The street of St. Germaine was empty and dark, although it was lit here and there by dim yellow lights, almost not enough to see ten paces ahead. Cassie walked on this street, wary and worried, always looking back every five or so steps to make sure she was not being followed. ‘I must get home to Sam’, she thought to herself, and she shivered at the thought of being unable to return home to Sam, which hovered in her mind for a minute. She walked faster and got to her apartment at half past midnight.
Her son, Samson, was waiting at the sitting room when she unlocked the door to her dingy apartment. It wasn’t easy working as a waitress at the strip club on the high side of Pompei.
‘Hey, Sam’, she greeted her son as he ran up to her before she removed her jacket.
‘Mum! You are late today!’, he whined.
‘Sorry, darling’, she cooed. ‘Should mummy read you a bedtime story?’.
‘Yes’, he nodded.
‘Have you had your bath and brushed your teeth?’, she asked.
‘Yes, I have. I even put on my Spider-Man pyjamas!’, he told her.
‘Good boy’, she said as she led him to his room and tucked him into bed. She read to him from one of his favourite books, ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets', until he dozed off.
After that, she had a chance to relax. ‘Let’s play some music, shall we?’, she thought to herself. Walking out of Sam’s room, she stepped to the sitting room to play some jazz from a stereo, which literally sounded like a broken record sometimes. It helped her calm her nerves. Pouring a glass of wine for herself, she took a sip before stepping into the bathroom for a shower. It was going to be a long, cold shower. The light bill was just way too expensive these days, and she had to try to manage it as best as she could.
It didn’t take too long for the tears to start falling from her face while she was in the shower. It has been happening like this every night for the past few months. She was bone-tired. Her husband, Mike-Michael, abandoned her with their child, Sam, six years ago after four years of marriage. He was her high school sweetheart, and the thoughts of him still broke her heart on a daily basis. She just wished he had stayed for their son, Sam, or at least supported them. She hadn’t heard from him since he packed his bags and left, leaving just a note for her. She could still recall what it said: ‘This would be the last time you would see me, Cass. Do not look for me. I do not want to be found'. It was a cold note, devoid of feelings and the love they had shared. He didn’t even mention Sam.
She had put her life on hold ever since, doing various jobs to support Sam and pay for their dingy apartment. Her parents disowned her when she chose to be with Mike rather than study and build a career for herself. Her pride didn’t let her go back to apologize. Turning off the shower, she stepped out and stood in front of a mirror to brush her gold locks with a brown comb. She admired her pale skin and rosy lips; her black birth mark stood out beneath her left collar bone. 'Hell! She still looked incredible for all she had been through', she thought to herself. She had to adjust, possibly find Mike, and demand child support and maybe a divorce. She wanted to live her life without having to abandon her son. She loved him with all her heart. She mopped her body with a towel and took the glass of wine to bed, which she drank before sleeping.
A loud knock came from the door early in the morning, waking Cassie from a deep sleep. ‘Who is it?’, she thought. She put on a flimsy robe and checked on her son to make sure he was sleeping soundly before going to the door.
‘Who is it?’, she asked.
‘It is me’, came from the other side of the door. ‘Michael’.
Cassie swayed on her feet from the shock of hearing the name Michael. She believed that she was in a dream, but the sour aftertaste of that cheap wine she had last night reminded her that it was real. She couldn’t have been sipping that sort of wine in her dreams, could she? With shaky hands, she opened the door to face her runaway husband. They didn’t even file for divorce, so technically, they were still married.
‘Hi Cassie’, Mike said.
‘Hi?’, Cassie asked. ‘You left for over six years, and all you can say is hi?’ She was using every inch of her strength to be calm and reasonable, although she just wanted to throw solid things at him.
‘I missed you, Cassie. I am sorry. Please give me a chance to explain’, he pleaded with her.
‘You have fifteen minutes before Sam wakes up’, she told him as she opened the door wider to let him in.
‘Thank you’, he said. She waited for him to settle on that lumpy couch that had been there since they got married.
‘How did you find us?’, she asked.
‘I figured out this was the best place to start from. I wasn’t sure that you’d still be here after all these years’, he replied. She only watched him in silence.
‘I am sorry, Cassie’, he started to say before Cassie cut him off abruptly.
‘You know, I have heard enough apologies to last me for an entire day. I demand an explanation and not apologies’, she said bitterly.
‘I had to leave Cassie’, he said.
‘You had to leave? You left me! You left your son! No explanations. No contact information, and not once did you call in the last six years, Mike’, she fired at him.
‘I honestly had to. I had to leave to be better for you. I felt guilty for impregnating and getting married to you right after high school. We had no plans; Cassie and your parents hated me. I loved you; that is true, but love couldn’t feed us. It wasn’t enough to pay our bills; it wasn’t enough to care for Sam. I believed we would be fine since we had each other, but I realised suddenly that I couldn’t carry on with our marriage like that, devoid of things we needed that could make us happy’, he told her.
Cassie only stared at him in silence while trying to process all he was saying.
‘I wanted a better life for us. I went back to college, Cass. It was tough, but the thoughts of you and my son kept me going. I should’ve called, I know, but I couldn’t. I needed to be a better man and be a provider for you and our child, Cass. I no longer want you to work so damn hard all the time. I have a decent job now and a decent apartment. I wanted to wait longer and buy a house before coming, but I needed you. You’ve been constantly on my mind lately. There is no other woman for me, Cass; it's always going to be you’, he added.
Cassie cried in frustration and pain. How could she just believe this man and forgive him? How could she let go of all the grudges she had against him? How could she just follow him so easily with their son after what she had been through?
‘I can’t forgive you, Mike’, she said to him.
‘I know, but I will try every day to seek your forgiveness for the entirety of our lifetime. I want you to come with me to New York, along with Sam. There’s a life for us there. I want and need you both with me’, he said.
‘I won’t be a housewife, Mike’.
‘I know. I will support you and your decisions with everything I have’, he said. They both cried and hugged for a long time.
‘Mum? Who is that? Why are you crying?’, came a soft voice. It was Sam.
‘Hey Sam’, she said to Sam. ‘Do you remember when you asked about your dad?' Sam nodded in affirmation.
‘That’s your dad, Sam. His name is Michael, and he is here to see you’.
‘Hey Sam. How are you, buddy?'. Mike squatted to greet his son.
‘Good morning, Mr. Michael’, Sam said, and Michael could only laugh.
‘You have my eyes, Sam, and you’re very handsome’, Mike said as Sam smiled at him.
Cassie could only watch the exchange with tears in her eyes. It was a miracle that Michael came back when she was about to give up. She could only hope that New York would be good to them. 'New York, it is', she thought.