Hey everyone!! So 14 is my lucky number (since 5 minutes ago when I decided itð) and I believe my 500th reader will be after this chapter. So most readers are about to kill me because I didn't update on my usual Sunday. My phone finally gave up when I was supposed to update causing me to switch to my laptop. I literally cried my eyes all through the night (I still slept tho cos that's my talent). My entire life lately has become warped around my phone and I'm not so proud of that so God might be trying to show me that I need to quit my dependency. Anyhoo I declare this chapter OPENNNNNN
***************
EDMOND'S POV
(Edmond Ehizojie Thompson)
I stare at the fresh wound at my side through the mirror. It is an ugly mixture of purple and red, if I turned too much or I moved to fast it might become more widely split open than it already is. Thank God I snuck some methylated spirit into my room earlier- at least that should help this ugly bruise heal a little faster. I flip the lid open with my thumb and empty the remaining content on the surface. Its contact with my flesh sends a stinging pain that I can't help but muffle behind closed lips. At least my mum wasn't around this time, I took the beating like a champ without having to see her cry. I don't notice my own tears until I feel the saltiness on my tongue, just a few more months Eddy, you'll be free from the monster.
I drop the bloodied towels into the sink and turn on the water, even I didn't know I had that much blood in me. I struggle to wash the towels without moving my right arm too much since it felt like half of me was runover by a truck. I place some cotton woolovee the surface, tape it with a plaster then wrap around my waist with a bandage. Mom always told me "dab, tape and wrap keeps the blood away" I should wrap this up and get rid of any evidence before she returns home by weekend. She doesn't need more things to bother her, I can take care of myself just fine.
I carefully put my white shirt on considering the fragility of my current state. I sneak through the corridor to the kitchen and see mama Agatha packing my food up. She has been part of the family for more than seven years now, the only worker that has actually stayed that long without being fired. It's probably because she's older than my parents and apparently knows how to deal maturely.
"Good morning ma" I say as I walk slowly trying to conceal my limp
She notices and give my side a pleading look
"Good morning son how are you?" she says with concern etched in her voice. I give her a tight smile and nod as I stand beside the counter.
She hands me my breakfast in a bag and takes my hand. She holds my gaze as she presses a plastic sachet into my palm. I look at the pain killers she has given to me silently and give her a slight smile. I walk out of the house into the car that is already running. I greet the driver briefly and he responds with a nod as we pull out of the compound. I place my head on the head rest as my mind drifts off from the present
"so I told my friend in the UK that you will be joining them very soon in Millennium Robotics Institute" he said as he took of his cufflinks
He had just come back from one of his famous travels I was so elated; note the sarcasm. He called me into his room that he wanted to talk to me
"I thought we agreed that I would join basket ball college for NBA?" I said with a shaky voice
"I didn't make such agreements, that was you and your mother's petty discussion" he said in a dangerously low voice
"but I don't want to go into robotics" I swallowed the lump in my throat
"what do you want to do instead" he asked with a sardonic smile
"Basketball"
"come closer, I didn't hear you" he gestures for me to come closer then strains his ear like he didn't actually hear what I said. Like the fool I am, I walked closer to tell him
"I want to play basket ball" I felt a force like I had never before that threw me to the tiled floor. He had just slapped me, I could see all the stars in the galaxy dancing around me
"Pathetic" he spat as he rolled his sleeves up to his elbow
Mr Edward Thompson is the scariest man alive, from his deadly voice, to his intimidating 6 ft 4 stature, to his muscular build. He was the definition of a walking horror movie. I had only attained 6 ft by my last birthday and with the way my height is going, I'll probably get to his height or be slightly taller since I was just fourteen. Even if I grew to be taller than Lebron James, I don't think I'd ever stop being afraid of the man I call my father
After seconds of stabilizing my throbbing head, I get up on my feet and take a few steps back
"so my first and only child wants to throw the opportunity to be in the biggest and the best intelligence corporation to play ball" he laughs hysterically "so when people ask you what you have brought out of life, you'll just tell them 'I play for a living' " he laughs again then pins my neck on the wall with his hand. He doesn't hold it too hard so I can breathe but it's tight enough for me to tremble in fear
"don't ever repeat that nonsense till the day you die" his alcohol tainted breath fans my face as he speaks
I nod my head hurriedly as I struggle to breathe under his huge hand. He leans back to take a proper look at my face
"are you crying?" he lets my neck go and walks farther away. I wipe the tear I hadn't noticed before off my cheek
"Get out of my sight, you're more of a disgrace than I thought" he says as he pours a drink for himself facing the other side of the room
I scurry out of the room and run over to my room not wanting to anger him.
That was the first time he hit me, at that moment I thought it was my fault. I was confused because I managed to push him to the limit. I thought that would be the last because I would never anger him again, I would continue being his good son so he could love me again. How wrong I was
"oga we are there" the driver brings me back to the present with his Igbo accented English. I stare out the window and see Erling and his cousin coming out of their land cruiser. Erling says something causing Nancy to chase him into the school compound laughing and screaming, I wish I was that happy. I step down from the car in a rush, forgetting I have a bad side, I hold on to the car door and squeeze my eyes shut silently swallowing my pain.
