A CHILDHOOD GONE by Renae Naik (comprehension books .txt) 📖

CHAPTER 1

That night Sadie slept peacefully, eager to find out what the upcoming weekend would hold for her. It was as if a great weight had been lifted up of her shoulders. Now that her mother knew, she wouldn't have to sneak around. She could see Shaun whenever she pleased. They could go out together without the worry of her getting into any trouble. Some days she would still go and visit Tisha after school while Shaun was at work. As we know Shaun was hard working and the soul supporter of the family even though Ron was around. Shaun was loved and respected by his siblings to the fullest; they looked up to him and depended on him. His mother Laura always covered up for him no matter what he did and even if she didn't approve of Sadie, she would allow their relationship to continue as well as hide it from Ron for his sake. Tisha, Theo and Kiki did the same. Tisha was okay with it as they were still very good friends, Theo, his visually impaired brother was still getting to know Sadie better and Kiki was still too young to understand.

It was a Thursday afternoon and Laura was in the kitchen preparing lunch. Oh! What a brilliant cook she was, she made the best curries and baked the best biscuits and cakes you could ever eat. She had a kind heart and whenever it came to food she was always selfless. She had something about her that was very unique, her cooking time was always on the minimum and no matter how little she cooked it could always feed a lot of people. She fed anyone and everyone that showed up at her door and blessed were those hands that prepared those meals. Shaun had come home early from work as his employers needed to attend a family funeral so when Sadie went to see Tisha she was surprised to see him there. With Ron being out and about they decided that they would watch a movie in Shaun's room and then she'll go back home. About half an hour to 45 minutes had past when Laura hear Ron screaming loudly and talking to someone one the road, she quickly went and knocked on Shaun's door to warn him that his father was almost home. Sadie immediately got off the bed and went to sit in Tisha's room with Kiki. A minute later and Ron was already standing by the door in his usual drunken state. At this time he was unaware that Shaun was home. He went towards Laura who was now seated in front of the TV and said "Laura I need to ask u something and don't you FUCKING lie to me!" she knew he was drunk and annoyed at his approach so she abruptly replied "YES WHAT, TALK I'M LISTENING".

He then begins by asking her if she's knows anything about Shaun and Sadie and the fact that they are in a relationship. Laura is so scared at that moment that she doesn't know what to say to him. "DO YOU OR DO YOU NOT FUCKING KNOW?” again she keeps quiet and at this point a frustrated Ron is about to slap her across the face when Shaun, who overheard everything, came out of the room. "What’s going on?" Shaun asked. "I AM ASKING YOUR MOTHER IF SHE KNOWS ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING BETWEEN YOU AND SADIE!" he shouted. Shaun then explained that Sadie was now his girlfriend and they were seeing each other. This infuriated Ron as he felt like he was no one. He was upset at the fact that everyone knew but didn't tell him anything and he had to find out about it from friends at the shebeen. They argued about this for a few minutes back and forth until Shaun screamed for Sadie to come out of the room and take her home. Sadie who was rather shit scared at that moment, opened the bedroom door and after a few minutes felt brave enough to walk out. When she got to the kitchen Ron said to Shaun “I don't want this BITCH back in my house again" that pissed Shaun of to the extent where he walked towards Ron and punched him in the chest! A fist fight broke out between them and Laura and Tisha has to separate them. Shaun grabbed Sadie's hand and they walked out. On the way to Sadie's house, she just burst out into tears. She told Shaun that she didn't mean for things to happen that way and she felt really disappointed in herself that she caused an issue between a father and son. Shaun told her that it was okay because they have fought numerous times. Whenever Laura would get beaten up by Ron, Shaun would defend her and fist fights often occurred. Knowing this didn't take away the guilt that Sadie felt. She got home and told her mother what happened and at that moment her mother decided that it's best for Sadie to keep her distance for a while until the situation had calmed down.

