Chapter 27: Chapter 27

Coming back to the house only reminded her of her pathetic life in addition to the sadness that welled up in heart. Main reason she never frequented the place, it only brought her pain and she didn't want that.

After the visitors who brought their condolences left, Lisha walked into her dad's house before sitting on a couch as she glanced at her family members who were also in the living room. She looked around the house which looked entirely new to her. She found it hard to recall the last time she visited the spacious, palatial house, maybe during her last years in secondary school or something.

She never lived in the house neither did she spend the holidays there, she only visited with Gran and yet it still felt like visiting hell.

Her eyes sighted the family photos on nice frames canvas hung up on the wall, as expected she wasn't there, it only comprised of her dad, Nikki's mom and Nikki, they didn't consider her family, not even was her picture among the individual portraits hung on the most visible part in the house. Lisha sighed as she leaned on the chair.

"I hope you're now satisfied after you hurriedly sent Gran to the great beyond, courtesy of course your deep-rooted hatred, have you forgotten that woman was the one that took care of you up till this moment but what did you repay her with? Death, you ungrateful child," Mr. Ogunade started.

Lisha lifted her brows as she turned to her Dad.

"What do you mean?"

"Just thank your stars that Gloria begged for you and she made me reason with the cause of her death, if not…"Gloria was Nikki's mom.

Nikki cut in, "It's okay Dad, it's not like Gran died prematurely, she spent seventy two years on earth, so, her death isn't that much of a sad thing whereas Lisha didn't kill her intentionally, it was only a mistake."

Lisha's mouth fell open as she stared at her sister in disbelief, she knew Nikki was mischievous but not to the extent of being this devilish. She was still finding it hard to believe Nikki could be this mischievous.

"I've made it clear to you that I didn't kill her, Nikki was the one that pushed her whereas the push wasn't the cause of the death, it was coupled with her huge intake of alcohol, she…"

Mr Ogunade cut her short, "Just shut up! Stop trying to justify yourself here, so, Nikki is lying right?"

Anger swelled up in Lisha but Gloria; Nikki's mom rubbed her hand on Lisha's palm, Lisha turned to her as Gloria gave her a weak smile. At least, they still had a good person in the family, even though Gloria wasn't her mother, she still considered her feelings and Lisha couldn't help but be grateful for that.

She returned it with a small smile before looking away. Gloria had always treated her well, even when her dad neglected her, Gloria would always drag their dad to visit her even though it was on rare occasion but at least she was grateful for that.

That made Lisha wonder who Nikki got her vulgar attitude from, come to think of it, Nikki was somehow a good person before though, she always believed she had the right to everything but that didn't deter her goodness, everything just turned upside down because of Jimi.

Why on earth would they have to fight over a guy? Not like it was a fight though, Nikki was only trying to destroy her happiness, it was apparent Nikki still liked Daniel, even a blind person could see it, but Nikki couldn't or maybe she was only trying to prove hard, she remembered how Nikki always stared at his pictures, what Lisha just didn't understand was the reason behind Nikki's behavior. She…

"Lisha!" Gloria shouted and that brought her out of her thoughts.

"Hn?" She jerked her head towards her.

"You seemed out of this world."

"Sorry, I zoned out."

"So, there would still be a final burial party, my mother doesn't deserve to be buried just like that, she deserves the grandest burial ceremony my wealth can muster," Mr. Ogunade said.

Nikki turned to her father with a smile that was more or less fake, actually she was seated beside him with Miracle by her side.

"That'll be nice, so when is it?"

"I don't know yet, I just decided to voice out my thoughts."

"That's good, we can start thinking about it," Gloria interjected.

Mr. Ogunade nodded, "Okay."

Nikki then turned back to him and in no time, they delved into another discussion before calling Gloria who also joined them in the discussion leaving out Lisha, deliberately.

Lisha who didn't want to feel bad and left out decided to go home, immediately she stood up and announced her departure, Gloria turned to her.

"Leaving already? Won't you have dinner with us?"

So, I would feel left out again as always, Lisha thought.

"No," Lisha replied with a convincing smile.

"Okay then, you can visit some other time," Gloria permitted before turning to her daughter, "Aren't you leaving too?"

Lisha quickly turned back to them, Nikki glanced at her before responding, "No, I think I'll just stay with you, I've missed home enough moreso, I haven't gotten over Gran's death so, I might not be able to sleep in that house."

Lisha scrunched her brows while Nikki smirked at her.

Mr. Ogunade started, "That's good, I've missed your presence in this house, you know since you left, the…"

Lisha shut off the rest of the words as she inched her way out of the house but not without glancing back at them, she realized they were good without her judging the way they were chattering, she sighed before leaving the house.

