You just don't go around doing things, thinking there won't be consequences.
I could list out so many quotes and state laws such as the law of karma that talks about our actions and doings and how they come back for us but we hear those everyday.
Some people don't believe that what they say matter. But the truth is, sometimes even the things said by a mad man could go a long way in changing the average man's life and mindset.
I wish I had written this from the start and had everyone read it. Maybe even words from the class thief could have changed a lot of things.
And that's why we're all guilty.
Some of us could have spoken up, done something, but we kept silent, not knowing that a lot was at stake.
I could've said something.
You can say something.
We never know how bad things could get till they got bad. And in this case, things got bad.
I just hope it doesn't get as bad as loosing a life.
◈ ━━━━━━━ ⸙ - ⸙ ━━━━━━━ ◈
Kasy thought the shopping mall would be the best place to purchase what she'd been longing to purchase. She loved the fact that the mall was too busy for anyone to notice or care about the fact that a dark skinned girl such as herself was reaching for the lightening cream on the shelf.
She didn't bother looking over the expensive cream that had a white model on the label since she was certain it was the same one she'd seen a good number of times but never had the chance to purchase. She dropped it into the cart and kept moving, pushing the kept forward.
After she'd gotten some toiletries, she came across some pink lip balm at the bottom end of one of the shelves in the toiletries aisle. She instantly began picturing herself with pink lips and she smiled at the image. The idea sat well with her and it made her feel excited.
Since her father had been gone for the weekend, she decided that it would be the best time to go shopping, if for nothing else, for some groceries which would help her survive the next two days.
So after she had stacked up her cart with some cornflakes, oat meal, milk, snacks and other cereals, she was good to go. She'd paid for everything from the money her dad had given her. At the end she struggled to carry all the shopping bags alone as she made her way out of the mall in hope of finding a taxi as soon as possible.
She immediately put everything in the back seat of a taxi she'd found one and she nearly go pissed off when she realised she'd have to carry all these bags to Kendrick's house. But the thought of visiting her brother in his house for the first time was enough to ease her mind. Nothing could make her angry.
Kendrick lived in another estate—a place Kasy had never visited ever since he'd moved out for no solid reason. According to Kendrick, he was a grown man and he needed his own space, privacy and independence, but Kasy would be damned if she believed that lie.
Kendrick Kanayo had left his father's house after a week of heated arguments and fights that ensued. Kasy couldn't possibly understand why her father and brother had been at each other's throats. Kenneth looked remorseful and apologetic later on but Kendrick wasn't having any of it. Kasy had been trying for months to get to the bottom of the matter but Kendrick was stubborn, he didn't want to hear anything about their father and Kenneth was also stubborn on his own part, refusing to have a talk with his son.
Clad in a pair of black shorts and a grey T-shirt, Kendrick had emerged from the apartment building to help his sister with the numerous bags he'd seen her struggling with from his window.
"You could've just gone to the mall after you came here," said Kendrick as he took some bags from her, "I could've even gone with you."
"No, I wanted to spend enough time here without worrying about going shopping," Kasy lied. The truth was that she knew her brother would have insisted on going with her had he known she would be going to the mall after leaving his house and she didn't want him coming along for obvious reasons.
"Then you should've gone home first before coming over." Kendrick led the way as they entered the yellow painted building and began ascending the stairs that Kasy assumed would lead to his flat which was on the last floor.
"Let's just go upstairs... I can't wait to see your house," Kasy said with the excitement oozing from her voice and facial expression.
"It's nothing special," Kendrick mumbled more to himself.
The stairs looked a little dusty as though people never used it but it was relatively neat and litter-free.
When they'd gotten to the last floor, Kendrick turned to the black door on the left and turned the door handle before pushing it open.
Truthfully, there had been nothing much or special about Kendrick's apartment. Kasy wasn't surprised knowing that her brother was a simple and busy person, he wouldn't really have the time to decorate even if he wanted to.
Kasy took in the household. The curtains were closed making the living room a bit dark but she could still see the sea green painted walls and the small flat screen TV in the wall. The sports channel was on and a football match was airing.
There were only two black armchairs in the small livingroom which both faced the TV with a glass center table in front of them.
"What happened yesterday between Ahmed and Adam?" Kendrick asked as soon as they'd settled down in the living room, watching Henry Danger.
Kasy took her eyes away from the TV and glanced at her brother before sighing. "I don't know, I'm as clueless as you are."
"I thought you were friends with Adam?" Kendrick asked.
"Yeah, were is the right word," Kasy scoffed, "We went from watching ZeeWorld series to not talking at all all of a sudden."
