Chapter 25

The next day, I woke up earlier than anyone in the house, mostly because it was my birthday but also because I was returning to school. I had my bath without any help, cleaned up and dressed up. I sat at my desk and took out Joe's white pouch, the one he left in my room on the last day I saw him. I kissed it, smelt it and after staring at it for a while, returned it to its rightful place. Then I thought of what i can do to set my mood well for the day. I wanted to be in a good mood. I decided to send a message to someone faraway hoping for a reply . Remember that superstition I believed in? Yeah, that.

I designed a kite and affixed a message at the top. It was a letter to Joe. This is how it read:

"I hope you're doing great up there, buddy.

I am returning to school today after weeks of mourning your death. I want to be strong, I want to make mom happy, she's been worried about me. I want to live for both of us, and I promise you, Joe that I'll avenge your death. I don't know how to do that yet but hopefully I'll have it all figured out in the future. Thank you for being good in your last days on earth. I promise you that I'll find a way to end this cult. I know you told me that that was your plan: To put an end to the Blue Wolf and set young people held captive free. But sadly you lost your life in the process.

I know you also warned me not to be involved in anything relating to this cult like magic, time travel, for instance or deliberately confronting these werewolves but I assure you, I'd do whatever I can do to put an end to it, maybe not now but in the future.

I want to ask, what is that bag meant for? The pouch you left in my room. Please do let me know.

I feel optimistic today. It is my birthday.

My Wolf, i wish you well, and I miss you

(Clumsyline)

I rolled it like a burrito and plastered it with gum into a hole I made in the kite. Then I went outside the house quietly because Cameron and mom were still asleep. It was only 4am. When I was out of sight, I ran far into the woods, and stopped at the ocean there-- where I waited for mom sometimes ago, when she was off to Granny's. Then I rolled it with all my energy before I threw it away. It went far away and settled in the middle of the ocean.

When I was sure it was not coming back, I turned back towards home. On my way as I passed by some trees and tall plants, i saw the figure again. This time I could see how tall it was, and I saw that it moved. I was so scared that I started to run back home.

I was already out of breath when I got home. I had to hold a side of my stomach and cough really hard, to get some air in. Was that Joe? I asked myself. No, I screamed. That person was obviously trailing me. Joe was not scary; he wouldn't appear to me only to scare my head off. I got back to my room and realized that mom was already awake. She didn't suspect anything. She was only surprised I was dressed up for school.

Just when I thought she'd forgotten my birthday, she scooped me up in her arms, kissed me on my face and yelled, "Happy birthday darling!" I was so relieved. Just then the twins woke up and started to cry. Mom had to change their diapers and breastfeed them. Then she promised that she'd organize a small birthday party for me later in the afternoon, and that I could invite my friends at school to my party. It'd be done and dusted before Cameron arrived.

That day, at school, I was more anxious than ever. I felt all eyes were on me. It felt strange to be in school again. School was not all that bustling. It in fact didn't help matters at all that my classmates greeted me with questions that opened healing wounds

"Do you know that Joe is dead? He was sick all this while!"

"We still haven't found Anita but the proprietor said it's not going to stop our Annual Summer Camp"

"Ariana, you were the one chosen to represent our school in the competition"

"We visited your house twice but we didn't find you. Our aunty has been calling your mom severally too but it seemed she changed her cell"

"What happened to you? We thought you were gone too"

"I learnt your mom had twins. It's all in the paper, did you know that?"

"Come here and tell us everything"

That's how they surrounded me, asking me many questions all at once. I couldn't breathe for some minutes; I felt choked. I had to run out to the bathroom to relax. I was panting and struggling to breathe.

None of my mates followed me to the bathroom, maybe they did but couldn't reach me because I locked the door and went to the extreme of the bathroom, coughing and panting. After a while, I felt better, washed my face and returned to class.

"Guys I don't want to talk about anything except good things. Please understand me. Can we not talk about the dead please?" I told them as soon as I got to my seat. I found that they that surrounded my seat had multiplied. It wasn't as if they cared about me, they were only curious to know what's been going on in my life in order to make me feel bad again. I don't know what word to use it to classify it but it is a situation whereby someone acts like they care for you but they do that only to fetch information from you.

