HEY GUYS!🙈❤️
What will I use to apologise for the late update? I'm so sorry! Christmas period was hectic AF.
Anywho, guess who's at 3k plus guysssss!!!😭😭 I was so happy when I saw it and planned on a giveaway, but we're so close to 4k, so I'll wait till then.❤️
Welcome on board all my new wonderfully blessed readers.❤️ Thank you for checking out this book and making my dreams come true! Please if you're honestly enjoying this book, share it to your friends and invite someone to read with you.❤️❤️❤️
I was so happy while writing this chapter.😂 Can't even figure out why. I hope you enjoy it just as much.😚❤️
Dedicated to yaqarish. My annoying wife. She writes teen fiction too!
𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎'𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚢𝚊𝚕𝚜
𝙸𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚞𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍
𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚞𝚡𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚒𝚗'𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚞𝚜
𝚆𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚞𝚣𝚣
- 𝚁𝚘𝚢𝚊𝚕𝚜 [𝙻𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎]
~
If I was going to die, I'd love my coffin painted blue and have Harry Styles perform sign of the times in slow motion during my ascension to the afterlife.
Those two and I'd be a happy ghost. Because clearly, Ogechi would flay me alive for picking this ridiculous ride with Ene over going home. My mind could only imagine the type of hell she'd raise when she gets back from work and doesn't see me. Well, that was if I didn't return before 4pm. But from the looks of things, I was going to be dead by the end of the day. I bet.
The solid tinted Ford, blessed with the speed of the wind and enviable interiors, had been driving for over 10 minutes through the busy roads of Khoffri district. Yet, it felt like we had been on the highway for hours due to the returning traffic at each turn. Even though the freezing air conditioner dissipated any form of heat coming from the sun's harsh glare, I was grateful I still had my school blazer on.
Ene's blazer, on the other hand, had been discarded in a rumpled mess between us on the black leather car seat and she'd rather glue the entirety of her attention to her nonsense phone than care about the cold - or my questions.
For the first few minutes of the ride, my cautious questions were the only other sound in the car, asides the driver's Yoruba jazz music playing from the stereo. But Ene had indeed proven to be the queen of deaf ears and had kept an impenetrable eye focus on her device, legs crossed and lips sealed, like I wasn't even talking.
Curse Ene Natasha Ogenyi.
I rolled my eyes for the nth time in one ride. Why wouldn't she even let me know where we were headed? I mean, I deserved to know why I was being made to bargain my life with Ogechi when I returned home.
If this wasn't going to be a secret Harry Styles concert, then I'd honestly not be impressed.
A soft yawn escaped my lips, the week's work taking a toll on me as I relaxed back into the seat and sighed at the comfort my body embraced. I gazed out the right window and drank in the fast passing scenery distractedly.
Blurs of overgrown lanky trees and withered bushes came to view as the car navigated into an untarred road and although Ene was the one who ordered this mysterious trip, my heart dipped at the thought of driving through the unfamiliar territory. Not to speak of the absence of other vehicles or any other passer-by at that. The significantly empty road didn't sit well with me.
I stole a glance at Ene but neither she nor the driver seemed concerned. The man kept nodding his head eagerly to the Yoruba drum beat, while Ene - you guessed it - still had her fingers on her phone.
Well, it was probably nothing.
So, I let my eyes flutter shut, disregarding my own gut feeling and instead, breezed through the thoughts of him.
What was he? A genius? A slacker? Bad news? Good news? Too simple? Too complex? Jeremiah?
It had been roughly 3 weeks since we started keeping contact, taking me through a maze of conversations with every text and yet, I couldn't place a finger on who he was. Perhaps Jeremiah was everything and nothing at all - he was the 8th wonder of the world.
In many ways, he reminded me of the ocean; wild but with the power to rein in on his turbulent nature. With every ripple in his personality, it was always something new to learn about him. Like how he was actually done with 'high school', as he loved to call it, and was supposed to be off to 'college' this year, but he had decided on a gap year instead, to 'get his shit together'. However, it was hard to imagine Jeremiah not having his shit together and it made me all the more curious, to dive deeper into his depths and see if he was really all he claimed to be. Or possibly, if there were dark sides to his still waters?
Maybe that was why I agreed to Saturday, tomorrow that is. Few days ago, Jeremiah made a request that infused my chest with an unexplainable radiance and at this moment, it blossomed in the dainty smile that stained my cheeks as the memory enveloped my mind.