"NBA's finest" I hear a loud voice from behind me as a monkey like creature jumps on my back. Her heel digs into my sides brushing the surface of my injury. I let out a sharp cry as she lets herself down noticing my discomfort. Espn cups my face in her hands as she takes a calculative look at me
"Are you okay?" she uses the back of her palm to feel my forehead temperature
"Yeah I'm good, you just caught me by surprise" I smile through my lie. She nods her head slowly, obviously not convinced before she links her arm in my elbow
"it's almost time for assembly and our golden boy is just strolling in" she pulls me by my elbow for us to walk faster. She doesn't pull on the bad side but I bite my inner cheek so I don't scream out loud due to how much her pull threatens to rip open my healing wound
***
"your tests start tomorrow so I expect everyone to be in the study mood throughout the week. No noisemaking or unnecessary loitering if not you'd be spending your recess periods in the junior classes" Our class teacher Mr Hamilton says
"we have practice this week" Aidan says as he taps his pen on his desk
"official school team members are allowed to participate in sporting activities" He says as he goes back to his usual 'before test lecture"
AMANDA'S POV
(Amanda Aderinsola Akinde)
"So far I think you're ready to an extent, keep this up and you might manage a B- in English" Toke says as she chews her gum silently
I look down the library desk and try not to blush at her 'compliment' she hates when I feel good about my progress
"but your math is still so poor, why are you a science student?"
Yep, there it is. After a praise there must be an insult, four weeks ago I would have almost shed a tear but knowing Toke, that will only make her more angry
"Uhm I'll keep studying what we need for the tests, after the tests maybe we can-" I look up to see her reaction then quickly catch myself "uhm sorry maybe I'll watch tutorial videos on topics I don't understand" I say in a rush
"how many tutorials do you plan to watch? You practically don't know 90% of the whole senior school math" she scoffs "after tests we go straight into textbooks and past questions, we don't have all the time in the world" she dusts imaginary dust from her blazer and gets up
"don't keep me waiting after school, be here by 4:30 sharp" she walks out of the library with her usual sway that screamed 'goddess'
I find myself smiling a bit at her comment, although Toke might be the meanest person in the world and she uses every opportunity to make me feel less human, I've started growing to like her company and I'm guessing she's getting used to mine too, she literally just implied we will keep studying together even after tests.
I groan when I hear the bell sound signifying I have to go back to sitting down for another 2 hours 30 minutes. I pick up my books and walk to class stopping at the ladies' room on the way. I drop my books on the counter then walk into a stall to do my business. I hear footsteps walk into the restroom apparently they didn't come to ease themselves, gossip machines
"That bitch is so going to get it, is she mad?" I hear Amaka's high pitched shriek
"I was shocked when I saw it too oh who does she think she is" a deeper voice says, sounds like Nkechi her henchman
"She's very stupid what does she think she has" Amaka hisses in annoyance
I resist the urge to laugh from the stall. Last weekend Toke did a live video on Instagram, as a regular content creator and youtuber she has over a hundred and twenty thousand followers making her live video to have over 30 thousand views! It became a hot topic on the group chat so Amaka decided to do hers. She has over ten thousand followers but rumors have it that she bought fake followers. I guess Amaka didn't know that fake followers won't view your live video which even made her 23 views even funnier. I saw the live video but as the good girl I am I just had to ignore, all would have been well if Toke didn't screenshot it and post it on her status with a caption that said 'black mind, tiny brain so you could buy followers but you couldn't buy views eeyah the young shall grow'. If someone else was the victim I would have felt bad for him/her because even though Toke cropped the username everyone knew it was Amaka she was talking about. I along with 80% of the class population found it very funny, some even went as far as reposting and using it for memes
I wait in the stall without making a sound till they get out of the restroom, I don't want their wahala. I straighten my cardigan and apply a little more lip gloss as I pout in the mirror, I smile at how vain I have become. I carry my books and head out of the toilet straight to class
I can't help but notice how withdrawn Eddy is in class, he didn't flash his usual killer smiles or try to ruffle my hair while I duck complaining that I just got them braided. His mind is obviously not even in class. We aren't that close yet but maybe I should just ask him what the problem is, simply as a caring citizen nothing more.
*******
I arrange my books neatly in my locker and bang it shut as I head further down the hallway. I notice Eddy in front so I quicken up my pace till we are walking side by side, he seems to be walking extra slowly today
"hey" I bump into him lightly, he winces
"hi Tripp what's up" he says with a smile that doesn't get to his eyes
"I'm good, are you?" I give him a scrutinizing glare
"yeah I'm okay"
"you're limping" I stop walking but he continues
"it's nothing really" he looks back at me and gives me that same fake smile
I walk faster and stand in front of him with my arms crossed. I notice his right side is a little stiff so I swat him across. He inhales sharply and swears under his breath. I open my eyes in shock when I see how much pain I put him in by my light pat
"oh my, I'm so sorry, are you injured?" I focus on the spot as it begins to dampen and become darker
"I fell" he says quickly and a little too sharply for me to believe
"it's bleeding Eddy, I'm so sorry I didn't know it was serious" he looks down at the spot and groans
"it's okay, it was bleeding already I just didn't want it to touch my shirt before" he touches it lightly causing the blood to become more evident
"let's go to the clinic before the bleeding get's worse"
"no" he snaps "not the clinic, my driver is almost here I'll just treat it at home" he says more quietly
I nod my head as we continue walking to the door, I notice he is trying to block the blood stain probably so that other students don't notice. I untie my cardigan from around my waist and take it round his slim waist tying it at the back, that way people won't notice even if the blood seeps to the cardigan since its dark blue
"you're not worried about blood stains?" he says with a grin
"you'll wash it" I laugh then stretch my hand to ruffle his hair "take care of yourself, bye" he waves then continues on his journey to his car
I stare at his figure retreating with a limp that obviously wasn't caused by a fall. I don't know him enough to pry, but I know him enough to feel scared for him, I hope he's okay. I run to the library when I remember Toke's instructions not to keep her waiting, the ice witch is going to have my head
****
Tadahhh we are done with chapter fourteen. Thanks for your continued show of support guysð¤¤
Our poor Eddy has to suffer, I'm tearing up on his behalf ðð
Tests start tomorrow oh everyone carry your books and marry them
Vote and comment guys Love y'all â¤ï¸â¤ï¸