Chapter Seven

It was a cool sunless Saturday afternoon. Bee sat on the couch in the living room writing in her diary. Her mum had gone out early this morning and Benny was not at home either, he was camping at his school. He won't be back till tomorrow. So she was alone in the house. After writing for a while, she drop her pen, picked up her phone, and dialed Sam's number.

Ring...Ring...Ring

" Hey Bee," Sam said after he picked up.

" Hey Sam, are you free?"

" Yes, but..."

" Great!" Bee interrupted and continued " come over to my place so we can study together."

" But Bee..."

" No excuse! I am waiting for you I will send you my house address." She said and hung up.

Sam frowned and grumbled as he drops the phone.

Five minutes later the doorbell rang.

" That was quick or was he close by when I called?" She said as she made for the door. When she opened it, she was shocked to see Susan standing in front of her smiling. Heavens know that she was the last person Bee was expecting to see.

" I brought you your favorite milk chocolate." She said stretching a box of chocolate to Bee.

" What are you doing here Susan" Bee asked coldly ignoring her completely.

Susan was not surprised by Bee's cold attitude toward her. After their last argument, she was expecting this much.

" I know you are mad at me Bee and I deserve it. I am sorry. I have come to make peace" Susan said still stretching the box of chocolate. This time the smile on her face grew.

Bee scoffed and said, " And let me guess, the box of chocolate is the peace offering," she rolled her large eyes. " You can't just show up at my doorstep with a box of chocolate and assume I will forgive you and give you a hug," Bee shook her head and sighed. She was deeply hurt by what Susan did if it were to be someone else who had hurt her, she would have forgotten about it already. Susan was not only her best friend but she was like a sister to her too. Like they say, ' it hurts more when the people you love hurt you.'

" Please leave Susan. I want to study." Bee turned around to leave but Susan held her hand stopping her from leaving.

" I am sorry Bee, I am truly sorry for the way I reacted that day. I was wrong and I knew I hurt your feelings." She said as tears flowed down her cheeks. Bee hesitated before she turned to look at her.

" I'm not asking you to forgive me all I am asking is that you hear me out. Give me a chance to explain what happened and why I reacted the way I did." Susan said as she sob.

Bee stared at her look-alike, looking at Susan was like looking at her reflection in the mirror the only difference was that Susan cuts her hair short. This girl in front of her had stood by her through thick and thin she recalled her first day at middle school and how she had helped her that day. It was years ago but the memory was still vivid in her head. Seeing her crying breaks her heart.

" That's enough now. Stop crying. You can come in" She gestured the last bit with her hands

Not long both girls were sitting on a couch opposite each other. Susan glanced at the room and said,

" I see you guys have redecorated the house. It looks beautiful..."

" Susan I believe you didn't come here to talk about my house." Bee cuts in. Susan smiled bitterly.

" What exactly do you want to know?"

" Everything" Bee replied almost immediately. " I want to know what happened between you and Karen."  Susan was startled by Bee's question. She knew Bee had a lot of questions to ask her but she didn't think this would be the first question she would ask.

She bit down on her lower lip, she didn't know how to answer Bee's question. Should I tell her exactly what happened, but then she would look at me with disgust from henceforth? She contemplated if she should tell Bee the truth or not.

" If you are truly sorry like you claim then you should tell me the truth don't keep me in the dark," Bee said. She suspected that Susan was keeping something from her.

" Bee, promise me you will not judge me after I tell you."

" I promise I won't judge you." Bee raised one hand.

Susan took a deep breath and said, "It all started from the red sign on my locker. Everyone knows Karen hated me from the very first day I stepped foot in L.H.S. She would utilize the slightest opportunity to run me down but I ignored her. One day she sent me a picture of me and the new maths teacher, Mr. Mark...we were...you know, making out and..."

" Was he molesting you?" Bee asked surprised.

Susan shook her head " You don't understand Bee... we were in a relationship. I don't know how Karen found out about it and when she took those pictures. Our relationship was a secret. We were the only ones who knows. Ever since then, she has been blackmailing me with those photos compelling me to do things I never intend to do."

There was silence in the room.

Bee's eyes widened. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. Susan of all people was in a relationship with a teacher. Bee had always thought Susan didn't have time for guys.

" What do you mean by things you didn't intend to do?" Bee finally said breaking the silence.

