In All Her Glory

•07. In Distress•

I adjusted the strap of my backpack and ran my hand down my skirt as I heard the sound of Dami's light footsteps.

"Sorry, babe," Dami apologized as she pulled the pedestrian gate open. "My alarm didn't wake me. Just finished bathing."

She scrunched up her nose in a cute way that made me smile despite the jaggedness in my head.

"It's all right, Dami." I followed her into the house after she had closed the gate behind me.

"I'm coming, I still have to wear my shoes," she ran in the direction of her bedroom.

I ran my hand through my natural braids and sat on one of the couches in the living room, seeing as no one was around.

Where is Sam?

Perhaps he had gone to school already. I took a red throw pillow and settled it on my lap.

I unlocked my phone. And sucked in my breath sharply. A selfie I had taken with Shalom stared back at me. I had been looking at it after my shower, crying as I thought of how foolish and wicked I was. I must have locked the phone without returning to the home screen.

My chest tightened and the screen blurred. A sob escaped my throat.

The Shalom in the picture grinned, her eyes holding bright stars in them. I pressed the lock button at the side of the smartphone. My face was reflected on the blank screen. I blinked hard to get rid of the moisture in my eyes.

Good Lord!

I looked like an agbegilodo had run me over.

(A/N: An agbegilodo is a local, rickety truck used to transport timber from forests to sawmills.)

"Shite!" I hurried to unlock my phone and turn on my camera. It confirmed what I had already seen.

Why didn't Dami say anything when she saw me?

I wiped my eyes and took out lipgloss from my backpack, smearing it across my lips. The elastic Alice band in my backpack went around my head and held my shoulder length braids back from my face. As I produced a pair of small earrings for my ears and slipped one in my left ear, a loud clang caused me to jump.

Eyes wide, I looked in the direction of the dining table where the sound had come from.

Ephraim stared back at me with wide eyes and a guilty expression. He was sat at the dining table, a breakfast of boiled yam and scrambled eggs on a ceramic plate in front of him.

His mouth hung open a little and I could see chewed food in it. Ew.

Adjusting my body posture, I rose from the sofa.

"How long have you been there?" I inquired with narrowed eyes, my senses preparing to transfer aggression.

"Uhh..." he swallowed the food in his mouth and cleared his throat miserably.

"I..." Coughing interrupted him. He quickly downed the mug of water on the table.

"Yes?" I prompted, my eyes narrowing further. "Since I came in?"