Jeremiah
I remembered...
We were silent for a long while, a really long while. You could hear the whooshing sound of the wind even as we walked down the stairs leading to the lecture block together. After the really intense kiss we had, I could tell we were both embarrassed to face each other. I wasn't embarrassed, but it looked like Kora was and she looked even more cute trying to avoid eye contact with me. I remembered how she kept a straight face every second right until we got to where we had to part ways. The fork road by the left leading to the parking lot where I was headed to, and the lecture halls by the right where she was supposed to be at. We stopped walking.
I slowly turned to face her, there was a huge smile on my face and it grew even wider when I turned to her. Look at her trying to act like she wasn't dying to hear me say something even if it was just "goodbye" .
"So cute." I scoffed silently. I was going red as I let a wide smirk spread on my face. I turned around just as she turned to me.
"What?" She asked pretending like she hadn't heard what I had said. I turned back to her.
"You're so cute." Dang! Like I wasn't going to say it again. I was never going to get tired of saying those words to her. "Babe." I just had to add that last part to get a reaction from her. It sounded weird, really goffy too but I loved the sound of it. She scoffed.
"What?"
"What?" I pouted.
"What did you just call me?"
"Babe?"
"Babe, as in?"
I nodded, keeping a straight but yet pouty face while I stared into her eyes.
"Babe as in my girlfriend."
She sneered.
"Don't call me that."
"Babe or my girlfriend?"
She rolled her eyes.
"I'm not your girlfriend."
"Says who?"
"Says me."
"You are my girlfriend."
Now we were both acting like two year olds. She cleared her throat, trying so hard to stop herself from letting out a smile even though she was unintentionally showing it by blushing so hard. She was softening up to me without even realizing it.
"What are you talking about?" She asked in a whisper. "Don't be ridiculous."
I frowned.
"What?" I feigned anger. "You didn't think I was ridiculous when you grabbed on tight to my jacket while you kissed me like that earlier-"
She turned quickly and covered my mouth with her hands as fast as she could.
"You don't have to say that out loud." She whispered, looking around to make sure no one no one was coming or listening to us. I grabbed her hand and pulled it down from my mouth.
"What?" I blinked twice.
"What is wrong with you?" She whispered. "What if someone hears you?"
"So?"
"What if Oma hears about it?"
I exhaled.
"What about it?" I chuckled a little bit. I loved it when she was on edge about the littlest things like that. She bit on her lower lip hard. "Everyone knows I like you already. It's really obvious."
"Still, you don't have to rub it in. You're still engaged to Oma."
"But I don't like Oma, I like you."
"Don't say that out loud-" she paused and then scoffed. She should have known I was never really the type to hide how I felt. She rubbed her right temple and then exhaled.
"Fine." She told me. "Let's say I believe you. Let's say you're being honest about how you feel right now. What about it? What's going to happen? There's nothing you can do about it. You're still going to get married to Oma eventually. How I feel and how you feel doesn't matter-"
"Should I not?" I asked her. I really didn't care about my marriage with Oma. I was the last person that wanted it anyway. All she had to do was say she wanted me, to say she didn't want me to get married to Oma and I was going to take it with all seriousness. I stared at her. "Should I not get married to Oma?"
"Why would you ask me that?" She pouted. "It's not like I'm in a position to stop you or anything." She said to herself, looking away so I didn't hear her. I exhaled. I understood her perfectly.
"Then I won't get married to Oma." I told her. "I won't get married to anyone anymore if that's what my girlfriend wants."
She shut her eyes and scoffed in frustration.
"For the last time I'm not-"
I leaned closer to her and kissed her on her cheek before she said anything else. Should have seen the way she swallowed her words immediately. She didn't say a word. She just froze. She blinked twice and then slowly shifted her eyes to look at me. She scoffed.
"Are you enjoying this?"
I shrugged my shoulders. I really was. Going back and forth with her was made me forget about everything else. It made me so happy. It was smething I always looked forward to. I checked my watch quickly. Omoh ! I was really running late for dinner. I had totally forgot. I got out my phone.
"Make a choice." I told her. "African, Italian, French or Chinese?"
"Huh?"
"What's your food mood right now?"
"What?"
"Don't worry about it. I'd just order all."
I had forgotten how she said she hadn't eaten anything before she left the house earlier. I knew she had used lunch as an excuse to pull me out of that teenage romance court earlier but I couldn't help but notice how her belly rumbled as we walked down the way to where we were. Now I just had to order her food before I left so she didn't forget to eat.
Churn!
I made sure her phone beeped and then I watched her slowly take it out from her pocket.
