A CHILDHOOD GONE by Renae Naik (electronic reader TXT) 📖

their request but those who did, helped a lot. Jayden went for a second and even a third opinion and to Sadie's disappointment, it never changed. Sadie had started working at the restaurant next door now as a waitress. With that came other responsibilities such as washing dishes occasionally and mopping floors daily. She was the only Indian waitress in the entire shopping mall but she didn't mind because the tips she got from the customers really helped out.  The only thing that bothered her was the hours; she knocked off at 22:00pm during her nightshift, sometimes later if they had a big crowd.

 

 

After making sure the place was cleaning after the last customer had left, she would have to wait outside the mall in the dark most of the time alone for her transport to go home. Sadie was robbed and almost killed twice while waiting. Once she was almost stabbed and the second time she was hit on the head with the back of a gun. Thankfully the thugs didn't harm her in any other way or try to molest her. Despite facing all these challenges and fears...she still got up every morning and went to work with a smile on her face. She was always bubbly and her customers loved her. She wore her tragedies like real armor. 
She didn't have everything but she was content with what she had. She was grateful that Jayden was being well taken care off by his dad and that he was a safe. Shaun did a lot at home including the cooking and household chores. On one hand she was sad that by now Jayden was getting older and had become a prisoner of a wheelchair and on the other hand she was happy that he was mobile and could move around instead of being on the sofa the whole time.

 

 

CHAPTER 9

 

 

Sadie is overwhelmed that Jayden has passed the time limit that doctors gave him and celebrates his third birthday with him. She made a vow that every year she will celebrate his birthday the best way she can because she doesn't know which birthday would be his last with her.  Ciara is in the first grade and doing well. She is the brightest in her class and Sadie makes sure she is short of nothing. Shaun realizes that he needs to generate an income to help Sadie out so he decides to go into money lending, a very risky business but also very profitable with trustworthy clientele. During that year just before Christmas Laura has an accident outside and is rushed to hospital. Doctors said that she had a brain hemorrhage and surgery needed to be done. Everyone was on the edge of their seats praying and wishing everything goes well. Three different operations were done with hardly much time in between them.

 

It was two days before Shaun's birthday when Jayden got sick and his oxygen levels were low so, Sadie took him and sat by the door so he could get fresh air. She suddenly felt a cold breeze pass her and one of the bedroom doors slammed shut. Not even two minutes later they got a phone call saying that Laura had passed away. 
Shaun was torn to pieces. The entire family was distraught it was so unexpected and it was so heartbreaking that she had died at such a young age. Laura was only forty five years old when she passed away. The day of Laura's cremation a brawl broke out between Ron and Shaun. Ron had said some very harsh things to Shaun that day. He said that Shaun must stay away from him from that day because he wasn't his blood and that Laura was the only bond they shared and now she's gone. Those words hurt him so badly and Sadie felt so helpless. Shaun was right, she was useless... She couldn't say or do anything to make him feel better. All she could do was give him a shoulder to cry on and be there for him because the next day was his birthday and he would be an emotional mess.

Shaun's birthday came and it was also the day they were going to scatter his mother's ashes. Because of the issue the night before Ron refused Shaun the rights to release his mother's ashes. Shaun stood by the door of where he and Sadie lived and cried until he had no tears left. It was his birthday and he was hurting so much. Sadie dragged him out of the house and they took their kids and went out. They had lunch and Sadie decided that since he was denied his mother's last rites she wanted to do something nice for him. So she sat there and thought and thought until she had an idea. She took Shaun to the local tattoo parlor and had a memorial piece done for him in honor of his late mother, something that no one could take from him.

 

 

CHAPTER 10

 

 

 

It was a normal day at work for Sadie when she and the manager suddenly had a blowout. What had happened was, the manager attended to a table and took their order, he then had a personal phone call and told Sadie what they wanted to order. She punched in the order on the system as she was told. When she served them their food they were upset as some of the meals were wrong. When the customer complained to him he blamed Sadie. She wasn't going to take the blame for something she hadn't done and that was how the argument began. The manager called the big boss and complained. Because the manager was of the same nationality as his boss, he was favored and Sadie was dismissed.

