The wrong decisions were all we could make. But would you really blame us?

Did we know things would go so wrong?

Every decision, every act, every move leads up to the big explosion at the end.

Making a bomb takes different steps.

But at the end, it would take one person to set the timer. The clock was ticking.

It could be a suicide bomber. But we would all be affected, that's for sure.

◈ ━━━━━━━ ⸙ - ⸙ ━━━━━━━ ◈

ＥＩＧＨＴ ＭＯＮＴＨＳ ＥＡＲＬＩＥＲ
(ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʏ ᴏғ ɪsᴍᴀᴇʟ's ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ)

Kasy and Dele ran as fast as their legs could take them. It would only take a second for things to go wrong.

They knew Zehan was hot tempered. They knew what he could do when he was priced. And that day, Zehan was in a fit of rage.

The sound of snickers against the tiled floors of Newland Secondary School echoed throughout the building. The duo raced through fleets of stairs to get to the top most floor of the building.

School was empty. Everyone had already left almost an hour earlier. So why were Kasy and Dele running up the Senior block like crazy people?

To reasons best known to the architect, the Senior Secondary building of the school had a rooftop. It was a big, empty space with short railings. Students afraid of heights dared not go there. Granted, the rooftop was used most times as a dump for old, damaged lockers and desks but students were restricted from going there. Of course, no one took the restriction seriously since the large metal doors leading up there was always left open.

Kasy and Dele had ran up all the way from downstairs and by the time they had gotten to their destination, Kasy was breathless.

Dele began banging his hands on the metal doors that were, surprisingly, locked. Kasy had joined him after she recovered from her initial breathlessness.

"Zehan! Zehan open this door! What are you doing?" Kasy shouted while banging the door.

Dele pushed the handle when they heard Zehan yelling, "Die, Ismael! Die!" on the other side of the door.

"Zehan what's wrong with you?" Kasy's heartbeat accelerated. So many things were going through their minds and they didn't even want to imagine what Zehan was doing to his brother on the rooftop.

Kasy nearly shed tears knowing that Zehan Essien was a monster when he was angry.

"It would be better if you're dead! I would kill you myself, bastard!" They heard Zehan yelling.

The fact that they weren't hearing Ismael's voice was unsettling.

Dele used his shoulder, elbow, hands and legs to hit the door but it seemed nothing was working. "Zehan open this fucking door!"

It was pointless because all they could hear was Zehan yelling profanities at his brother. His voice was vibrating, oozing so much rage and madness.

Kasy and Dele thought they would die of a heart attack.

When Dele couldn't take it anymore, he asked Kasy to step away from the door. He went back, and slammed his feet against the metal doors a few times before it bulged with a thundering sound as it swung open.

The duo immediately ran inside.

But it was already too late.

There was only one man standing.

◈ ━━━━━━━ ⸙ - ⸙ ━━━━━━━ ◈

Zehan stood in front of those blue metal doors, doing nothing but staring at them. Now they were crisscrossed with wooden planks and a big ʀᴇsᴛʀɪᴄᴛᴇᴅ ᴀʀᴇᴀ written boldly on the door. Of course, the school had to take more precautionary measures after Ismael had fallen to his death from that particular place.

Zehan didn't know why he was there. He didn't know why he was even in school as early as 6:30 AM. He hadn't been there since that faithful day so maybe he just wanted to come and see it.

It would be a nice place to end his life. The same way his brother died. He could just jump off and fall and everything would turn black. It would be perfect.

"What are you doing here?" A deep masculine voice asked, startling Zehan and bringing him out of his suicidal thoughts.

The turned around to see Kendrick Kanayo looking professional and serious as usual in his blue shirt and black cardigan.

"Nothing," Zehan said, turning around to face the teacher while adjusting the straps of the backpack on his shoulder.

When Kendrick didn't say anything, he made to walk past him and go down the stairs that would lead to the SS3 floor and Computer lab but Kendrick held his right arm and drew him back. "I've been meaning to talk to you,"

"Okay."

"Did you tell Kasy what about what your brother did?" Kendrick asked, swallowing the lump that formed on his throat afterwards.

