Chapter 1 Awake
A crowd gathered by the side of the road, all shocked by what they saw.
A young woman... In her mid-twenties or so, she was lying spirally on the ground, unconscious. Beside her was a kid, no older than five innocently rubbing a lollipop on her lips.
He did this for a few minutes until the woman stirred in her sleep. The boy stepped back, watching as she sat up, wincing while tilting her head.
Irene brought a hand to her head, holding it while trying to make sense of the pain she was feeling.
She blinked, trying to accustom her eyes to her surroundings before looking around.
'Where am I?' she thought to herself a bit confused.
"Are you okay?" She heard a small voice ask her. She turned to the sound of the voice only to see a little cute boy who couldn't be older than 5 staring down at her.
It was then she noticed the sweet taste in her lips, and the lollipop in his hands.
She understood immediately and smiled, patting his head gently. "Thanks kid."
She had suffered from low blood sugar for most of her life, so it was obvious to her that she had fainted. But that only answered the question of why. She still had How? When? And most importantly...
Where?!
She felt a bit dizzy and disoriented.
The last thing she remembered...
"Kid?" The little kid repeated in shock, his mouth making a round 'o' shape. "Mummy did you hit your head and become stupid?"
Stupid?
Her?
Irene scoffed getting annoyed.
Sure, her memories were about fuzzy, but she knew for certain that she wasn't a mother.
She was just eighteen and still in high school. She had her SATs coming up soon... When could she have been pregnant up until the point of having a child?
"Hey kid, stop it." She said, seriously, standing up on her feet. "I'm not your mum, okay?"
Maybe she looked like his mother, she reasoned.
Because, there was no way he was her son. She had never seen him before in her life!
"Mummy?" The child looked up at her with glassy eyes as though he was about to cry. "Are you alright? Did you hit your head too much? Do you see a doctor?" He asked quickly in a panic.
Sure... His mother never really cared for him, and she hardly acknowledged him most of the time, but... This time felt different.
She was acting a bit too differently, and he was starting to get worried.
Irene frowned.
This joke was starting to get too serious.
Could he be... A scammer!
The thought came to her head suddenly.
She shook her head, making a 'tsk tsk' sound with her tongue and teeth.
"You people would go to no end to try to scam people out of their money." She said her mouth was muttering her hands akimbo.
"Where are the rest of you guys? Huh?" She asked the kid before turning to look around. A small crowd had gathered around them because of the commotion. "Who is your leader?" She asked the crowd. "I need to talk with the guy who uses a kid to scam people."
The boy quickly went to hug Irene. He was short and could only reach her abdomen, but he held her legs tightly. "Mummy, please stop it, you're making a scene." He sniffled and cried.
"You're the one who is..." Irene got frustrated. She tried to shake the kid off but he clung on tight. "Hey... Hey, let me go."
No matter how hard she shook him, the kid refused to let go. Instead, he kept on crying harder. To the point that the attention of some onlookers was drawn. A small crowd had begun to gather around them and Irene panicked.
She turned to them pointing at the crying kid. "Is this your kid?"
They all stepped back unanimously, shaking their heads as though Irene was the plague.
"No..." They answered at the same time.
Irene turned to the other side and asked the same question. "It's this your kid?"
Just like the first crowd, they all stepped back. "No..."
It wasn't because they were scared... Both the woman and the kid were really pretty. But the crowd was just as confused as Irene was.
Irene gave up trying to push the kid. "Come on then, whose are you?" She asked out loud in frustration, throwing her hands in the air.
The kid cried even louder. "Mummy please stop it."
Mummy again? Irene was tired and frustrated. She dropped her hands.
"Fine then, if you don't want to let me go, we're going to the police." She said as she began walking away, dragging the kid who clung to her along. "Then your owner just has to show up."
Owner? The kid looked up at her and blinked.
He wasn't a dog!
...
"Officer, please help me." Irene rushed towards the front desk, the small kid trailing after her. She pointed at him, her hands trembling. "This kid is attempting to scam me! He keeps claiming that I'm his mother!"
The officer turned to the kid in surprise.
The boy pointed in turn at the woman. "Officer, my mother is crazy! She doesn't recognize me."
This was getting... Awkward.
The officer who had been scribbling something down sat up, staring at the two figures by his desk.
"So..." He began looking at the kid, "You say she's your mother?" He pointed at Irene and the kid nodded.
Then he turned to Irene. "And she says she's not."
She nodded.
With a small sigh.
"Yes exactly." She said, before fanning herself with her hands dramatically. "I mean, how can I be a mother to such a big kid? I mean... Look at me?" She flicked her hair and sighed again. "Do I look old enough to have a child?"
"Well, em..." The officer looked at the expensively dressed lady.
She was stunning no doubt, but... She didn't look so young.
He shook his head, refusing to make random assumptions. "I would be the one asking the questions." He stated firmly.
Irene rolled her eyes. "Humph... Fine." She crossed her hands on her chest and sat down.
The officer took one more look at her... She was beautiful.
"First, what's your name and how old are you?" He asked after finding his tongue.
"Irene Walter, Eighteen," Irene answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
The officer took out his men and began filling the form. He had written as soon as she said it and was about writing the age when it dawned on him. "Eight... Wait what?" He looked up at her with widened eyes. "You're eighteen?!"
Irene nodded with a small self-pride smile."Yes. I know, it's unbelievable." Then she cupped her face with her hands, acting cute. "People say I look too young for my age."
The boy beside her couldn't help but bring his hand to his head, shaking it slowly.
It was confirmed... His mother was stupid now.
The officer coughed. He didn't believe her age, but he wrote it down anyway before turning to the kid. "And you kid, same question. What's your name and how old are you?"
"William Clark..." He answered smartly. "I'm four."
Clark? Irene turned to look at the kid named William.
She knew somebody with the surname Clark...
That surname was basically etched in her brain. The owner of the name was in most of her nightmares.
He made her life hell... He was the reason why she had studied so much for the SATs. She wanted to have the best score so her parents could send her to the college she wanted.
The one farthest from the one he would be attending.
'Come to think of it...' Irene tilted her head to the side a little as she stared at the kid.
'He kind of looks like him.'
But no...
She shook her head.
It was probably just a coincidence because just like her, Nelson Clark was a high schooler. He was only a year older than her, how could he have a child?
Will suddenly stood up from his chair and leaned towards the counter. "Sir, can I borrow your phone to call my daddy?" He asked, staring at the man with his big, cute eyes.
The officer couldn't refuse. "Sure kid." He handed his phone over to him.
Will dialed a number quickly. The person picked up at the second ring. "Daddy, Mummy, and I are in the police station, please come quickly."
"Fine." Irene rolled her eyes. "Let him come here. I'm dying to see the father of a kid scammer."
Twenty minutes passed quickly, and Irene kept looking at her nails and how fancy they were. She hadn't done that in forever.
She also tried remembering what had happened and how she got to where she was found, but she just couldn't.
Finally... He arrived.
As soon as he did, the police station temperature became at least three degrees colder.
"What is going on here?" He asked sternly.
Will stood up from the chair and ran towards him. "Daddy!"
Irene stiffened.
That voice sounded familiar to her... Yet it was deeper, much more mature than she had remembered it.
She stood up slowly and turned around... Her eyes widened as soon as she saw his face.
He was much more handsome, taller, his physique was more defined, and he wore glasses... But Irene was certain...
A shiver ran down her spine as she watched the kid scammer hug him.
"Nel... Nelson Clark..."