STORY STORY: FIRST OF APRIL – EPISODE 2(EXCLUSIVE)
Read Time:8 Minute, 43 Second
Quickly, Greg tried to resuscitate her. The young girl was scared for her mother. She hated the drunk man already.
He gave the girl orders and quickly, she led the way to the house. Someone called Greg just before he entered the house. He looked up but saw no one. It had started to rain cat and dog, again.
The house was small but neat. The girl led him to the closest bedroom downstairs but it was locked. No way am I letting you drunk stranger into my room. She led him to another room upstairs where Greg put the woman on a bed. She had not stirred. The girl sat beside her mum and began to rub her temple slowly. Greg was dumbstruck, again.
The woman stirred and tried to get up but Greg held her down. He wanted to be sure she had not suffered a concussion.
” I don’t think she hit her head bad, I was quick enough.” The young girl sniffed. She had read his mind. Wow! she’s smart even. Greg admired her.
The woman stirred and tried to sit up once more. But she felt dizzy, still. Greg gently put her back in bed. She did not struggle. The young girl watched him closely. She did not like or trust him even though she saw kindness in his eyes. No one will ever trouble or upset me and my mum ever again!
The woman stirred again as Greg’s phone rang and he excused himself. It was a foreign number.
” Quickly! go put the pictures away.” The woman whispered firmly to her daughter as Greg walked back in. The young girl did not want to leave her mum alone with the stranger. She tried to protest.
” Now forgawdsakes!.. and make sure you put all away and tidy the place.” The woman ordered. “…please Honey, I’ll be fine, he can’t hurt me”. She begged.
” But he already did! ” The girl shouted, “…and I hate him, whoever he is.!” She added and ran downstairs. They were alone now.
The silence was long and thick.
” When did you finally return, your majesty?” Greg asked sarcastically as he paced the room.
” I won’t have you talk to me in such…” Helen interrupted.
” Oh spare me that! How else does one talk to a betrayer…to a killer!?” Greg spat.
” You will call me no such names Mr. all promises and massive failures!” The woman retorted. They were both furious at each other.
” If I remember clearly it was you who disappeared and never came back and now, you stand in my face and talk trash!?…instead of …” He went on.
” I was tricked, I…I was deceived by my own father and…” The woman sniffed.
” …and that is your lame excuse?” Greg scoffed. “…Oh! Spare me the tale Hel, you can do better than that. It’s not like you were her age.” He pointed downstairs, referring to Meyanna.
” Or…or blindfolded. What about the pictures, the messages and… Look, you women always have excuses which in fact should be your middle name.” He spat.
” I… I really don’t have the energy for this. You’ve moved on after all. But don’t come in here and transfer aggression or compare me with…with…” She stammered, paused and took a deep breath. ” I must admit, my only dream has been to see you again, but right now you irritate heaven out of me so, get out!” She yelled.
” Very well, that makes two of us, sleazy coward! Who do you even think you are!? ” He fired back and stormed out of the room.
” Ha ha ha, aren’t all men the same? Look, just look at him walk out. Ju….just watch him flee. Same thing he claims I did a decade and a half ago. She screamed. “…What!? You wanna hear the truth, the whole truth? I dare you to come back and see that you can’t handle it, and see that I’m a dozen times the man you are, you beast!” She beat at her breasts as she cried.
And he stormed back in.
The young girl had started to cry. She was afraid. She ran to her mother’s door but it was locked. They were exchanging words again.
” Honey, go down to your room and lock the door right now!..an…and don’t call the cops, I can handle this!” The woman said in between words and sobs. She knew her daughter was eavesdropping. The girl obeyed.
They were both panting now.
” You expect me to believe your father belonged to a cult and…and was behind…behind all the…rubbish! bullshit! But why couldn’t you reach me or flee or… ” Greg rubbed his temple again. He could not believe what he was hearing.
