not going anywhere with you and we standing by she choice,” Tanty Mavis said.
