CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

ADVENTURE...

Instead of giving Bola's taunting a mood swing reply, grandma chose to ignore it which gave her time to ensure I have an unusual evening bath and my portion of the special meal with extra turkey and Chi exotic nectar which I loved very much.

Rather than watch her favorite Indian TV series with the rest in the living room when I was done eating, Bola chose to spend time with me in grandma's balcony, watching the night stars, and moon in full bloom.

"Are you sure you don't want to see Pragya give Abhi the beating of his life today", I teased her.

"It's not a Yoruba movie biko", She laughed. "Is it a crime to not feel like watching TV?"

"No but not for someone like you", I eyed her suspiciously.

" I'm just happy I'll out of this prison for a week while you'll be stuck in here", She almost hit her head on the railing in front of her while laughing at me.

"I'm used to it so going out is not special to me anymore", I fought back.

"You can as well get used to being treated like dirt in Marie's high", She gave me a hug and turned her back on me."I gotta go. Tomorrow is a big day".

"Okay. Take care and don't do anything stupid with Freaky", I advised her.

" Oh, come on. We're just good friends", She laughed.

The following day I open my eyes at exactly 11 am to change from my pajamas into my work clothes. While doing so, grandma came in with a breakfast tray in her hands.

" Grandma, what're you doing for God's sake!",I speedily took the tray away from her, and create a space for it on my desk."Ekaro ma", I greeted her with my raw knees on the cold floor.

"How was your night, my darling?", She assisted me in getting up though I clearly didn't need her. She has already exhausted much of her energy in bearing children, and I haven't had any yet.

" Fine", I yawned."I'm sorry I slept off. You shouldn't have bothered to serve me "breakfast in bread" like Fola. Besides, I'm not your beloved husband", I joked and we both laughed.

"But you look like him anyways", She replied and made me extremely happy.

" Really? I'm sure grandpa was the toast of the town then and you did a lot to get his attention than", I said boastfully.

"Yes, just like your schoolboys are fighting over you", She teased me.

"That's not true", I denied her words.

" Ok oo", She said, to avoid us having another series of argumentative essay, and served me pap in my favorite sponge Bob bowl, with sugar, sweetened milk, and a plate of moi moi beside. "Take this thing before it gets cold oo".

" You worry yourself too much", I came out of the bathroom after applying more speed in brushing my teeth with Oral B Pro-Health Toothpaste and Brush.

"Oshey. Let me do. It's my husband we're talking about", She answered, and brought the tray to my bed, as I used a towel to clean my face because I applied some almond & honey scrub on it before coming out of my bathroom.

" Yes, ma", I smiled took the tray from her after putting the towel aside.

Following a peculiar pattern of one spoon of pap(with sugar and milk combined) and one spoon of moi moi, I finished my breakfast in ten minutes.

"Did you enjoy it?" She asks.

"I did. Thanks for the meal", I returned my tray to the kitchen for washing.

After breakfast, I decided to watch a movie titled " The gold statue " with grandma because I didn't want her to miss the young chicks who went to spend their mid-term break with their mom too much. Uncle B helped her in transferring it and lots more from Bola's laptop to her newly acquired flash drive so she could watch it on TV.

Though I'm not too much of a movie person like them, I tried to make her happy by making beautiful remarks when an actor exhibits virtues that were of great importance to her or showing the level of anxiety she exhibits at the climax of the movie. But all the same, I enjoyed being alone for the first time. Although, our bonding time ended too soon because an unexpected guest visited us.

"Oh my God! It's really you", Mrs. Martins turned out to be the person constantly ringing the doorbell of our home.

"Yh. Welcome to my home, Mrs. Martins", I offered to take the shopping bag she was carrying but she declines.

" It's very beautiful, darling. I like the fruity smell the mangoes give, and your handsome dog", She waved to Scott who's on his leash.

"Thanks", I opened the reception door on her behalf and she enters the hallway then waited for me to take the lead again and we arrived in the living room safely.

" Ekaro ma(Good morning, ma'am)", Mrs. Martins greeted grandma who was fast enough to stop her from kneeling down.

