The Cries of the Butterfly - A LOVE STORY (66 page)

At first, she was repulsed by what Lianne had to offer. But the influence persisted and as what Savannah did wasn’t much better, she finally shrugged.
What the heck!
Too much pain for too little gain now turned on its head. Savannah quickly learned to dissociate her soul from her new job, the spirit from the flesh.

.

It
was the evening of Sunday. Against all medical advice this was her third hypnotherapy session.

Grant, watching quietly, wished he had not asked her to do it. It was more painful than he had thought. When she was brought out of hypnosis, Grant immediately stepped forward and took her in his arms.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

Savannah just clung to him.

Later, she went to the washroom and tidied up. She was very tired and sat down on the toilet lid for a while and inhaled some long breaths. She tried to remember, but now that she was out of the spell, she remembered very few details. The only thing that remained etched was that she had given birth to a child some eight years ago.

“I want to see her. I want to see my Mary,” she said to Grant when she came out of the washroom.

Grant nodded. He looked at his watch. It was seven-twenty-eight pm. He talked on his cellphone briefly.

“She is still at Butcher Garden, but she shall be back at the Home in an hour. Then you may go see her,” he said.

“Will you please come with me?” she asked anxiously.

He placed a hand on her. “Of course.”

“Shouldn’t we tell Wolf about it?”

“Later. First you should see your daughter. Alone.”

Yes, that made sense.

An hour later, they were on the way to the St. Teresa Children’s Home, the three of them—Savannah, Grant and Maddy. Maddy had been there all along at Savannah’s request.

In the car, Maddy asked, “What about Wolf?”

“He cannot have Robin now…not without Savannah’s permission,” Grant said soberly.

“And what do we tell Robin?”

He pointed at Savannah. “She will know. A mother always knows what to say to her child.”

Sister Blessing was shocked to see her visitors. President Butcher with
this
woman and
this
Press reporter? Utterly scandalous!

“We would like to see Robin, Sister,” Grant said to her.

Of course, who could refuse the President?

“And we would like some privacy, please. If you could go to your office for a little while, I shall be grateful.”

“Yes, Mr. President,” Sister Blessing said stiffly, not liking this one bit. But what could feeble she do against the wishes of the God of her world?

Robin was thrilled to bits to see her visitors, especially Savannah. After the customary hugs, Grant and Maddy began to leave.

“We shall take a stroll around the grounds. You shall be okay?” Grant whispered to Savannah.

“I shall be,” she nodded definitely.

After they had left, Robin hugged Savannah again, ardently this time.

“I missed you so much,” she said, her face pressed to Savannah’s breasts, her left arm tightly around her waist. “Daddy said you fell sick, so you couldn’t be with us. I wanted to go and see you, but Dad said doctors wouldn’t allow it. He said you needed to have rest and shouldn’t be disturbed. He also said that I should not worry, you would be fine.”

“Oh, he said all that, did he?” Wolf always found a way, Savannah thought with a little smile.

“Yes. And even Dad fell sick last weekend. So we couldn’t go to that place…Brazil, and he couldn’t even come to see me. I was so worried, but Aunt Roch came and explained everything to me.”

Savannah nodded.

They sat facing each other on Robin’s bed in Sister Blessing’s guest bedroom. For a while, they made more small talk. Robin was especially thrilled about the next day, when finally, finally, finally, finally she
would
go to Dad.

And Savannah couldn’t take her eyes off the little girl.
Her
little girl.
Her
daughter. It hadn’t sunk in yet. Her head reeled.

But finally, Savannah got serious.

“There is a little story I want to tell you,” she said to Robin.

“Yes.”

She regarded Robin for a bit, then oxygenated her lungs to capacity. After she had exhaled slowly, she spoke. “Once upon a time there was a girl, a little girl without parents, a little girl who was found by strangers and dropped at a Children’s Home.”

“Just like me,” Robin said, almost gaily.