"If I told her, you would know," Zehan replied.

"Don't tell her. I don't want her to find out."

Zehan couldn't nod to that because he wasn't so sure he could obey that instruction. He wanted to let Kendrick know that he wasn't besties with his little sister anymore, he wanted him to know that he was out for her. But how would he tell him that he wanted revenge for Kasy's betrayal when all he did was love and trust her?

"I want you to know that I didn't hate your brother," Kendrick said, "and I don't judge you, irrespective of what you did or did not do."

Zehan wondered why Kendrick telling him all that and being nice to him. Was it because he was able to keep their secret when Ismael couldn't?

Nevertheless, he simply nodded and ran down the stairs, trying to forget that that ever happened.

One thing was for sure, if Kendrick continued warming up to him like that, taking revenge on his sister was going to be almost impossible.

• • •

Casper Bassey
Are you serious?
6:42 AM

Kasy K
Yeah, she's a badass like that. But sometimes she just makes decisions without informing anyone.
6:43 AM

Casper Bassey
And u want to be like her.
6:44 AM

Kasy K
How do u know that? 😯
6:44 AM

Casper Bassey
From the way to talk about her, it's obvious
6:45 AM

Kasy K
Everyone wants to be like Annika Malan
6:46 AM

Casper Bassey
Lol. Okay 😂
6:46 AM

Casper Bassey
Tell me more about Dele... Your crush 😏
6:47 AM

Kasy paused for a minute. What perplexed her about the message was that she'd never told Casper Dele was her crush, neither had she told him that she wanted to be like Annika. Sure, she had talked about them but was that enough for him to tell?

Kasy K
Stop assuming things
6:49 AM

Casper Bassey
Yeah, keep denying it 🤣
6:49 AM

Casper Bassey
So tell about him. He seems like a cool guy but not a worthy competitor 😒
6:50 AM

Kasy K
And what are you competing for? 😂
6:50 AM

Casper Bassey
YOU 😍
6:50 AM

Kasy froze on her bed. She simply stared at her phone until her subconscious simply told her that he was just playing around. It was nothing but a joke but why did it feel so...good?

Kasy K
Stop pulling my legs 🙈
6:51 AM

Casper Bassey
You so much underrate yourself 😟
6:51 AM

Kasy smiled widely and she didn't know why. But her joy was short-lived since a knock came on her door before she could reply. It was her dad. She was still in her nightwear and it was almost 7 AM.

Before she could even say or do anything, Kenneth walked in with the biggest frown Kasy had ever seen. She couldn't even move, she just remained in that yoga position on her bed with her phone in her hand.

Her dad folded his arms in front of his chest which did well in making his muscles so much more defined. He was only putting on a pair of black shorts and Kasy knew he had slept that way since he preferred sleeping shirtless.

"Nkasi, kedu ihe n'eme gi?" (Nkasi, what is wrong with you?) Kenneth asked, "These days, you're always on your phone. Who's that person you're chatting with that you didn't realise its past time to get ready for school?"

"Sorry," Kasy mumbled.

"You too sorry," Kenneth retorted as he watched her lazily get up from her bed. "I've boiled hot water for your bath, the shower is not working."

"Okay, thank you."

"Yeah." Kenneth made to leave but turned around like he'd just remembered something. "Wait oo, Kasy,"

"Yes?" Kasy looked up to see the confused look on her father's face. She had been gathering her toothbrush, soap and sponge when he called her.

"Is it just me or are you getting...fair?" He asked, "what cream are you using?"

Kasy touched her face as though she didn't know the lightening cream she had been using for over week would begin having the desired effect.

"I don't know oo," she lied. "I'm using that same cream, I don't know what's happening."

"Hmm..." Kenneth trailed, "you need to change it, it's now bleaching you."

"Okay," Kasy replied before her father left and she released a sigh of relief.

• • •

One would expect triplets to do everything together and maybe have some of the same personalities; but not the Disemis. Asides from having the same initials, Tari, Timi and Tamara were nothing alike. They didn't even look alike.

Most times, people thought Tari and Timi were just twins and Tamara wasn't in the picture. Tari and Timi shared just a little resemblance if you looked closely but no-one bothered looking closely at Tamara, all they saw was her plus-size and nothing else.