" Very bad things Bee. I can't tell you about them right now maybe some other time. I only came here to make peace with you and tell you that I am leaving."

" Leaving?" Bee asked surprised.

" Yes, Bee. I'm no longer coming back to L.H.S., my parents are sending me to Abuja to live with my aunt. The one I told you about last year. She will be coming to the house later in the evening to pick me up." She wiped the tears from her eyes. " My parents saw the pictures, I don't know how they did but they did. They got very angry, particularly my father. They called Mr. Ken and reported the issue to him. Mark was fired but my parents were not satisfied. They got him arrested he is in jail as we speak. The day we fought in school, I only came to get my things from my locker. I got mad at you not because you stood up for me but because I didn't want you to start a fight with Karen. That girl is evil there is no limit to what she can do. I don't want you to repeat my mistake."

" Sorry but I think it is too late. Karen and I don't see eye to eye. She hates me. And that locker sign you were talking about, I saw it on my locker later that day."

" I'm sorry Bee. It was all my fault. Whatever happens, just try to avoid her." Susan said and Bee nodded.

" I don't know what to say regarding what you had just told me about you and the teacher, I thought you hate guys, what changed?"

" Well, Mark was different, I know we didn't do the right thing by dating each other but... love makes one do crazy things." Susan chuckled bitterly.

" If that is the case, then I won't fall in love." Upon hearing Bee's response, Susan laughed.

" Why didn't you mention any of this to me when we talked on the phone? It made me think that all was well with you and you were doing great at your new school. I had no idea you were going through a lot."

" I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry. I'm sorry."

" You were one of the reasons I decided to school in L.H.S, you sounded like you were having a great time over there whenever we spoke on the phone."

" Bee, L.H.S is a great school. I must admit, I had a great time there, I had friends like Samuel Adewale for example. The likes of Karen and her gangs were the only issue I had." Susan said and laughed. She wasn't crying anymore.

" You were friends with Sam?"

" Yeah, you know him too? Oh of course you know him you both are in science class. Sam is a nice guy... like they say, you can always trust a fat guy." Susan said and they both laughed. Soon they were lost in laughter and chatter forgetting the misunderstanding they once had.

                          *

Julian climbed up the stage with his band. He held onto the microphone and said,

" Welcome boys and girls we're the Kingslayer." He said and everyone applauded.

" Let's go, guys, one, two, three" they started playing, Julian was the lead singer while the others played the instruments. Soon a lot of people were dancing to their music.

In a corner, Karen sat down with her friends, Sophia and Celine.

" Girls, the Kingslayer is getting better day by day. My goodness, Julian has a lovely voice. I won't be surprised if he becomes the next Wizkid in Nigeria." Celine said as she slipped her drink.

" You're right Celine, as soon I heard he would be playing at Felix Lunch today, I had to cancel my appointment with my stylist to come here." Said Sophia with excitement. She turned to look at Karen who looked worried.

" Karen, are you okay? You look disturbed."

" I'm fine Sophia" Karen replied with her face glued to her wristwatch.

" Why do you keep checking the time? Were you grounded?

" Come on girls, of course not. It's just that I need to get home on time. Some friends of my Dad are coming over to our house and he wants me to meet them." She lied. She didn't want her friends to know that she had been grounded for a month. She had to sneak out of the house to come here she didn't want her friends to suspect anything and start asking her question, about why she wasn't hanging out with them these days.

" We thought you were grounded. These days you don't hang out with us the way you used to, you go home immediately after school, and you even changed your driver. Celine and I were beginning to worry that you might have some difficulties at home."

" No! I mean nothing of such is going on. We are cool back home. You know even my grandfather was planning to throw me a huge birthday party. I will be turning sixteen in a month." She said smiling at Celine and Sophia who were sitting opposite her

" Oh, we almost forgot. You're so lucky Karen, your family loves you, especially your grandfather. I wished I had a grandfather like yours. I'm jealous of you Karen." Celine said gloomily. Her parents don't care about her all they care about is making money and traveling to one country after another. She was raised by a nanny. And her grandparents don't care about her either. All they did was send her money.

As for Sophia, she lives with her uncle and his wife and kids. She was the house help, mobbing washing, and cleaning. She dare not to complain about anything. Her uncle was already spending so much money on her education. Her parents are too poor to send her to school so she was sent to leave with her uncle in Lagos.