"Well... After everything that happened with Ismael and all that... I didn't expect the friendship to last," said Kendrick, "besides it's probably for the best."
"It's not," Kasy said immediately, "especially now Zehan is back and Adam is taking his side like he knows what happened on the roof that day. I'm not a bad person but I was just telling the truth. I just don't know why Zehan is lying to everyone, I think he might have told that lie so many times that even he believes it."
"At the end of the day, it's his brother that died, cut him some slack." Kendrick's face was expressionless as he said that.
"Ismael was good though, he didn't deserve to die at such a young age. I was just getting to know him though."
Kendrick didn't respond to that which Kasy thought was odd but something else came to her mind.
"Zehan said something I've been trying to get... I didn't really understand what he meant. He said I didn't know who I was defending," Kasy recalled.
That immediately got Kendrick's attention. Kasy thought he looked on edge as he asked, "Who was he referring to?"
"He'd been referring to Ismael... He believes I'm defending him, which I might be doing but that's not the point... What?" asked Kasy when she noticed Kendrick wasn't blinking anymore, "You look like I just broke bad news,"
Kendrick sighed, returning to his normal composure and waving the topic off. "Nothing," he shook his head slightly, "don't mind me," he added. "Are you hungry? I'm about to cook noodles."
"Yeah, yeah, thanks," Kasy replied as Kendrick stood up and headed towards the very small kitchen next to his bedroom.
Kasy thought about joining him in the kitchen but soon forgot about that after her phone vibrated in her jeans pocket. She retrieved it and realised that it was a Facebook notification. She mentally facepalmed for leaving her data on.
Casper Bassey sent you a friend request.
Kasy rarely ever used Facebook so she was a bit surprised to know that people still knew she existed on the app. Nevertheless, she tapped the notification which took her to the main Facebook app where she gladly accepted the friend request from the seemingly handsome, light-skinned and brown haired lad.
She didn't know the guy but from his profile picture, he was handsome and that was all she needed to know.
The next thing on her agenda had been to browse his profile and check out his pictures and posts but a message notification interrupted her immediately.
To her greatest surprise, her new handsome online friend had been the one texting her with a simple "Hi" but she took a few seconds to gush over that.
Casper Bassey
Hi
2:47PM
Kasy K
Hey
2:48PM
Casper Bassey
How r u doing?
2:48PM
Kasy K
I'm fine
You?
2:49PM
Casper Bassey
I'm great! 😊
You're really cute, I like your dp
2:49PM
Kasy had to read that particular message five good times so she would convince herself that she wasn't dreaming or imagining things.
When was the last time a boy had come into her DM to tell her that she was cute? Yeah, never! Besides that particular picture he said he liked got three likes and one reaction, the likes being one each from her brother, father and herself and the only reaction being a "Haha" reaction from none other than Ahmed Yusuf who still went on to comment "Blacky" with a laughing emoji.
Kasy couldn't possibly describe how she'd felt that day.
It took a miracle for her not to delete that selfie of herself. Maybe that was why she rarely used the app.
Kasy K
Thank you.
2:54PM
Casper Bassey
You're welcome beautiful 😚
2:54PM
Casper Bassey
So tell me about yourself, I'd like to get to know you more 😍
2:55PM
Kasy K
I'm Kasy. 16. Ss2. I go to Newland Secondary School.
2:56PM
Casper Bassey
Wow... That's great
Where do you stay?
2:56PM
Kasy K
Abuja
2:56PM
Casper Bassey
Dope.
2:56PM
Casper Bassey
Well I'm Casper. 17 years old. Currently in SS 3 and I go to Castron High in Lagos.
2:57PM
Castron High School? Castron High... It sounded strangely familiar to Kasy but she couldn't really remember where she'd heard about it.
Kasy K
Your school sounds familiar... I might know someone who goes there...
2:58PM
Casper Bassey
Cool 😎
2:59PM
Casper Bassey
You really sound like a good person. Would love to become friends 😄
3:00PM
Kasy smiled at that. Even if she didn't really have any real life friends, she would have an online friend.
She couldn't really believe that a boy might actually like her.
Before she could reply, she was alerted by a ringtone. It was then she'd realised that Kendrick had left his phone on the glass table in the living room.
"Ken, your phone is ringing!" Kasy called out before sighing and making to grab the phone.
She looked on to the screen to see the caller ID.
Tari?
• • •
Amira had never been to Tari's house. They'd been friends for almost three years and she knew where Tari lived quite all right, but going into the Disemi's residence? It was something else all together.
She had tried to imagine what their home would be like and how Tari survived in that house with her siblings she never talked to in school.