Timi was bulky, huge, chubby, however one would put it but not fat. Being too tall for his age, everyone thought Timi's stature was okay. But unfortunately, the same wasn't applicable to Tamara.

Obviously, Timi and Tari got along a little bit more and that's why he went to check up on her early that Wednesday morning. She had missed school for two days in a row and their parents were finally forcing her to got to school.

Tari was already ready for school with her blazer over her white shirt which was tucked into her short skirt. She simply sat on the floor, looking up at the ceiling, lost in thought. That was how Timi met her since her door was open.

The Head Boy adjusted his glasses and sighed. "You've refused to tell anyone what's wrong with you."

Before he could finish talking Tari had already stood up from the ground and sat on her bed. "There's nothing wrong with me," she mumbled.

"And how do you want anyone to believe that when you've been acting like you're tired of life?"

"Maybe I'm tired of life, Timi. Could you leave me alone?" Tari snapped, turning to glare at her brother.

Timi gulped and remained silent for awhile before he said, "well, I just wanted to tell you that Amira has been asking of you. She said she has been calling and your phone is switched off. She's afraid of coming here because of mom..."

"Well, I'm going to school, aren't I? I'll see her there," Tari said and Timi turned around to walk away but stopped when Tari said, "besides why is she now acting like she suddenly cares? When I needed her the most, she wasn't even there,"

Timi didn't know how to respond to that. What was he supposed to say? What was she even talking about?

Tamara's loud voice from downstairs broke the awkward silence. "Timi! Tari! Let's go, we're late!"

• • •

CJ tiptoed into that familiar small room that smelt like cigarettes and weed. He watched as his mother unconsciously pulled herself closer to Tega. They were both still asleep on the mattress, their half-naked bodies unconsciously clinging to each other.

His mother's brown hair looked a mess just like the room itself. Clothes, weed and cigars were littered everywhere together with leftover junk off and empty bottles of beer.

CJ knew where Tega kept the main stuff. He could leave other stuff like weed, morley and all the pills laying around but the cocaine? Tega guarded it with his life.

The white, crystalline powder was always in different bundles in Tega's signature red sling bag which was always with him or close to him at all times. So it came as no surprise to CJ when he found the bag in between Tega's legs.

Tega being such a smart and careful drug dealer, it would be almost impossible to steal from him but CJ took the risk each and every time he wanted to sell cocaine. Other drugs were quite easy for him to lay his hands on since they were always laying around.

Gently and slowly, he managed to pull the bag out from in between the hairy man's legs. His mother turned around and her leg hit CJ's hands but luckily, she didn't wake up. She couldn't have woken up, she was wasted. So, he tiptoed back into the adjoined, bigger room where he and his siblings slept with the bag in his hand.

CJ knew the cocaine in that bag wouldn't be worth less than a hundred thousand naira and that's why he couldn't take it all. Besides, Tega would definitely have his head if he found his bag empty.

After retrieving a well wrapped bundle and transferring it to his school bag, CJ carefully went back into the room and dropped the bag beside the mattress. It was after that that his heart rate went back to normal. He sighed before running a hand through his hair and proceeding to wake his siblings up for school.

• • •

"CJ?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think mommy and uncle Tega will get married?"

"I don't know."

"But he always comes to see her."

"They're just friends."

"But he sleeps in her room."

CJ sighed, not knowing what else to say to Davina. He wondered if he was even that smart as a six year old.

"Davina, stop asking stupid questions," said Andy who was in front of them.

"It's not a stupid question!" Davina yelled back at her elder brother.

"I swear, Davina—"

"Okay, that's enough, please," CJ intervened, "the sun is hot and I don't need this argument. Let's just focus on getting to school." CJ tightened his grip on the twins before turning to the twin on his left and asking, "Dave, what about that girl you were telling me about?"

"What girl?" Dave looked up at his brother as though he didn't know what he was talking about.

"You're going to pretend like you don't know who I'm talking about?" CJ raised his eyebrows. "That girl you like..."

"I don't like her," said Dave and CJ chuckled.

