ONE WRONG TURN
EPISODE 17
As the taxi approached my gate, my phone rang. It was Sarah. I answered as quickly as my fingers could move.
“Have you gotten home?” She asked, without a good morning wish.
She sounded a little anxious and worried. “Just getting to my gate” I replied.
“Be strong oh, no fear, they searched for you throughout the night, ” she said reassuringly but Surprisingly though, I really felt “no fear.” My heart was stone cold, I felt I could face anything my parents threw at me.
The taxi finally parked in front of my house. My mum was standing right outside the gate, looking anxiously at the taxi and probably wishing I was the one coming. As soon as I alighted, she rushed towards me, while I was handing the cab driver his money.
“Ruth, where did you go? Where did you sleep, we searched for you throughout the night. ”My mum queried as she grabbed hold of my hand, trying to pull me close to herself. I felt a little embarrassed, the taxi man seemed more interested in our family affairs than his money.
Why this sudden show of affection? Were they not the ones that chased me out yesterday? I thought to myself.
I kept my face as bold and expressionless as possible, despite my mum’s public display of affection.
My mum lead me inside the compound, and walked me into the sitting room. As I entered, Daniel rushed forward to embrace me.
“Jesus thank you” he whispered into my ear.
“Where did you go? We couldn’t sleep ” he continued, with an expression of relief on his face.
I had not replied anyone, I kept my calm, knowing that the real question and answer session would soon commence. My mum sat down, repeatedly doing the sign of the cross, and mumbling some unintelligible words. She picked up her phone, and called my Dad.
“She has come oh” she said, and dropped the call. I headed straight to my room, and fell on my bed. I brought out my phone again and pinged Sarah and Hannah to inform them that I was home.
Sarah replied, telling me to stick to the story, and never admit I did anything wrong the previous day. That was already what I planned to do anyway. We continued with our chat, they were both eager to hear the events of the previous night.
I shared my ordeal with them. They seemed much fascinated by the “fun” I had. I mentioned to Sarah that Matthew and I had unprotected sexual intercourse.
“Are you crazy? How could you do that, do you want to get pregnant?” She asked, with an angry smiley in front of the texts
“I didn’t even know, it just happened” I replied. The very thought of getting pregnant fell on me like a cold shower in winter. I couldn’t imagine what my parents would do to me.
“Remind me to give you something, we’ll chat later, good to go” she replied.
I had no idea what it was, but I knew Sarah was an expert in these issues. She could sneak in and out of her house to attend night parties without being caught.
My door flew open, to my greatest surprise. Daniel entered, while I was still typing with my phone. I thought I locked the door when I came in. He had seen my phone already, there was no need hiding it.
“Where did you sleep last night”? He asked, sitting on my bed.
“Hannah’s house” I replied, without blinking eyes.
Hmmm you know, dad and mum searched the entire city for you, we even went to see your friend Sarah. This morning dad had gone to the police station to make a report, fearing that something bad might have happened to you.” I fought off the laughter that threatened to spoil my straight face. The knowledge that my parents were really worried gave me some joy.
“So whose phone is that?” Daniel asked, pointing at the phone in my hand.
“It’s not your business” I replied. Daniel got up and gave me a long suspicious stare before walking out of the room. I couldn’t look straight up at him, he already knew I was lying. In fact, I had become an expert at telling lies, almost competing with Sarah.
As Daniel left my room, my mum entered, still doing the sign of the cross. This time, I had tucked my phone under my pillow.
“Where did you go?” She asked, without a worried expression. I repeated the same set of lies I have been telling.
“Those bad friends you are keeping eh, hope they did not bring a boy to the house?”
“Mum please! don’t insult the people who took me in when you drove me away” I shouted, feigning anger.
“I wanna have my bath” I said, springing up from my bed and walking towards the bathroom. Mum just sat there, I could see the look of surprise and fear in her eyes. This was clearly beyond my fleeing from the house last night. She was clearly afraid of the person I was becoming. The boldness, or perhaps rudeness with which I spoke surprised me too. It just didn’t sound like me anymore. I had changed, and I knew it. I entered the bathroom, and shut the door behind me, listening to hear when my mum will leave.
As soon as I heard her footsteps walking out, I came out of the bathroom to prepare for school. I was already going to be late. I dressed up rather slowly, looking at myself in the mirror to notice any changes. Perhaps I looked a bit bigger. Elsewhere in the sitting room, I could hear my dad’s voice, he had returned from the police station. He sounded rather angry. My mum was trying to pacify his anger. Suddenly, he stormed into my room, demanding to know where I slept. I stood aloof, staring blankly ahead. I had no intention of replying him. He motioned towards me, and lifted his hands to slap me. I made no effort to dodge or resist the sting of the slap. Luckily, mum held his hands in the air.
“Leave her, she slept in Hannah’s house” my mum said, attempting to defend me.
