The Turbulence✔️ (#1 in the Our Side of The Dice series)

7: The Departure

"So...you will be away for how long?" Gifty asked me in a low tone.

"Probably for a year. That explains why I have so much luggage with me, " I reply.

"What? That's a long period!" her eyebrows shot up, causing wavy lines to appear on her forehead. Her eyes grew the size of saucers.

"But this is something you and your brother have always wanted. Well, your brother never seemed to care much since he's hard to read. But you, especially, have always longed for me to be away, " I questioned.

"Well," she licked her lips. "You are indeed a bit tough on us, but still, it's only normal I react that way. Why are you staying there for so long?" Gifty said without trying to sugarcoat the truth.

Deep down, I wished she had. I wished she'd have lied a little. It was clear that she didn't mind me being away for as long as I could be.

"I have an important task to carry out. I'm investigating a case that might serve as a great source of help for your aunt's case, so I must do my best to make accurate and effective findings."

"Oh wow. I hope it truly helps. Aunty Ebun has been traumatized for too long," she heaved a sigh.

There was a melancholy in her tone that made my heart do something funny — like a painful squeeze. Remembering Ebun always took a toll on me.

"Yes, " I tried to stay strong. "Karen and I recently learned about one of the culprits who plans on turning himself in very soon. Karen is going to be taking care of that, and she will be looking after you and your brother too."

"Oh, okay then. I just hope you and Da—"

All it took for Gifty to stop her speech was a cold glare from me. The effect of it was faster than a gag if it had been tied to her mouth. If she had gone on uttering words out of naivety, Karen would have gotten the hint. And Gifty knew how much confidentiality mattered to me.

I did trust Karen. Over the years, she had proven to be trustworthy. Still, I wasn't willing to share that issue with anyone yet, and I wanted it to remain that way till I deemed it necessary to share. Gifty had only known about my rift with Christopher because I had been unable to conceal it — through the way I'd been crying. I would never have decided to share it with her.

If Karen got a hint, I doubt that she would make attempts to squeeze the details out of my lips. Perhaps I was overthinking the matter. Karen didn't seem to observe what just happened or if she did, maybe she had mastered the art of pretense in my absence — because she's never been this good.

Just then, I saw a white woman walk past us with two puppies. One was white. The other puppy was white too but had a brown circle-like patch around its right eye. The puppies were looking in Karen's direction and flapping their tongues.

Then I observed Karen. She'd been star-struck and had a shimmer in her eyes that seemed to have little hearts for irises. She was doing her best to refrain from snatching the puppies. It was only when the white woman walked past with her puppies and was out of sight that Karen had managed to respond to me.

It's no wonder why she didn't notice.

"Yes! I will look into the case as agreed. I got a call yesterday from the prison officers that they had indeed seen a guy in the outfit described by the accomplices in the surveillance cameras, " Karen spoke with a notch of excitement in her voice.

"That's great. Barrister Peret must have exercised his authority on those adamant workers. I'm convinced that working with him would be a great thing. Please send the footage to me later on. My flight is in thirty-five minutes. Let's get going," I managed to say to Karen, who was still recovering from her awestruck state.