Unedited

•••

Kene's Pov

"Wait." I call out to Rebecca. She either doesn't hear me or decides to ignore me as she continues walking forward.

"Wait na." I shout out again. She doesn't stop so I increase my pace. Finally at her side, I grab her by her arm, panting heavily.

She seems startled by my presence. When she sees me, she breathes out in relief.

"I've been telling you to wait na. Didn't you hear me?" I ask her.

"I didn't hear you. I thought you had gone." She replies and I shake my head. The environment was kind of noisy so I could understand.

"Let's go. We'll come back tomorrow."

She gives me an appreciative smile and we head to the bus stop in silence.

"Obalende?" Rebecca asks. "Enter, enter." A driver replies.

We don't have enough money for two seats so I tell Rebecca to lap me, leaving us to pay for just one seat.

Thankfully, there is little to no hold up, allowing us to arrive after about forty-five minutes.

We trek a good distance before eventually getting to the mansion. It was already dark. I could feel fear radiating off of Rebecca.

"Good evening." We greet the gateman. He nods and opens the gate wider for us to enter.

"Oga dey inside?" Rebecca whispers to the gateman.

He shakes his head sideways. "He never come." She sighs and pulls me towards the back of the house.

"Why are are we passing the back?" I ask in a whisper.

"I don't want your- Adamma's stepmom to see us." She whispers back and I nod.

We make a turn to the backyard and she opens a door that reveals the kitchen.

Successfully in, Rebecca sighs and falls back one of the chairs there.

"Where are the both of you coming from?" A feminine voice suddenly says and we shriek. We turn to Adamma's stepmom standing at the kitchen's enterance.

"Good evening ma."

"Madam good evening." The both of us greet at once.

"Good evening. Where are you coming from?" She asks again. "And why do you still have those clothes?" She adds, accessing my outfit.

I look down on the chiffon top and overstretched black skirt I had taken from Adamma's wardrobe.

"I-it was...I was-" I stammer, unsure of what to reply when she cuts me off.

"Forget it. There are some dirty clothes in my room. Don't forget to wash them tomorrow." She says to Rebecca and walks off.

"What's wrong with that one?" I ask pointing at the the direction the lady had just walked in.

She shrugs. "She has problem."

I laugh. "I can see that. So how long have you been working here?" I ask.

"Hmm." She muses, walking over to the fridge. "Like eight years." She says opening the fridge and taking out an apple.

"Are you hungry?"

I nod. "You've been working here for eight years?" I ask a little shocked. I expected her to say maybe a year or something. Eight years??

That's a long time.

"Yeah. My mum was actually a maid here since even before I was born." She says, bringing out a loaf of bread from the fridge. "Then she fell sick and died when I was seven." She adds in a small voice.

Oh. I stared at her not knowing how to react. An uncomfortable second of silence passes before she speaks again.

"Sha, when my mom died, Senator Peters and his wife took me in. They were really nice. They treated me like a second daughter, sent me to this really nice school, everything sha."

That explains the good English.

"Adamma and I were even close. She was always so playful and restless. A lot of people thought we were sisters." She smiles and pauses as if recalling fond memories. Her face suddenly turns back to it's sad expression.

"Until eight years ago, when Adamma's mom died..." She says sadly. "Her best friend came and started getting close to the Senator. Later we heard that they're getting married."

Best friend keh?

"Wait, so the Senator's present wife is his late wife's best friend?" I ask in astonishment.

"Yup." She replies with a smile as if she expected my reaction.

"That's just mad." I say and she gives me a look that says, "I know, right?"

"Everything changed sha. Especially Adamma. She really loved her mom o. Like die. When her mom died, she became depressed, she stopped talking, eating, playing... When that witch na came, it became worse. If you know how Adamma hates her stepmom ehn." She stops to laugh. "Because of it, her relationship with everybody changed sha." She says shrugging.

I stay quiet, taking in everything she was telling me.

"So a while later, they stopped treating me like a daughter and started to treat me like one of the employees. I felt bad at first but later sha, I started getting used to it." She finishes. "Here." She hands me a sandwich.

I mutter a thank you before munching on it.

"Do you know what killed Adamma's mother?" I ask out of curiosity.

"I'm not sure but I heard something about drug overdose. I really don't know." She says after swallowing a bite of sandwich.

"Drugs?" I ask, with wide eyes. She simply shrugs.

"And your mum?" I ask carefully.

"Cancer." She replies without a second thought.

"Oh." I nod unsurely. What else was I supposed to say?

"Yep. Are you done with that?" She asks pointing at my empty plate.

"Yes, thank you. I'll wash off the plates." I hop off from the stool I'd been seated on.

I take hers before she can object and quickly wash them off.

"So tomorrow, are we going in the morning or in the evening?" I ask, drying my hands on my skirt.

"I don't know o. Yo-Adamma's dad might want you to go to school tomorrow." She says and my head snaps up.

"School?"

"Yup."

•••
Adamma's Pov

I walk further into the house and notice old calendars and picture frames hung everywhere. A particular one catches my eye.

It's a picture of me standing behind a tall cake smiling really wide.

"That was the first wedding cake you made. Do you remember?" I hear Mrs Helen ask hopefully.

I turn to her and turn to the picture. I try to rack my head for something but no, nothing comes up.

"I don't remember." I say and I realize everyone had also been hopeful as they sigh dejectedly.

"It's fine. Just go in and rest." Mrs Helen says with a comforting smile.

I nod. My body feels sweaty so I ask, "Can I have a shower?"

"Erm, yes." She says, looking surprised. " You can have a shower." She says sounding amused and for some reason adding emphasis on "a shower."

"Jojo go and fetch water for your sister oya." She says to Joseph and he nods.

"There's no hot water o nne. You will manage cold water." She says and shoves me towards the bathroom, I think.

Joseph passes us with a bucket filled with water.

"That's the bathroom over there," she points at the door Joseph entered. "You can use this towel when you're done." She pulls a towel from a hanger, gives it to me and leaves.

Joseph comes out of the bathroom and passes me with a smile. I return a nod.

I go into the dark bathroom feeling slightly uneasy. I reach for the switch and turn it on.

There's a shower in the corner that has different colours of sponges hanging over it. There's a sink there too, holding a cup of over five brushes, a soap dish by the side and drums, buckets and bowls lying around.

I close the door behind me, hang the towel on  the shower and start to strip.

After taking off every single item of clothing on me, I pile them in the sink.

I use one of the bowls to carry water and shudder immediately the water makes contact with me.

I pull down a random sponge and rub it with the soap there. I scrub all over my body, occasionally pouring the cold water on myself.

I'm in the middle of washing soap off my face when the door opens.

"Who's there?" I scream, instinctively bending to cover my nudity.

Forgetting my face is still covered with soap, I open my eyes and immediately feel the sting. I scream and reach for my towel in a hurry, cleaning my face and covering up myself.

I hear the cackle of an old woman.

"Since when did you start covering body for me?" She asks laughing.

If looks could kill this woman would be dead meat, I tell you.

I rinse off my face and rush out of the bathroom.

"This is your room here o. Where are you going?" Mrs Loretta asks from behind me.

I groan and turn around to the old woman before following her into a room.

The room is neat and spacier than the rest of the house. It has two beds. One is made up while the other is a little wrinkled.

Mrs Loretta brings out a dress and hands it over to me.

"My daughter, I have a solution to your problem." She says and I look at her in confusion.

"I will tell you a story. I will tell you the story of the day you were born up until this very day. You will remember, just listen." She says, sounding very confident.

Oh no.

•••
A/n

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