Part Fifty-Three

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David's POV

Finally, I managed to sneak out of Aunt Cecilia's house. That woman sabi send pesin errand ehh. She can be lazy for Africa. Aunt Cecilia, my mom's cousin from her dad's side, lived in Ijegbu, Lagos State.
She's a single mother with two kids only–a male and female, and both her children were in the higher institution. Her children–Franklin and Glory, were fathered by different men. Not to go too deep into their story, aunt Cecilia wasn't a very preserved lady in her youth so she got pregnant by different men who never married her.

But I must admit they were living the 'it' life, by 'it' you should know what I meant. They hardly lacked anything, her and her children were always provided for by their fathers. Added to the overwhelming gifts and luxury she received from other men as well. I always wondered why she still lived such lives and most times I felt irritated by her lifestyle, but as my mom would say ‘life isn't fair to everyone and most times there are people who aren't strong enough to stand the storm.’ To be honest, I felt her words. My mother had every reason to succumb to the temptations that came with men and luxury after she had me, she could have up-and-left Chinedu at any point in time, because well, he didn't pay a dime on her head. Yet, she stayed. She endured the tough life with him, because she was a strong woman with a heart of gold and very grateful.

Don't get me wrong, I don't completely hate coming to aunt Cecilia's house. There's the enjoyable part like eating lots of various food, there's always a spare room for rainy days and constant electricity. Who in their right mind won't appreciate such?

After I had done my job, I immediately took an excuse of going to greet Madam T-Best (the best food-seller in the area) and I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. When I got outside the perimeter of her compound, I slowed down my pace and tried to even my breathing. There were two different roads that led to where I lived with my immediate family, from aunt Cecilia's house. One  can choose to go through the central marketplace and take a cab afterwards at a cheaper rate, or ride a cab from anywhere outside the environ and pay a larger fare.
Of course, my pick was that of the central marketplace. I don't have money for frivolities right now because I'm trying to save up, so I can buy my graduation clothes.

When I passed by Ijegbu ICT center, I saw the few clusters of people— teenagers and youths, gathered in the area. That was what made me recall that some candidates were writing today. I decided that I was going to look as I passed by, I might see one of my classmates and ask some questions based on how the exam went. While I walked past, that was exactly what I did, to my utmost surprise, I saw the last person my mind crossed to at that moment. Nnenna Njemanze.

I had not even the slightest idea that she was writing in this center. I must admit that she worked really hard to cut ties with me to the best of her ability, from the time she called quits, it was difficult to keep track of anything that was going on with her. Besides, her friends had no idea that we used to be an item, so speaking to them or asking them any questions concerning her would definitely seem suspicious. I was going to walk away and stay away from her like she would always ask me to, but I decided against that. I wronged her so it was only right that she was treating me this way. I marched closer to where I saw her standing alone, she was talking to Brianna from Lytton's College.
How long have they known each other?  I couldn't help but wonder if they've met before asides today.

“Hi Nnenna,” I started when I got close enough. She was startled at the voice that called her name. She looked back to see me.

“Hi,” she tried to smile but I saw that it didn't reach her eyes. A forced smile.

“Hi Brianna” I nodded my head in acknowledgement to the other female.

“Dave, did you also write here?” Brianna said.

“Uh no, I came from my aunt's place. I'll be writing in two week's time”

“okay oo. Bye then, Nne bye bye. I will call you someday and we can chat.” Brianna waved before walking off.

After Brianna left, the tension between us suddenly intensified. It was like I had no words to say to her anymore, and she did not seem interested in listening to me either. She tried to walk away and I held her back, if there was one weakness I realized she has, it was creating a scene in public. Though she wouldn't want to hear what I had to say, she wasn't bold enough to tell me to back off.

“I don't want you to make it up to me David, I just want you to leave me alone.” she said after much pleading, but I wouldn't relent.

“Fine then, I don't want to make it up to you. Let me just make it up to myself, I can't live with myself knowing that I did the one thing I find difficult to forgive about others. Please?” my heartbeat increased rapidly as I awaited her reply. I couldn't tell what it was about her that made me want to be a better person than I've always been.