“Is that what she told you? This little liar. that my police friend I went to see at the station this morning told me that he saw Ruth with a boy, driving around town at 4 a.m this morning. I’m very sure she slept with that boy.” My heart skipped a bit, that police officer definitely saw me. He was speaking the truth.
“Ruth is that true?” My mum asked with a resigned tone. She was almost close to tears.
“It’s a lie, I slept in Hannah’s house” I replied defensively.
“Come and take us to Hannah’s house, I ‘ll confront her mum personally” My mum said, dragging my hands towards the door. As we walked towards the door, I remembered that Hannah’s mum wasn’t in the house when I slept. I just hoped the entire plan played out.
My parents and I got into my dad’s car and started our journey towards Hannah’s house. I was already set for school, so I’d head straight to school from there. The atmosphere inside the vehicle was very tense. My heart pounded, I knew Hannah’s mum did not see me all through the morning. My dad on the other hand was having a bit of a road rage, he was getting repeated insults from other drivers. He was obviously upset, either by my disappearance last night, or by the fact that I slept with a boy. My mum was completely different, the expression on her face was that of fear rather than anger. She was clutching on to a rosary in her hand, and doing the sign of the cross repeatedly. I sat quietly, feeling a little anxious and worried as we approached Hannah’s house. My dad pulled over right outside Hannah’s compound, I stretched out to observe the compound carefully. I noticed a car parked inside, it wasn’t there when I first came. I guessed Hannah’s mum was back. My parents got out of the car, and we all walked into the compound, straight towards the front door. Just as my dad was about to knock, the door swung open. It was Hannah, all dressed for school. Her mum was right behind her.
“Good morning ma, morning sir” she greeted, as soon as she recognized my parents.
“Morning” my mum replied rather coldly. My dad did not respond, his expression held a lot of bitterness. He shot a cold disgusting gaze at Hannah.
Hannah’s eyes met mine, she had a blank expression on her face. She was neither terrified by my father’s cold gaze nor my mother’s emotionless response.
Her mother stood aloof, appearing quite surprised and a little uncomfortable with the expression on my dad’s face.
“Mr and Mrs Olatunde, I’m sensing all is not well” Hannah’s mum said, alternating her gaze between my dad and her daughter.
“Did my daughter pass the night here?” My dad questioned, in a rather harsh and authoritative tone, almost shouting.
“Mr Olatunde, please calm down, I was away on night duty I didn’t sleep here. My daughters were alone.” She replied, trying to pacify my dad.
“Hannah, did Ruth sleep here?” My mum cut in, trying to prevent my dad from speaking any further on the issue.
“Yes she did” Hannah replied, looking away from everyone with a little smile hanging at the edge of her lips. The expression on my dad’s face clearly showed that he did not believe Hannah. Her mum could see that expression too.
She called out to Hannah’s elder sister, who ran out to meet us immediately. “Did this girl sleep here?” She asked, pointing at me. Hannah’s sister nodded in affirmation. My mum heaved a sigh of relief, so did I. Hannah’s sister’s response only seemed to infuriate my dad more.
“How could you allow another person’s child to sleep in your house, how irresponsible are you?” My dad shouted angrily, loud enough to cause discomfort.
Hannah’s mother grew angry too and replied in similar fashion.
“I just said I wasn’t at home, I’m just coming in, and how dare you call me irresponsible? You couldn’t keep your daughter in your house, and you want to blame me for your failure as a father?." There was a lot of venom in her voice.
“So you have the right to question my parenting skills? When your daughter is a prostitute?” My dad vented, pointing at Hannah.
“At least my daughter slept in my house while you were wondering where yours was” Hannah’s mother replied. At this point, there was palpable tension in the air, I felt really embarrassed. Somehow I blamed myself for everything.
My dad turned towards me
“You see the insult you have brought to me you fool”? He raised his hand to strike me as usual. I docked, hoping to escape his slap. Luckily, my mum caught his hand in the air.
“Papa David, please we have embarrassed ourselves enough, please let us go” she said as she dragged my dad’s hand.
“Your daughter is a bad influence” my dad continued.
“Once again you are blaming someone else for your parental failure” Hannah’s mother replied.
My mum dragged him away before he could spit more venom. I tagged along with my parents. They drove me off to school. My dad kept insulting me all the way, while my mum tried to calm him down. Her sudden change of attitude surprised me. She wasn’t attacking me, she still seemed very scared. But I couldn’t ascertain the reason for her fear. They dropped me off at school and drove away.
*******************
As soon as the morning assembly ended Sarah, Hannah , and I had a chit-chat. We discussed everything that happened in the last twelve hours or so. I described my entire experience with Matthew, and they all sounded really impressed. We shouted and threw high fives in the air. At that point, I remembered Hannah had promised to give me something today.
“So Sarah, you said you’ll give me something today.” I said expectantly. She reached into her pocket, and handed me something I never thought I would need.
What is it?
WATCHOUT FOR EPISODE 18
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