~It all has always been this messed up~

⊱𝙸𝙳𝙴𝚁𝙰𝙾𝙻𝚄𝚆𝙰 𝙽𝙾𝙴 𝙰𝙳𝙴𝙻𝙴𝙺𝙴⊰

~~•~~

I rang the doorbell, then knocked on the brown mahogany door of one of the grandest buildings in Highlife estate, one of the top estates here in Lagos State which belongs to Peter Osasogie.

The Peter Osasogie meaning an estate, mansions and apartments guarded by heavy and tight security. Uniformed heavily built men in every nook and cranny, and even in places you would least expect.

But getting in wasn't a problem for me. You could say I was granted immunity because of a certain someone living within these grand walls.

It certainly wasn't my first time being here, but I keep getting awestruck by the beauty of this place. I still get tongue tied trying to find the right and exact words to describe the grandness of this house.

Bright lights illuminated the large storey building, pronouncing it's combination of cream and gold with the ebony black roofing.

Two large pillars stood firm, supporting the building. The numerous glass doors made it easy to admire the interior of the house. Well that's when the curtains are raised up.

Well and neatly trimmed hedges of grass and flower plants encircled the house, adding beauty and colour. There were like two more buildings behind this main one, and then a vast garage.

Everything seemed as though it was made out of pure gold.

If Peter Osasogie's son could have such a masterpiece, how then would the main Osasogie mansion be?

Probably like heaven. With streets of gold.

"Who is it?" Someone yelled from inside the house.

"Me." I simply answered without bothering to identify myself.

The door swung open to reveal a well built boy in all his naked, tattooed upper half melanin glory.
His perfect pearly white set of 32 were on full display. When were they always not?

"Hey babe! Didn't know you were coming. I'd have bought some—" I halted him with a raise of my hand. He got the hint, stepped aside and motioned me to come in.

The pleasant scent of ocean breeze mixed with wild berries, and the cool air coming from the split unit air conditioner welcomed me in. Air conditioners were literally everywhere in this house and thank God for the thick sweatshirt I had on, so the cold didn't really get to me.

Walking further into the well furnished living room, I dumped my school bag on the marbled floor and plopped down on the sofa then leaned into one of the neutral coloured pillows with my eyes closed.

Peace, and quiet.

"You look pissed." I felt the sofa sink in beside me, followed by a warm hand taking my hand and squeezing it lightly.

"Do I?" I replied still with my eyes closed.

"What's the problem?"

My eyes fluttered open, and I turned to face him.

His eyes met mine and I looked away immediately. I didn't need to speak, because that single action had given him an answer already. He knew what the problem was.

"Is it...him?"

I said nothing.

From my corner vision, I could see him sit up and move to the edge of the sofa. His eyes were boring holes into my profile and it made me feel kind of uneasy.

"It's him isn't it? What the fuck did he do this time Dera?"

I was taken aback by how deadly his voice sounded that I had to face him. The look in his eyes scared me to my bones. I tried to pull my hand away from his now tight grip, but he didn't budge.

This guy beside me could actually leave his house right now, drive over to the Kalu's mansion and wreck havoc.

I didn't want that.

"Jude—"

"Tell me."

I wanted to rant, let every single thing all out, but I couldn't. I couldn't do it for the sake of us. With this Jude beside me, there's a 10 percent chance of reasoning and a 90 percent chance of causing effective chaos which will certainly result in permanent damage.

I didn't want that too.

I let out a loud sigh.

"What he always does okay? Run his big mouth like a complete idiot."

But that Jidevil is the least of my problems at the moment.

"Look, my friend Oma decided to just pick this day to get on my nerves."

His hold on my hand lessened and his facial features softened too. But not for long because a frown made its way to his face.

Oh Jude.

"Did he...did he say anything about your mum?"

"You didn't see blood stains on my clothes right?" I gestured to myself with my free hand. "Well if you see any, just know he did."

Jude chuckled, finally releasing my hand and ran his hands down his face, leaning back into the sofa with a sigh.

"Fuck, I hate that guy."

Well what else do you expect from the sons of two rivaling fathers. Both boys have a not so rosy history together, and the fact that Jide has never failed to stop taunting me only fueled Jude's hatred for him.

"I'll mess him up when I see him, I swear to God. I swear by Jasmine's—"

I quickly cut him off with my palm over his mouth. "There's no need for that Jude. Do not swear by God's name or your sister's grave over this petty issue."

He removed my hand from his mouth and held it. Worry and concern swirled in those ebony eyes of his.

"It's not petty Dera, and you know it."

Then he sat up and took my other hand.

"I love you Dera, and it kills me knowing that he keeps doing this to you."

"I know. It kills me too, but—"

"That's why you have me. Whatever it is, I'm here for you Idera." I smiled at that and he placed a kiss on my forehead.

Now this is my Jude.

I doubted him at first. I doubted everything he claimed he felt for me. There was no way in the world that Jude Osasogie would feel something someone like me.

Never.

With him being one of those top teenage male Instagram influencers, I thought everything was just attempting to woo me, make me fall for his charms then use me. Making me another victim of one of his conquests.

Jude persisted like that one stubborn acne that wouldn't just leave no matter how much skincare products used.

Well lucky him. His persistence and patience paid off because I found myself hopelessly and totally in love with him. It seemed like an obsession at first. I was scared that I had become so obsessed with Jude, but I wasn't.

Long story short, we progressed and I only agreed to date him if he promised to either keep the relationship private, or keep my name and image away from the public. I wasn't ready for that kind of attention.

But being the show off that he is, he agreed to the latter. Now the whole world knows Jude Osasogie is off the hot single guys list, but no one knows who the mystery girl is.