Savannah smiled. “Yes, just like you. Then when that little girl grew up and became a woman she fell in love with a man and they planned to get married. But before that could happen, the man left her and never returned.”

“Why?”

“Who knows? Men do that sometimes. But by then the woman had a baby in her belly. Then she fell ill, and in all that the baby was delivered. But the woman couldn’t even look after her own self, how then could she look after the baby? The baby would surely die, so the woman took her to a friend and asked her to bring her up. However, instead, the friend handed the baby to a Children’s Home. In the meantime, the woman became so ill that after a while she forgot this part of her life completely. She forgot that she’d had a boyfriend and she’d given birth to a child once.”

Robin was looking at her with unblinking interest.

Savannah continued. “Many years passed. The woman went about her life, and the baby grew up in the Children’s Home, and they weren’t even aware of the other.” She paused for breath. A little ache had formed in her chest.

“So what happened to the baby and the woman?” Robin asked.

“One fine day, they found each other. Suddenly.”

“Uh?”

“Yes. The woman went to sleep one night and in her dreams she remembered about her child.”

“But how did she know where to find her? She went to the person she had left the baby with?”

Savannah smiled sadly. Suddenly a huge wave of emotion swept through her.

“Will you please give me a hug, Robin?”

“Yes.”

The two women crawled forward. They looked at each other for a second, then Savannah opened her arms and Robin moved into it. The older woman held the little girl in a tight clinch, their faces mashed together. Outside, in the sprawling grounds of St. Teresa Children’s Home, President Butcher and Press reporter Maddy Witcher sauntered around, making small talk, waiting patiently.

“You look so sad,” Robin said when they’d finally parted. “I hurt you?”

“Oh, no, my baby, no! You only made me so very happy,” Savannah said, kissing Robin on the forehead, once, twice…again and again.”

Robin was nonplussed. Her eyes seemed to ask,
so why are you so sad then?

Savannah inhaled quickly.

“The story I was telling you?” she said. Robin nodded. “You want to know who the woman and her little baby were?”

Robin nodded more vigorously now.

“Alright…” She looked away for a moment, composed herself, then looked back. “The woman and her little baby are called Savannah and Robin.”

Robin blinked. A curious expression came to her eyes.

A huge something rose from Savannah’s belly. She threw herself on her daughter and clasped her fiercely.

.

“
I
want to take my daughter home,” Savannah said to Grant a while later.

“You shall have to be a little patient. We must go through a proper process of law.”

“What law? She is
my
daughter, she deserves to be with me. You said so yourself.”

“Undoubtedly. But let us do it correctly. The first thing is to get the DNA done legally, under the supervision of the proper authorities. Under court guidance.”

“No, I want her NOW! You promised!”

“It would not be a wise thing, Savannah,” Grant said.

“I don’t care about wisdom. I want her! Now! Look, Mr. President, you gave me your word. Are you going back on it?”

Grant sighed. “Okay, but only if you promise me you shall return her in the morning.”

“Oh, I promise no such thing! NO! She is
my
daughter and her place is with
me
and if you think you can keep us apart, I promise you I’ll…” Then she abruptly discontinued.

Grant smiled and placed a hand over her head.
Mother tigress
, he thought.

“I understand exactly how you feel, Savannah,” he said. “Well, not exactly, for I am neither a woman nor a mother, but I have a rough idea. However, as I said before…”

“I shall return her in the morning,” Savannah said quietly.

And so Robin went with her mother that Sunday evening of June 1st. She was in a daze and blindly followed Savannah around—as a hatchling would a swan.

.

S
avannah abided by her guarantee to Grant and returned Robin to the Home after breakfast the next day, in time for school. Before that, she called Wolf to tell him that she now remembered. But he banged the phone on her.

At the Home, Savannah wasn’t sad to see her baby go—only more determined to bring her home forever.

ON
this Monday, the day when Robin was to be brought home to Butcher Garden, an emergency meeting of the board of trustees of the Home was called for early evening.