“We're only going to be friends from now onwards David, nothing more...”

“Sure, no problem. I won't say no to that, I'm just really sorry that I did that to you. Thank you,” I told her.

“It's nothing, you're welcome.” she smiled— somewhat shyly.

“So? You're going home, cause I can tell the exams are over”

“Yes, I'm headed home.”

“I'm going home too, we can board a taxi together.” I suggested.

I was elated when she didn't oppose the idea. We walked side by side, just like before. I was careful not to make too much jokes so she wouldn't get bored and irritated, but I realized that she laughed even harder at the newer ones I made. I should have tried to be friends with her before agreeing to that stupid dare, maybe then I wouldn't have broken the trust she had in me.

She didn't seem to be familiar with the area, so I led the way. And gawd! How I felt then— like a superhero. Her knight in shining armour.

When we finally made it out of the market, we got into the bus going to Surulere. She sat down beside me and laid her head on the headrest of the car seat. I heard the ping message notification sound of my phone.

‘This message had better be important, or better still one that had money involved. I don tire for all these MTN messages.’

I pulled out the phone from my pocket and unlocked it to read the message. It was from my mom. That surprised me, because my mother rarely sends me an SMS. She preferred to pass her message on call, because she feared hearing ‘I didn't see the message,’ so why did she send me one today.

'I've called your number twice and it's all going non-reachable. When you get this text call me or better still, come to GOODWILL'S HOSPITAL.'

A hospital? What was mom doing in a hospital, she was okay when I left the house. Everybody was, why the hospital thing then.
My mind immediately flew to the worst. I wanted to call her as soon as I saw the message, but I was scared of what she would tell me. I didn't want to feel agitated while I was staying with Nnenna, I didn't want to bother her with my family issues. Finding out that my biological father was still alive after all these years, was yet to familiarize with my mind, I wasn't ready for another family drama now.

Nnenna highlighted from the vehicle before me, thank goodness! I quickly dialed mother's number once I waved goodbye to her.

“David, where are you now?” that was one of my most disliked questions, especially when it came from my mother.

“I'm almost home, I'm in the bus right now.”

“Can you...can you come to GOODWILL'S Hospital, I'm there as I speak to you now. Please come,” she sniffed before ending the call.

Hearing from her didn't in any way curb my fears. It was getting more difficult to pretend that nothing was wrong. I switched on my data and logged onto Google map on my phone. I typed in the name of the hospital and let the graph form.

.

All thanks to technology, I was able to get to a place I've never been in my life. I saw the inscription of the hospital's name boldly pasted on the signpost.  When I entered the reception, I saw my mother seated on one of the chairs. I walked up to her and sat down on another chair close by.

“Mom, what's it?” I wished to know, especially when I saw the forlorn expression on her face.

Was someone dead?

Could Ikenna be in danger right now, or probably Chinedu?

Was anyone of our neighbours in danger?

I couldn't think straight, but what I didn't expect was the bomb mom dropped at me.

“Your father is in the emergency unit right now,” she said.

“Okay...how?”

“I got a call from one of his friends...” she rubbed the bags that were forming under her eyes.

“I thought he was at home when I left,”

Mom was short of words for a couple of seconds before she regained herself, “oh! Not him, your...your real father.”

And just like that, my world stood still at that moment.

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Hehehehe!!

What's with me and making the father's of my main characters end up in the hospital😔☺️. Let's sha pray for David's dad, his story hasn't even begun and it's about to end. No way!

I'm having mixed feeling on how to bring to an end the drama in this book. Gosh! They are just too many. Anyways, whatever I don't bring to light before the end of this book, I'll definitely try to explain them better in the book 2. And trust me, the second series is going to be a lot hotter and drama-full.

Thank you for reading, voting and commenting on this chapter. Please share with your family and friends who might be interested in reading as well.
Happy 2021 ❤️❤️❣️❣️