Jeremiah
I couldn't stop pacing from the window and then back to my bed and then back to the window again, biting hard on my thumb, deep in my thoughts. I had been doing that since I got news that Kingsley was in the mansion. I couldn't help my anxiety. I couldn't help but wonder if he did what I asked. If he got what I asked. I stopped for a second, the moment I had heard a tiny knock on the door. I turned quickly, It had to be them. The door opened and he walked in, with Kodi behind him.
Thank God.
"Hey Brother."
I hurried to him as fast as I could. I could care less about his greeting. I paused for a second and then turned to Kodi, who had just stopped there, staring at us. You see, I was still grounded, and that meant I couldn't leave my room, leave the house, or even entertain guests. Kodi was the only reason why the doors to the mansion were opened for Kingsley. She had actually told everyone that he had come to see her.
She looked at me. I tilted my head to the direction of the door. I was asking her to leave in the most polite way that I could.
"Huh?" She whispered. She didn't understand. I did it again. She turned to the door and then back to me. "Oh."
"Yeah." I told her. She turned her lips upside down in disappointment, and then exhaled.
"You both owe me."
She said, and then turned to leave.
"Thank you Kodi." Kingsley said after her. I waited till I heard the door close, and then I hurried to the door, just to make sure she wasn't eavesdropping. It wasn't as if I didn't trust Kodi, I did, but the few people that knew what exactly was going on, the better for me. I turned to Kingsley who was already making himself comfortable in my bed.
"Did you bring it?" I walked towards him. "Did you find it?"
He had turned my spring bed to a bouncing castle.
"Mnnn." He kept bouncing on it. He seemed like he was having a good time, and had forgotten why he was at my house at the first place. "Omoh, I like this your bed o."
"Kingsley." I called for his attention. He stopped for a second, and then looked at me. I frowned. I wasn't exactly in the mood to play around. The smile on his face slowly began to fade. "Concentrate please."
He exhaled, and then slowly got out his leather bag from his back. He pulled out an envelope from it.
"I asked my father's secretary to do some digging on the woman in the picture sent to me."
He handed me the envelope, and I took it quickly. I opened it and looked inside, slightly taking out the papers inside.
"You were right. She doesn't work at Mr Eggie's anymore, neither does she live at the address you gave me anymore. I've got good news though." I raised my head to look at him. "She hasn't left the country either. She now works as a cleaner at Saint James hospital in Apo. She lives in Apo too. Everything you need is in that envelope."
I let out an exhale. Kingsley had no idea how much those words meant to me. I had barely had a good night's rest worrying and thinking. I thought I was going to die of worry, that my father might have sent her away. Looked like he had a change of heart, looked like he was too focused trying to clean up the mess I had created the day before, to even worry about her.
"Thank you man."
"Nah, it's nothing." Kingsley told me. "I just wished you could tell me what's going on. What's this about?Who is that woman and why do you want to find her so badly?"
I frowned.
"You promised not to ask questions."
I reminded him. No one could know my family's most priced secret. No one could know the truth about me. I had already caused enough trouble as it was, if the truth about me came out, my family was going to lose a lot, and I knew my mother was going to get hurt in the end. Kingsley exhaled, and then raised his hands in the air slightly.
"Okay, fine. I won't ask." He told me. "So what now? What are you going to do with all of this?"
I pushed the paper back into the envelope, and then closed it. I pouted.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" He asked me. I nodded.
"So you're not going to talk about what happened last night?"
I looked at him for a while, pretending not to know what he was talking about. Kingsley lowered his brows, looking into my eyes for a short second like he was trying to read them. I turned back to the envelope.
"Why did you do it?" He asked me. "Why did you do that to Oma and your father yesterday? Why did you kiss that girl from young money, that you hated?"
Why did I kiss that girl?
How on earth was I going to explain the fact that I was drunk, and was going through a phase that night? That I was just hungry for a payback, and had to used Kora for that payback, without having to explain why I was upset in the first place? Without having to tell him the truth? I shrugged my shoulders. I honestly didn't want to talk about it.
"Well then are the rumors true?" He continued. "Do you really like that girl? Are the things you said yesterday true? Was she really the reason you broke up with Oma?"