CHAPTER 2

Sadie stayed away from that house and the good thing was that Shaun could still come and see her at her house and Neema was okay with that. About 2 weeks has passed since the incident when Ron confronted Shaun again about the situation and expressed that he was only angry because he was the last to know and pointed out the fact that Sadie was very much younger than Shaun and still in school. Shaun told his father that he was aware of it but he really loved Sadie. Ron looks at Shaun and admits that he has no choice but to accept it. This was a relief for Shaun and when he told Sadie about she was extremely relieved and excited that she could still go there and have pretend sleep overs with "Tisha". They continued their relationship like Normal, they would go out together, take walks together and they both introduced each other to extended family members. This relationship was getting serious and Sadie loved every moment of it! While other girls were getting cheap chocolates at school from their classmates, He would buy her shiny jewelry, stylish clothes, awesome fragrances, beautiful shoes and everything else she needed. She used to brag about her "sugar daddy" at school.

It's the 25th of March 2006, Sadie turns 16 years old. Wow! How much she has grown since we read about her in the previous book! That little girl is now “sweet 16". She gets birthday wishes from all over, school, home and a little bit more from Shaun, if you know what I mean ;). He gave her a really romantic birthday surprise that consisted of dinner, a movie and a sleepover.

How she wished that day would never end!

The next day she and Tisha decide that they too tired to go to School so they made a plan to bunk! They got dressed and combed their hair as normal, Shaun had given them their daily spending money, Sadie kissed him goodbye and they left home. Instead of walking to school they walked to the shop, bought some snacks, cold drinks and even cigarettes and then headed to the swamp near their houses. They sat there for hours and spoke about the night before whilst puffing long cigarettes. They seemed to have so much of fun that they continued to do that on and off for almost the whole month! They wrote fake work in their notebooks just in case they would get caught by their parents and fraudulent letters to teachers just in case the school would call. One Friday, they bought a bottle of Brandy with some Coke and decided that they wanted to "live a little". They got to their usual spot at the swamp and drank until there was nothing left. By this time they were too drunk to notice that Ron had seen them!

When they got home Ron still wasn't there, they both felt like they needed to sleep it off. They got into bed an in less than 15 minutes, they were knocked out. When Shaun came from work he went into to Tisha's room and woke them up and he called Sadie to his room. When Sadie got into the room Shaun picked up his perfume tin from the cabinet and hit her very hard on the forehead! She stood there in shock when he asked her "WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU TODAY?” still shocked at what had happened a minute ago, she stood there in silence. He then pulled his hand back and the only thing she felt was a sting across her face "I'M ASKING YOU WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU! He repeated. Sadie was shivering. She couldn't understand why would the man who hit his own father for her, would lay his hand on her like that.

She sat down on the floor and cried as he told her that his father saw her bunking school and drinking at the swamp with his sister. Too scared to lie and even talk, she admitted that they had bunked school and were sitting there. She further explained that it was just the two of them and no boys or anything of the sort. Shaun then tells her that he is going with her to the school in the morning to find out how long this was happening.

It wasn't long after when Ron walked in and began to deal with Tisha for the same incident. Her cries and screams was all that echoed through the house as he beat her with a belt while Laura fearfully watched. It lasted for At least 22 minutes before he was too tired to continue. Sadie sat there grateful that all she got was a knock on the head and a slap across the face compared to what Tisha experienced.

CHAPTER 3

The next morning Shaun stayed out of work and Sadie got dressed in her blue school uniform and they were on their way to the school. On the way they had to pass Neema's house and she saw them through the window " where you taking her Shaun?" she asked. He then called her by the gate and told her about the incident, obviously leaving out the fact that he hit her. Neema's was disappointed to hear this and asked him to please let her know what the school said. While almost halfway Sadie began to get a high fever and she felt very dizzy. They sat down at the park for a while as Shaun could see something wasn't right. Sadie suddenly began to vomit excessively. He got very worried and decided that they should go to the clinic instead, which wasn't far off from where they were. Sadie hated hospitals and clinics and when she got there the smell of cleaning detergents evoked her nausea again! She rushed to the toilets and the stench there was even worse, the toilets hadn't been flushed, the taps were barely working and there wasn't even tissue for her to wipe her hands and mouth.

She joined the queue to make her file which was rather long as there were at least thirty four or thirty five people before her. Whilst there were only two clerks attending to these patients, the queue seemed to be moving rather fast. An hour went and she finally had her turn and was sent to wait in another queue to see a doctor. Because she was wearing uniform, she was given priority and was called in next. The doctor was a shabby looking woman,