"You want to forget about Joe so quick?" One of my classmates said. "Is that how insensitive you are?" I gasped. "Insensitive?" What happened to trying to be fine despite that you feel this heavy weight of a loss in your heart? Was it wrong to try to forget the hurt of the past now? Others students from higher grades came to my classroom too, and joined in the taunts against me. It seemed teachers were having a collective staff and non-staff meeting, so no one would come to my rescue for sure.

"I know why she doesn't care about Joe. Remember he used to call her a name that annoyed her, what's it again? Errr..." That was Amanda, a girl from another classroom

"Yeah. Clumsyline" someone else said. A bigger boy than I was. Some other people behind me laughed out loud. Was this the school I'd continue in? I thought to myself. I was already getting angry, I could feel my fists shivering with terror underneath my seat. If it grew a bit more, I could hit anyone right then. I didn't even care about being suspended from school-- I didn't want to return in the first place after all.

The laughter and jeers died down a bit and I was trying to relax my mind but then, all of a sudden, one of the other girls walked up to my seat, placed her hands on my locker and put her chin in between them, then slowly and annoyingly muttered, "You're happy he's dead now, aren't you?"

Immediately, without thinking twice, I stood up and punched her hard on the face. Before she recovered from that, I kicked her on her legs and pushed her away to the floor, without stopping the kicks.

The rest of the students booed, surprised at my sudden self-defense or bouts of anger. Some withdrew from me while others dared me to beat them up too. Before I knew it, our noise had attracted a teacher or maybe someone summoned him, and he came hurriedly to the class. The girl I beat was lying on the floor, wincing in pain.

All the class suddenly fell silent and I turned back, wondering why. It was then I saw a teacher standing at the door, with a terrific look on his face, and he was not just a teacher-- he was my deadliest nightmare--Mr Robinson!

He looked so angry and I quickly looked away.

After a while of uncomfortable silence, he commanded two bigger boys from another class to lift the victim from the floor where she was lamenting in pain, then he ordered with a very serious tone: "See me in the office now!" And then, he thumped off.

Immediately he left, the other students began to hurl curse words at me, some of them told me that I shouldn't have returned to school, some said "Now you're going to be a scapegoat , punished by Mr Robinson", "Look how angry you got him! Such a calm teacher looking so upset!" "Shame on you!" I heard a lot of mean words..if only they knew what Mr Robinson was.

It turned out that nobody in that school liked me, maybe a few teachers but really, I don't even think the teachers liked me, they only gave me roles and recognition because my father was the famous Cameron Peyton, and because I was intelligent.

I went off after Mr Robinson even though his office was the last place I wanted to be. I already knew what he'd say--"You've been suspended for a week or two" , I didn't care, at all. I wanted to be far away from that place. It reminded me of Joe and Anita and bad things.

When I got there, I waited for him to give the verdict and hand me the letter so I'd go pack my schoolbag and leave the school, for good. The other teachers were still in a meeting, but the students' noises had died down a bit more, after what happened.

Through Mr Robinson's window, I saw an ambulance come in to fetch the girl who I had injured-- she was identified as Miranda. I watched the ambulance zoom off with the two boys and one other teacher. Mr Robinson actually promised them to handle my case. So none of the other teachers talked to me or about me. Did Miranda have to go to the hospital? Was it that bad? I thought. For some reason, I cared about her. That's because I wasn't a wicked or brutal person like Mr Robinson or like Cameron were, and I didn't want to be identified with them. At least I did it because she said something wrong. Wicked people didn't need you to do anything wrong before they hurt you.

"Sit" Mr Robinson or Uncle Robinson commanded. I hesitated before I sat, looking directly at the floor. He took off his glasses and placed it on the table, then he moved closer to me, by pressing his arms on the table.

"Why did that happen?" He asked scrutinizing my face. I looked at him with shock. You shouldn't be asking me any questions, just hand me the damn letter, you monster, and let me get the hell out of here. I thought

"I know you aren't deaf, but did you suddenly grow dumb?" He asked. I hadn't realized I hadn't replied him yet. He had a scowl on his face. I was still angry and I could yell back, "No I'm not dumb, you monster!" but I was wondering what he would to me if I was rude.

"She accused me wrongly and laughed about it" i mumbled, rubbing my fingers on my uniform.

