Chapter 90: Don’t Push It

Chapter 90: Don’t Push It By the time Jamal was done narrating how Genevieve had mistake Stefan for him, Callan was howling with laughter, not minding that it was the early hours of the morning. "I’m so glad you woke me up from my boring sleep with this story," he said amidst his laughter. "Well, I’m not done with the story. There’s more. Only that it might not be as funny as this. But give me a moment to call Emily and Mari," Jamal said, and before Callan could ask him any questions, dialed the numbers of both Emily and Mari. Emily was the first to join the call. She received the call using her EarPod knowing it was a group call but too distracted with her shopping to notice Callan was also on the line. "I’ve been waiting for you to call back all day, Jam. I swear to God I’m going to kill that jerk Cal before the end of these six months. Can you believe I texted him and all the jerk could say was, Hm? Like Hm? Who responds that way?" She asked incredulously. Although Jamal could have stepped in to interrupt her and let her know Callan was on the line, he decided not to, and to let Callan respond himself. Hearing her, Callan chuckled, amused by the anger in her tone, "What normal person texts a person at almost midnight when they’re trying to sleep and expects a normal response?" Callan fired back, since he had barely dozed off when he received her message notification and the only reason he had bothered to click on the message at that time was because it was Emily. He hadn’t even realized he responded to it until now. Emily froze for a moment when she heard his voice and then quickly picked up her phone to check again if she had heard correctly and her eyes widened when she saw his name displayed on the screen. She slapped her mouth, wondering why she had not looked properly before receiving the call. Thankfully she was saved from responding to that when Mari received the call. "What’s up, peeps! It’s been a while, Cal, how are you doing? I was going to give you a call but I figured it was late over there," Mari said, and Emily winced, wondering how she had not thought of that before texting him. "Thanks for being so considerate, Mari," Callan said sweetly in a tone that told Emily she was the inconsiderate one. Emily cleared bit her lower lip as she tried to swallow her pride to apologize for texting at that time of the night and getting upset by his response. "So, Callan, I hear my girl is coming over to spend some time at your crib. Make sure you’re good to her, okay? If she so much as complains about you I’m going to fly down to Husla and make your life a living hell. But first I’ll start by hacking your phone and informing those gullible girls that flock around you and everyone on your social media page and contact that you have an incurable sexually transmitted disease," she threatened, and Callan laughed, while Jamal smiled, relieved to know that Emily had told Mari about her trip and Mari was cool. "Very funny," Callan said, while Emily cleared her throat. "I’m sorry for texting so late in the night," she murmured. "Did Princess Emily say something?" Callan asked, amused, and both Mari and Jamal chuckled, neither of them interested in getting between the cousins. "Don’t push it," Emily hissed, "you couldn’t respond properly to my text yet you’re on a call at past three in the morning," she said and before Callan could respond, Jamal cut in. "You both can bicker and fight when you see each other. I don’t have the time and this isn’t the reason I called you all," Jamal said, and Mari’s brow arched. "Oh! I thought Callan was on the call because you wanted us to address their cohabitation and make sure they don’t murder each other," Mari said and Callan raised a brow, wondering why living with Emily should be a topic of discussion. But then again, it was Emily and he knew just how she could make a big deal out of nothing. "No, that wasn’t the reason I called you all. I called to let you know I’ve found Dawn. I mean the real Dawn. And before you interrupt me with your questions, no. Genevieve isn’t the real Dawn. She has been pretending to be Dawn. Abigail, the mute girl from five years ago is Dawn, and she lives with Genevieve. The stepsister she mentioned five years ago was Genevieve," he said, without giving them the room to interrupt him. All three of them were silent at first, and then Emily was the first to recover. "JAMAL!" She screeched, and then clamped her hand over her mouth when she realized she had forgotten where she was for a moment and had screamed that way in the middle of a departmental store, attracting attention to herself. Callan winced, pulling the phone away from his ear at the earpiercing sound Emily made. Mari was the next to scream, and Callan let out an exasperated breath. Girls and being dramatic. Couldn’t they just be surprised without screaming? "Don’t be too excited yet," Jamal said, and before they could start pumping him with questions, he quickly summarized the story since he was tired of repeating it the way he had told the others. By the time he was done, Callan was swearing and fuming angrily, and he wasn’t alone, Mari was just as upset while Emily was very silent. "I’ve told the rest of the family about it. I thought you guys should know," Jamal explained. "I can’t begin to imagine how you feel right now. This is all so messed up," Callan said, no trace of his usual humor in his voice. "I’m happy that I found her, so happy to know that I didn’t wait in vain. But at the same time I’m sad that she went through all of that and we lost so much time. I’m furious that I can’t just walk in there right now and beat the hell out of that bastard and make him pay for all he put her through and I feel frustrated that a child is involved in all this mess and for his sake we have to be more careful. If I had not been so stupid as to impregnate her five years ago, it would have been easier to whisk her away from all this and deal with that bastard," he said, expressing himself to his friends in a way he had not been able to do with the others. "Of course. I’d feel that way if I were you. I doubt I’d be able to hold back like you’re doing," Callan said, and Emily scoffed at that. "She must have been so sad and lonely all these years. "Poor Dawn. I feel so sorry for her, yet I’m filled with nothing but admiration at the same time. How about you introduce her to Mari and I? I’m guessing she doesn’t have friends," Emily suggested. "I can’t believe that stupid idiot Genevieve responded to my messages pretending to be Abigail. I feel like pulling out all her hair until she is bald and looking like the ugly vulture she is," Mari hissed. "Jamal, I don’t know what to say, but you know if you need me to do anything, all you have to do is say the word. I’m glad your first love turned out to be quite a decent, interesting and brilliant lady. That’s the kind of person you deserve," Callan said and before Jamal could respond to either of them, his phone vibrated with an incoming call notification from Ryan. "I need to go now. The bastard is calling. I’ll keep you all updated. Callan, be good to Emily. Em, you too. Mari, I’ll call you once I’m more settled," Jamal rushed to say before hanging up and receiving Ryan’s call. "Come have a chat with me," Ryan said the moment the call connected.