When we arrived at Aunt Vicky's house, the driver pulled over and I gently stepped down. After that I bade him goodnight and then shut the door off. Thus, I turned and headed straight into the house. When I stepped into the house I was welcomed by Patrick and Paul, I knew they would miss me even though we had only known each other for a day. Just then I asked how they were, and they told me they were fine. "And your mom, sid you guys communicated with her on phone today?" I asked and the two looked at each other before shaking their heads. "Okay. Paul, connect to wifi and send her a video call request, I hope you can do that?" I wrinkled a brow at him and he needed positively. *Good, do that now" I winked at him and then left them in the sitting room. I headed straight upstairs and then walked past Jessica's room to Aunt Vicky's room.
When I walked into Aunt Vicky's room I found her discussing with Jessica, she was scolding Jessica but quickly stopped the moment she saw. I wanted asking what exactly was wrong but decided to just keep quiet, if it was important they would definitely share with me. By the way, the fact that Jessica had been away from home since the day prior, she really deserved to be scolded. Why would a sane person do that, although Frank did that as well but the case was totally different. In her case, she willingly went to the club but Frank went there because he was summoned.
"Welcome, Laura" Aunt Vicky said and then signalled Jessica to give us space. Jessica couldn't look at me in the face, she lowered her gaze and gently walked past me to the door. Hence, she left the room… leaving only Aunt Vicky and I. "Laura, is everything okay?" she asked. I didn't know what exactly to tell her, hence I shook my head to signify nothing is fine. "Oh, I know it's about Frank. Don't worry, Jessica told me he went home already. They had met this morning while she was coming back from her friend's house where she slept and" she uttered half way as I quickly cut in,
"She didn't meet him this morning, they slept in the same place!" I muttered, and that made her jolted. Although she didn't look surprised, the only thing I could see in her face was fear. Like she was hiding something. "Did you know about it?" I asked but she was silent. She couldn't say a word to me again. "That means YES," I turned angrily about leaving the room when she called my name.
"Laura, I know nothing more than that. She told me they met yesterday in the night and… and they slept in the same place, not a big deal right?" she tried to calm me down but I wasn't ready for it, I was ready for Jessica… to hear the truth from her, to know exactly what happened the day prior.
I went straight to Jessica's room, and when I arrived I saw her in her bathrobe coming out of the bathroom. Thus I walked over to her faced her. "What happened between you and Frank?" I asked angrily.
"You are asking me? Didn't you asked him when you went to their house? I am sure you guys met!" she said trying to walk away from but then I held her out of her and flung her on the bed which wasn't far from where we stood. Nothing happened to her as she fell on the soft part of the bed, not the furniture. "Like seriously?" she adjusted into a sitting position while staring at me in total bewilderment.
"Yes, Laura, and I am very serious. Now start talking before things gets bad for the of us!" I uttered, laying emphasis on my words while widening my eyes.
Seeing how serious I was, she heaved a sigh and began explaining all that had happened to me. "Look, Laura, I don't know if telling you this will be good but since you insisted in knowing exactly what then fine. Yesterday I was at the club with some of my friends, you don't need to know about them. It was a new club site and it was dark in the inside, you wouldn't really know what time of the day it was in there as you would be too busy to check the time in your phone or wristwatch. No single light was coming from outside the clubhouse, the only lights that could be seen were the lights from the disco lights. My friends and I danced until we eventually forgot the time had past, by then it was already seven in the evening. Our intention was to go home, but just as we were about leaving a guy grabbed my hand and began seducing me. He was a pervert, I wanted him off me hence I kept trying to pull him away. My friends too, we kept on doing our best until eventually I lose balance and we fell breaking some glasses. We attracted so much attention, and the owner of the clubhouse ordered us to pay for the glasses or serve ourselves for free to some of his friends. We couldn't offer ourselves, hence we were left with no other option but to pay. And every minute, the asking price doubles itself. We were forced into a room and told to submit our phones. But I gave them mine, I begged them to allow me to call someone. By then the asking price had increased from three hundred dollars to eighteen thousand dollars. They gave me my money and I called Frank with it. I told him everything and he told me he would love to send the money, however transferring such large amount of money would definitely attract the Feds. That should be good right, since it would attract the government and we would be saved? Well that wasn't good at all, we were warned that any cop that showed in the entrance would automatically led to our death. I don't know if that was a threat or something, but I begged Frank not to let the cops or anybody knows. He should just withdraw the money and bring them. That was what happened. And when Frank came, he was knocked out instantly by them. They took his phone and smashed it when he tried to explain to them that he was only there for us. It was after they were done that they realized they messed up. Hence, they apologized for what they did to him and told him to forget about the asking price and give them any amount in his pocket. However they would take his phone with them and sell it at the black market as it would worth a lot of money. He agreed. After the deal, we were set free. However Frank was unstable, his head pains and none of my friends was willing to help us, they took cabs and left. They were worried about what their parents would do to them for staying out late. Frank and I then decided to stop at a nearby motel to rest for the night. We went there, booked the one and only remaining room and spent our night there. I asked if we could call anybody from our family but he told me not to, he was kind of angry at me. I just didn't know, but he kept murmuring and glaring at me. I ordered for some beers to help him chill, and that was what exactly happened" she stopped there looking at me like someone that wasn't truthful at all.