"I see. What did she accuse you of?" He asked again. "This time, you answer me quickly or I punish you!" He barked, hitting his palm on the table.

"I don't want to talk about it" I said, looking down. He was shocked. "It doesn't stop my punishment. So, I don't want to talk about it" I repeated, looking out the window. After a while of unpredictable silence, he cleared his throat and said, "You're not going to be suspended, I am going to give you a different punishment"

I stared at him angrily but didn't say a word. Actually it took me a lot of self control to not fire back at him, and that was because it wasn't cool to make a monster angry on purpose; the consequences are grave. So I just listened despite that I was very upset.

"The Annual Camp begins on the fifth of next month. It lasts seven days, and for the whole of the week, you're going to be collecting seashells for our experiment every night, and you're also going to be doing most of the work, alongside the counsellors. The aim is to not let you enjoy the camping this time" Like I've ever enjoyed it?

"Why don't you ask me not to come to the camp at all? I think that'd be a better, sweeter punishment" I said, trying not to show so much disgust.

"Are you trying to deliberately put me in danger, Mr Robinson?" I asked, staring into his now bloodshot eyes. I was obviously starting to get on his nerves.

"What audacity! The camping is compulsory for everyone, especially you, because you're going to be representing us at the first day competition with Marigold College. You dare not refuse coming or you'll get a greater punishment"

"But how can I represent you well if I'll be under some strenuous punishment for the whole week?" I stood up, moved back to ask this question.

"I have given the verdict. Now leave my office!" He said, and I could swear I saw the reflection of a wolf's face on his.

I hurriedly walked out, crying and fuming. I went straight to the bathroom which was thankfully empty at the time. I wasn't suspended because of the Annual Camp. Why didn't I think of that before? I was so sad I didn't get the suspension letter. I was even sadder because I couldn't even hide from all these. The way Mr Robinson had said, "You dare not refuse coming or you'll get a greater punishment" had sounded like, "If you refuse to come, I'm gonna haunt you down and make sure I kill you" in my eardrums. Maybe he didn't mean that, but what else could "a greater punishment" mean, coming from a sadist murderer and a first-class monster? I cried and shivered. I started to regret returning to school in the first place. It started to seem like Mr Robinson was having me under him, gradually.

That must have been the way he started with Anita.

I was in for it--i had to be at the camp. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all . Maybe getting involved in many activities would get my mind off Joe, off the troubles at home.

Home was only cooler because of the presence of the twins. Cameron bought many baby items, but mom didn't take any of them at first, until later she realized that they were his kids too, so he took them only for the fact that he was also responsible for their birth. Cameron did all these to gain mom's favour, so that she'd reconsider the divorce, obviously. He played with the kids most times, although it didn't look natural. He also renamed them Bianca and Benita, but mom insisted that they were Jamie Dawn and Pamela Amy. So the twins had different names given by their parents. They grew fast, and healthy too. But they slept most times. I think that's peculiar to most children.

Mom and Cameron still fought but he always ended up pleading with her, not without adding, "I won't be doing this for long. If you still don't feel convinced that I still want you, then you'd have to make me force you to stay back, because over my dead body will I see you with that guy" See that? That's coming from a man's mouth to his wife. He was jealous and wanted mom to stay with him but he'd not even stop maltreating her and making her sad. What kind of a situation was this?

Well, I liked the fact that mom always said, "He'd never change. If at all it looks like he's changing, it's a facade. I've known Cameron long enough to be sure that he'll never change. His attitude has stuck. She knew

"Even if God wants to change him, he has to surrender but that's far from what Cameron will ever do. Maybe he'll change when he's with some other woman, but with me, he'll always stay the same. The best thing to do to protect my sanity is to leave" She'd tell Nora whenever they talked on phone.

"Then leave, Ruby" she would urge. "Please do. You need yourself" I heard them on phone twice or thrice

"I have to leave clean. I mean, it has to be formal or Cameron won't take my leaving seriously. He'd still hunt me down no matter where I run to, and if I let this happen, he'd try to make my life more miserable and try every means to get me back. He's done this before.

Besides, it's not just me i fear for. I fear that he'd try to harm my boyfriend, Jack and maybe the kids. Trust me, I know this man so well. That's why I have to formally leave him, and the only means is getting him to agree to divorce me" she'd say

"Why not try? I could do anything to help you. Is anything holding you back, apart from his stubbornness? And hey, I hope he doesn't know about Jack?"