"If you say so," CJ said with a grin. "Okay, here we are." They had finally gotten to the gate of Newland Primary and CJ waved off the twins as they made their way into the school.

CJ and Andy continued their journey to Newland Secondary. Indeed, the sun was hot and both boys were beginning to sweat from the long walk from home to school. It wasn't really that much of a distance to them anymore since they'd gotten used to it but that didn't stop the beads of sweat that kept popping up.

CJ watched at Andy struggled to rolled his wheels up the slight mountain since he was walking behind him. "Do you want me to help?"

"I'm fine," Andy grumbled and continued and struggling to convey his chair up the hill.

Without giving it a second thought, CJ grabbed the handle behind the wheelchair and began pushing. He knew Andy hated this and he knew what he was going to say but he couldn't just stand there and watch him struggle with the chair.

"Did I not tell you I'm fine? Leave me alone!" Andy was about to make a scene but luckily, they were already late to school and the road leading up to NSS was usually devoid of cars and people at that time so no one could see a boy in a wheelchair trying to strangle his brother. "CJ, I swear to God—"

"You swear to God nothing! Just shut up, we're already late," CJ said and Andy kept quiet for some seconds.

"I told you I didn't need your help. You know I hate it when people push me around, what's wrong with you?" Andy kept ranting. "If you want to play the awesome big brother, you have David and Davina for that not me."

Ouch.

That got to CJ but he didn't show it, neither did he say anything. Andy was always like that, he was used to it. They were already at the school gate and CJ had to let him go.

"I come to school everyday, by my self, even earlier than you'll ever be...so stop acting like I need you to do things for me," Andy said after he'd spun around to glare at his elder brother.

CJ looked down at the fourteen year old version of himself as they stood in front of the gate. "Brothers help each other."

"Well, I don't need your help or charity. What other language do you want me to say it in?" Andy asked. "And I'm sure you mean half-brothers, right?"

Andy wheeled away, leaving CJ in deep thought for awhile before he decided to lazily walk into the school compound.

• • •

The SS 2 students trooped into the Science class like flies after the bell for first period went off. It was going to be a combined class which was the usual thing whenever they were having a general class such as English,  Math, Biology, etc.

Ms. Isong had to wait for the students to settle down before she commenced with the class.

Tari made her way towards Amira's seat, ignoring all the greetings and questions as to why she hadn't been in school. Anyone who looked at her closely would realize that she wasn't in the mood. And with the way she walked hastily, you could tell that she was more than ready to push you out of the way if you blocked it.

She slumped down on the seat next to her best friend who simply moped at her, not knowing what to say at first.

Tari turned to see Amira's huge eyes on her.   "I'm doing wonderfully well, Amira, thanks for asking and being there for me!" Tari said sarcastically.

"Oh, I'm sorry..." Amira said awkwardly, "it's just that you look..."

"Like a mess? Gee, thanks," Tari mumbled.

"No, you just don't look yourself," Amira said, "besides, how are you doing?"

"I would've probably been better if Ahmed didn't know I had an..." Tari avoided completing her sentence since anyone could be listening in on them. The class was full to the brim and people were still trying to settle down which generated a lot of noise.

"Which Ahmed?"

"How many Ahmeds do you know?"

"I know like five—"

"Ahmed Yusuf! Your brother is who I'm talking about," Tari snapped at her friend's silliness.

To her surprise, Amira actually looked genuinely shocked and surprised that Tari was talking about her brother. "Wait, you mean my brother knows... How? Who told him?"

Tari had to stop searching her bag for a pen to turn to the caramel skinned girl again, this time with raised eyebrows. "So, Amira, you're trying to tell me that you don't know that your brother went to the clinic with me after you ditched me?"

"Ditched you? Tari, what in God's name are you talking about? You're confusing me," Amira expressed her frustration.

"So you didn't see me calling you on Monday?" Tari asked, but scoffed afterwards before looking away, "why am I even asking, of course you saw it... Ahmed told me himself. But apparently, the NSP exam was much more important, wasn't it?"

