FEMME FATALE

Chapter 1: Gone Rogue

Vincent had a vicious and partly evil twin sister, Idara, that he could never count on, so when his mother Aniefiok was told that he skipped his WAEC exams and Idara had explained vividly how she had seen him leave school with some girls and heard rumours that they were out partying, she was fuming.

That night hadn't been a good one, his mother made him strip naked, applied fresh pepper to her koboko and flogged him until he could barely feel his skin, while repeatedly professing that it was because she loved him that was why she was correcting him to become a descent youth in Nigeria.

It wasn't something new in the Nsophen household. All the house helps, cooks, gardeners, the whole workers his parents had employed were very much aware of the correction process mostly applied on the first and only son of the family but they knew never to intrude or they would lose their jobs and the family would do everything possible for them to remain unemployed for as long as possible, so everyone minded their business.

Once his mother was done, she poured a bucket of water on his naked body and walked out of the room, never missing the sound of the bolted door from outside confirming he was locked till further notice.

Vincent felt weaker and weaker with each passing moment, he was bleeding from places he couldn't imagine and could barely crawl back to his bed or even the attached bathroom.

He looked through the window and standing behind it was Idara his twin, watching him with a smirk and at that moment he understood that she was truly evil. Vincent thought hard on what he must have done to Idara that would make her continuously lie about his where about to his parents, and his mother lacked the decency to inquire from him if it was true or false that he had missed his exam. Not like he missed his exam, Vincent was the school genius, he was so intelligent that most teachers hated him therefore during the exam he had been excluded from writing in the same room with his mates and taken to the principal's office to sit for his with the watchful eyes of three different teachers and the external invigilator, he wondered what they must have told the invigilator to make her agree to the illegal terms of writing the exam elsewhere.

During the process his school mates had spread different rumours of his whereabouts and it seems his sister had taken the opportunity to torture him.
It wasn't something new though, his parents took turns in "correcting" him and it happened so often that he almost felt like he was turning into a masochist, not like the pain made way for pleasure but he had too many scars that he can barely recall his skin being flawless.
Vincent took his eyes off the window and crawled to the bathroom once he realized he could lift his aching and bloody body for a bit. He thought of fleeing home and making a name for himself, he thought of turning evil and punishing his family for all their cruelty towards him and finally he thought of committing suicide so he'll finally know peace. But he also knew it wasn't easy running away from home especially for a teenager like him in Nigeria that came out of a well off family, he knew almost nothing about surviving on his own.

He sobbed for a while, took a very cold shower, went to his upper drawer in search of his first aid box. He knew he would be unable to clean off all his recent injuries so he settled for the ones he could see, using the hydrogen peroxide and cotton wool he cleaned up his sore arms and legs, the koboko left open wounds on his arms and he wondered how, when he recalled he had turned his body and Aniefiok hadn't mind stopping. Once he was done, he poured a fair amount of white capsule on them and sealed it off with bandage. Then he fell asleep.
The next morning he could barely feel the pains, maybe because it happens more often to him and he had accepted it. Vincent put on his school uniform, the designated blue trousers and white shirt, a blue socks with white stripes around it and a brown sandals, jumped from the window so he won't see his family, besides his door was locked from the outside; and left for school. He hailed a bike once he had succeeded in leaving the entire estate his parents owned, feeling the wind rush through him with the speed of the bike he thought of leaving school and never returning but then he also realized that he was no Zuckerberg and he at least needed his WAEC certificate.

Once in school, he avoided going for assembly, not that he was the school designated bad boy that missed assembly nor was he the wallflower that no one noticed, he was just a teen ridden with anxiety and crowded places gave him waves of panic attacks so he tried as much as possible to avoid the school's assembly. Vincent was thankful that it was his last papers, paper III English and Biology, chances of him getting into trouble would be zero to none. Unknown to him it was just getting started.

As soon as class had ended, Idara had told their mother that Vincent never came to school today, that teachers were looking for him and he had also missed his final exams so when Vincent got home and one of the cooks had whispered in his ears that his parents were planning something huge as they were aware he wasn't in school, he rushed up to his room, picked up all his savings that he had withdrawn from the bank previously, took his ATM card, the one he was signatory to with some clothes, packed them into his laptop bag. Soon he heard the sound of shoes thundering towards his room, instantly he knew if he stayed a moment longer he would literally not live to see the next day as the injuries were taking a toll on his body. He jumped through the window and almost took off instantly but decided to informing his parents to avoid them sending troops in search of him 'or maybe they won't' he thought then walked to the living room, screamed his parent's birth name and waited patiently for them.

He felt a confidence boost in the process. All the workers piled into the room while his parents and twin walked in. He stared at his sister, watching her look at him with hatred, his mother stared at him with disgust while his father looked openly at him with nothing less than distaste and loathe. Probably from what Idara must have told them, always lying to gain attention, he scoffed.

"I'm leaving this house, I'm tired of all the things you people have put me through, all of you are heartless ... I don't want to stay here anymore!" Vincent exclaimed, he was barely a talker and took the shorter option of explaining less. The household went silent, then murmuring among the workers began before his mother screamed.

"Silence you all!" Enraged she had snapped.

"What nonsense are you spitting out of your mouth Vincent, you are not leaving to anywhere, where do you think you want to go to, to destroy your future, those friends that you have been hanging out with have destroyed you, this was their plan all along". Aniefiok roared.

"Vincent, son, who put you up to this, is this some kind of joke, what haven't we given you that you need to speak such atrocious words, get back to your room this instant and stop this attention you're seeking or else... ". His father warned.
With quavering lips and cracked throat he tried to be bold enough and say what he wanted to, the confidence from before slowly leaving him, he noticed.

"Ever since I could remember I haven't been treated like I was part of this family, even the workers get treated better than I am and I am your child, your only son, you've continuously abused me both physically and mentally, I'm done, I don't want to stay here anymore!!!" Vincent exclaimed.
The room became silent again, too quiet that the father spoke words he had never imagine saying to his second born, ever.

"If you leave this place, you are no longer welcome here, do you understand that Vincent, your accounts will be frozen and any assets we put in your name would go to your sister". His father explained sternly, staring at him intensely.

Vincent nodded and instantly walked out of the house he had called home for years without looking back.
He looked up and saw the cloud was gray, just like his emotions, then he felt rain drizzling on him mixing with his own tears that were pouring slowly out of his eyes, once outside the estate he let out the loudest scream he could muster and cried his heart out, he instantly felt the weight of his actions but it wasn't enough to make him go and beg his family to take him back.

He wandered the streets of Abak with the rain pouring down on him without pity, still on his uniform, he was glad his bag was waterproof but he continued with his slow pace looking for where to sleep for the night. With cold and a heavy heart he never saw the incoming vehicle.