It didn't take long after Amira had knocked on the gate for someone to open it.
Timi appeared on the other side wearing a pair of khaki shorts and black T-shirt. He wasn't putting on his glasses and that was the first time Amira had seen him without it. His face looked much more open and less serious—unlike what he looked like in school.
The Head Boy squinted a little before he was able to fully recognized who was standing before him. "Sanitation Prefect," he'd called Amira.
Amira didn't know if bursting into laughter was the appropriate thing to do since it was funny but not surprising. It was typical of Timi to not remember her name even when they were in the same class. Now Amira had thought of it, she was pretty sure Timi didn't really do anything asides carrying out his duties as Head Boy, always reading something or simply talking with Annika and Sola which was the precise reason Tari avoided her him like a plague in school.
"Seriously?" Amira asked, "You don't know my name."
"Uhmm..." Timi trailed, it seemed he was trying to remember, "Tari's friend..."
Amira chuckled. At least he remembered she was his sister's friend and she was the Sanitation Prefect, right?
"Okay, well, I'm here to see Tari. Is she around? She asked me—"
"Yeah, she's inside," Timi replied. "Come in." He held the gate open and stepped aside for her to walk in. "Well, won't you remind me your name? It's at the tip of my tongue," Timi said as he walked in front of Amira, leading the way into the house.
"You'll have to find out for yourself," Amira replied and they both chuckled.
For a family well-known for heading the most popular church in the Estate, they had a relatively small house. It was just a one storey duplex but it looked really good from the outside. The building screamed exquisite architecture and the cream paint did justice to beautifying the house.
There were only three cars in the massive compound—a Lexus, a Toyota Camry and a G-wagon. Amira had guessed Mrs. Disemi probably knew how to drive.
She followed Timi into the sitting room where he'd asked her to take a seat as he went to call Tari but before he could go upstairs, a female called out from the adjourned kitchen.
"Timiebi! Who is that?" The voice Amira guessed would belong to Mrs. Disemi, asked.
"Mummy, it's Tari's friend," Timi yelled back before he ascended the stairs to go get his sister.
Amira sat on one of the oxblood leather couches that were arranged in a semicircle to face the large plasma TV after Timi had asked her to take a seat before going to get his sister.
The furniture was just as exquisite and fancy looking as the rest of the house. It was simple yet very elegant looking.
Mrs. Disemi emerged from the kitchen and her questioning eyes immediately landed on Amira.
Timi barged into his sister's room without bordering to knock.
Tari had tossed her phone on her bed after trying Kendrick's number for the second time when her brother walked in.
"Your friend is here... The sanitation—"
"Amira," Tari mumbled, "Where is she?" she asked.
"Downstairs," Timi replied, "But the thing is... You should've told her not to wear..."
"Wear what?" Tari asked her brother who seemed to be trying to remember what Amira was wearing.
"What's the name..." Timi trailed.
At that moment it hit Tari like a grenade. "Wait, is she wearing a hijab?" Tari asked with wide eyes and Timi nodded, "Has mummy seen her?"
"Uh... I think so—" Tari brushed past Timi who stood by the door and ran downstairs.
"So you're a Muslim?" Mrs. Disemi had been asking Amira when Tari had descended the stairs.
Amira had opened her mouth to answer yet another prying question from Tari's mother but Tari had beaten her to it. "Mum, this is my friend, Amira. I asked her to come over, we have a project to work on," Tari said as she took Amira by the hand and began leading her towards the stairs.
"Your friend is a Muslim?" Mrs. Disemi asked, preventing Tari from going anywhere with her friend. Tari turned to see the frown on her mother's face as she stood in akimbo. She knew she wouldn't hear the last of this.
Amira didn't need an interpreter to tell her that this family, or at least Mr and Mrs Disemi might not be the most welcoming people when it came to dealing with Muslims and probably, non-Christians in general. She hadn't met Mr. Disemi yet but if his wife was this way, he was bound to be way worse.
"Yes," Tari replied to her mother's question, her voice low and withheld like she'd given up.
"Have you tried telling her about God?" asked Mrs. Disemi.
That was one thing Tari hated about her mother, she never knew the importance of privacy. She didn't care if she was embarrassing you in public or if she was saying things that weren't meant to be said in the presence of a guest.
Mrs. Disemi was light-skinned but sunburnt, so it was difficult most times to tell that she was really light-skinned. She was on the plus-sized side but had a relatively average height. The churchous woman was mostly outspoken and blunt. She didn't care if you were the daughter of the President of the United States or if you were English royalty, she would say what she wanted to say as long as she found it annoying.