” I tried, same way mum tried but I couldn’t. I was pregnant and getting heavier but I still tried. It wasn’t even South Africa I was taken to. It was Malaysia…and…and the few times I tried to escape, he caught me and…and broke me…He…” She cried.
” Look, look, look all that fabricated story can’t move me. Now listen carefully, the first time you left me I died, but somehow I woke up. I don’t know or care what your plan is now that you are back but stay the hell away from me and my family!” He yelled.
She spat on him. He was shocked. As if that was not enough, she began to yell and throw things at him. If the rain had not been so heavy that night, people would have heard them.
He wiped his face angrily and turned to walk out but the door was locked and the key was not in the lock. Furious, he hit it hard repeatedly with his fist. She came close and started to hit him on the back.
Greg tried to keep his temper under control. And then she bit him deep, in the back and he screamed. He turned to stop her. But it seemed she was high on some stimulant.
He shook her, still, she did not stop. Over and over again, she slapped him hard across his already bruised face and head, all the while screaming obscenities at him. Greg walked to the bathroom. But there was no door. Just a thin, fancy curtain. He was livid now. He turned to look at her. He knew her. She had behaved like this more than once in the past. But this time it was strange. Very strange.
She followed, still.
Greg held her hands just as she was about to hit him again and she gave him a headbutt. He was shocked. He felt dizzy and a warm trickle run down his face. It was blood from a cut on his head. Still, she wasn’t done. She was on drugs alright, he concluded within himself.
She came at him again and he hit her once, across the face. Just once but it was enough. She landed on the bed and lay still. Only her steady sniffing told him she had not passed out again.
He sat on the floor. And saw the key. Then, he moved to pick it up and get out but collapsed. He was bone tired, angry and hungry. He closed his eyes and tried to rest.
It was nearly three hours before he stirred. His alarm had woken him up. 3:35 am it said. He had forgotten to put it off the day before. His body hurt all over. But the blood had dried off. He had dreamt of a damsel singing, dancing, and crying in the rain. He knew it was Helen but he doubted she still did such. She was older now.
He got up and went to the woman on the bed. She had bled a little from the nose. But her breathing was even. She had slept off too. But the sleeping position was awkward so he tried to adjust her skirt and that was when he saw the incisions. He was speechless. She stirred. Quickly, he dropped the skirt and covered her with a blanket. He needed to put food in his stomach so he went downstairs.
He was surprised to find the girl drinking a glass of juice. But he knew she was watching out for her mother. Smart girl. He pointed to the juice. She pointed to the fridge. She did not even blink. He saw the fridge, found a fresh pack of juice and gulped the content at once. He felt alive now.
The girl was watching him.
He was still famished so he looked for something solid to chew and found a pack of plantain chips in the fridge. But it did not assuage his hunger. Frustratedly, he turned and walked back to the living room and smiled in spite of himself.
The girl was not there anymore. But she had dished some food for him and beside the tray, left a first aid box. What is happening, really? I could have sworn she hates me. He sat down to eat the jollof rice with fried croaker fish. He enjoyed it. He felt at home. He washed his face again at the sink in the kitchen, took care of the cut on his head and went to check on the sleeping woman. She was still asleep. Good. He wasn’t ready for any kind of talk.
Greg picked her phone which was on the lampstand, flashed his line and dropped the phone. He opened a drawer, found a paper and pen and wrote. He changed his mind, canceled, then, wrote again.
He went downstairs. The girl was not there. But she was alright. They were both alright. He bent to tie his shoes’ laces and his wristwatch dropped. Something had come loose during the scuffle a while ago. He was pissed. He loved that wristwatch. It said 5:45 am.
Greg bent to pick it and that’s when he saw the white paper. But it wasn’t an ordinary paper. It was a picture of three smiling babies. All naked, all cute. A girl and two boys. He smiled. But the smile slowly froze on his face as it dawned on him they were a carbon copy of him even to the colour of their eyes.
To be continued in episode 3…
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As written by Afolayanka Kimberly
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