Ini

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖎𝖝

Inioluwa walked out of the hair salon after paying the hairdresser her money. She stretched her limbs and let out a yawn as she turned on her phone to check the time. It was 5:48 pm and Inioluwa frowned as it was getting rather late. She began walking down the street of the hair salon to her house which was a street away.

She walked hastily as she looked around, fear evident in her eyes. Since her mother had avoided her questions, this had gone from bad to worse. Now, she was seeing an old man in her dreams who always gave her strict warnings about being safe. She also saw the woman in white practically everywhere she went and whenever she wanted to approach the woman, the woman would disappear. She kept having visions of a hut, a woman in the forest and a large river.

Worse of all was the stares she got from Ifeoma. The girl would always stare at Inioluwa whenever she passed the girl's house. She would even give a subtle shake of her head and that made Inioluwa terrified.

She had tried to ask her mother numerous times about what was happening for the past week but Abike had been adamant on not telling her anything. She would always pretend to be tired or cough fervently or tell her off but Inioluwa knew something was definitely wrong somewhere, she just didn't know what.

She clutched onto her bag as she took in deep breaths, trying her best to avoid the concerned stares people were giving her. Despite her newly made box braids, people could still tell she was a bothered young girl and Inioluwa put no effort in trying to hide that.

"Hi." She heard from behind her before letting out a shriek and almost tripping. She gained composure before slowly turning around. She let out a heavy sigh as she recognized who it was. It was Zikora, her friend.

Zikora was an old classmate from secondary school and he was also her neighbor. As usual, he wore his black durag and sagged his trousers over a white shirt but, he was still handsome. From his high box fade hairdo to his fair skin, he was good looking but his reputation was nothing to be proud of. Rumor had it that he deals with drugs and that's why he dropped out of University in the first year but Inioluwa still kept him as a friend even though she knew of his feelings for her.

"You scared me Ziko." She said and he smiled at the way she pronounced his nickname. She was the only one who got it wrong but he never corrected her, he liked it that way.

"Sorry. I saw you pass by, I wanted to say hi. Where are you even running off to sef?" He asked, his smile still in place but he couldn't help but notice that her gaze was everywhere like she was looking for something or someone.

"Home." She said as she looked around frantically. She was afraid that the woman in white would come again and stare at her like usual.

"Should I escort you?" He offered, hoping she would say yes. 

Inioluwa averted her gaze to his as she shook her head. "Don't worry, Ziko. I really have to go." She said and bit her bottom lip as she looked around.

"Why are you always running away from me, Ini?" He asked and she looked at him again, this time she was confused. When did she ever run away from him? She thought as her eyebrows drew together.

"When did I ever run…" She trailed off as she saw the woman in white behind Zikora. She held her breath as she took several steps backward. Left to her, she would have ran away like a mad person but she decided not to because she didn't want to create a scene.

"Like now. You're trying to run." He said but she said nothing in response as her full attention was on the woman behind Zikora. The woman in white kept staring at Inioluwa and mouthing, "come." 

She was about to run off when Zikora held her hand. She yelped and pushed him away before taking off. He staggered back a few steps as people around them stared at the running girl before looking back at Zikora. Their lips curled in disgust as they assumed he was the cause of her running. If only they knew…

Zikora stared at Inioluwa as she ran and it made him feel like a germ or some viral disease that was contacted through touch. He licked his lips and spat out before staring back at her. She had already gotten to the end of the street and that's when he noticed the people staring at him. 

His lips curled into a deep frown before walking away. If it were any other girl who did this, he would teach her a lesson but not Inioluwa. He just couldn't, he liked her but no matter how hard he tried, he would never get her.

He walked down the street as he wondered what made her so frightened that she needed to run away. He dipped his hand into his  pocket as he took out a cigarette packet and a lighter.  As he lit the butt of the cigarette, he remembered Inioluwa warning  him about smoking but he only  scoffed at the memory before taking a drag. His mind trailed off to the reason why she would run. He had a feeling that it wasn't him, but if it wasn't him, what or who made her run? He asked himself this question a thousand before coming up with an absurd answer.

She was insane.

⁕⁕⁕

Inioluwa dashed up the stairs and apologised as she nearly bumped into Mama Bello, her neighbor. She took in a deep breath as she sat on the floor of her balcony, letting the breeze of the evening simmer on her skin. She didn't even go into her house, she was beginning to get scared of being in that house.

She shut her eyes for a second before snapping them open at the sound of her phone buzzing. She took it out from the pocket of her jeans. She stared at the caller's ID, wondering if she was in the right state of mind to pick you up Ayo's phone call. They had just gone through a heated argument last night and now, Inioluwa knew that they were slowly drifting apart. Ever since she left the University of Lagos for home, they haven't been as close as before and that was the matter of discussion that led to their argument the previous night.

She let it ring for a while before finally answering. "Hey." She said and he let out a sigh.

"Thank God you're alright. I called a couple of times and you didn't answer. I thought something happened." He said and a small smile crept up her lips.

"Nothing happened Ayo. I'm fine." She said as she held her purse and got up.

"I'm sorry about last night, Ini. I shouldn't have yelled." He said and she said nothing as she opened the door leading to her house. 

"Babe, are you there?" Ayo asked and she muttered yes before plopping on the couch near the door. 

"Okay but are you mad at me? I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have said the things that I did." He said and she couldn't help but smile a little.

"I'm sorry too. I should have called often but I didn't because I have a lot going on with me right now." She said as she bent over to unbuckle her sandal before kicking them off her feet.

"Still, I'm sorry babe. I was inconsiderate and selfish–" He said but was interrupted by Inioluwa.

"–Ayo!" She called out before chuckling. "It's fine, seriously." 

"I miss you Ini. Maybe I should visit and spend a weekend." He said and she shook her head.

"You know that you can't." She said and he let out a groan before muttering, "I know." She laughed at how silly he was acting but was cut shut when she heard crashing from the kitchen. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she wondered what made that sound.

"Ayo, I'll call you back." She said and hung up as she got up. She tucked her phone into her back pocket before hearing another crash. It sounded like dishes being broken and when she heard it for the third time, she knew it wasn't her mother. A fact was that her mother was a confirmed cheapskate and another fact was that she could hear the heavy snores from her mother's room and it couldn't be Folashade; she was out with a friend.

Her hands shook as she got nearer to the kitchen. With a silent prayer, she twisted the door handle and pushed the door as she got in. Her eyes widened in shock at what she was seeing, she took a few steps backwards, her attention still focused on it.

What she saw was something she couldn't fathom.

Author's Note.
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