"Your order ID for lunch." I told her as she looked into her phone. "Make sure you eat all of it. I'm late right now but I'd take you out for lunch next time. I promise."
"Wait a minute."
Neh.
I didn't want to give her a chance to complain or anything. I turned to leave and then I paused. I turned back to her again and gave her a kiss on her forehead. She raised her head to look at me, surprise written all over her eyes. I loved it when I took her off guard like that. I smiled at her.
"I'll call you every hour, Babe."
I laughed a little bit. Calling her babe was something I definitely wanted to get used to. It made my heart flutter a lot. I loved that feeling even though she pretended like she didn't. I didn't want to stall any longer. I turned and then started to run towards the parking lot.
I couldn't stop myself from smiling every second I went down memory lane about what had happened the entire time I was with Kora. Every thing about every moment I spent with her made me a whole different person. It made me really happy. I had barely even noticed how long the ride was from the house to the restaurant. I had barely remembered how important this dinner was for my father and for the family. Thinking about her just made everything feel okay and the best part was that I wasn't even trying to hide my excitement.
"Seeing that you're in such a good mood tonight, I'd really like to know the reason behind the really bright smile and dashing look of excitement on your face."
The journey to the restaurant was not the only thing I had forgotten about. It had escaped my mind that my father had been sitting beside me in the limousine all along with his eyes glued in his papers. I shook a little bit in my sit the moment I had realized that I had shown too much teeth and smiles in front of him. It must have had him really irritated, I honestly wouldn't know. I didn't know what he liked or hated. I barely knew anything about this man. I had spent my entire life begging to know him, to know what he liked and to have this chance and now that I did, blowing it up was the last thing I needed. I sat up right and let a frown get the best parts of my face especially since he folded his paper and kept it right beside him.
"Nothing." I had to answer. "I just thought about something funny that's all."
"Well, would you like to share?" He picked up his champagne glass and I watched him take a sip from it. "Is it something I should know?"
Huh?
"N-not exactly-"
"Where is she Jeremiah?" He dropped his glass back and then tried to fix his suit. My frown deepened the moment I realized exactly what this was about, exactly who he was referring to. I had waited for that moment for a while. I guess that the reason he was only just talking about it was because news had reached him from Ghana. News about how my mum was still in the country. He slowly turned to look at me, his cold eyes staring into mine. "Where is your mother?" He asked me. "I know you're hiding her. She must have ran to you for protection. Just tell me where she is and I'd forgive you for defying me."
I swallowed hard.
From the moment I was born, this was the longest sentence he had ever said to me. The longest conversation we had ever had alone and it terrified me to think that it wasn't going to end with a father-son tap on the shoulder.
"I-I don't know what-" I had to at least lie. I had to protect her. If he knew where she was, he was probably never going to let her live. He was going to make sure she disappeared without a trace. He turned to me completely and then grabbed me by my suit's jacket, pulling me close to him so we maintained the same eye level with each other.
"Don't lie to me boy." Even when he was angry, his voice never got to a higher pitch one bit. "I know you're hiding her. Do you have any idea what you've done? What you're doing? Are you trying to ruin us all by rebelling against me? Where is she?!"
His grip on me was so tight, too tight but I still managed to keep a straight face. It was the first time. The first time he was looking into my eyes.
Scoff.
It had to take a "threat" on his legacy for him to actually look at me. That made me really sad.
"I can't tell you." I told him.
"What?"
"I can't tell you where she is." I was done pretending anyway. There was no use pretending when I knew he knew everything. I didn't want to lie to him anyway but trust me, I had no idea where all that bravery was coming from. "I don't want to."
He scoffed. I guess he couldn't believe it either.
"You have nothing to be scared of. She's safe and she's not going to do or say anything that would be a threat to you or your precious legacy. We won't do anything. We are just going to stay still and act like we don't exist. From now on, I will take full responsibility for my mother. I don't want to be separated from her anymore. We won't be a bother to you from now on, just let us stay together from now on."
He tightened his grip on my jacket and pulled me even closer.
"You -"
"Ungrateful bastard?" I said it first so he didn't have to stress his vocals. "Yeah, I know that. I know exactly what I am so you don't have to remind me all the time." I looked at him. "I've also done everything you've asked of me. I also agreed to this dinner with you not because you actually wanted to eat with me, to get to know me but because you want everyone to see you in good light. You want to build your reputation as the best father in the world for your stupid campaign. I'm going to go out there and smile and show everyone how much of a perfect father you are. I'd do just exactly as you want me to, I'd help you protect your legacy and reputation that you care so much about so please!" My voice was literally shaking just as tears began to cloud my eyes.
"Turn a blind eye to this. Let this go just this one time."
