Chapter One
Oh wait, wait.
"Why are you running away from me? "
"I am only trying to protect and save you."
This is the voice of Williams streaming through the silent night to a little boy on the street.
The environment was so rowdy,
There was a theft scene that just took place right now,
The police patrol had been called and are on their way to the scene.
Someone has been robbed and killed in the Omega hotel.
Immediately after the robbers robbed their prey,
They fired some gunshots into the air.
Which made everyone take to their heels.
It was during this act that Williams found the little boy stucked under a parked car.
He was stucked there when he was trying to hide from stray bullets from the robbers' guns and unfortunately got stucked there.
Williams was also trying to take cover under the same car when he met the boy there.
The sounds of the gunshots from the robbers were drawing near.
He said to the boy,
"you have to leave there quickly, they are coming closer to our hiding place".
The boy in fear tried to run out but discovered that he can't.
He tried to pull his legs out to no avail but ended up receiving serious pain.
He screamed out to Williams.
"Hey, hey am stucked."
"I can't get out here please help me out."
Williams got to where the boy was and get hold of his hands did a little pull and it was all.
The boy got up to run along with William.
William ran together with the little boy held tightly in his hand.
Not too long after they ran out from their hideout,
The boy screamed trying to free his little hand from William's hand.
The help Williams offered him is turning out to be dangerous.
He was feeling hot on the particular hand Williams held him.
He shouted and bit Williams on the left hand to let go of his hands.
Williams let go immediately after he was bitten and the boy ran in another direction.
William was after him to know what the problem was.
"Why are you running away from me?"
Williams repeated.
"Don't come close to me, you hurt my hand,"
the boy said.
"Go your way. Go! Go!."
The boy ran into the darkness of the night.
Williams watched the darkness eat him up.
He stood there for some minutes.
He can't still figure out what the little boy was saying.
He continued to run, running away from the robbery scene.
"It is late", he said to himself.
"Where am I to stay for this night, I can't go back to my aunt's house this night because it will be hell for me."
"She won't believe any story I will tell her that caused me to return late."
Williams decided to sleep outside the house that night.
His aunt Mrs. Sarah has been the one taking care of him since he lost his parents in a fire outbreak.
Aunt Sarah was initially kind to him for the first four months he came.
She will pamper him and care for him as if he was her child.
She will always allow him to play with her children who are of the same age as him.
But all those cares and kindness are no more.
She doesn't allow him to play or mingle with her children anymore.
Since she was the only surviving person Williams have as a relative.
He had no other option than to continue living with aunty Sarah.
He had once planned on how to leave her and her household and move to another location.
But on second thought he succumbed to his plans.
He has come to think of it on both sides.
"I am still tender to do this, I have no friend or place in mind to go."
"What if something happens to me?"
All these are what came across his mind which made him clear of the idea.
That night was his second time sleeping outside her aunt's house.
His first experience was when he mistakenly broke his aunt's ceramic plates one cool evening.
he saw hell on earth.
He was beaten, wounded, and lastly chased out of the house to sleep outside.
He slept on the street till the next morning.
"My first experience was on a purpose, I wasn't the one who decided to". He said to himself.
"Now that I am taking this one decision, I don't think I am safe."
Fear gripped Williams that night.
He was afraid because of what the morning will bring to him.
He silently prayed for the morning never to come.
Aunt Sarah had been waiting for Williams to come back from anywhere at all he went to that evening to no avail.
She waited and waited till it was late at night.
She decided to wait till morning.
The following morning as early as 6:00 am Williams ran back home.
He reached his aunt's house and the gate was locked.
Mr. Abel the gateman was not yet awake because it was not yet time to open the gate for the day.
Williams decided to sneak in, into the compound.
He climbed the high fence of his aunt's house after pushing himself up and succeeded in jumping in into the compound.
He went quietly to the door of his room and quietly opened it.
He felt relieved when he observed that no one noticed him.
He went to his bed and lay down there.
He knows that in a few hours to come, the environment won't be convenient for him.
He prayed quietly laying his head down on his bed.
Aunty Sarah came out to William's room for the last time to make sure that no one was there as the room was empty from around 10:00 pm to 11:00 pm yesterday.
She was unfortunate to see someone lying on the bed she saw empty the previous night.
"Was I dreaming?" She asked herself.
"There was no one in here yesterday, so what's happening?"
She began doubting herself.
But all the same, she decided to let go of her anger on Williams.
Meanwhile, Williams knew that someone entered his room, but he didn't mind knowing who that was.
He silently buried his head in his bed and pretended to be sleeping.
"Ehhh, get up there!!"
The voice of aunt Sarah echoed in the room and into the ear of Williams.
He melted there on his bed, still pretending.
"I am sure I am talking to someone and not a log of wood"
"I said get up there Williams!!", she shouted.
There was no other option left for Williams than to quietly climb down from his bed.
"Where are you coming from?"
"Where did you sleep last night?"
Williams got dumb instantly,
What is he going to say?
How would she believe him?
How I wish this time will pass over.
He quietly prayed for the ground to swallow him up.
Thirty seconds after the question was asked and he didn't respond.
The aunt got mad at him and immediately she landed a slap at his right chin which sent a deep pain to his brain.
"How dear you keep quiet to my question?"
"For the last time, where are you coming from?"
With fear Williams stammered
"I…. I….I…. Went to the nearby street to visit my classmates and… and…. "
"And what?" Aunty Sarah cut in sharply.
"Have you gone dumb?"
"And what?"
Williams continued.
"And I didn't take notice of the evening."
"Oh, your friend can't be the one to visit you,"
"You are always the visitor"
"You just left the plates unwashed, I have to come back from work to wash them for you right??."
"This your stubbornness is getting out of control".
"I can't control it anymore".
"You are leaving this house now!!" she finally poured her venom.
"Get your luggage ready and leave."
"Go and look for where to stay so that you can be in full control of yourself."
"But aunt, I didn't purposely sleep outside."
"It was….." he couldn't finish up.
Sarah left his room without even paying attention to what he was saying.