Chapter 22: Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty two

*****

The uneasy feeling I had had within the last few days had hardly dissipated.

Seeing David at Tunji's congratulatory get together made it less boring, we had talked and laughed for a while before he went back to his friends. The committee of friends as I fondly called them soon started leaving with their dates after Tunji gave a short vote of thanks, he was still tipsy at the time though. And before we knew it, he was drunk out of his mind. Tana offered to drive him home as he was too inebriated to get behind the steering wheel.

I drove her car instead, I had never been to Tunji's place even when he lived few streets away from us. I guessed it was because he was always at his office.

She didn't come home that night and when I called,she told me she went over to her parents' house. I didn't question her further, knowing she was safe.

*****

"You're sure about this?" I asked for the umpteenth time. I was speaking to my sister, she had decided it was time to go on and address the matter that had been pending for weeks. We planned to go over to our parents' house, to see my dad. I dreaded the thought but I had promised to support her all through so I had to do it.

"Affirmative" She nodded with a tight smile. "Lola I understand that you're nervous, and if you don't want to come with me, I totally get it..." She started but I interjected before she could discourage me any further.

"Sis, It's fine, really. I'm doing this for you, nothing else matters right now" I held her hands in mine to show how supportive I was.

"Alright then" She let out a shaky breath, while I gave her a hug. We were going to be alright, I kept affirming myself. Our pastor had said to keep speaking positive things so that things would work out for our good. The tongue does have powers? Right?

Tana had left early for work, even before I could see her. So I just texted her when we were leaving. She replied with a 'Good luck B, kisses to Laila ' I replied with a smiley face as I locked the door and walked over to the Uber that awaited us.

The ride was faster than I thought, even with the usual traffic. But I think it seemed that way because I was a nervous wreck. Going back home after leaving, unceremoniously, might I add, had my thoughts swirling all over the place. I hardly said two words to my sister who was also in a world of her own, we exchanged glances occasionally, almost like we were communicating telepathically, reassuring ourselves. When she held my hand and squeezed it softly, I figured we were just swerving into the estate where my parents resided.

We stepped out and I gazed at the mansion, nothing had changed within the last five months that I had been away, apart from the fact that it felt emptier that it initially used to be. There wasn't any life there, the ambience of the place appeared gloomy, eerily quiet too. We trudged inside after the gateman saw us, and I caught a glimpse of Simeon who was outside cleaning one of the vehicles by the garage. He waved excitedly at us and we did the same, exchanging greetings.

I rang the door bell and a new face greeted us as we walked in. My mom had probably hired some new people to handle the chores, she must have fired some others, she changed staffs hastily too. Endurance, that was her name, she seemed like a bubbly person with the way she welcomed us like she knew us already, but surely she must have seen us in the family portrait hanging firmly in the living room.

"Make I go call mummy" She said in pidgin as she scrambled off in search of our mum. I felt like a stranger as I sat down on one of the fancy leather chairs.

Some seconds later, my mother came in from a different direction, I expected her to trail down the stairs gracefully as she always did but no, she came in from the guest room. She couldn't possibly have slept there, she had her own room upstairs which she slept in whenever she had issues with our dad. I didn't ponder on it too much as we stood up to greet her.

She engulfed both Laila and I in warm hugs, pretty unexpected but what else is new?

We exchanged pleasantries and talked about random things for a while before talking about the main issue.

"Your father is on his way, he should be here any minute" Mum said glancing at her wristwatch.

Reticent as I am, I still couldn't help but ask the question that had been bugging my mind.

"Mummy, why did you come in from the guest room, do you sleep there now?" She chuckled, in amusement, thankfully.

"No silly, I have my own room, you know that"

I thought so...

"I was just making sure it's tidy enough for the guest we're expecting"

"Guest?" Laila spoke up this time.

"What guest?" She asked again

"You'll see dear, you'll see"

I kept quiet afterwards, the tension was building up, Dad would be there any minute. On cue, I heard the honking of his vehicle, two vehicles? This wasn't good.

We heard footsteps approaching in quick strides then there was some incoherent chatting and laughter, who was he coming in with? I fought the urge to satisfy my curiosity by going to see for myself. I was getting anxious and just kept looking at my shoes like they were the most interesting things in the world. They came in shortly after, as their foot steps stilled and the chatting had stopped. I didn't want to look up, but through the corner of my eye, I saw my sister shivering, it was then I decided to look up.

Oh no! This is bad, really bad....

*******

"Titilola, what are you doing in my house?" Dad asked in his usual menacingly calm tone.

"Good afternoon dad" I greeted, ignoring his question but I knew he was going to get back to it.

"I asked a question" A little edge to his tone, but not much...

"I'm here with my sister" I said matching his gaze.

"To do what? Settle their minor couple's tiff? Since when did you become a marriage counsellor?" The laughter that came after his tirade of rhetoric questions was mockingly boisterous and the moron next to him joined in. Did he just call domestic violence a minor couple's tiff? Why am I not surprised? Men are ruthless beings.

