Chapter Forty-Two
"Dad, I, " Angela froze and they both released one another and looked at her dad who was trembling with anger.
"Get inside the house, Angela, " he yelled more fiercely than before and Angela ran into the house.
"Uncle Gerry, it's not what you're thinking, " started Damian but her dad just turned and strode inside. Damian followed him inside, his face pale as he realized the gravity of the situation.
Damian closed the door after him and stood with Angela to give her support. Her brothers looked at them with surprise.
"Uncle Gerry, we love each other and we're planning to get married soon. We're already engaged. I know we're just eighteen, but we've loved each other all our lives. We will pursue our studies after marriage, " said Damian in one breath. Angela's dad glared at him furiously.
"Marry Angela? How the hell do you think you will marry her?" He shouted.
"Dad please calm down. Even Arnie's getting married. Why are you objecting to our marriage? We love each other, we cannot stay away from each other," said Angela.
"Shut up Angela. Arnold isn't marrying his own sister. Damian, Angela is your sister. For God's sake forget this relationship," her father yelled. Adam and Alex gaped at their dad with their jaws dropped to the floor. Arnold rushed towards a shocked and horrified Angela as she sat down on the floor with a thud. Damian stood transfixed to the spot with a pale and shocked expression on his face.
"How is she, my sister? I don't believe you. There's got to be some misunderstanding," said Damian at last in a choked voice.
"Dad you know it's not the truth. How can you still obsess with a half-lie when mom furnished you with all the proof?" Said Arnold.
"Don't mention that whore to me. That slut got pregnant with Ronald's baby and I cut off all ties with her. What do you know about it?" Yelled her dad, looking at Arnold.
"I know everything that is there to know. Mom told me a week before her death. I saw the DNA reports to prove that Angela is your daughter but you refuse to accept the truth," said Arnold.
"I don't believe in fake reports," said their dad. He turned to Angela. "You're grounded for a week. I'll send you away to California forever. No arguments. Go to your room, now Angela," he yelled and walked to his own room and shut his door with a bang.
Angela broke down and Arnold hugged her to himself. Alex and Adam tried to comfort a distraught Damian and made him sit on the couch. "What DNA proof is he talking about Arnold?" Asked Damian at last when he found his voice.
"The proof that mom showed me a week before her death. It was genuine, I saw it. She told me that she bought a home DNA test kit and had collected dad's and Angela's mouth swabs and had it tested. Dad knows it all but he is still in denial. He refused to believe her. Mom tried for years and failed and finally gave up. She died hoping that one day dad would see how true she was to dad. But he never did. His stubbornness and arrogance made him believe that he is right and could never be wrong," said Arnold.
"So are you saying that we aren't siblings?" Asked Damian with hope.
"Yes, Angela's our sibling. She isn't related to you. Mom and uncle Ronald loved one another for four years. When your grandfather forced uncle Ronald to marry aunt Erika, he obliged. Mom was shattered. She decided to move on. So when dad, who was uncle Ronald's best friend, wanted to marry her, she accepted and married dad. The day uncle Ronald found out that aunt Erika had a lover with whom she had always maintained her relationship, he was shattered. He drank excessively and tried to force himself upon his mom at the hospital. Dad witnessed it and concluded that they had sex and mom betrayed him. Mom was already two weeks pregnant with Angela. She was about to announce her pregnancy to dad but he cut ties with her after that day. He treated her like shit after that. He jumped to his own conclusions and never ever changed his mind even after seeing all the proof mom furnished to prove her innocence, " sighed Arnold, his eyes filling up with tears as he remembered the day she told him everything.
Damian sighed with relief, "This is very heartbreaking. I don't want to lose Angela. I can't let her go to California forever," He said with disappointment.
"I think you both should elope. Dad will never accept. He's too adamant and stubborn," said Adam.
"If he didn't believe mom, why didn't he disown me? How does he love me?" Asked a tear-stricken Angela.