"Okay, but is that all? I don't think that's all, tell me what's missing before I…" I lifted my hands as a warning only for her to scream and continued.
"Okay, okay… fine!" she shouted, "We had s*x, and it was my fault. We both got drunk and I… I ended up taking advantage of that. I was drunk too but that was what I kind of wanted. I was so… you know, I just couldn't…" she kept talking but none of her words mattered again to me. I had heard what I wanted to hear, and at the moment the only thing I could feel was pain. I had never expected such from someone I called cousin, or should I say sister. Perhaps that was why Frank told me to go, she did the unforgivable. "Laura, I am sorry, okay? But I think I already told you what my problem is. I need men, I really need them and…"
"F*ck you!" I muttered and then left the room in tears. I went to my room and locked myself crying bitterly. My dreams, the dreams I had; had become a reality. I knew I was special when it comes to dreaming about the future, I knew something wrong would happen but no matter how hard I tried, I wouldn't be able to stop what would happen from happening. Only God can change the future. Only He can change everything.
I kept crying until my phone began ringing. My eyes was blurred by tears hence I couldn't see who the caller was clearly. I just took the call and suddenly I began hearing Mam Camila's voice, she was asking if I reached home safely. But the moment I opened my mouth and broke down again, she was agitated. She asked what happened and I told her nothing. Hence, she thought it was still about what Frank did to me, asking for space and all that. Hence she begged me to be calm, that everything would be fine. Unknown to her was something unforgivable done by one of her step-grandchildren. Something I didn't even know how to explain at the moment. After the call, I kept the phone aside and continued weeping.
Later on, Patrick and Paul came to check on me. I quickly covered my face in order not to let them know what was going on. However, the two gave me a questionable look the moment I raised my eyes and looked at them. However, that didn't stop them from explaining what brought them. They told me about the video call they had with their mother and then left the moment I told them to go and continue playing downstairs. I wasn't done crying and I didn't want them to see me doing that.
After some time, Aunty Vicky came to check on me. She managed to walk to me with one stave. And while standing where she was, she called on my name and asked if she could come and sit with me. I was silently at first but when she asked against I nodded my head positively and then turned my face away. Just then, she gently walked over to me and sat close to me on the bed. She sat there quietly while holding her stave, before leaning it on one side of the bed and heaving a sigh.
"I am sorry, Laura… I am so sorry about what happened. I know it hurts, I really do. And I scolded Jessica for what she did, even though that's not enough but that's the only thing I can do for now. She confessed everything to me, I really hate her for it. You also have every right to hate her for it, but please don't let it get to you completely. She might have slept with him, but he's not marrying her. As long as I am breathing, I would never allow him to marry her. She didn't deserve him, he deserves someone better and that person is you, Laura. So please, calm down okay. Just don't let it get to…" she said as I cut in,
"Why does she always gets what she wants?" I uttered without thinking straight. "I mean, why is she always good at snatching people's happiness. Ever since I came to this house, she had been doing different kind of things. Things other people might not endure, but despite that I did all my best to make sure I don't hurt her feelings. What have I done to deserve such humiliation from her? If Frank was the one behind it, I wouldn't be angry with her. I would channel my anger at him. But the fact that it was her fault, I just couldn't stop hating her at the moment. I really don't like her anymore, and I would be glad if I don't see her face anymore"
"Laura, just calm down okay? I know you are upset right now, very upset even. And I know you have every right to be upset. However, I think it's good if you try to control your anger. All you need, is some time alone. I assure you with time, you will understand that you are not the loser. The loser is Jessica, because she's never going to have him nor will she ever be able to manipulate him again. Just put that at the back of your mind and be rest assured about it" she said, then I thought she was really right. All I needed was some space, but from where should I even start? I had no where to go. Staying in the same house with Jessica won't be easy for me. I wouldn't get the space I needed, but perhaps if I go far I would be more comfortable there. I thought to myself and continued talking.
When Aunt Vicky was done giving me advice, she stoood and left. Again, I was alone in the room. But this time around I couldn't cry anymore, and my face was dry. I just sat there thinking about the different things to do. The first thing I had in mind was how to leave the house, to relocate to another place without being known. The second one was how not to break Aunt Vicky's or Mam Camila's heart by doing that. I didn't worry much about Frank, he could handle himself. He had already asked for space and I haf given him. I would also need some space in order to redeem myself even though I knew redeeming myself would take time, probably weeks, months, or even years. I couldn't really say. And thirdly, who would take good care of those kids when I leave, and who would also help Aunt Vicky with other things? Those were the things I couldn't stop thinking about, because I knew one thing… just would hardly have or create time for them. The only time she had was for herself, and not for others. She had no time for even her mother, the woman that gave birth to her, nursed her, and nurtured her to be who she was today. If it weren't for her, she wouldn't have still been alive. That was for sure.