"Mum, they also worship God, not Satan," Tari replied. She was still holding unto Amira's hand as they stood at the edge of the stairs.
"Will you shut up!" Mrs. Disemi barked, "Is there something wrong with you? You're opportuned to be raised in a Christian home and you can't preach the gospel to someone you call your friend. Do you want her to got to hell?"
Amira's heart sank.
Tari's breathing became unsteady.
Mrs. Disemi turned to a terrified-looking Amira. "Young lady, don't deceive yourself. Don't let that ridiculous religion of yours fool you, you will perish in hell if you don't repent."
"Mummy, that's enough, abeg! What's the meaning of all this nonsense?!" Tari exploded at her mother but she didn't let go of Amira. "Why are you saying these things to her? It's not fair!"
Timi stood at the top of the stairs, staring in wonder. He always knew that Tari would one day call their parents out on their actions but he never thought it would be because of Amira. Who knew their friendship meant that much to Tari? Tari could've easily said Amira was just a classmate who she got paired up with to do a project and she had no choice and their mother would've probably let it slide but this... It was surprising coming from Tari Disemi who didn't really value anything.
"Tari Victory Disemi," Mrs. Disemi yelled, taking slow steps towards her daughter and her friend, "Is it me you're talking to?" the plump woman asked, "Heeehh!" she exclaimed, "Tari has grown wings!" she clapped her hands together slowly for effect.
"Mummy, please don't mind her, that's how she is." Tamara appeared in front of their mother after she'd emerged from the kitchen where they'd been cooking.
"Tamara, you better mind your business—"
"Will you shut up?!" Mrs. Disemi yelled at Tari. "I won't even touch you, let your father come back and hear about this." She snapped her fingers and stormed back into the kitchen with Tamara trailing behind her.
Tari hissed before pulling Amira's hand which she had still been holding on to for them to go upstairs but Amira wasn't moving. Tari turned to her friend with a questioning look.
"I'm going home," Amira replied the unasked question.
"Why?" Tari asked.
Amira raised her eyebrows as if to say, "Are you seriously asking me that?"
"Look, it's fine, please just... Let's go upstairs," Tari pleaded.
"Tari," Timi called from the top of the stairs, "It's better if she just goes home. Mummy is already angry, it won't be funny if she finds out that you took her to your room."
"Abeg, keep quiet jare, para man." Tari hissed at her brother before turning back to Amira. Timi decided to go back to his room since his sister had decided to be hard headed as usual and he didn't have the energy for an argument.
"You know your brother is right," said Amira as she tried to release her hand from Amira's grip, "please, lemme just go home." Amira's throat felt tight and lumpy as she remembered the words of Mrs. Disemi.
"Don't let that ridiculous religion of yours fool you,"
"you will perish in hell if you don't repent."
For a second, Amira had been worried about the tears that were already running down her cheeks but when she noticed that Tari was also trying to fight her own tears, she was speechless.
Tari's voice hitched as she tried to speak. "Amira, please, don't go... Don't leave me." Her voice was low and shaky but she squeezed Amira's hand as she kept talking, "You're the only person that understands me... No one in this house knows what I'm going through... Please, I need my best friend right now."
That had been exactly what Tari had texted Amira when she'd asked her to come over and truthfully, Tari felt like she would go insane without her second half.
She would be lying if she said she hadn't considered suicide already but then, who would be the first Nigerian Miss World if she was dead?
Amira nodded, wiping her tears with her free hand. "I'm not going anywhere," she whispered, smiling weakly.
Tari finally let go of Amira's hand only to give her the tightest hug ever. Luckily for Amira's ribs, the hug was short-lived.
After that, the duo began making their way up the stairs when Tari said, "I can't for you to see my room." She turned to Amira for a second and added, "Oh, and that hijab looks stunning on you."
• • •
Adam sat behind the counter with his usual cold expression. The bandage at the back of his head wasn't helping matters either.
Asides from his midnight headaches and migraines, Adam was thankful that the only thing he'd gotten from Ahmed's beatup the previous day was only a bruise at the back of his head and a minor concussion.
Definitely, the matter had gotten to the Vice Principal's office and Adam had to lie, or rather, he had to comply with Ahmed's lie after he'd woken up to Zehan hovering over him with an empty bucket in his hands and he was drenched and soaking wet on the bathroom floor. It was only when Zehan had said something that he knew he had been bleeding at the back of his head.
By the time Adam was called to the VP's office after two hours spent in the infirmary, it turned out Ahmed had pinned the whole thing on him.
