Behind the Mask✔

Chapter 6

A week had passed since I woke up and I was gradually getting better. Mum had insisted I remained admitted till I was completely healed and of course, dad objected saying the bills would be too much and I would miss out on classes but mum shocked him and said she would cover the bills and arrange with Mrs Ibeh for notes and assignments to be brought to me.

During the past one week, I had only seen daddy twice and I was happy he wasn't a regular face. Mum had asked me what happened on the day of the fight and I told her what dad asked me to say and mum didn't buy the story easily. Mum was not easy to deceive and topping that with the fact that she was a psychologist, it was quite difficult to convince her that I wasn't lying but considering the way she behaved when dad came or was mentioned, I don't think she believed me.



I had settled into a routine - waking up late , the drowsy feeling the pain relievers brought, trooping in and out of nurses, the doctor coming to see me daily , waiting for mum or Aunty Anne to come from work. I was grateful for Aunty Anne's presence , it brought live to my dull ward plus the fact that she was my best aunt and an easygoing person. Her children came with her once during the past week and I was glad to see my cousins Frederick and Yasmin. Fortunately, Yasmin was a student of Dayfort in JSS2 and she gave me the latest gist of the school and said my friends came to look for her in my class to give me a letter from them even after all the daily calls and WhatsApp messages. Leave it to my friends to look for more many means to reach me. Each of them wrote a paragraph each and as I finished Bimpe's paragraph, I looked at the last paragraph and saw Aramide's handwriting and immediately I tore it out, crumpled it and tossed it into the trash can. I boiled with anger even now as I remembered the incident. The girl had the nerve to write a letter to me after supporting Zara. I hissed, so if my friends were called out Aramide would come out.

A knock on the door brought me to the present and I checked the time. It was only past 3 in the afternoon and mum was usually back around five thirty or six "Come in" I said and lo and behold, Felicia and Jemima came in both of them looking sad and they rushed to hug me but they were still mindful of my body pains and hugged me lightly and all three of us began to cry. No words were needed, they were here for me and I was ever grateful.

After our little moment, they both sat on either sides of the bed and just looked at me. They knew my father would be the one to do this. I knew he could do this but yet , it still took me by surprise.

"School is boring" Jemima said and Felicia faked anger

"I know we miss her, but am I not good for you?" she said and we all laughed. Trust Felicia to make a joke

"How's everything?" I asked

"Fine" Jemima replied . I nodded slightly

"How's Bimpe ? " I asked and they both laughed

" She wanted to sneak out of school today so she could follow us " Felicia said

"The school couldn't organise students to come visit because your father turned down the offer" Jemima informed me and honestly, I was shocked. Clearly, dad didn't tell mum about this, because if he did she would have asked me. "I didn't know that" I told them and they nodded and we stayed in silence for some time until Felicia spoke

"He did this right?" By 'he' I know she meant dad "Yes" I whispered and I was shocked at how relieved I was when I said it. I needed someone to tell the truth, someone to talk to , someone to believe me. This was too much "But don't tell anyone " I quickly added

"We won't " Jemima assured me.

They held my hands tightly and I for the first time in days, I had a bit of peace, I was relaxed, I was grateful to someone other than mum and Aunty Anne. For the first time in week , I was not alone, I said the truth to them, my dad beat me to this point. The reality of that sank in.