THE TATTOO

-

 

CHAPTER SEVEN 

Too Much

It was a quiet ride to Kasie’s school. Uju needed the silence to help calm her mind from brooding on the chaos of the past few days. She looked out the window and silently counted the nose masks a boy was hawking in traffic in a bid to distract herself from thinking about meeting her dad. She stole a glance at Nnanna. He was driving and was focused on the road. She was grateful he didn’t engage her in any conversation; he must have read her mind.

Flashbacks of their conversation at the parking lot earlier made her cringe; Nnanna had given her a dazed look when she had asked why he was at her company and after she got ahold of herself she had blurted out “well, sorry but I was just surprised to see you here. Of course your company and mine might be working together in the future –or soon, so the question was absolutely unnecessary.”

“How are you, Uju?” he had asked again with concern written all over his face.

“I am fine.” She had replied and laughed nervously

“Oh. I actually came because of the text you sent. I’m genuinely concerned on the new development and the sudden change of plans. I’m sorry if coming here made you uncomfortable, Inugo?” 

“That’s alright, odimma. I’m just having a bad day and I haven’t even done half of what I’m supposed to do today.” She had replied. “The call from home had left me devastated and my mind has been all over the place.”

“You care to vent?” he had asked her, “I’d listen and I promise not to interrupt.” 

She had studied his face, it was set but his eyes were smiling and there was something welcoming and soothing about his demeanor that loosened her tongue and she divulged to him that she was nervous and not really looking forward to meeting her parents due to her past, her plan to pick Kasie from school instead of her using the school bus because she had to take her to her aunt’s place, her phobia for flights but still had to take them because it was safer than travelling by road, how she would miss Kasie because she had come to be the bane of her existence and being away from her had always given her panic attacks and of course, her fear of the strange man trailing Kasie to Aunty Eunice’s house. She was almost out of breath and embarrassed after her outburst and he had kept to his promise to listen and not interrupt. When he finally spoke, he offered to drive her to pick Kasie from school and also take her to the airport from Aunty Eunice’s house. 

After they picked Kasie from school, they spent about an hour at Aunty Eunice's before they left for the airport. “The Police need to get some information from you or your daughter about the strange guy.” Nnanna said to Uju on their way to the airport. There was heavy traffic and Uju was running out of time. A man had smashed another’s car and they were exchanging blows, people gathered to help separate them.

“You already filed a report?” She asked

“Yes, I did that immediately I got the text you sent.” He said as he maneuvered his way through the slow traffic.

“That’s a wrong lane you know, you are going to get caught if you use it.” Uju said

“You are obviously going to miss your flight if we continue moving like snails.” She exhaled loudly and replied, “I’ll go to the station with Kasie when I return from Enugu, would that be okay?”

“Yes, they’ll continue with other investigations. I’ll give them a call.” 

They were quiet for the rest of the ride and arrived at the airport 10mins before takeoff time. Nnanna helped her carry her bag and when she made to collect it from him, he held it alittle longer as he looked into her eyes.

"Can I have my bag now? I have to get going" she said shyly

“I’ll miss you, Uju,” he said. She looked at him and smiled, carried her bag and started walking towards the entrance.

                                              CHAPTER EIGHT

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Recent

THE TATTOO

-
Chapter one Nightmare  Kasie ran to her mother’s room as soon as she heard her scream. She knew it was the nightmare, again. She met her sitting upright on her bed clutching the pillow a little bit too tight to her chest, with sweat dripping down and soaking her silk floral nightie. The AC was on, Kasie noticed and the room was a little bit chilly. She sat down close to her mother hugged her tight and continued whispering, “It’s alright mum, I’m here now”. Uju woke up with a jolt, her daughter, Kasie cuddled up at the other side of the bed sleeping. She looked at the table clock close to her side of the bed “11:32am, God!” she exclaimed under her breath cautious enough not to wake her daughter. The events of the night kept replaying in her head. The nightmare, the same nightmare that had tortured her for the past 16 years. This time, she had clearer images of the only memory she had of the man that raped her 16 years ago. She remembered he had what seemed to be a scar and a badly d...
Read more

THE TATTOO

-
Chapter Three Wahala Uju felt like a million years had been added to her life the moment the ‘manly figure’ got closer to her car with security  boldly written on his T-shirt. Kasie heaved a heavy sigh of relief and sank into the car seat. “Hello Ma’am, sorry there has been a general power outage in the estate. We are trying to fix this. I am just here to see how the electrician is going about it,” the security man said. Uju still catching her breath from her initial panic replied, “that’s...that's all right, take your time.”  THE NEXT DAY It was a cool Sunday afternoon with Jon Bellion's simple and sweet playing in Uju's room. She was doing a final check on the presentation she had prepared for her company. Her company or rather her passive aggressive boss desperately needed to be awarded a contract from a multi-national and internationally recognized Motor oil producing firm in the country.   “This would be the biggest gig of the company so far, if we can grab...
Read more

THE TATTOO

-
CHAPTER TWO The strange man "Kasie," Uju called as she glanced at the wall clock, "let's go, we are running late already". She perused the list she was holding making sure everything they needed to get from the shopping mall was written. Kasie walked frantically to the living room. She looked tensed. “What’s the matter?”, Uju asked standing up immediately.  Kasie stammered, "I...I saw him." “The strange guy?”  “Yes, through the bathroom window. He was hovering in the backyard but I do not think he is still there. I made a sound and he ran off to the other side of the compound," Kasie replied while trying to catch her breath.  They had been seeing this strange man longer than they could remember. Uju had reported the case to the estate security a couple of times but nothing seemed to be done about it. She hugged Kasie, promising to report to the police this time. She just needed a picture of him on their property as evidence. Uju sighed. “Do you st...
Read more