Nelson Jnr: I find this town very boring.
Jeremiah had texted out of the blues as usual and like every other time, his accented voice had echoed at the back of my head.
Grace: Tell me about it
Had been my reply and his words were, infact, true. Khoffri district was as interesting as the average population allowed and nothing significantly exciting ever happened.
Nelson Jnr: Too mundane and the power cuts here are insane.
Grace: Glad to see you getting a hang of Nigeria. What's your idea of fun?
Nelson Jnr: Certainly nothing here.
Gaming is fun...when you're not playing a two players game alone.
Grace: 😂 Poor boy
Nelson Jnr: What's your idea of fun, Grace?
What possibly keeps you sane in this place?
Grace: My best friend, she's really fun
Nelson Jnr: If your best friend isn't Zendaya or a mythical creature, then I beg the differ.
I meant activities.
I had rolled my eyes.
Grace: My best friend could smack you for saying this!
Well, you weren't very specific. I love researching about astronomy. That's my solace when I'm not binging on every marvel comic I could lay my eyes on.
Nelson Jnr: Do tell her what God has to say about that; touch not my anointed. I didn't make the rules but I hear it comes with deadly consequences.
I should have figured. I met you at the Orion Museum...where Mr PMS was chewing your head off. You owe me a good story.
Amidst my own amusement, I had rolled my eyes again.
Grace: You're something else
Denola is an ass wipe, that's the best summary and don't put it that way
Nelson Jnr: I'm putting it truthfully, Grace.
I like Orion anyway.
The last text had filled me with a buzz of excitement and my fingers typed with more urgency.
Grace: Like? I adore it. I'd only been there once but this has to be heaven on earth! I kid you not. There's so much to see and do and get lost in.
Nelson Jnr: Take deep breaths, Grace. I promise it's just walls and a roof.
Grace: Don't make me hate you. That's a slice of heaven
Nelson Jnr: Calm down, ma'am. I'm only joking. Say, spontaneously asking, this Saturday, you show me why you love that place so much?
Grace: This Saturday? I don't know...
His next response had clouded my face with a frown and pinched at something within me, however, the tempting offer ruled out the negativity.
Nelson Jnr: It's not a date...if that's what you're concerned about. You'd only be leading me on a magical adventure through this house.
Grace: Call it a house one more time Jeremiah-
Nelson Jnr: It is a house...like any other.
And he did just that.
Nelson Jnr: Unless you can prove otherwise, this Saturday. Me, you and a house.
That sealed my fate. Maybe it was just an excuse on both our paths to meet again or maybe he was just genuinely interested in knowing why I loved that place but either way, I had made up my mind to be there and hopefully, not even Ogechi would stop me. I was going to teach this boy with a young body and an old soul the true magic of the stars and universe, cocooned in a so-called house.
My eyes shot open at the sudden hit on my arm. I didn't miss a second to glare at Ene, who was observing me with quirked brows.
"What's doing you? You were smiling at your spiritual husband, abi?" She dropped off her phone on the car seat.
[Abi?: Right?]
I sat up straight, my cheeks flaming. I was...smiling? Talk about weird.
"Why are you so violent?" I settled for an eye roll, rubbing my subtly throbbing arm.
"Point of correction, you're so soft." Ene stated matter of factly. "I'm sure you were thinking about Jeremy - your spiritual husband."
My eyes darted straight into Ene's knowing ones, a smirk on her lips, and I immediately had deep regrets about telling her about Jeremiah. However, Ene was bound to know someway or the other, especially since she was my ticket to meeting him tomorrow. My exceptionally clever mind had concocted a perfect plan and it was almost full proof - or at least, I hoped it would be.
I dodged Ene's eyes the next second and banked on my poker face to hide the subtle tilting up of my lips.
"Biko what Jeremiah? From the way you've been calling his name, I'm starting to suspect you."
Ene threw me a nasty glare and I held back my snigger. Well, Ene had certainly grown an obsession with Jeremiah's name ever since I had told her about our conversations. My best friend just couldn't let it go. It was always the mention of his name every 2 seconds as long as I was there. C.R.S class had been the worst last week, she kept throwing the most ridiculous questions at our teacher about the Prophet Jeremiah while giving me the eyes.
Ene was something else.
