"You were like a freaking ninja in that bitch" Alex shrieked.
School was over. Alex, Donald, Justin and I decided to stay in class to talk for a while.
"I've been waiting all day to talk about this" Donald said "How did you learn how to fight like that?"
In order to avoid the question, I looked outside the window. Luckily for me, Mr Ade had arrived.
"Uh...my ride is here" I stated.
"Aww" Alex pouted "I wanted us to talk"
"We'll talk tomorrow" I told her.
I carried my backpack then hugged Justin tightly.
"Call me this evening?" I asked him.
"Of course, babe"
"Bye guys" I told them.
"Bye" they chorused.
As I walked through the corridors, something bizarre happened. Someone pulled me into the janitor's closet.
"Hey!" I shouted.
For a moment, I thought it was Ben trying to pull a stupid prank on me.
"I am so gonna beat your ass again"
The lights came on and revealed the person.
"Zoandra?" I shrieked "Oh, hell no"
"Oh please" she rolled her eyes "You're lucky it's not Nicole"
"Why are you here? What do you want?"
"For you to see what's on the flash drive. Time is running out and I am getting worried. Have you plugged it in?"
"How do I know it's not some type of virus or something?"
She face palmed herself.
"Virus? Really? Do I look that amateurish to you? If I wanted to do something to hurt you, I would have done it ages ago"
"What is it then?"
"That's what I have been trying to tell you. It will be hard to explain it to you so you have to see for yourself. There is no time. I need you to use the flash drive. Please"
"Why is this so important to you?"
"Because your father would want you to know. His life depends on it"
"What do you mean his life depends on it? My dad is dead"
"I highly believe your dad isn't dead Ada. He's just stuck somewhere"
I laughed. I saw what happened that night. My dad has been dead for years. It's either this woman is delusional or she is probably mistaking my dad for someone else.
"Oh really? Where could he be?"
"In-"
"Why do you even care anyway? I doubt you two were that close"
"Because I love him" she cried out as she punched the wall.
I flinched in fear.
What?
"I love him" she repeated, with tears in her eyes.
*
"Mom, I'm home" I said as I entered the house.
I badly wanted to tell my mom everything, starting from the time Zoandra saved me from Nicole until now. Some things are not adding up. Maybe she can be the one to help me
"Don't tell your mother" Zoandra's voice haunted me "She'll ruin everything. She never even believed in him in the first place"
As I walked through the house, I heard voices from the kitchen so I decided to go check it out. I was surprised to see my mom home early but I was even more surprised to see Victoria sitting on the kitchen island.
"Good afternoon ma" I greeted my mom.
"Good afternoon my darling" she replied.
"Hi Ada" Victoria waved at me.
"Hey V" I said "Not to be rude or anything but what are you doing here?"
I was probably more confused than I looked. Victoria has never been here to visit me before so I wonder what her reason could be.
"Oh, nothing much. I was just telling your mother about our ALL-GIRLS slumber party this weekend"
I smiled widely. This girl is a saint and a life saver. I've been too scared to tell my mom about this. We all know how Nigerian mothers can be when it comes to parties.
"Can I go mom?" I asked with a pout "Please"
"Ha!" my mom exclaimed "That face doesn't work on me"
"Please" I begged "I've always wanted to hang out with my friends. I'll even do my homework before I go"
"Plus you're always busy with work on weekends" Victoria told my mom "It'll be even better to get her out of your way"
My mom sighed.
"Fine" she said.
Victoria and I squealed in excitement.
"Alright then" Victoria grabbed her bag from the counter "I'll get going. Thank you so much ma'am"
"Anytime"
Victoria and I said our goodbye's before she left. The fact that my mom agreed to let me go for the party made me extremely happy but the news Zoandra told me still tugged at my mind.
I sat on a stool behind the island and watched as my mom arranged a few things. Should I tell her? What if Zoandra is playing mind games to turn me away from my mom?
"Mom?" I called.
"Hmm?"
"Do you believe in time travel?"
She paused for a while before turning around to face me.
"Why do you ask that?"
"Oh nothing" I shrugged "Just curious"
"I would have asked if you had been reading your father's research papers but I burnt them all"
The way she said it so casually had me feeling some kind of way. It means Zoandra wasn't lying.
*flashback*
"Stuck in time?" I asked in disbelief "What does that even mean?"
"Your father and his friends formed an organization called "The Awakening". They were a group of three highly intelligent scientists who planned to create innovations to change the world. They all chose the things they wanted to work on. Your father chose time travel and he succeeded"
I chuckled.
"Time travel? Like the one in the Hollywood movies? Is this some kind of joke?"
"No"
"I've read stuff about this. People have worked on it for years. No one has ever figured it out. It's a myth and it has proven to be mathematically impossible. Nigerians don't even have the equipment to pursue such experiments. What makes my father so special?"
Zoandra punched the wall. I flinched in shock.
"What's your problem?" I shrieked.
"My problem is that you're just like your mother. She always undermined your father saying he could never do it because it was impossible. You have no idea how creative, intelligent, open minded and hardworking your father was. You Nigerians are your own problems. You keep limiting yourselves. What makes you think a Nigerian can't make a world changing discovery? Especially one as talented as your father. I bet if he was a white man, you wouldn't have questioned it"
She has a point. First of all, human androids. Now, time travel. What could be next? UFO'S?
"The government has been keeping the keys to time travel for years. Secretly, they have experimented it in their labs. There are so many experiments being done that the public can have no idea about. Do you know how many myths have been proven true? So many but they have been done in secret. Being a great international spy, your father was able to get his hands on some of these ideas in order to add to his. He spent years working on them"
"How come I never came across his research in the house. I went through all of his things"
"It's because your mother burned them all!"
"My mom? Never. She loved my dad too much to burn all his hard work away. She would never do that"
"Ask her yourself and use the damn flash drive as proof of what I am saying. I know your mother very well. I've had few encounters with her and they weren't pretty"
"Wait, how come you're working with Charles?"
"I'm working with him to get more insight to help your father. If you use the flash drive, you'll understand everything. I even had to change my looks for Charles, Ace or your mother not to recognize me"
I didn't understand the part of her changing her looks but we can always get back to that later.
"Okay. Let's assume all what you are saying is true. What do you mean by my dad is stuck in time?"
"We worked on it and we finally got the right calculations. We were able to go back into three minutes in the past. After we figured it out, he got a call from your mother. I think it was an emergency. He left in a hurry and ever since then, I never saw him again"
*End of flashback*
"Why did you burn them?" I asked her.
Deep down, I prayed for my mother not to be the villain. I hoped she had a good reason for the things she did.
"Because his useless experiments were taking him away from his family"
She can't be serious.
"That's the reason you burned down years of research and hard work?"
"Well, technically"
"You shouldn't have done that mom. You could have just supported him"
"You were too young to notice. He barely stayed home. Even when he did, he was always busy working. That wasn't the man I married. I wanted- I needed my husband. I had to get him back somehow. We had a family, a family he needed to focus on. Don't even get me started on that whore he worked with too. Besides, time travel is impossible. He could never make it work. The thought of it was ridiculous" she laughed "I don't know what made your father think he was so special. I had to do something to make him come back to reality"
I just sat there and looked at her in shock. She really sees nothing wrong in what she did.
"I did what needed to be done. If you were in my shoes, you would have done the same"
I shook my head.
"No mom, I wouldn't have"
I stood up and left the kitchen.