NOT THE ONE || Completed✔

28: Let's spy on...

Watching her father and Aunt argue was something Joy never thought she would experience.

She and Deborah peeped carefully from the doorway. They knew better than to get caught or be seen in the sitting room.

In the room was her mom trying to talk some sense into Adora; Uncle Tony, Adora’s father, whom had driven in a few minutes after Aunt Onyeka had arrived.

Aunt Onyeka was displeased that dad had informed her husband, even though Adora was his child too; and dad was more furious at the fact that Adora had somehow been led astray right under their nose.

After minutes of angry yelling and insults, Adora, not being able to take it any longer, ran out of the sitting room, causing Deborah and Joy to run up the stairs and into Deborah’s room.

As they sat on the bed in silence, Joy couldn’t help but wonder the kind of friends Adora hung out with. They must have been the reason she chose such path.

“Wow. Aunt Onyeka and Uncle Tony...” Deborah let her words trail off.

“I know right. No wonder they are getting a divorce. Those two are never on the same page.”

“It must be really hard on Adora; having to see her parents fight almost all the time.”

“I don’t know what I’ll do if dad and mom fought like that almost everyday. I will just run mad.”

Joy couldn’t say she knew how Adora felt, but she could at least tell it wasn’t good. No one ever wished for their parents to struggle to get by each day without wanting to strangle each other.

Joy could remember a time when she and Adora used to be close – they were little back then. But now, she couldn't even remember the last time they had casually sat down and had even the most trivial conversation. This made her wonder how much Adora had bottled up – she probably had no real friends to talk to. Someone to tell her it was going to be alright, just friends who were misleading.

***

The next morning, Joy's mom didn’t wake her up as usual for the morning devotion, because there wasn’t one. The incident last night had left everyone in a really bad mood.

Joy didn’t know the exact details of what happened after she and her sister had gone upstairs, but she did know from the hushed conversations she had been hearing that morning and from the cautious peeping, that Aunt Onyeka had left the night before and Adora was leaving with her father.

It sounded like a good idea to her. Aunt Onyeka might be family, but Uncle Tony was more human than she was. He was a calm man, slow to anger and approachable. He seemed more like a better parent than Aunt Onyeka. At least, that was her own opinion.

She heard voices from her door – she could tell from the whispers, that now sounded distant, that it was her mom and grandma.

When she could no longer hear their footsteps down the stairs, she tiptoed her way, carefully, out of her room. The hallway was empty, so she closed her door gently.

She wasn’t planning on going downstairs – that’d be a terrible idea. All night, she had spent most of her time tossing and turning, and this was because something in her wanted to try and talk to Adora. These many years that they had grown to hating each other was starting to tire her out and she wished, now more than ever, that she could at least help her cousin in times like these.

Staring at the door to the guestroom, like it was a scared room she should never enter, wasn't helping matters at all.

This was Adora she was talking about. The girl that got her into all sorts of trouble, but also the girl, whom annoyingly, was the reason they all knew the silent pain Deborah was going through. It was hard having to pick a side: should she stay with the side that strongly disliked Adora or the side that still saw an atom of good in her?