"Suspect keh, police ni. Abeg oh! He's not even my type."
"What boy is ever your type?"
Except from the one boy who'd shattered her heart to a thousand beautiful pieces.
Perhaps if I had blinked or looked away too fast, I would have missed it; the sudden change in Ene. At my statement, her eyes diverted briefly to her phone and a type of embarrassed smile stole it's way to her face - maybe a blush?
"Shut up jare," was all she said, looking away from me.
Okay, Ene. What was that about?
My mental eyes definitely narrowed.
"Madam, na here?" At that instance, Ene's driver - Uncle Gideon - turned to us at the back and it was like someone had jolted life into our pair. Instantly, we both clung to the window closer to our side; Ene's eagerness quite apparent and my curiosity spilling over.
[Na here?: Is it here?]
However, my excitement died away just as fast and was replaced with an ounce of dread.
What, in God's name, was I looking at?
I had no idea what to expect when we were driving here but believe me, it was certainly not this.
Rotten dirty agberos were littered like weed at almost every corner of the dry spacious land, the bushes and shriveled trees acting as fence to the entire area, and a rundown building stood boldly in the middle of it all. Why would anyone build a house at somewhere like this?
[Agbero: Hoodlum]
My head swung back to Ene, confusion clouding my face.
"Ene..."
Turning back to the driver, a radiant smile lit up her face like the 4th of July.
"Yes, sir."
Even Uncle Gideon seemed mildly surprised by her words, just like I was, but rather than say anything, he only nodded and navigated us to a parking spot close to the bush side.
"Ene." I repeated. Slowly and deliberately, my next words followed. "Where are we?"
"I want to use your blood to buy Lamborghini, what else?" Ene made a show of checking out her nails in a classy way.
I rolled my eyes, slightly irritated. Was this a joke? Cause I wasn't on the same page with her humour.
"Can you be serious? I don't like how I feel about this place."
Her brown eyes sparked even more as she went into a soft laughter. The joke was lost on me.
"Chill, sis. This place is The Blindspot. It's a...bar? I have no idea abeg. But sweetie, don't pee on yourself, it's completely safe. I just don't like coming here by myself - it gets creepy."
My brows furrowed deeply. Wait-
"You've been here before? To do what? What are we doing here?"
Ene gave me a long thoughtful stare, like she was making deliberations to say something. Then she simply shrugged, a certain resolve settling in her eyes.
"I'm here to pick up something." She reached for the door. "So just sit tight and wait for me. I'd be back before you say Ene-is-incredibly-awesome."
My best friend blew me an air kiss and just like that, she was out the door. She exchanged a few words with the driver before she walked towards the building in that easy sway of hers and Ene had never looked more like a swan in the midst of swines.
The deep frown never left my face as I watched her disappear round a corner. If I had questions before, they were definitely doubling by the second. I couldn't even begin to comprehend what Ene could want from here. Big city girl like her, in this trash hole?
Perplexed, I huffed and leaned back into the leather seat, folding my arms. Then she asked me to stay in the car? Wow. Stay in and do what? With these hoodlums at different distances eyeing the Ford in careful calculation, she still called this place safe?
Right.
I rolled my eyes.
In another second, I unfolded my arms and absently cracked my knuckles, letting my eyes travel distantly to the dangerously inviting building. It probed at my curiosity and you couldn't blame me. Ene was hiding something, it was that clear, and I had no doubt that it had everything to do with where she was going. Inside that place.
My best friend was playing fishy and I was supposed to stay in, like a lap dog? Definitely sounded like a plan.
Not.
Without another thought, I touched the door handle but stopped immediately, transfixed as something else occurred to me. What if it was really not my business? I mean, secrets were kept for a reason, right? What if Ene had her reasons? Perhaps I shouldn't.
I relaxed back into my seat on that note and cracked my already worn knuckles.
I'd wait. In the car. Again.
Or...
Or not.
I pulled open the car door quickly, pushing aside every unwanted hesitation. My feet descended on the raw dusty ground, covered with strips and pieces of old pure water sachets and cigarettes. It was a good thing we were not in the rainy season, if not my black shoes would have been tainted by mud.
Shutting the door lightly behind me after speaking to the driver about leaving for some fresh air, my eyes surveyed the landscape thoroughly and that familiar surge of uneasiness gnawed at me. These people looked like they escaped Kirikiri prison - the type of men who carried the stench of blood and guns around them, and they happened to be everywhere.