They collected at the President’s office just past four-thirty pm, the five of them.

“This ain’t true, what they’re claiming. It’s preposterous!” Ian Cass smoked.

“DNA does not lie, Ian,” Grant said quietly. “Now the wise thing to do is to accept reality.”

“There ain’t any question of it!” Cass said heatedly. “The little girl cannot be handed over to the woman even if she is the mother.”

“What can we do?”

“We shall oppose. We shall prove she’s an unfit mother. We ain’t…”

“
Unfit
mother? She has not even had the opportunity to be a mother yet.”

“Oh, she did and she cast it away. Forsaking…”

“You now know the circumstances, Ian,” Grant said coldly.

“She’s a prostitute. That alone…”

“Your tongue, Judge!” Grant snapped. “It does not behoove you!”

“Since when have you taken up cudgels for her?” Cass asked, the surprise stark on his face.

“I am taking cudgels for what is right,” Grant retorted. “You cannot deny a woman her child. It is the ultimate sin.”

“What about her past?”

“That is in her past. Done and dusted. She has long turned a new leaf. Moreover, she has Wolf with her again.”

“Wolf?” Cass blurted. “Ain’t he through with her?”

“He changed his mind when he knew the truth. They are back together.”

“They can’t do that!” Cass said, his limbs flailing all over the place.

“Are you going to decide for them, Judge?” There was needle in Grant’s voice now. “It is no longer in our hands, accept it. Furthermore, think of the public outcry if we do anything to stop the three from getting together now after this. We shall not be safe—they will lynch us alive.”

Cass went into deep thought, his brow severely rutted. Then his face fell and he looked at Art helplessly.

“Let us be graceful about it, Ian. Let us not make it a question of prestige, or of victory and defeat. Let us not be so small-minded. For once, let us do the right thing,” Grant added. He observed his friend for a second. “In fact, I suggest you facilitate the whole process yourself.”

Cass said nothing. His face was miserable.

“Ian?”

“Do what you want to, Mr. President,” he said dully and wrung his hands. “But leave me alone.”

.

T
he wedding was set for the coming Sunday, June 8.

There were crucial formalities to smoothen out first, foremost being a court monitored DNA testing that would make it all legal.

It would be a small affair, given all that had transpired. Only family. Well, not even family at that—Olivia was advised to stay put in San Francisco. After careful consideration, the guest list was drawn up: Grant, Estelle, Art, Rochelle, Maddy, Savannah’s friend, Lianne, Stan Knott and Robin. Not a ninth soul. No Ian Cass, no Cardinal Misquitta, no Sister Blessing. None else.

Prior to that, Grant had ensured that Robin began living with Savannah full time. Of course, the girl would go to the Home school for now, but Savannah could pick her up thereafter.

Savannah didn’t have to be taught the ways of a mother. Instincts took over and she simply flowed…smoothly, seamlessly.

For the first time in her life, she got to help a child with her homework. Her own daughter at that. The tight cheek-to-cheek proximity, listening to the tender echoes of her baby’s exhalations—it made excitement bubble in Savannah’s veins, made her breasts fill up with warmth. After homework, they would dress up and go out to Marina Garden, opposite Savannah’s house. Savannah would cheer and clap as Robin swung higher and higher on the swing, and slided down the ‘Up-and-Down’ slide. Robin would valiantly attempt the ‘Spider’s Web’ and the ‘Climbing Tower’ and try to swing on the ‘High Bar’ with her one arm, and Savannah would be both proud and panged in her heart. Her immediate instincts were to restrain her kid from going on the equipment. But she would force herself to pull back. She didn’t want to throttle her little girl and make her only too aware of her handicap. She would nonetheless remain alert and wholly ready should Robin slip up, confident she could handle any situation and prevent her girl from coming to any harm. She would also tell herself that the first thing she needed to do was to get her daughter fitted with a prosthetic. It was so long overdue.