I looked at him again. Kingsley knew better. He knew how much I loved to keep my business personal, and didn't like to talk about it much. He knew how I hated to explain the decisions I made, and most of all, he knew how I hated it when people threw a lot of questions in my face.
"Come on man, if not for anything, you owe me an explanation at least."
I know Kingsley just wanted to be there for me as a friend, even though I rather he wasn't, but he did have a point, I did owe him an explanation for helping me find Mum.
"At least tell me you both are in some sort of a relationship, and what you did yesterday was justified, because a lot of crazy things are about to happen to that girl, if you aren't. If you just used her for some sort of clout."
I exhaled loudly, and then paused, hoping that Kingsley could succeed in reading me, because I was really bad at explaining things. He gasped.
"You have got to be kidding me." He understood. "Bro, what on earth did you do?"
"I don't know, Kingsley. I don't know what happened, I don't know what came over me. I just know I did what I had to do."
"You did what you had to do? Bro you practically just ruined that girl's life. Her entire school year." He told me. "Have you checked the news lately? The internet is blowing up." How on earth was I going to have access to any of those, when I was trapped in there, and all my gadgets, confiscated by my amazing father. I mean, I expected everyone to get crazy about what happened last night, but not the way Kingsley was making it sound.
"Your fans and Oma's fans have been doing the most. They've created hate groups on every social media platform, Hashtags," he got out his phone. "hashtag Koratheslut, hashtag Trashlikekora, hashtag homewrecker. Her pictures are everywhere. The video of that kiss, and that little speech you gave about dumping Oma for her, are everywhere. Have you forgotten who you are? Who Oma is? Have you forgotten how many people have been rooting for you both the past years? Everyone is upset, and they are obviously going to blame it all on that girl. Worst thing is, she must be feeling really scared and confused right now, since she also has no idea why you did what you did to her."
I exhaled, and then walked to the bed. Kora was a conversation I wasn't trying to have with Kingsley. Why did I have to feel guilty about using Kora, when she used me first? She said she was going to do anything to get my forgiveness after all, and that was all I wanted. Why should I care what the public thought about her now?
"So what?"
I threw my envelope on the bed, after Kingsley let out a tiny scoff and repeated what I said in a whisper.
"She got into a fight at school with Oma today."
I paused at the sound of Kingsley's words. "Oma gave her a black card and everyone supported it."
I slowly turned to him. Was he serious? Did that really happen? Did Oma really give Kora a black card?
"Everyone hates her Jerry. Things are going to be really difficult for her if you don't step up and clear the air. If you don't do something about it. She has been the most popular girl in the country, and the most hated too over night, you have no idea what she's going through right now. Anyone would try to kill themselves if they were in her shoes, plus you know how extreme Oma can get with some things. She's going to have a hard time, if you don't help her. You have to do something, and you have to do it quickly."
I exhaled, then rubbed my forehead for a while. I knew I had to think about something. Now that Kingsley put it that way, I was starting to get a bit worried. I stretched a hand towards him.
"Give me your phone."
He looked at me for a while, and then reached for his phone. He slowly gave it to me.
I had to make a call.
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
Kora
"The number you're trying to call is not available at the moment. Please try again later."
I kept hearing a voice say these same words to me over and over again, whenever I tried to call him, to call Jeremiah. How could he have his phone switched off the entire morning? How could he put me in the position I was, and just leave me there? How come he wasn't even doing anything to try and save me? How long did it have to go on? How long did I have to keep defending myself, and try to act like none of it bothered me? I know I acted all tough at the cafeteria, but at the point, I was anything but tough. I was scared, I was scared to leave the swimming pool, which happened to be my only hiding place, since I left the cafeteria. I couldn't even show up for any of my classes, because I was scared of what was going to happen if I did. I already won myself a black card. I was obviously an enemy of NAUN.
I sniffed.
I had my eyes focused on my phone's screen. A drop of tear fell from my eyes, and then another one. I was doing a bad job at bottling my emotions. It looked like I wasn't so tough after all. Everything that happened really did affect me, every single thing. Why did he have to do that to me? In front of all those people? I knew I hurt him, and he was in the right to want his own pound of flesh, but how could he do that to me? I didn't even know what part was more upsetting? The fact that none of the things he said was real, the fact that the kiss wasn't even real, or the fact that my life had basically changed, in a matter of seconds.
