The Hidden Toxin ✔(#6 in the Our Side of The Dice Series)

Chapter 36: A Family Affair

Lagos had left Ebun behind. The city in its overview assaulted her. The sun-dazed haste, the sweating hawkers racing after cars, the advertisements on hulking billboards (others scrawled on walls - ELECTRICIAN CALL 080166666) and the heaps of rubbish that rose on the roadsides like a taunt. Here, she felt anything could happen and so she had the dizzying sensation of falling into the strange familiar.

Had it always been like this, or had it changed so much in her absence? It seemed a lot more like the latter because she could not remember Lagos buildings always having this patina of decay.

Ebun didn't care much about having one last look at Lagos on the day she left for Russia. All that filled her mind was the thought of meeting Sean and carrying out her revenge plan. Now though, she had more than enough time to look and notice every little detail because she was back out of frustration and desperation to end everything.

She would let things play out and see if she would have to stay here for a long time. That depended totally on what her older sister, Yemisi, had in store for her. Speaking of her older sister, Ebun got reminded of how she felt about her. Although Ebun mostly disliked her sister, she could not deny that she was curious to know what she looked like after all these years.

Yemisi was always such a busy woman. If she wasn't in the court, shuffling through thousands of paper files and talking endlessly to convince the judge of the credibility of her evidence, then she was investigating a murder case in some uncompleted building out of town. If it was neither of both (which was rarely ever the case), then she was busy trying to look after her children and her siblings even though they were grown-ass, independent people. Yemisi never created time for herself, and somehow, she preferred it that way.

Ebun wondered if Yemisi had been eating well or if, at least, she tried to eat two square meals a day. She also worried that her sister might have aged a lot.

Then she caught herself in her thoughts and wondered why she cared so much about her sister all of a sudden.

It's because you still love her and she's family. Welcome home.

Ebun tried to shoo the voice of her subconscious and replaced it with the fact that it was this same Yemisi who'd tried to choke her back in Russia, having the entire Russian population keep unwanted eyes on her. She could never forget the Caribbean driver and how embarrassing the experience had been.

Ebun took a deep breath. In less than five minutes, the airport driver would drop her at the airport hotel where she'd be meeting Yemisi. She'd better brace herself up for whatever lay ahead for her.

***
When Ebun arrived at the hotel's parking lot and stepped out of the car, what she saw was of great surprise to her. This hadn't been the plan. Yemisi said she would pick her up and it sounded like she would come alone. Now, why was she seeing Yemisi and her other four siblings standing a few feet away, each holding a bouquet in hand...for her?

Ebun didn't know what to say, think or feel, but one thing she was sure of was that she felt overwhelmed and there was a strange urge to cry. Why was her heart's beating pace regulated and calm for the first time in years? Why was her breathing leveled? Was this relief? Why did she feel like crying out of relief? And worse off, why did it feel like a missing big puzzle piece of her life had finally been found and fixed into the right place to create the perfect, befitting picture?

Why was she feeling these things? Had her senses now been separated from her? She was supposed to feel vengeful, angry, and eager to kill, but this strange sentiment was much to her disliking.

Thankfully, none of them had seen her yet. They were still chatting with one another. She still had a chance to hop back into the car and tell the chauffeur to drive out of the parking lot. So she turned and was just about to do as planned, but a peachy cry that came from behind made her realize she'd been wrong about them not seeing her.