A few were standing around the bushes, cigarettes dangling from their lips. Leaning on the walls of the building, designed awfully with graffiti paint, were a different set of guys, tattoos poked out from beneath the shirts of a few, and then, there were those loitering aimlessly but had eyes out, watching my every movement like an eagle tracking it's prey - or maybe it was the flashy car they had eyes for.
My skin crawled and heart drummed straight to my ears.
Nonetheless, I took in a steady breath and locked in all my nerves as I tried to stand taller. With one step at a time, I walked gradually through their midst, following the same route I'd seen Ene take.
From a distance, it had looked like a run down one storey, offensively standing as an eye sore to anyone who looked it's way. However, coming that close to it, the sophisticated architecture told an entirely different story. Without the chipped off paint, graffiti abused walls, broken window sill and overall battered look, the flat top building held the promise of a house with an outstanding architectural prowess. Monochrome glass walls bounded the first floor and made it impossible to see through what was going on, although a distant thrum of music filtered into my ears from there. The ground floor had white walls - the washed up colour an embarrassment to it's previous glory - connecting to the glass slide through entrance.
Ene never went in through there anyway, so I rounded the corner just like she had.
Crinkling my nose, the strong odour of urine and weed greeted me as I arrived at what looked like the back of the building and there were even more haughty looking men but this time around, they had a number of girls with them - skimpy dressed thirsty girls. I shuddered at the sight of a girl shamelessly sucking off a man's...thing.
My God.
I blinked away fast and slowly made my way to the only entrance I spotted, a steel door.
Carefully, I pulled the door open with sweaty hands and got into an empty corridor, dimmed and connecting to a staircase at it's end. It had to be the only side of the building free of those delinquent men.
My eyes roamed the corridor thoroughly. What was this whole place even? A hangout spot for lowlifes? Well, Ene wasn't a low life yet she was here.
The light thud of music resonated from the above floor and distant noise filtered in too. How, in God's name, was I supposed to find Ene?
My feet hesitantly led me to the stairway but I paused in my actions when my eyes made out a figure. Even in the slight darkness, it was impossible to miss the girl in RCA uniforms, standing at the top of the staircase. She rocked back continuously on her feet, tapping her phone against her palms impatiently, like she was waiting for something - or someone?
Ene seemed lost in her own head and hadn't noticed my presence, so I quickly moved to the sides of the staircase, crouching but keeping a good view of her.
Why was she just standing like a lost puppy?
However, nothing prepared my mind for what happened next. My eyes almost popped right out of it's sockets when a man with a striking height, came out from a door at the other ends of the staircase.
A crooked grin graced his dark features, highlighting the hunger in his eyes as he pulled my best friend into a passionate hug when he got close to her. But that wasn't the last of it. Right before my koro koro eyes, this significantly young man had his large hand roam down Ene's waist and grabbed straight at her ass, ending with a spank that resonated through the enclosed room.
[Koro koro: Clear]
My eyes almost fell out.
Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
I blinked a couple of times to test reality but no, I didn't jolt up from a dream. I was seeing just fine.
Ene gave no objections to his touch and instead, seemed to stroke his beards sensually, whispering words I couldn't decipher but it earned a mischievous smirk from that man.
Who was he?
I had to be hallucinating. My best friend would never stoop so low for someone who belonged to this agbero infested grounds. For crying out loud, she was the first daughter of Minister Ajenu Ogenyi and soon to be governor if the elections favoured him. Her standards should at least be better than that thing wrapping his filthy hands around her.
Was he even safe?
[Agbero: Hoodlum]
After a while of watching my best friend and this unknown man ignite each other with kisses and successfully not gagging, the man began leading Ene away to the door he had come out from. Where were they going to?
My heart drummed as I got up from my spot the second they were gone, every thought in my mind going haywire.
He was Ene's secret?
The reason for the increased texting?
What was going on?
Was she crazy?
I looked up at the stairway they had gone through, my curiosity wandering on every possibility and tentatively, I took the first step to follow them, but fate had other plans.
"Grace?"
Jesus!
I froze on the spot, my heart digging against my chest with each erratic pound.
That voice.
Slowly, I turned to it's source and a breath left my lips - in relief or surprise? I couldn't tell either.
"Shalewa?"
Oh, what were the odds that Shalewa would be found at a place like this?