My smile widened as I remembered the happy memories.

Oma...

My heart clenched.

He didn't know and i couldn't tell him because he didn't have to know again. That once was enough. I didn't have to remind him of how much of a psychopath his dear girlfriend is.

I leaned towards him and lightly placed my lips on his.

"I love you."

~~•~~

After 2 hours and some minutes of pizza, two buckets of KFC, TV and fooling around, I left Jude's house and headed home. I was a bit surprised by his calm and relaxed demeanor this time. Unlike before when he would have found subtle means of getting me to leave. There were no frequent time checks, and he wasn't fidgeting.

I was thankful for that.

I checked the time and it was just 5pm, meaning I was an hour late for the stupid curfew my dad had set for me at the beginning of the term.

I hate my life.

Ringing the doorbell twice, I waited for a reply but got none. I knocked on the door this time and someone finally answered from the living room.

My Father.

"If that is Idera, you're not entering this house today. Find somewhere else to sleep this night."

All I hoped and prayed for, was to get home, gain the rest of my sanity and enjoy serenity. Not to encounter a father who has always been nothing but angry at me.

"It's just 5 Sir. It's not even 5:10 yet."

"And what did I tell you? 5pm mustn't meet you outside this house."

I could feel it building slowly, bit by bit. I needed a distraction, so I looked around me, at things that would ease my mind a bit while repeating my mantra in my head

Stay chill Dera. It's just one of those things, and you're used to it.

Relax, you're used to it.

Relax, you're used to it.

I inhaled deeply and exhaled slow and shaky breaths. I did it few more times till I felt calm enough to give a reply. I opened my eyes and selected my next words carefully.

"So what if I was busy at school, having lessons or something?"

"Then you would call me."

Nope. It's not working.

All I had been trying to hold back sprang up again.

"And what if I didn't want to call you?" My voice went a bit higher this time. I know I sounded rude, but I didn't care at this point.

Why was he being so unnecessarily difficult?

"Idera are you raising your voice at me?"

I gave the door a heated stare. One that could actually melt down that door if possible. I wanted to turn around and run away, run as far as possible from this house.

I hate it here.

When he got no reply, he yelled out.

"Answer me!"

I flinched a bit, but still didn't say a word. I began tapping my fingers on the railing in sync with the counting going on in my head.

Breathe.

"I would have given you a very dirty slap if you were in here! Rubbish!" I heard the clattering sound of something being dropped probably on the glass table in the living room, and then angry footsteps followed by my brother's voice.

"Pops what's going on?"

"I must not see your sister inside this house!" He warned, and I scoffed at how loud and dramatic he was being.

"Iyanu i hope you heard me?" He yelled out again.

I was seriously contemplating on leaving to spend the night at a friend's place. But I knew my brother was going to ignore the old man and go ahead to let me in, so I waited outside the house. Soon, I heard the sound of keys jangling and then the click of the door lock.

The door opened and I was met with my elder brother's heavy eye bags and exhausted look.

Sheesh!

"You're a walking mess dear brother." I pouted.

"What did you do?" Iyanu asked groggily, ignoring my statement. I frowned at him. Did he really think I did something?

"Are you seriously asking me that?"

He closed his eyes and gave a weary sigh, clearly not in the mood for my complaints.

"Just come in."

I gave him a pat on his cheek and walked into the spacious living room. I went straight to the dining  room and grabbed a cold bottle of water from the fridge, then went straight into my room.

Once I closed the door shut, I dumped my school bag on the large couch close to the window, pulled out my tie and flung myself on the bed, face up to the ceiling.

Every single thing that happened today replayed itself in my head. But the incident with Oma was the highlight of it all.

"Therapy is one thing you should never skip. No matter how minute the problem is."

But I was tired of sitting in an office, listening to a lady talk on anger management for hours nonstop.

Again, I hate my life.

I turned over to my left and the first thing my eyes met was a picture frame of I and my mum on my 15th birthday. My last birthday celebration with her.

The resemblance was definitely striking. The only difference was that she looked older. I don't know how, but my father made sure I wasn't bothered by the so called paparazzi's who would definitely want to monitor every aspect of my life by reason of who my mother was.

I remember how I had almost fallen down the stairs when I overheard her telling her elder sister that the doctor had diagnosed her with Stage 2 Cancer. I ran up to my room to cry my eyes out that my ma was going to die soon.

She came up hours later to tell me everything was going to be fine, and she would get better. I believed she would, I knew she would.

But what I didn't know was that getting better meant ending up 6 feet underneath the earth.

God.

My hand automatically moved to my face as I felt something slide down my cheek. I sniffed and wiped away the tears.

Every single day, the reality that she's never going to come back always hits me harder than anything.
But I've learnt to live with it.

It hurts, but I'm used to that hurt.

"I miss you ma." I kissed the picture and placed it back on the table, then got up to change out of my uniform and into some comfy house clothes.

I made a mental note to prepare tomorrow's meal later on, since I would be leaving quite early tomorrow morning for Saturday lessons.

In the process of bringing out my books from my bag, I heard the sound of the door being flung open and I turned to see who had just barged in.

Then it happened fast, I heard it before I felt it. It felt like my neck would snap with the force at which it moved to the side.

Jesus Christ!

My hands moved to my cheek as I raised my head too see my father standing right in front of me, whose deathly glare met my aghast ones.

Anger thrummed through my veins instantly, and I could almost see red, a really faint shade of it.

The words were out before I could even process them.

"What the fuck?"

───────•••───────

Wahala be like bobrisky bone straight🙂

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