"Tari, it's not like that," Amira sighed, "look, my parents knew about the scholarship exam so I couldn't even skip it even if I wanted to—"

"Of course, now it's your parent's fault," Tari shook her head in disbelief, "to think I stood up and talked back at my mother because of you, and now you're giving me crap about your parents?"

"They would've had my head if they found out I didn't take the exam! Tari, why are you talking like this? You know how my parents are!"

"No, you know how my parents are!" Tari shot back. "But I still defied them because I thought this friendship meant as much to you as it meant to me but obviously, I was wrong!"

"You didn't even tell me you wanted me to go with you!" Amira yelled. "you just started calling in the morning and expected me to drop everything I was doing and go with you!"

"That's exactly what a real friend would've done, Amira!" Tari yelled.

"I can't believe you're saying this," Amira mumbled, a look of disbelief and disappointment in her teary eyes.

"Amira, Tari," a voice called.

That was when the girls realized that they'd been putting up a show for the whole class for God knows how long. They hadn't realized that everyone had settled down and the class was dead silent amidst their argument and now, everyone was staring at them with different expressions.

"If you have issues to settle, go outside, you're disrupting the class." Ms. Isong looked at the two girl with a vacant expression.

Amira had bent down her head on her desk and Tari was sure she was crying. Tari herself teared up but quickly wiped her eyes. She hated when people saw her cry and she wasn't going to give Olusola Fadiya—who was staring at her—that pleasure. It seemed neither Tari nor Amira were going to leave the class like Ms. Isong suggested.

Tari looked up from the floor and towards the white board when Ms. Isong began her lecture. Everybody had stopped moping and where now focused on the teacher except Ahmed Yusuf, who Tari could see still looking at her through the corner of her eyes.

• • •

"So our next topic would be Argumentative writing," Ms. Isong announced after she was done with her lecture on Speech Writing and had taken their questions, "In this topic, it's not just going to be about the writing but also the performance; your ability to speak and deliver your message flawlessly. In otherwords, public speaking."

A few sighs and hisses filled the class after the last sentence.

"Stop sighing because this is going to be your project work for the term—" Ms. Isong wasn't interrupted by CJ walking into the class as though he owned the school. He was looking tattered as usual with his huge, grey sling bag hanging on his shoulder. His white shirt flying out and folded up to his sleeve. Few of his buttons were missing and his tie was hanging loosely around his neck.

"Good morning," he boldly greeted Ms. Isong.

"Good morning, CJ," she replied his greeting before he proceeded to take his seat at the back.

CJ and Annika made eye contact for only a split second before he walked past her. Dele who noticed this thought there was something more to the way they now suddenly began noticing each other. On a normal, CJ would never make eye contact with anyone seated in the front row and Annnika would usually have her head buried in a book, not caring who walked past her. It was indeed uncanny.

"So, as I was saying...it's your project for this term but you'll be doing it in groups. You'll all have a partner who you will work with on the proposing or opposing side of the motion."

Sola raised her hand.

"Yes, Sola."

"Do we get to choose our partners?" Sola asked.

"No," Ms. Isong replied, "in fact, I'm going to pair you right now and assign the topics to each group."

Ms. Isong retrieved a piece of paper from the class register which was on her desk and began pairing the students and grouping them from what she had drafted out earlier.

"Next pair," Ms. Isong announced, looking into the book in her hands, "Enock Sakala and Tamara Disemi,"

That was enough for the students to start snickering and murmuring as Enock and Tamara stood up.

"Enock and Tamara, you'll be proposing the motion ‘Premarital sex is necessary’."

The class erupted in exclamations and laughter knowing that Tamara would rather oppose that motion and knowing that Enock would gladly propose it.

Sola smirked. Things couldn't have gone better. It was perfect. This was the perfect trap for their plans.

Tamara tried opposing and asked the English teacher she could actually oppose the motion instead but Ms. Isong replied, "that's why it's a debate. Your ability to convince your audience even when you're not convinced yourself is what I want to see."

Enock and Tamara took their seats as the class quieted down. Enock and Sola exchanged knowing looks.