"I don't know the answer to that question," said Arnold, giving up.
"Yes, let's escape from all this, Angel," said Damian.
"Look guys, I'll try to make dad change his mind tomorrow morning but it's an impossible task. I would suggest you two keep your stuff packed up and be ready to disappear for a few days if you want to be with each other. Once dad has decided to send Angie away, he'll do it for sure," said Arnold with a helpless sigh.
"Where do we go?" Angela asked, looking at Damian. The farm was a lovely place to stay but it was far away in a remote village, far from college and with no internet connections. If they lived there, they would have to drop their studies.
"You can live with aunt Sandra in Rollingwood in the suburbs of Austin. Do you remember her? She loves you a lot. She wanted to adopt you when you were born," said Arnold. Angela nodded silently. She remembered aunt Sandra who was her mom's older sister. She had attended her mom's funeral. She hadn't talked to her dad and had left quietly after hugging her. She looked exactly like her mom and Angela liked her a lot too.
"Done bro, I'll go home and start packing," said Damian.
"Yes, I'll call you if dad's willing to accept your relationship. If not, you have to leave before he gets the flight tickets," said Arnold.
"Yes, just be ready. It might be tomorrow also," said Alex.
Damian nodded and thanked them all, hugged a broken Angela, and left to pack up. Angela went up to her room to pack too.
As she was going through her clothes in the closet, she found her mom's diary and a few documents attached to it. She kept everything in her suitcase. She would read it when she was free.
She had packed two suitcases when Damian called her on her mobile. "Did you finish packing?" He asked with a sigh.
"Yes and you?" She asked him, quietly.
"Yes. Take all necessary documents, ID proofs, and medical reports, coursewares. Clothes, we can buy but these are necessary stuff which we might need. We might have to stay longer than a few days, Angel. Hope you realize that?" He asked softly.
"Yes, I know," she sighed. "Dad might disown me forever. " Tears choked her throat. Why did her life have to be so difficult? Why couldn't her dad just accept that he was wrong for once and that Angela was after all his own blood? With uncle Ronald dead, there wasn't anyone to prove anything.
"Don't cry, baby. We'll be with one another forever. Even your brothers are with you. I'm indebted to them. I'm sure uncle Gerry will accept our relationship eventually. This is a passing phase, just give him a little time," he consoled.
"Yes, maybe," said Angela.
"Now sleep, I'll see you tomorrow, " he said and disconnected the call. Angela tried hard to sleep but her mom's situation brought tears to her eyes. She cried and cried and eventually dozed off to sleep.
Damian closed and locked the house well. He informed Xavion of everything that happened. He had packed all his necessary belongings. His cards, his bank papers, and identification cards, his laptop, his inheritance proofs, and documents. He packed his clothes and coursewares. He packed everything onto his GMC Sierra. Arnold had asked him to be ready and he was.
The next morning, Damian waited all morning for Arnold's call but he didn't call. Angela too didn't come out to her balcony. Her phone was also switched off. Damian felt too frustrated to know what was going on. At around 11 o'clock in the morning, Angela called him on his mobile.
"Dad didn't accept our relationship, Damian. He's booked tickets to California leaving tonight. Please come now. Dad's left to go to his university for some pending payments. We'll have to leave as soon as you load the luggage onto your car. I'm ready," said a tired Angela.
Damian picked up the last minute stuff that he had packed, locked his house well, and loaded it all onto his car. He parked his car in front of Angela's house and rang the doorbell. Adam opened the door with a grim expression on his face. Alex and Arnold brought down Angela's luggage and loaded it onto his car. Arnold gave him a chit of paper with aunt Sandra's address and phone number written on it.
A sobbing Angela hugged her brothers and climbed onto the passenger seat. Damian hugged her brothers and thanked them.
"We'll come and visit you guys. Do call when you reach there," said Alex. They nodded and drove off leaving their childhood homes with heavy hearts.
Angela sobbed not knowing when she would be able to return here again.