"He knows, Nora. I wish I had succeeded in keeping my relationship with Jack completely secret. Now he knows that Jack and I are dating each other. That makes it worse" then Nora would sigh and continue mumbling some words of advice, ideas and encouragement. The call would end with mom saying "Amen" to whatever prayers she uttered on phone to her, and then her suggesting a date they could meet to talk face-to-face.

What could be harder than you feeling miserable but you can't even leave the person or place making you feel this way because you're tied in some kind of way? I wished I could help mom. I wished I could help myself, more. If I couldn't help myself, how could I help any other person?

After I got home that day after school, (of course it was Mike who fetched me as usual), the day after my encounter in Mr Robinson's office, I went straight to my room and lay down on my bed, staring at the ceiling. I was sleepy but I wanted to be awake, so I forced my eyes open. Neither mom nor Cameron was around yet. After staring at the ceiling doing nothing for almost an hour, I went to my window and changed my curtains, from the transparent ones to opaque ones because I didn't want to see that figure anymore. It was only then I could nap peacefully.

When I woke up from my siesta, I heard mom slamming the door of her car shut in the parking lot. I jumped out of bed and ran outside immediately. She was dressed in something different from what she wore out of the house in the morning, I think this was because of Cameron. Or maybe she had a party to attend?

Both of them left the house at about the same time to their separate workplaces. I mean, Cameron already knew mom's had a change in dress sense, and although it unnerved him, he still knew. So, why would mom hide a spare dress in her bag and then change into it later at work so Cameron would not see it? I didn't know why. Maybe she was just being careful.

The dress was not slutty but it was really tight on her curvy build. I helped her let the babies down from the car, and then I took her bag, while she pushed the two baby carriers up the staircase, towards my room.

Immediately we got to my room, mom fetched the babies out of the carrier and into their cots. One of them was asleep. The other was crying. Mom sat on my bed, flung her shoes away tiredly and then started to breastfeed the crying baby. While she did that, she asked me to get her some water, claiming she hadn't had any all day. I went to the kitchen straight to bring a jug of water and a empty mug. But when I returned to my room, mom was already dozing. Her baby's lips still hung onto her nipple as she suckled but mom was already groggy. I didn't know what to do. I tapped her twice and she opened her eyes and yawned

"Ariana, I'm sorry, I slept off" she said and took the water, then she carried the baby on her chest, stood up and patted her back gently, singing her a lullaby. The baby soon slept off but she still laid on her chest

"Baby, how was school today?" Mom asked me out of the blues. I hadn't prepared an answer for this question. Should I tell Mom about what happened in school? I thought. No, I probably shouldn't bother her seeing that she's so tired already. So I said,

"School was okay" Afterwards I told her about the camp which was slated for the fifth of October, the next month and it was only 15th of September as at that time. She seemed happy for me. After we talked for a while, she asked me if I had invited my friends from school for the birthday party that'd be holding soon. Actually she had returned home earlier than usual, because of this. I told her that I didn't invite anyone. She didn't ask me why. She merely replied, "That's okay, the kids from here will grace the occasion" Cameron would be back late in the night, so we still had many hours of freedom to use his house for the party.

Before I knew it, mom had prepared two different delicacies and baked some cupcakes, about fifteen and then a bigger cake where she designed a "happy eighth birthday to you, baby" on. She went to the guest room and returned to my room with a present. When I tore it open, it was a dress. A red birthday dress.

My birthday was beautiful. Mike and the other kids in the neighborhood attended my party and rejoiced with me. There was some singing and dancing but it was mostly full of eating and drinking. It was like the most beautiful birthday party ever. Mike Tony was the MC of the ceremony. He danced for so long and thus, He made all the children, including me happy. He also did pray for me, and with everyone. He also took pictures.

After everything ended around 7:30pm, mom cleaned the whole house, Mike assisted her too. I tried to, but she asked me to go upstairs and have some sleep. I was already feeling sleepy, you know that satisfactory feeling you have that you just want to lay down and sleep, so you can dream of good things. Yeah that's the one.

I slept earlier than usual that night and didn't even know when Cameron returned. And I sure had a dream that night. No, not one dream, but two.