OYINADE

~48~

Monday 10:00am

After the long eventful weekend, in which I thought long and hard about so many things, about my love for sprinting, my academic life, catering, friendship and family.

I realized that so much had happened since the beginning of the term.
Thankfully, today happened to be a public holiday which means we all didn't need to go to school.
So, I was going to make the best out of it.

I had drafted out a plan earlier this morning that included my chores for the day, studying for the fast-approaching exams and practicing for the upcoming sports competition.

I set to work and was quickly done with my chores. I moved on to studying and within a few hours, I covered so many topics.

For some reason, studying felt different this time. As much as I understood everything I studied, I also felt confident that I would do well if I'm given a test or an exam. An unusual confident feeling enveloped me as I studied even more till my brain started hurting physically.

Then, I moved on to my workout routine. Of course, there were no sporting facilities in my house and I had decided to spend the day at home.

So, I had to make do with what I had, which were a work-out mat and a workout/resistance band for exercises. I did as many simple exercises as I could remember and focused on activating my muscles, as well as increasing my strength and resistance.

I felt extremely exhausted after that. So, I decided to take a break. I took a shower and headed straight to Ade's house.

On days like this when I was really stressed out and needed to unwind, I loved to go to his house.

Actually, I also go to his house often whenever I realize that I've not seen him in a while or whenever I'm alone at home. Like right now. Mum had left the house pretty early to the market, Ayobami went with her. Dad, on the other hand, was at work. He also left this morning for a project.

Lately, he's been receiving so many contract-based job opportunities and each time, he got paid very well.
How satisfying it was to watch my mum smile gratefully each time he came home with good news of another successfully executed contract.

One thing remained though, our standard of living. As much as he got better job offers, it didn't change our state of life, we still had to make do with the little we had.

I couldn't tell why but I knew it was something Mum was definitely aware of. Sometimes at night, I'd even hear them speak in hushed whispers. One night, I went to the bathroom to ease myself and I heard their voices.

Why were they still awake?
I glanced into their room and it turned out that they were praying.

How lovely!
Lovely but suspicious.

My parents are and have always been devout Christians and they often prayed at night.
However, there was something about the way they didn't enunciate their words, something about the way they kept quiet suddenly when I walked into them discussing the next morning. Something about it all just seems off.

Thinking about it now, it really did seem unusual but then, I trusted my parents and was convinced beyond all reasonable doubts that they wouldn't ever do anything to hurt me or anyone. So, if there's really anything they're hiding, whatever it is, I'd gladly wait till they're ready to tell me.

So, back to me and how I decided to go to Ade's house. I got to the gate and knocked. No one responded.

I noticed that it was open. So, I walked in. As soon as I stepped my foot in the compound, I had this eerie feeling like something had happened or that something was about to happen.