A FAMILY AFFAIR

CHAPTER 2: REPLACED

AVARYL’S POV

“I’m so sorry for your loss,”

“He was a good man.”

“He will forever remain in our hearts.”

Many well-meaning members came to give their condolences on the occasion of Mr. Brown’s passing.

I stood a safe distance from Alvin, who had been heartbroken for the last two days, since his grandpa’s passing.

We had been married for three weeks now and Alvin did a good job neglecting me.

He left the house without a word to me and returned very late in the night when I was asleep, and although I tried to reach out to him a couple of times, he walked right past me like I was non-existent.

My father and stepsister were also attendees of Mr. Brown’s funeral, and it was quite a large crowd. One would think the entire Tennessee city was in attendance.

“Here, you should cool off,” Audrey handed me a glass of juice.

I hesitated for a second.

“Common, it’s a funeral, we can get along for once,” she said, urging me to receive the drink from her.

I took it from her, maintaining my gaze on Alvin, who was showing an obvious weariness from responding to the many condolence greetings.

“He’s really hurt, Audrey,” I said, taking a sip from the glass, “I really want to help him, but I have no idea how.”

Audrey offered no response at first and when I took a look at her, she had dreamy eyes, firmly fixed on Alvin.

“Audrey,” I called.

“Right,” she shook off and finally responded,

“I’m sure he’ll be fine, you just need to give him time to get through this on his own,” Audrey responded.

I thought about what she said for a second and found it made a lot of sense. Maybe Alvin needed space more than he needed comforting company.

I took further sips of my drink and the juice glass was the last thing I remembered from the funeral.

“Leave! Now!” Alvin ordered me out of the mansion with barely enough clothes and also with no money.

“Please, just tell me what wrong I have done.” I pleaded with tears in my eyes.

“Don’t be stupid, Avaryl,” he fired at me, “Was it not obvious to you that you were only here because of grandpa?” he probed,

“Grandpa is no longer here, and we have to go with him.”

He stood at the top of the entrance stairs and stared at me with a fierce look.

“Leave, Ava!” he continued yelling at the top of his voice.

Before I got the chance to remind him that it was only two weeks after grandpa’s funeral and this could trigger my father, a cab drove into the premises, filling me with surprise.

My shock melted into joy as I saw Audrey alight from the cab.

“Audrey!” I called excitedly, but was hit with shock as Audrey walked right past me, staring at me like a piece of trash, expressing so much disgust.

I was left to pick my jaw from the ground, when Audrey met Alvin at the entrance door and they both locked lips right before me.

‘What was happening?’ I watched them with a puzzled feeling.

“I want Audrey,” Alvin said, as though he listened to the queries of my heart.

Without another word, they both walked into the mansion, acting all lovey-dovey.

My intentions to fight immediately grew dim as I realized I hadn’t only been betrayed by my sister, I had been abused by my husband.

I picked myself up, following the cab that had brought Audrey in, directing him to my father’s house.

I had been married for a month, and one could hardly call that a marriage, but what hurt the most was being replaced by my stepsister, just when I thought we were getting along.

“What are you doing here?” I got attacked by Audrey’s mother, my stepmother, at the gate of the house.

“My marriage is over,” I announced sadly,

“Of course, it is,” she didn’t sound surprised at all,

“But look around you, sniff your environment,” she dramatized, “do you pick care anywhere around here?” she queried,

“Leave before I lose my temper,” she threatened.

Coming from her, it was the hundredth time I heard the word ‘leave.’

I looked around to get a glimpse of my father, but he was nowhere in sight.

“Leave!” she yelled.

I was left to roam the streets, with nothing but four sets of clothing and the feeling of rejection from the only place I could call home. That, woven with the surprise I felt, seeing Audrey’s mom back in the house and my father saying nothing in my defense.

I sat on a bench I found on the sidewalk and watched the vehicles drive by, drowning in thoughts.

Slowly, I began to feel dizzy and was hit by a terrible headache.

I struggled to fight the nausea and slowly found myself slipping into unconsciousness.

“Miss?” I heard from a distance, just before I lost consciousness. I was leaving myself at the mercy of the men and creatures of the night.

“I think she’s waking up,” I heard, as my eyes slowly opened.

I recognized the setting as a hospital and did not recognize the young man standing beside my bed,

“Hi,” he said, so excitedly, waving his hand in my face.

“The doctor will be here any minute.”

“Oh, here he is,” he said, as the doctor walked right in.

“Miss Avaryl Joe,” the doctor called,

“It’s really bad to be under stress and out in the cold, especially with a baby this tender,” he said.

“Baby? What baby?” I queried in a weak tone, since I was still recovering,

“I’m so sorry, you shouldn’t have noticed this early,” the doctor said,

“Congratulations, you are two weeks pregnant,”

It felt like a gong had been hit in my head.

This couldn’t be.