There was a whole long minute of silence in the car and a series of cold glances. He was glaring at me so hard that it made my heart skip multiple beats.
"We are here Chief?"
I shut my eyes immediately at the sound of the chauffeur's voice from the driver's seat. Talk about being saved by the bell. My father's gold gaze was still on me. Figured he still needed a minute to get himself together. I needed more than a minute. My heart was about to pop out and I knew that there were a lot of press surrounding the car so I couldn't come out of it looking like I had just come face to face with death.
I needed to catch my breath.
He let go of me immediately and I adjusted my jacket while he took a deep breath.
"Get out." He said to me just as the door opened for me. I didn't want to argue. I wanted to be out of that car just as bad as he wanted me to. I needed to breathe fresh air again. I got down immediately. The chauffeur ran to my fathers side of the door while the press rushed to me as fast as they could. I managed to keep it simple. Smile. I managed to force a smile on my face even with all that loud flickering and flash from their cameras. I found my way to my father so I could help him get out of the car too, giving the press exactly what they wanted to see.
"This way chief-" they were urging my father to look their way so they could have a better photoshoot of him. "Jeremiah, this way please."
I grabbed on gently to my father's hand and then he turned to me and smiled. Look at how he was acting like he wasn't trying to strangle me to death seconds ago. Anything to get a few good reviews isn't it? He gave me a soft pat on my hands. Guess I wasn't the only one who deserved an Emmy when it came to acting, my father was a professional.
We both turned so the press could take all the pictures they wanted, our hands still joined together. The restaurant was literally right in front of us but we both knew the press was all we cared about. It was the only reason we were here.
"Mr Benjamin," someone yelled in front of us, placing a microphone in front of my father so he could talk into it. "It has been a while since we saw you and your second son together like this. Is it safe to say that you're happy about his return home?"
My father smiled and then nodded one time.
"Of course. It's every father's joy to always have his son by his side. I haven't had the chance to go on dinner dates with my son because he has been so far away because of personal reasons, his education and his career of course, but now that he is back, we are trying to spend all the time we can to make up for the times we couldn't. I love all my children equally and it is my joy as their father to protect and always make them feel loved."
Not that that was the question he was being asked but they let him go off I guess.
"Now if you'd excuse us, my son and I would like to have some alone time now. I really hope you can understand how important this is to us that we go into that building and eat our food alone. Please understand that we didn't prepare for an interview today and so we won't be taking any more questions for now." He turned to me. "Let's go."
He must have had enough of the pictures and rowdiness. He got what he wanted anyway. The bodyguards were trying to make a path for us to walk through, clearing the press from our way. God, the hypocrisy was making me really weak.
We took a step towards the building.
Bang!
I jumped in fright at the sound of the first gunshot, not really sure what it was but I finally got the picture when all the press took to their heels. I heard my father groan and I turned quickly to make sure he was okay. He had his hand on his arm and he was bending over like he was about to fall. I could see blood on his hands. He had been shot. I froze the whole time.
Bang!
Another gunshot. This time, it went straight to his chest, splashing his blood on my face. Our bodyguards surrounded us quickly, getting out their guns and aiming it at every corner.
"D-Dad." I whispered. I was numb and I had immediately become dumb. I took a step to him and then another, not knowing exactly what to do. He fell into my arms and I fell to the ground with him, holding on to the bullet hole in his chest, trying to stop the blood at least.
"D-dad." I had tears in my eyes and they had already started to fall without thinking. I watched my father cough out a huge amount of blood. I was terrified so much so that I didn't know what to do.
Don't die on me.
I didn't want him to die on me. I was terrified and scared out of my mind even while my father was groaning the entire time.
"Dad please, don't die on me." My tears were slowly falling from my face and dropping on his. Everything was happening so fast and I was barely thinking. At that moment it was like I had forgotten how to. Nothing else mattered, nothing mattered at all. My hands were covered with his blood but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop him from bleeding.
"Chief!" Manuel rushed to us just as some of the guards made a circle around us, backing us with their guns cocked and aimed in front of them while the rest ran towards the buildings surrounding us to catch whoever it was that pulled that trigger. I slowly raised my head to Emmanuel and then I sniffed. Some of the press were running back to us. This was major news and not even a gunshot was going to stop them from covering it. The bodyguards tried to stop them, to push them away.
Manny looked at me.
"Were you shot?" He asked me.
"Is he going to die?" I was barely even looking at anyone except my dad. How could that be the only question Manny was asking me at that point? A few more men rushed to us.
"We've got to get him to the hospital." Emmanuel told me as the men slowly picked my father up from the floor. I didn't take my eyes off them. I watched them gently put him in the car. "Can you walk?"