Almost an hour later, Lisha got back to her house and she stepped in, it felt so empty before slumping on the chair, she looked round the big house and immediately felt the absence of others and felt shattered that silence had taken over the house. She felt deeply lonely and ostracized.

Just then, a knock was heard at the door, she wondered who it could be before standing up reluctantly to open.

"Hey," Lisha greeted as a wide smile appeared on her face, one that concealed her heavy heart.

"Hi," Jimi replied before Soil got out of the car and walked up to the door, Lisha's expression changed to a surprised one as her eyes met with Soil's.

"Good evening mama," Lisha greeted as Soil enveloped her in a hug.

"How're you feeling?" Soil asked when Lisha withdrew from the hug and they all walked into the living room.

"I'm fine, I guess," Lisha shrugged as she sat on the chaise lounge alongside Soil while Jimi sat on the couch opposite them.

"Soil was the one that dragged me here," Jimi announced.

Lisha tucked her legs beneath her before turning to him, "So, if she didn't drag you here, you won't come visit, abi? We know people like you."

Jimi chuckled, "That's not true, nagger, you are always looking for every opportunity to crucify me."

Lisha eyed him before waving her hand.

"The house feels different without your grandma, what of your sister?" Soil inquired.

"She's spending the night at her parents place."

"So, you're the only one at home?" Jimi asked.

Lisha nodded, "Yeah."

Jimi replied, "But, don't you think…"

Lisha cut in, "That Gran can just appear in the middle of the night or something, I didn't kill her oo, so, she can't come and be hunting me, she hunted me during her lifetime, you want her to hunt me after her death, no, ko possible bro."

Soil laughed while Jimi scrunched his brows, "Stop talking about that."

Lisha shrugged, "Why mama? Don't tell me Jimi is afraid of ghosts ma? No wonder you're just a chicken," She ended it with a mocking laughter.

"He is," Soil answered.

"I'm not, not like they exist," Jimi countered.

Lisha smiled, "You'll know they exist when they start appearing in front of you or even…" her eyes widened as her mouth hung open for some seconds while Jimi dashed her a questioning look.

"See, there's someone behind you."

Jimi lifted his brows, "Uh?"

"The person is in white, she looks like a ghost, she…"

Jimi jumped up quickly and he mistakenly hit his leg on the centre table and that made him sit back on the couch, Soil and Lisha erupted into laughter while Jimi squeezed his face.

"You should see your face," Lisha jested.

"It wasn't funny at all," Jimi replied sharply and that made Lisha burst into another fistful of laughter for some seconds and then minutes which left Jimi and Soil wondering if she was okay.

"Are you okay?" Jimi asked in concern and Soil moved towards the edge and that made Lisha stop the laughter after what felt like forever. But then it was replaced with sobs, Jimi glanced at his mother before jumping up to pacify Lisha who kept on sobbing.

"It's okay," he placed her head on his chest and rubbed circles on her back while she went on crying.

After some minutes, she finally stopped and she couldn't be more relieved, she'd been bottling everything in since Gran's death and now she couldn't take it anymore, main reason she decided to let it all out, she was only strong on the outside, internally she had her own battles and insecurities.

"Are you okay?" Soil inquired and Lisha raised her head from Jimi's shoulders.

Lisha nodded, "Very much okay."

"Are you sure?" Jimi questioned with concern laced in his tone, he was very worried, he'd never seen her so down before.

"I am," Lisha insisted and after realizing they wouldn't stop bugging her, she decided to change the topic," Soil, what should I cook for you ma?" She turned to Soil with a thin smile.

Soil shook her head, "Nothing, I'm okay."

Lisha crinkled her nose, "No, you can't come to my house and not eat anything, don't worry, I'll prepare something for you," she turned to Jimi, "Mr. Man, what's Soil's best food."

Jimi scratched his head, "Um, it's…"

"Gosh! You don't know your mother's best food, you're not a good son at all, what have you been doing all your life?" She got up and walked up to him.

"Soil doesn't have a best food that was why I had to think," Jimi defended and that made Lisha chortle.

"Hmm, lame excuse," she said before dragging him up from his seat, then she turned to Soil, "We'll prepare something for you."

"You can't leave me alone here, let me join you guys."

Lisha shook her head, "No, don't worry and I know this boy here can't cook anything, let me quickly prepare something," she dropped Jimi's hand.

"I'm a man, you know and I'm a great cook."

"Whatever," she waved her hand before running to the kitchen while Jimi and Soil smiled.