"What's minor about someone turning my sister into a punch bag?" I asked standing up with my gaze fixed on the culprit, he gulped and gave a nervous chuckle in response.

"Tolani say something" I turned to my sister who was frozen on the spot, she was just mute.

Dad glowered at me before sporting a fake smile at Yemi. He nudged him forward towards my sister, I watched him with a burning gaze. If looks could kill, he would be six feet under.

"Baby..." His voice was sickeningly sweet, I almost gagged. "I'm so sorry my love, I dunno what came over me, I'm a mess without you..." He crouched in front of her, and tried holding her hands in his but she flinched and removed them, turning her face away from him. The bastard was trying to patronise her and I was confident she would not give in.

Mum had joined us in the living room, she watched in silence, trying to hide her emotions with a blank stare, but I knew she was crying on the inside. My hands stayed folded around my chest tapping my foot slowly, I was raging on the inside and that was my signature pose whenever I was angry.

My scumbag of a brother in law had his head on Laila's laps at this point, shedding crocodile tears. She was beginning to soften up, I watched as she held out her hands out slowly, reluctantly even, and then held his head in her hands, his hand had even gone to her waist in those few seconds, Laila was crying too. I almost face palmed in frustration, I thought I had always been the softie in the family. In as much as I wanted to groan and stop the fake display of affection from Yemi, the ball was in my sister's court.

My supposed father, just sat in a corner with a glass of whiskey, he had a triumphant smirk on his flabby face. I cussed inwardly, until I heard Yemi in between his pathetic sobs, telling my sister that they had to go home together.

"Babe please come back home, I feel empty without you. I've been miserable without you..."

I scoffed, barely hiding my disgust, my mum shot me a pointed look, probably to warn me about her husband's presence.

"Yemi I can't go with you" My sister replied shakily. I mentally pumped my fist in the air, there's no way she's going back to the monster!

"What?!" He yelled, raising his head quickly, she flinched, so did my mum and I. That was good, at least they could see the kind of person he was. I wondered if my father was aware of Yemi's mental state, I doubted it.

Yemi shook his head like he was trying to keep his demons in check. He gave a nervous chuckle, looking around the room tentatively, he licked his lips before speaking again, probably to lubricate the lies he was about to pour out of his mouth.

"Babe we're married..." He started

Duh? Don't we know that already?!

"I miss you okay, I'm sorry for everything I did. I promise we'll go for that honeymoon you've always wanted, I'll do anything for you Tolani, please don't leave me" He was pleading, fully on his knees now, he tried to caress her cheeks but she flinched again. My sister was traumatized but my parents acted like it was normal! I almost screamed at them as they watched in silence.

"Yemi, I just need some time, I want to stay with my sister for a while..." My sister had started to say. I expected her to ask for a divorce but she was simply stalling.

"You would stay here, till you're ready to go back to your husband's house" Dad said out of the blue.

"But daddy..." Laila wanted to protest...

"That's final, the guest room is ready, you two would sleep over there tonight " He said in finality.

"What about her stuff?" I asked in frustration.

"She still has some things up in her maiden room" He stated without sparing me a glance as he walked off. I glanced at my sister, the fear in her eyes,barely hidden.

"Let's go" I held out my hand which she took in mine.

"Where are you two going?" Mum asked immediately, she probably thought I was about to do something crazy, which I was BTW.

"We just want to sort out some stuff from her room" I answered simply as Laila walked limply behind me. We mounted the stairs, and walked into the room then I locked the door behind us.

"Lola what am I going to do? He's going to kill me" She sobbed immediately she sat on the bed. The room looked tidy, it seemed our mum had the maids clean it up regularly.

"We're going to get out of here" I said with a determined tone, I never thought I had. She looked perplexed.

"But...but..how?" She sputtered.

"Just trust me" I replied, wheels turning in my head. I texted Tana, it was almost time for her to close from work. I quickly filled her in on the happenings and she sounded furious, I told her to drive to the house but she had to stop at the back gate.

I went to the window, I hadn't jumped such a height before but Laila had done so severally while she was in her wild phase so I did not have to worry about her.

"Lola are you crazy?" She whisper yelled when I told her the plan. I shrugged in response, of course she could climb out through the window, she was simply worried about me.

"There's a first time for everything"

I picked up some of her clothes and stuffed them in a small suitcase along with some shoes and jewelry. We usually shared clothes so I didn't bother going to my own room to get mine, it probably would've raised suspicion.

I called Simeon, telling him mum had asked him to open the back gate and he did so within a few minutes. The backyard wasn't very wide but it was wide enough for us to sneak through the small gate. Our main challenge was getting out through the window. Laila climbed out first, skillfully so, trying not to make a sound as she held on to the railing at the balcony. Before I knew it, she had hit the ground, signalling that I had to get down quickly too. I threw the bag and she caught it, with great difficulty though.

Tana had texted me, she was close, we had to move quickly. But just then, there was a knock on the door...

I froze.

This cannot be good...

***********