 

Sadie was so disheartened. How was she going to put meals on the table for her family and pay their rent? She called Shaun immediately and told him what had happened. He began to fight with her and call her names as if she did it on purpose. Ever since she lost her job, there was not a day that he didn't remind her how useless she was. She used to sit and cry so much because she herself hated the situation they were now in. Had she just took the blame and kept her mouth shut that day, she would still be able to support her family! Shaun's money lending had picked up by now and he had regular customers, with that money he contributed towards the rent and other things he could afford. He didn't bother during the time Sadie was home to go and look for work however, never missed an opportunity to throw things her face and blame her. They fought about it daily.

 

 

The following weekend his friends invited him out for drinks. . . At 7:30pm Shaun was picked up leaving Sadie and the kids at home. It was just after 12:00am when she tried calling him and he didn't answer. She tried again a few minutes later and when he answered she heard some women laughing in the background. This made her very angry as she was told that she couldn't go with him because it was a "boy’s night out". She knew he must have been cheating or something and was hurt by this so she cried herself to sleep. At 4:00am she is awakened by his loud pounding on the door. When she opened the door he was so drunk that he could barely stand. He reeked of alcohol and his speech was blurred. She opened the gate and let him in. He sat on the sofa and asked her why she called him to nag. She tells him what she heard on the phone and starts accusing of him of being unfaithful. He was annoyed by her constant blabbering so he stood up and pushed her to the floor. She shouted at him and told him that she was tired of being abused like this and she would rather leave than live a life like this. She got up and wanted to go outside when he pulled her back in, locking the gate behind him. He picked up the mop that was behind the door and struck her with it repeatedly. The more Sadie screamed in pain, the harder he struck her. Even when the children woke up, he continued beating her until finally the mop broke on her back.

 

Ciara saw it all happen while Jayden was lying in bed. Sadie was so angry at herself, she couldn't take it anymore. He then made a phone call to his cousin to come and speak to Sadie and went to tend to the kids. As she lay on the floor in tears and in pain she realized that he has too much of anger inside him and he was surely going to kill her at this rate. Sadie decided that she wouldn't give him the satisfaction. She picked herself up from the floor and went into their bedroom. She found some thick electrical wire, stood on a stool and then threw the wire over an exposed roof truss and fastened it tight, wrapped the other piece around her neck and then kicked the stool down from beneath her. At that moment his cousin was knocking on the door, he let him in and went to call Sadie from the room. When he opened the door he was terrified when he saw her hanging from the ceiling and her eyes were closed he screamed for his cousin to bring a knife and help him her cut her down. By the time they set her free she was already bleeding from nose and to his relief still breathing. It took a while but she eventually regained consciousness. Shaun spoke to her and told her he was sorry, again. His cousin gave them both advice and left. Once again Sadie's body felt broken and she was in severe pain. This time he at least filled the tub for her and gave her a massage. The very next day he was outside and his phone began to ring. It was an unknown number Sadie answered; it was woman asking to speak to Shaun. She hung up the call and confronted him about it, he responded that the person had the wrong number.

 

 

CHAPTER 11

 

 

That very week Sadie had been called in for an interview for a sales position and was very pleased and relieved when she got the job. She would be able to provide for her family again. It was at a steel company Monday to Saturday, from 8am to 5pm. A big improvement compared to her last job. She worked at that company for at least a year and a half before managing to get a loan from them to help Shaun buy his first car. They needed it because Jayden was growing and the family couldn't manage in taxis with his wheelchair any longer. It was a second hand, sky blue VW Golf with unique sport seating and in a very neat condition. The couple was happy as it was an achievement for their family. Sadie worked at the steel company for two and a half years before getting a better job with better pay and slowly they could afford to do more and go more places. Despite what she tried to do Shaun was always paranoid and accused her of cheating many times. Although it was Sadie who found plenty of evidence that Shaun wasn’t faithful to her. Whenever she saw messages or pictures on his phone from other women and confronted him about it, they would fight and she would get a beating. Sadie was a faithful wife as the Bible says "the sins of the parents shall fall on their children". Knowing about Jayden’s condition, she didn't want to risk losing him because of her sinful deeds. Her children were growing and Jayden loved his father to bits and needed his father to take