"Next pair, Kasy Kanayo and Dele Akindele," Ms. Isong called out they stood up, "you'll be joining Enock and Tamara's group but you'll be opposing the same motion, 'Premarital sex is necessary,"

Kasy and Dele exchanged glances from where they individually stood, not sure they liked the topic but didn't say anything about it.

The pairing and grouping went on.

"I'm calling the next group at once," said Ms.  Isong, "so the people in group six are; Olusola Fadiya, Adam Somoye, Annika Malan and CJ Ikem." They were all individually standing on their feet by the time Ms. Isong looked up from her paper.

Normally, everyone expected the besties, Annika and Sola, to be paired together but everyome was shocked when Ms. Isong said, "Annika and CJ, you're partners."

That called for another round of exclamations of astonishing and looks of perplexity from their classmates.

Dele kept waiting for Ms. Isong to laugh and announce that she was simply joking because obviously, it had to be a joke. Annika and CJ? Even the two names together was a comedy show title.

"Silence!" Ms. Isong commanded and the noise reduced to an extent. "Mind you, the topic is ‘Rape victims are to be blamed for rape, not rapists' and Annika and CJ are proposing the motion."

"Ah, ah, which kin topic be this one?"

"Where is this woman getting these topics from?"

"She's not yet serious."

"Nothin wey Musa no go see for gate oo!"

At that point, everyone was talking and no one could hear the other person.

But when Annika spoke up, total silence was restored. "Ma, with all due respect, that topic is completely inarguable. Everyone knows that the rapist is always to be blamed. No matter what, it's the rapists' decision and action, not the victim. No argument there!"

Annika spoke with so much authority and tenacious sanguine which attracted an applause from her classmates.

"And that's where you're wrong, Annika," Ms. Isong said equal confidence, "there's no inarguable motion. There's always another side to a story just like there are two sides to a coin! Now, do the project and convince me that a rape victim could be blamed or you'll fail this class."

There was total silence again and Annika took her seat, looking defeated.

"Adam Somoye and Olusola Fadiya will oppose that same motion."

Ms. Isong went on to pair other students until she got to the last one. "And for the last group. It consists of Amira Yusuf, Tari Disemi, Timi Disemi and Ahmed Yusuf."

The murmurs were getting louder as the four students mentioned stood to their feet. Amira and Tari had their hands folded across their chest as they stood awkwardly next to each other as a result of their argument. Their faces were looking glazed too.

"So, the topic for this group is," Ms. Isong paused and stared at the paper in her hand for a minute, "okay, the topic is, ‘Abortion should not be a crime‘."

Tari froze on the spot.

Amira slowly turned to her friend for the first time after their argument.

Ahmed turned around to look at the two girls as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

Timi only adjusted his glasses waiting for Ms. Isong to pair him with someone that hopefully, wouldn't be his lazy ass sister.

For Tari, everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. Could this day get any worse?

"Tari and Ahmed, you'll be proposing the motion. Convince us that abortion is not a crime," said Ms. Isong, "Amira and Timi, you're opposing. Tell us why you think abortion should be frowned upon."

Amira was going to ask Ms. Isong to change the topic for the sake of her friend but if Annika Malan already tried and failed, who could do it?

Tari analyzed the situation and realised that she didn't only have a problem with the topic but also the people in her group. Basically, she and Ahmed had to tell everyone how abortion shouldn't be a crime while her best friend and her brother were going to tell her how she committed a crime. Splendid.

To think the day had already been eventful enough, no one expected what happened next. Or rather, who walked into the classroom with the long-time-no-see principal behind them.

Everyone's jaw dropped as the commotion rose to its peak and everyone stared at the figure standing at the class entrance.

Zehan and CJ gulped down the lump that had formed in the throats.

Dele's palms got sweaty.

Tari would have a heart attack any second.

Dressed neatly in his uniform and school bag on his shoulder, was no other than, the previously expelled...

Charles Elias.

Dun dun dunnnn!!!!
How expected that? Charles is BACK?!

So what about CJ's life? What can you say about it?

And what about Tari and Amira's argument? Who is at fault?

I hope they reconcile soon like their friendship...

Please mind you, this debate they're going to do IS a MAJOR PLOT DEVELOPER.   It means that is very crucial to our plot—all three topics.