" It is my birthday after all I wasn't expecting anything less," Karen said showing off to her friends. Sophia and Celine watched her with jealousy. They wished they were in her shoes.

From a close distance, three boys were sitting together around a table.

" Julian is talented not to mention that he sings like Wizkid. This kid will go far for sure." One of the boys said.

" I was thinking of joining their band I wonder if they would allow juniors to join them." Said another boy.

" Speaking of seniors, look at how beautiful senior Karen is looking today. Man, that girl is damn hot." Said the third boy amongst them. The other two boys turned to look in Karen's direction.

" That girl is a witch man." The first boy said.

" I know but...what a witch! I will go talk to her."

" Your insane Man. You're about to make a terrible mistake" said the second.

" Abeg leaves that thing she no dey chop bottle na human being like me na talk I wan follow her talk." He replied in pidgin English as he stood up from the chair.

" Good luck Man." The other boys told him before he strode towards Karen's table.

" Hi Pretty girl," He said grinning widely with his hands in his pocket.

Karen scanned him from head to toe and went back to what she was doing on her phone.

" I'm Kevin Golden, my friends call me the golden boy. And I would..."

" Do I look like I care, fuck off!" Karen said without looking up. He quickly slipped away embarrassed.

" Karen, that wasn't nice," Said Celine. She felt sorry for the poor guy. " You hurt his feelings"

" Too bad. He should have known I was not a nice person." She sighed.

A few minutes later, Julian and his band finished singing they smiled proudly as they walked down the stage, to the applause of everyone. Mr. Felix congratulated them and gave them a word of encouragement. He also told them that they could play in his eatery every Saturday. They were so happy and thanked him.

" Bro, Mr. Felix was impressed by our performance," Festus said jumping up and down with excitement.

" Not just Mr. Felix...did you see the way people were dancing, Bro we get the vibe,"  Daniel said and gave Festus a slapping handshake.

" He even asks us to play in his eatery every Saturday. Men are we lucky or what?" Noah said dancing.

" Julian, We thought you won't show up after yesterday's misunderstanding. We were surprised when we saw your text  asking us to come to Felix's Lunch." Said Festus.

" Yeah, about that, I am sorry guys, a lot was going on in my head yesterday and it was influencing my actions. I'm sorry guys and Festus, you will always be my bro." Julian smile and hug him.

" No hard feelings Julian, we knew you weren't yourself yesterday. We know our gee na." Said Festus. They pulled each other into a group hug.

Outside the eatery, Karen and her friends were saying their goodbyes when Julian walked up to them.

" Hi ladies," He said, grinning as usual.

" Hi Julian, you were awesome back there. Kudos!" Celine raised her thumb.

" Thank you Celine but I won't sound that great without my friends. It was teamwork."

" Yeah, but I think the others are completely useless without you. You're the genius among them." Said Sophia.

" Karen, can I talk to you in private? I'm sure Celine and Sophia won't mind if I borrow you for ten minutes."

" Of course, we won't mind. Besides we were on our way home. Bye, See you two in school tomorrow." They both said and left in Celine's car. A black Lexus RX.

" I didn't know Celine drives," Julian said as he waved at them.

" What do you want Julian? I thought I made myself clear yesterday, we're done" Karen said firmly.

" Come on Karen, I know you didn't mean it. Besides this is not the first time we have broken up. We have broken up serval times and got back together. I don't think this one is any different."

" Julian Musa, I am done with you for good, and don't think we will get back together in the future. We are done for good. One more thing, don't try to do anything stupid. I'm watching you. Excuse me!" She said coldly and walked to her car. Her driver was waiting patiently for her in the car.

" Karen!" He called but she didn't stop. She got in her car and the driver drove off.

                      *

Karen opened the door slowly so it won't make a sound. She entered the living room and tiptoed towards her room.

" Karen-happen! Where are you coming from?" A familiar cold and hard voice spoke from behind her. It was her grandfather. Upon hearing his voice, she froze at a spot halfway to her room. I thought he went to a business meeting and won't be back till 8 pm. It is just a few minutes past five, what on earth is he doing at home by this time? She thought. She could feel her heart bouncing and her legs shaky. She could only imagine what her grandfather will do to her. If she got grounded for the rest of the semester then she was lucky. She knew the price she would pay for her disobedience will be grievous. She was ready for the worse.