The fame I had tried so hard to run from all my life had just caught up with me, and I was doing a bad job at handling it. Those were one of the times I just wished I had disappeared or something. I sniffed, as another tear dropped from my eyes. This time around, it didn't get to my phone. Something stopped it halfway, a hand holding a can of orange juice. I paused for a second, looking at the juice stretched out in front of me. My eyes moved to the really long legs in front of me, that fitted perfectly into the trousers on it. I raised my head slowly, because I could guess exactly who it was. All the tears in my eyes suddenly disappeared, the moment I saw him.
"You can't enjoy it if it gets warm." Luke told me, still holding the juice in his hands. I swallowed hard, and then slowly turned to the can. What was this? Why was he here?
It was just like old times. Luke knew how much I loved to take orange juice, especially when I was sad. It was something I had gotten used to over time. Mum always stocked our fridge with cartons of them, because of me, and everyone that really knew me, knew that orange juice was kind of a soother for me. It helped me focus. I slowly took it from him, after making sure I made him stand for a while.
"Can I sit?"
Like he wasn't going to, if I said no. I didn't say anything to him either ways, but he eventually made himself comfortable beside me. I was just so embarrassed, too embarrassed to even face Luke, because I knew he must have heard the news, just like everyone else. He even saw it too.
"Woah." He stretched his hands one by one, and then his legs too, while I just kept my focus on the can.
It was the only thing keeping me in check. Luke and I weren't exactly in a position to sit close to each other and talk anymore. It was enough that I was in a lot of trouble with Oma, it would be too much if Racheal got involved too. That was a lot of work and energy.
"You know, you shouldn't have acted so tough back there, when you know you were eventually going to cry. You've never really been the kind to be strong at things like this. I wonder why you did that back there."
I held my breath, still rubbing the can. I didn't have anything to say, especially to him. I opened the can in a hurry, and forced the juice into my mouth, drinking it hurriedly, so I didn't have to say or think of anything.
"Slow down." Luke told me. "You're going to choke yourself-"
I stopped drinking, and then let out a loud exhale.
"Why are you here?" I finally asked him, right before I raised my head to look at him. He just sat there staring at me, not bothering to say a word. Maybe he just didn't have anything to say. He looked into my eyes.
"I-I don't know."
I scoffed.
"I just wanted to see if you were okay."
"Why?" I asked him. "So you can rub how much of a fool I am, to my face again?"
"I wasn't going to do that."
I stood up in a hurry, and then turned to face him.
"Fine. You were right, I am a fool." Now I was taking out all my frustration at him. "The biggest fool in the country, no, the biggest fool in the entire continent."
"Kora."
"Are you happy now?!" I asked him. "Are you all happy now?! I said it, I admit it." It looked like Luke didn't know what to say to me, with the way he just stared at me. "I should never have done any of the things I did. I should never have forced a relationship on you, or talked about silly things like marriage and having kids, I should never have wanted more from you, than I already got. I should never had lied to him either, I should have just told him. when I had the chance. Why did I care? Why did I care about what he thought about me? But who gave all of you the right though? I know I'm a fool, but who gave you all the right to treat me like one?!"
I yelled at him at the top of my lungs, with tears falling from my eyes.
Luke exhaled.
"Kora-"
"What do you all want from me?" I asked him. "Who the hell do you all think you are to do this to me? Who the hell are you, or him, to do this to me?!" With the way I yelled and cried at the same time, I was sure anyone could hear me through all the sound proof walls and doors. Luke waited.
He waited till I was done. Till I was done throwing my tantrums, and then he approached me. One step, two steps until he was a few inches in front of me. He looked at me for a second. I was sure I looked like a mess, I always did, when I cried. He exhaled, and then placed his arms around me, pulling me close to him. He hugged me, and at that moment, I felt the walls closing in on me. I couldn't stop myself. Luke's warm hug was what I really needed. It was all I had wished for the entire months that had passed, and when he did, I couldn't even respect myself. I started to cry all over again. I was crying as hard as I could, I couldn't stop. It was like everything was going down at once. All my emotions were getting loose.
"It's okay." He spoke into my hair, patting the back of my head gently. "You're okay."