She raised an inquisitive brow at me, confusion evident on her lightly glammed face.
"What...are you doing here?"
My mouth went dry. Stalking my best friend?
"We - I came here for...stuffs."
Stuffs? Nice save, Grace.
Seeing as Shalewa wasn't even in our school uniform anymore, I had a huge hunch on what exactly she was here for. Endowed in a black leather con dress, the clothe hugged her curves like a second skin. Coupled with black heels, Shalewa didn't look one bit like a school girl. She played the part of a street hooker so well.
She crossed her arms and the look she gave me told that she definitely wasn't buying it. Sue me.
"Whatever you say, Grace." Then her eyes searched the corridors carefully, turning around like she was checking for something. A frown formed on my face when she took a step closer, hypocritical concern in her eyes. "Thank God you're here sha. We need to talk."
Maybe it was how easily she said it but her words certainly struck a nerve.
"About?"
Shalewa shrugged lightly with one shoulder.
"About a lot - I just have so much to say to you...about everything. I-"
"Shalewa, I was busy before you interrupted."
It was scary what a face could hide - how my tone, leveled and point blank, did scarily well to mask the poison that ran through my veins at her bold words.
Shalewa wanted to talk?
Talk about what? How she was a cheap piece of crap? Or how she was a two faced monster? How she ruined my best friend? Or how she slapped my trust right in my face?
Talk about what exactly?
God. Having her stand that close to me with the effrontery to want to 'talk' picked on my nerves to no end. The resentment ran deep in my blood, steaming up quietly but unavoidably hot.
I held back my fingers from clenching.
A single brow tipped up on Shalewa's face, followed by a sigh.
"Dude, this is SS3 and I'm just trying to right my wrongs before we graduate. I see the way you look at me, like dirt under your shoe and...it's painful because I don't even know what I did to you. This might not be the right place-"
"Shut up, please." That was the breaking point of my patience - of the control I wielded over my tongue.
Shalewa's brows shot up, maybe not just because of my words but the cut they carried.
"We talk, then what happens?" I continued. "You'd simply apologize and life is expected to move on. Well news flash, Shalewa, 'sorry' doesn't fix anything. If that was the case, the government would let every criminal go just because they said sorry. Moreover, I have no business making pretentious talks with a leech, go and meet your fellow lowlifes." With fire and brimstone, I glared at her scathingly but not another muscle on my face moved. Nonetheless, acrimony pulsed within me.
Shalewa's eyes flashed with hurt and her brows furrowed, like she was deciphering each word I had said. Then slowly, her expression contorted into a heavy scowl.
"Na me fuck up." She shook her head lightly, eyes as sharp as Ogechi's favourite knife. "I'm sorry to say this but your stupidity is disappointing. You're extremely stupid, infact. I actually thought I could reason with you. No wonder he hates you so much. You're twice the monster you'd ever make him to be." She looked me over like I was the filthy one, hissed loudly and walked up the flight of stairs to wherever it led to.
[Na me fuck up: I'm the one who messed up]
My fingers dug into my palm at that point.
Look at that...thing.
That shameless runs girl.
I bit my lips bitterly, a different type livid grinding deep in my bones. If I was a monster, then she was clearly the devil.
God.
I shut my eyes. There, standing alone in that corridor, I took in a deep breath and reached out to every bit of my sanity, pulling them firmly under my control.
I breathed out - out the fury and resentment.
Whatever.
~
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This chapter sha.😂😂
Hmm! Wahala dey oh.
Wahala for everybody ear and dear.
Wahala for Ene and that man.🤣
Wahala for Shalewa and her talk.🤣
Wahala for Jeremiah and house.😂😂
Wahala for Grace and her mouth.🙄
Wahala for you too, my dear.😭😭🤣
I enjoyed writing this chapter die! It's not even that sweet, yet I liked it.😂
Btw, I'm introducing the aesthetics and face claims for the other characters of this book like; Malik, Emeka and even this Oga that was touching Ene's nyash.☺️❤️
To see them, follow STARDUST_WENDY on Instagram.
Giveaway at 4k! I'd honestly love to do so much for my readers. If you'd like your book promoted, just let me know.❤️
See you in the next chapter!!!!
Don't forget to VOTE, COMMENT AND SHARE. Those are my mumu button.😭❤️
- Love from the purple Queen 💜