"Ekaro ma", Grandma greeted her in return. " Ile nko?(How's the family)"

"Won wa ma. Won ni ka ma kin yin(They're fine. They send their regards)", Mrs. Martins replied.

" Eku Abe wo wa oo. She ko si oo? (Thanks for visiting. Hope there's no problem?)"Grandma thought she was a neighbor in need of assistance.

"Rara ma(No, ma)", She switched to the English language because grandma told her it was fine to do so. "I'm a parent of Marie's high. On behalf of the school's parent and teachers association, I've come to give her a ticket for the school's midterm break trip", She gave grandma an envelope and continued." We'll be very glad if you allow her follow me to join her peers. She's been through a lot to win these awards, and she deserves it".

"There's no problem", Grandma smiled." Thank you very much for being kind to my granddaughter, and for all the gifts she brought home yesterday".

"We thank God ma", Mrs. Martins replied on behalf of Marie's high.

" Would you like to have anything? Cold juice? Wine?...."Grandma got on her feet to host her.

"This early morning?" Mrs. Martins laughed."I trust you to have some hot pap at home".

"Really?" Grandma was thrilled by her behavior."I do, my daughter. I'll soon be back", She replied her and turned to me, "Go and start packing your things. Don't forget your toothbrush, bathing soap and sponge oo".

"Yes, ma", I ran to the second floor to get my things ready.

" You don't need to take many clothes. I went shopping for Michelle last week and did the same for you", Her voice accompanied me to my bedroom.

"Thank you, ma", My tiny voice barely made it to the first floor but she said " 'You're welcome' anyways.

I expected Mrs. Martins to take me to the school directly but instead of doing so, she drove me through the same old route I passed through during the sleepover week. I was very excited about the school trip because I overheard lots of students talking about it even before our test started, They said were goanna take a plane to Abuja, our designated location. But at the same time, I was scared because my haters were also going to be there so I didn't bother telling grandma about it. If they could do all the things they did in school, I was sure they'll do worse outside school.

" Cleo, I hope you're ready for school cause Nifemi is here now", Mrs. Martins shouted when we entered her living room so her voice could reach Cleo who was probably in his room.

"Do you need anything else? I already told our maid to put your stuff in Cleo's Corolla and she did because you too are going together", She delivered the greatest news ever to me.

"OK. I can't thank you enough for everything you've done", She stopped me from kneeling down to show my appreciation for what she did.

" Come on. There're many other ways you can thank me. Like continually being a pain in the ass for Michelle. My daughter doesn't have time to be naughty anymore, because she's got a competitor", She said.

"Michelle's never joked with a school trip but she couldn't go this time. She never liked visiting grandpa but she had to because of you", Cleo joined us in his simple tee-shirt and jeans outfit.

" My daughter's a fighter. Don't relax too much, okay?"She advised.

"Yes, ma", I smiled.

" Seriously, Cleo! Don't tell me you're wearing this to a school trip", She sighed."If you continue this way, you won't have any girlfriend till you leave Marie's high and even college".

"Who cares? I'm sure Nifemi won't mind having her cousin engaged to me", I didn't know what to tell him so I watched him open their front door so we can make our exit out of their building like it was something special.

" OK oo. You guys should take care and have fun", Mrs. Martins hugged us at once. "Make sure you put a call through to me when you need anything, and be good kids".

" Yes, ma'am", We chorused and moved into the front seat of his Corolla, to take our respective position as driver and passenger.

As soon as Cleo buckled his seat belt, he prayed a little and got ready to turn on the ignition. For a while, I watched him exhibit the driving skills which I've never for once thought a teenage boy would have.

"Where are we going, Cleo?" I asked him because didn't pass the route to Marie's high.

"I was about to tell you actually", His eyes were still on the road as he spoke.

" OK. I'm listening ", I folded my arms like grandma does when she's about to have a serious conversation with an individual.

