Gone Bad (Nigerian Novel) -Editing

Chapter 33: Dark Clouds

I rapped on the door in a quick successive motion, half expecting it to swing right open.

But a minute passes and we're still standing on the welcome mat.

Turning to Demilade, I shielded by eyes from the full fury of the sun at 1pm. "Did you inform Victoria of us coming."

He a raises a finger in the air, continuing to tap at his phone.

The sound of dialing reaches my ears and I watch him make a call to Vic.

Mid-hang up I hear unlatching of a lock and a tired woman greets us at the front door.

"Good afternoon ma." I say, bobbing my head slightly at Mrs Nwaike, Victoria's mother.

It was a surprise to see the workaholic mother here on a weekday afternoon, but I chided myself knowing any mother would have done the same after Victoria's admission.

Her tired smile does nothing to soften the vacant corners under her eyes, or how weary her shoulders looked sagged down in defeat.

Demilade greets her too and she shows us to the living room where we take seats side by side.

Pushing my knee away from where it had been touching Demilade I look back at the woman, hoping she would fill the awkward silence.

"Victoria is sleeping right now," she says rubbing a wet palm against her rumpled kaftan.

I rush over my words without noticing she hadn't finished speaking. " Oh, sorry ma, maybe we'll come back another time."

Her wave of dismissal stills my tongue and I push my butt further into the seat I had been preparing to rise from.

"No no, don't worry about it. She asked me to wake her up around twelve, I got carried away in the kitchen..." she says looking between us as she tries to fix a small smile once again, the Nwaikes had a thing for appearing stronger than they really were. " She'll be happy to see you two, hold on please." Mrs Swaike says, slippers flopping on the floor as she goes to wake Victoria.

"This is awkward." I whisper to Demilade, scoping the living room I had seen thousand times before.

The newcomer however just lounged on the sofa, taking up two thirds of the spaces with his diagonal seating postion. "Meeting people's parents is always awkward. Not that this should be your first time anyways."

I nod, swallowing saliva in absence of the ready words I always had sitting on my tongue.

In all honesty the awkwardness hadn't bothered me in the slightest, but sitting in a dim room with nothing to say to Demilade made me more uncomfortable.

Eyeing the closed curtains, and inspite of the artificial lighting I take the liberty of allowing some natural rays intermingle with those already present in the room.

Demilade only eyes me from the corner of his eyes, his expression befuddled at my jittery state this high noon.

"Hallelujah." I mutter, glad Mrs Nwaike is back to the room by the time I'm making my way back to my seat.

"Oh thank you, I forget sometimes since I barely watch tv in here anymore." she says leaving once again. But she pokes her head back in as an after thought. "Victoria will be down soon, have fun."

I smile, a strange sadness occupying my chest. Though incredibly absent over the last few years, whenever she was around she had been a source of sunshine to me and Victoria.

No one could excuse her of the neglect and I had no doubt of her imperfections, but she was one of the few people like Demilade that gave me a reason to believe in goodness from above.