Burning Flame

Chapter 13

"Are you okay? You are pale!" Came a frantic voice.

She turned to face her friend with trembling lips. "I am okay," she muttered.

"No, you are not!" Kemi shook her head. "You are legit shivering!"

Dora turned back to the window. Her breath was coming in short spans.

"That's it; I am stopping the car!" Kemi declared with a loud voice.

"Don't! Keep going!" Dora jerked forward and shrieked. However, it was too late. Kemi parked the car at the roadside and turned to face her. 

"We are not leaving here until you calm down!" A glint of conviction gleamed in Kemi's eyes.

"I will be okay!" Frustration filled Dora's voice. And she turned away.

A hand grazed her arm and she looked up.

"I know the turmoil you are in. But you can't give her the satisfaction of seeing you like this."

Kemi's words struck her and she turned away. Hot tears burnt her eyes.

"From everything you have told me about her, she would probably be glad to see you broken. And we don't want that." Kemi squeezed her arm.

Dora let her tears fall. All she could think about was Amara's despicable deeds and their last meeting.

Minutes went by and more tears fell. Kemi's touch on her arm was the pull keeping her in reality.

Finally, her tears turned to light sniffles.

She turned to her friend. "I am okay now," she rasped out. "Let's go."

"Are you sure?" Kemi asked with narrowed eyes.

"Yes." She dabbed her eyes with the handkerchief Kemi lent her during the course of her tears. 

"Okay; if you say so." Kemi removed her hands and turned to face the wheel.

Dora shifted in her seat as the engine roared back to life and veered back to the road.

The car shook as it crossed over many bumps and potholes that dotted the roads.

She clenched her fist as she struggled to control her breath.

A cry caught in her throat as they turned onto another street that held more memories—painful memories.

"All the houses look so dreary," Kemi commented as they drove past houses in the same grey color and lead glass windows.

"True. But you will be surprised that they once housed elites." Dora chuckled.

"How ironic!" The car slowed down as it jostled over another bump.

"So where are we headed?"

"The house ahead of with antennas sticking out from the roof."

"Okay!"

Dora clutch the car door as they drove closer to the building that harbored her past and her ex-best friend.

"Which was your apartment?" Kemi asked as she brought the car to a stop by the side of a cracking wall with peeling blue paint.

Through blurry eyes, she gazed at the fading grey building with rusting railings filled with clothes for drying.

"The one on the right side on the third floor."

"Oh my, it looks so small. How did you manage?"

"We managed just fine." Dora gave a wry laugh. "Ayodeji was hardly around, so I and Tara had much of the space to ourselves."