chapter 28

His scent was unforgettable. She didn't know what cologne he used, but she was sure it had a mix of citrus in it.

"You truly are beautiful." She got goosebumps remembering how he had whispered in her ear, and how his words had made her feel beautiful.

A soft smile touched her face.

"Ebere," her aunt called.

She snapped out of her trance and looked at her aunt, who had turned from the steaming pot on the cooker to watch her with her hands on her hips.

Thankfully, her aunt had brought the kids home, since she thought she'd be in school for after-school lessons. Emily would've gone to get  them, if she hadn't been too tired to do so.

She had only woken up from her deep sleep when her aunt had knocked — on noticing the door was locked from the inside.

"Why are you smiling to yourself?" Aunt Jane asked.

"Oh. I just remembered something that happened in school. You won't understand," Emily added the latter to hinder further query.

"Hmm."

"What?" Emily asked, smilingly.

"Okay o. Ehen, I heard you guys will be having your first test next week. Hope you two are preparing?"

Emily simply nodded.

The truth was, she was in no way ready. She was more occupied with attending to Jessica and staying out of harm's way. There was also Martin's cold attitude to deal with.

When she was on her way home, they had wanted to seize her as their slave once again. Luckily for her, the principal had called, requesting to see them in her office. Shockingly enough, Mrs Johnson was Grace's mom. Emily only saw the resemblance when she found out — same dark skin, small oval-shaped face and cunning look. 

Honestly, about the test, Emily had a lot she was dealing with and wasn't sure she'd be able to get the 70% every student needed to write their final exams. She could only hope Isabelle was fully loaded, and they didn't change their sitting arrangement.

"What's the time?" Emily asked her aunt.

"It's almost eight. Why?"

Emily collected two plates of food that had been dished out. "Isabelle was supposed to come over, but I haven't seen her."

"Are you sure she didn't come while you were asleep?" Aunt Jane carried the remaining two and Emily followed her into the dining room.

"I'm sure I would have heard her knock."

"Hmm! You that elephant will be doing stampede where you're sleeping and you still won't wake up."

"Ha! Aunt Jane!"

"Abegi (please)."

There was no denying it as Emily laughed.

With the table set, they sat for dinner. After Emily said a short prayer, they began eating.

A few minutes later, all she could think about was Jide. His eyes, his inviting lips, his powerful build. Then, his promise to call. How was he going to do that if he didn't have her number? This should have been asked at that time. But then, she had been so entranced that she could barely think well, let alone speak.

"Madam!" Aunt Jane shouted.

Emily jerked forward, startled. "What?!"

"What is what? I've been calling you since. Why were you frowning at your food? Is it not sweet or will you tell me again that it's something that happened in school? I can't understand, abi?"

Emily flashed her aunt a grin, and the woman shook her head.

"Anyway, I was asking how the preparation for your birthday is coming. You and Isabelle haven't told us what you guys concluded."

"Also why I was expecting her." Then, Emily murmured while stabbing her meatloaf, "I guess I'm not that important to her."

"You nko. What's wrong with you?" Emily raised her head to see her aunt was referring to David.

David hadn't even touched his food and was simply pushing the contents to every side of the plate.

This was what Emily had been noticing. David was a quiet boy, but his recent behavior had been a little overboard and worrying.

"Nothing," David choked out, but it was obvious Aunt Jane wouldn't give it a rest this time.

Emily, too, had had just about enough with his odd behavior.

"David, you haven't been acting... Normal," Emily said. "If there's anything wrong, why not just tell us."

He stared at her, then at his mom, before returning his gaze to his food as he swallowed hard.

Aunt Jane and Emily shared a look.

“What is it?" His mom prodded. "Is it school?"

David glanced up at her face.

"Did anything happen in school?"

He parted his lips, then took deep, calming breaths. "In my classwork today–" he stopped to clear his throat.

His mom poured him a glass of water, which she urged him to drink.

"In my classwork today," he said after drinking the water. "I got an eight, but Mrs. Okafor gave me a six."

"And why did she do that?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's because I told her that her answer wasn't correct."

"What? Why?" Aunt Jane asked and he simply shrugged. "Don't worry; I'll talk to her tomorrow. She has no right to do that."

"Mommy please, don't."

Aunt Jane frowned. "Why?"

"If you do, it'll only make her even more angry and she'll fail me even if I'm right."

"But she'll keep doing that if I stay out of it. Teachers don't know it all and they should be ready to learn from their students too."

"Tell that to Mrs. Okafor and you get a cane on your back."

"She flogs you too?" Aunt Jane dropped her spoon.

David stiffened, training his scared gaze on his food.

"How long has this been going on?"

He pursed his lips.

"David, how long?" Emily asked quietly.

He let out a sigh. "Since the beginning of this term."

"What?!" Aunt Jane shouted. "And you decided not to tell me because..."

"Talking to her will only make her more upset."

"So? Is it until she kills you that I should say something? The school policy clearly states no canes are to be used in your school. That woman isn't going Scott-free for that."

"Mom, please just let it go."

"I'm reporting her and that's final," Aunt Jane deadpanned.

David slammed his fork on the table and walked out of the dining room.

"Ifeanyi, come back here," Aunt Jane commanded, but he kept going. "Look at this boy o."

"Don't worry. I'll talk to him," Emily said.

After dinner and shoving the plates into the dishwasher, Emily went to meet David.

Mercy was on her bed, coloring in her drawing book and David was on his, with his face to the wall.

Since each flat contained — asides from the living room, kitchen and dining room — three bedrooms and individual bathrooms, her cousins shared a room while she and her aunt stayed in rooms of their own.

The kids' beds were situated in separate ends of the room with their own cupboards a little away from the head of the bed. They had different choice of colors, so David's side was painted sky-blue, just like Emily's, while Mercy's was a strawberry pink.

Emily could only thank God Mercy wasn't a sucker for pink, like Jessica was.

When she had stepped into Jessica's room, she had almost barfed. It had been like walking into Barbie's personal shrine: pink bed covers, pink wardrobe, pink walls, pink everything! It had taken her everything not to make a snide comment.