"It's nothing", Cleo said like he's been reading my mind yet doesn't steal a glance from me."I don't like attending school trips but I've had a mission to accomplish. But first, your homeroom teacher asked for help in finding Shola's whereabouts".

"Yh. She's not been in school since the test started", I remembered Timi looking for her the other day.

" Unfortunately, he marked her present on Monday because he thought she was only going to be late as always because she's never missed school, so he'll be held responsible for her if her parents decide to sue the school", He explained.

"So how much did he pay you to be his private investigator?" I teased him.

"Well, he deserves my services for being one of the best Teachers in Marie's high, and my favorite as well", He smiled.

"So where are we going now?", I said as he joined the other multiples of cars heading towards the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

"Ilorin", he muttered.

" Oh my God! You can't be serious ", I yelled before realizing I almost caused him to be distracted." I'm very sorry".

"It's okay. I'm as nervous as you are", He held his steering wheel firmly." I've never gone such distance".

"You could have boarded a bus, or ordered Uber", I insisted." Your mom's gonna kill you if she finds out about this. It's too risky".

"Yh but I believe I can do this. It's gonna be one of the most interesting adventures we've ever had, trust me.", he drove past a slowly moving truck beside us.

I knew he was capable of taking there us there safely, but I was afraid something might go wrong.

"How're you so sure she's in Ilorin? Who told you she could be there anyways?"I found a means of discouraging him.

"I've been everywhere she could possibly be in Lagos but still couldn't find her. Ilorin is her hometown".

"But it's okay. I don't want you to do something that scares you because of me...", He found a safe place to park and turned his hazard light."I can still make a U-turn and return you to school if you don't want to pursue this crazy adventure with me".

"It's okay. I'll pursue this crazy adventure with you", I reply because my heart couldn't bear leaving him alone. I had to stay with him even if I didn't have any magical power to save him when the Turks arrived. More also, Shola was one of the people special to me in Marie's high so her life was worth the risk.

Holding on to my faith in Christ, I soon started believing everything was going to be all right. After all, one of the privileges we have as Christians is making impossible things happen.

" I knew this would happen", He sighed and continued driving. "I shouldn't have brought you here in the first place but I was scared of being alone in this quest".

"I've never imagined you being scared", I said and he laughed in a bizarre manner.

"I'm human, just like everyone else. Please do not see me as a demigod. I came through a woman's womb as you did".

For many hours, Cleo and I continue chatting about the places we'd love to visit in the future and our favorite genre of music. Since I had bad experiences with boys, I was expected me to turn a feminist but one thing I learned is no matter how bad it seems, there'll be one good person left. So, therefore, it's bad to classify everyone as bad for one person's action.

When we got to Ekiti, the state where Bola wished to obtain her Bachelor's Degree Cleo started straining his eyes.

" Cleo, what's wrong?"I was greatly concerned about him.

"I suffer partial night blindness", He made it seem as if it was unimportant.

Hearing that, my heart started racing but I tried to remain as calm to avoid putting more pressure on him.

"Don't panic. I'm already looking for a nearby hotel where we can stay for the night. I didn't plan for the trip to take this long. It was that stupid traffic at..", He was very mad at himself for letting me down.

"It's okay. Everything will be fine", I emptied my bottle of water to save myself from dehydration.

I tried my best to help Cleo with driving by informing of obstacles ahead so he could prepare for them or avoid them if they can be avoided. But since I deprived myself of sleep for the past few nights because of the test, my eyes started closing itself. I try to fight it for a while, by rubbing my eyes constantly, applying water because I didn't have match sticks to do so like Mr. Bean but it didn't last long. Cleo eventually bashed someone else's car when sleep was taking its cause in my tiny eyes. It was a 2019 Mercedes-Benz C-Class painted red.

A/N: I appreciate you all for taking your most valued time to read this book. But the only way to know you appreciate what you're seeing is by writing a comment. Just a word or more will do! God bless you as you adhere to this and bless you more as you share on your social media platforms. I had to join these two chapters because I had arrangement issues. Please bear with me.
Yours teenfictionly,
Eniola Oluwamuyiwa