Some of the men helped me up. I wasn't even trying to do anything on my own at that point. My entire body was trembling in fear and my entire mind was on my Dad.
"Help him get into the car." Manny ordered the men and they pulled me to the car behind the limousine.
"Dad." I kept whispering to myself while the media kept running to me. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe what had just happened in front of me.
The men managed to push the press away and pull me into the car. We took off right behind the limo immediately.
"Dad." Those were the last words that escaped my lips. My father's name.
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
Kora
I walked up the stairs lazily, so deep in my thoughts to even watch my steps. I had barely realized that I had this really huge smile on my face, the kind that made the maids turn to have second looks as I walked past them. I bet they must have been surprised to see me smile so brightly after all the crazies that I had been through the past few months. It felt really good to smile again, to feel that way again, to be that way again. He made me smile a lot. Thinking about all that he said, the way he defended me in the hall and then that kiss. It made me red every time I thought about it.
I got to the door and then scoffed.
"What's this?" I asked myself, forcing myself to frown but no matter how hard I tried to, my smile just wouldn't go away. "Get yourself together Kora." I told myself, trying to force some sort of seriousness on my face. I didn't want anyone thinking that I was swayed by him, because I actually was. I thought I could do it, push him away but it felt like the more I tried, the more it felt really impossible. The more I tried to convince myself not to be attracted to him, the more I got attracted to him even when he didn't do anything at all. I was now in the middle of actually embracing my feelings or walking away. I knew the former was the right thing to do but something in my heart just embraced the latter.
"I must be insane." I puffed air in my cheeks and then let it out. It was about time I actually pulled myself together before I walked into my room especially now that I shared a room with my Nanny. It was going to feel really awkward if we had to talk about the reason why I was so super happy that night. I had no idea how I was going to explain the fact that I just shared a kiss with her son, or that I had feelings for her son even though my nanny was like the coolest person on earth after my Mum. I mean, Jeremiah must have told her some things but I just didn't think I was ever going to be able to look her in the eye and admit how I felt about him. She really didn't have to know. I turned the door knob and then let the door open. I walked in and closed it after me and then I turned to around.
"Good evening Nanny."
I hadn't even bothered to look up. I rushed to my reading table and dropped my bag on it. That was weird. I could feel her presence but why wasn't she saying anything.
"Oh you're back."
I turned around the moment I heard my mother's voice followed by my Nanny's tiny sobs. My room felt so cold and the air conditioner wasn't even turned on. I could see how my mother and Nanny had themselves in each other's arms. They looked really sad and it looked like I had just walked in on my mother trying to comfort my crying Nanny.
"W-what's wrong?" Now I had to automatically frown because...what on earth was that mood? It was really scary. No one was saying anything. It didn't look like my Nanny was going to talk so I turned to my mother who also had a really terrified look on her face.
"M-mum?"
"Uh." She exhaled weakly, slowly turning to me. "Did you hear the news?"
"The news?" What news? Was there a news? I was the last person to keep up with the news. I was basically running from the news. It was the only reason I had left my phone at home all day. Intentionally!
"Yes." My mum's voice was literally shaking. She nodded. Why was she taking so long to talk?
"Mum." I had to call her again, looking right into her eyes. Now I was very worried. "What's-wrong?"
"It's Jeremiah." She said looking at me. "He got into an accident with his father earlier on."
"What?"
"There was a shooting. Someone shot at them in front of a restaurant. Right now we don't know how any of them are doing or who was shot. The news isn't saying anything else.
I felt all my energy leave me and for a second, I felt so faint. It was like something had left me immediately. A part of me had left and I had started to tremble all over. How on earth was that possible? A gun shot? How? We just spoke- how could he have been shot or attacked? My head was racing. My heart too. I was barely doing a good job standing straight as it was.
"My poor child." I could hear my nanny sobbed. "I'm about to die of worry because I don't know anything. I can't even go to him."
"You don't have to worry." My Mum rubbed her hands. "I'm sure he's fine. If anything had happened to him, it'd be all over the news by now. Let's just keep praying and keep our hopes up. I'd call one of my friends that works at the hospital for-"
Nah. I couldn't. I couldn't not do anything. I found my legs slowly taking me back to the door. I had to run to him, I had to meet him. At that point, all I could think of was him. I needed to make sure he was okay and I didn't care how. I had tears in my eyes and they were threatening to fall because I was scared, I was scared out of my mind. More scared than I had been in a long time and my fear made me tremble.
"Kora?" I could hear my Mum try to call me but i made it obvious that I didn't care with the way I just rushed to the door, opened it and then ran out of the room.