During daybreak, three sisters sat behind their home, talking and laughing till Mavis brought up the issue Liza dreaded to talk about.

” Listen, Lisa, the elders of the church are willing to support you and the child again, all have to do is tell them Felix did it, you ankasa check your life, do you think he has anything better to offer you and the child?”….. she ended her statement with a question that left Lisa to ponder. Mavis had no time to spare as things were dragging on slowly. She has to convince Lisa to make a choice.

Akua chipped in, forgetting she is too young to engage in the conversation.

“How do you expect her to do that? That’s betrayal”.

Mavis sized her up wondering why she was even there with them when she was supposed to go to church or something.

“See, I’m not expecting a kid like you to understand. Liza, if you don’t remember, there are consequences. Better make up your mind for your own good” She got up in an attempt to leave her to make a decision.

She was left to think. She knew she had to do something in order to save her child, but going to the extent of stripping the child away from father’s care was somehow too much.

Regardless, what had to be done, should be done immediately. Mavis’s words seemed to have had a serious impact on Lisa’s temple of thoughts. That night, Lisa made a decision to rat out Felix even if it would land him in jail.

At the station, she confessed.

” He paid a group of boys to go into Mrs Mensa’s house to assault her, he was doing so to stake his claim that the child was his and no one had the right to take it from him ” she chipped in a little defensiveness, as she spoke to the detective.

” Do you by any means know their names, addresses or anything we can use to track the rest down?”…he asked with an unsatisfactory facial expression.

“No “… she quickly replied.

“Please tell me you will do your best to make sure he is at least cut some slack with the sentence…please!”, Lisa pleaded, holding onto the desk. She’d love the boy for years and was even pregnant with his child. Doing what she was doing now was hard but someone was hurt. She wasn’t willing to cover up for him any longer.

“Now there Lisa, calm down”…..the detective tried to calm down in a soothing voice.”  The case will be deliberated upon and then we will see what happens next, for now, sit tight and trust us to do our jobs okay …” he seemed to have hit the smile button on Liza

“Okay”..she responded.

She felt a sense of trust in the detective.

About 3 weeks to a month into the case, Felix was rounded up at the bus station when he was about to flee from town to save himself from the spanking of Justice.

“Let me go, Man!” He yelled as the policeman held his hands behind his back, not giving him a chance to move them.

“That’s my unborn child. I did what I had to do!! Let me go!” He yelled frantically. They finally brought him back to the station. Exhaustion coursing through the whole crew. They had had a fair share of his screams and struggles.

One guy threw him inside, locking behind him. Looking around the empty cell, reality seems to kick in. He finally seems to understand how vain it is to scream and fight them. The cells stank that he held his nose to block the foul smell. If he’s been caught, Liza must know. That thought runs through his mind. Liza was soon to give birth and he’d promised to be there to help her through her pain but fate had something up its sleeves.

A month after his arrest, Liza gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. Mavis, surprisingly, stood by her sister through the dark times. Maa Julie, their mum hadn’t bordered to visit her at the hospital. She called to congratulate her on the phone and hung up soon enough. Liza strokes her baby’s hair, admiring his beautiful eyes which looked just like Felix’s. “They will take care of you” she whispered, kissing his forehead gently. Playing with him she found some peace. A nurse came in almost immediately to guide her on how to breastfeed the little one. “It’s fine, you don’t have to be shy. You’re a mother now” her soothing calm voice urged her to pull down her top and feed him. Holding his head up, she dropped her nipple in his mouth like the nurse had thought and truthfully he sucked hungrily on it. He was Soo beautiful. Everything about him screamed Felix. His eyes and face especially. She apologized in her head severally for what she was about to do. Give him up.

A week passed after her birth. She held him in her arms, a white cloth covering his little body while she waited at their door for the people sent by the church to take the child. She saw a few decent men come in a while ago, wearing a t.shirt that showed they were part of the caretakers of the orphanage. She immediately dropped the child in their arms, freeing herself from weariness since the child was brought home.