After everything, he'd been given a whole week of manual labour with Ahmed for slamming the Utilities store door on Ahmed's hand and running away afterwards, thereby justifying the beating Ahmed had given him.
Adam couldn't lie. He couldn't have told anyone what really happened and what he saw or else, Ahmed Yusuf would murder him. He just wanted to stay out of Ahmed's way but that would be impossible for the next week since they had to serve their manual labour punishment together. Oh Joy!
Mr. Johnson had made it clear that Ahmed wasn't suspended because he was a perfect. And according to him, he'd been doing well as a Disciplinary prefect. How ironic, Adam thought. If only he knew what his Disciplinarian had been up to with the junior students.
"Young man, you better arrange that your bruised face and stop scaring customers away with that scary face," Mr. Somoye barked at his son after he'd emerged from the storage room, carrying a brown box.
Adam rolled his eyes.
It wasn't even like any customer had come into the Supermarket for the past thirty minutes. His dad simply wanted to express his dislike for the bruises on his face.
"I don't know why you can't be a man for once in your life and fight back," Mr. Somoye continued saying as he walked round the toiletries aisle. Adam couldn't see him but he could hear his voice. "Take a look at what your fellow man did to your face."
Adam didn't say anything. He was used to it. That was basically his father's anthem.
His phone vibrated on the counter and he turned to look at the caller ID. It was Zehan, again. He was basically the reason Adam had put his phone on silent. He wouldn't stop calling.
He let it vibrate until it turned to a missed call.
Adam sighed.
"So you're even intentionally ignoring my calls."
Adam nearly jumped out of his skin on hearing Zehan's voice.
Those were one of the disadvantages of backing the supermarket entrance/exit, he rarely saw people come in.
Adam had nearly fallen off the high stool he'd been sitting on behind the counter. Zehan only chuckled.
"What are you doing here?" Adam asked Zehan in a whisper after he'd calmed down.
"I told you I would come to your house today... to check up on you," Zehan replied, furrowing his scanty eyebrows.
"And I told you not to bother, I'm fine... You've been calling me like I owe you a kidney," Adam retorted, still in whisper since his father was a few feet away.
"I've didn't call you that much," Zehan said.
"How many times have you called me since yesterday?" Adam raised his eyebrows and folded his arms.
"Only one... hundred times, okay, fine," Zehan raised his hands, "I'm just worried. By this time yesterday, I thought my best friend was dead."
"Stop exaggerating." Adam shook his head with a slight smile dancing on his lips at the fact that Zehan still considered him to be his best friend. "Besides, I thought you were busy plotting your revenge against Dele and Kasy."
"Yeah, don't worry, I've got a plan." That smirk on Zehan's lips made Adam shiver. "Even you would be blown away."
"What exactly are you planning?" Adam asked as he watched Zehan cross his hands on the counter.
"Don't worry," Zehan replied with a smile. "The main reason I came is to play Mili Militia, so... Are you interested?" Zehan asked, waving his phone in the air with a ridiculous grin.
"You know, Kasy has been chatting me up since yesterday, asking how I'm doing. She's not a bad person... She's just—"
"Too intoxicated with Bamidele Akindele to see that's she's a bitch?" Zehan incorrectly completed Adam's statement which earned him a smack in the head by Adam for the last vulgar word.
"My dad is here, you fool," Adam whispered so only Zehan could hear.
Zehan's eyes widened and his mouth formed an 'oh'.
"Besides, I can't play with you, I'm stuck here," Adam motioned to entire supermarket, "I even have to mop the floors before I go,"
Zehan sighed, dissapointed. But he immediately looked up at Adam and said, "Well, I'm not doing anything at home so..."
Before Adam could say anything, Zehan went into the storage room and came out almost immediately with a mop and bucket. Sure, Zehan knew his way around since it wasn't his first time in the Supermarket but he'd never really volunteered to help out.
Adam still sat tight as he watched Zehan get water and detergent before he began mopping. Mr. Somoye had seen him and raised a questioning eyebrow before looking to Adam who immediately looked away. He'd been too confused to respond to Zehan's greeting or ask any questions so the man simply left without uttering a word. After all, who didn't like unpaid service?
Soon, Zehan had connected his phone to the speakers and Baby by Justin Bieber filled the supermarket and he danced while mopping.
Adam only sighed and shook his head.
What a Saturday.
Big shout out to lovetori_xo (she knows why *wink*)
So I'm curious, which duo are rooting for in this book?
Tari and Amira? Or Adam and Zehan?
What do you think went down between Kendrick and his dad?
And what do you think of Tari's mother?
I just feel like this chapter was a break from the dark, depressing, chaotic theme of the story, don't you think?