Half Step At A Time

chapter 12: moyo strikes again.

I pushed through the crowd and struggled to reach my sister who was on the floor,sobbing. I flinched at the sight and my heart ached to see her this way. Her head was hung low, facing the ground, so she couldn't see me.
My mind tried to process what she could have done to warrant this kind of treatment and how I had failed to protect her.

Victoria caught up with me from behind and we both gave Moyo and her clique a death stare when they finally realised our presence. In fact,one of the girls was on the brink of slapping my younger sister in the face but stopped when she saw me. Looks like they knew that I was her sister. So they must be doing this because they're on to me, or maybe not.

Honestly, I didn't even want to get into a fight with anyone. I didn't see myself doing that nor did I think I was strong enough to defend myself, talkless of defending my sister. But this was different. This one was my responsibility. I had the obligation to protect my younger sister, I had been given this obligation by my parents and I was in no position to deny that obligation, no, not this time.

I will fight, I will fight for my sister, I will.....
"What nonsense is going on here, moyo?" Victoria said to the devil incarnate with rage in her eyes, before I could even say anything.
woah, go girl .....I said to myself. Well, let's just sit back and watch her slay...I've got nothing to say...

Moyo smiled, trying her best to feign friendliness. She looked at me and then looked at Victoria.
"Oh, I see you are here to save your little friend's sister, darling" she said sarcastically and patted Victoria on the shoulder.
Vic shoved her hands off and continued talking.
"I see no reason why you should treat an innocent junior like that, you may be rotten inside but please don't use your rotteness to affect other people. Doing this just shows how petty you are".she hissed.
Moyo scoffed.
"See, i respect you, Victoria, but I will also respect if you see my reason for doing this before judging me. Do you even know what this brat did?" .
I almost lost my temper when I heard her call my sister a "brat". Calm down doyin, calm down.

"I don't know if you've been deceiving yourself or it's your petty friends that have been deceiving you but We all know you are the real brat here, moyo. Now what did she do?" Vic asked, right after roasting her Alive.

"Blah blah blah, you are just saying nonsense. But I will tell you the real nonsense that this girl did. She stole my money and thinks she can get away with it!"
Victoria wasn't moved. Instead, she sighed and asked.
"What proof do you have?"
Meanwhile, I was in doubt and disbelief, I obviously didn't believe my sister could do such a thing. I was just so bitter that this unreasonable creature could actually be so petty and my sister just had to be a victim of her pettiness this time.
"Not that i want to, but Let me just tell you the full story". Moyo replied.
"I was sitting in my class peacefully and I didn't have any thing doing because our teacher wasn't around, then I felt very thirsty and hungry and needed to buy something to eat immediately. I saw this girl, passing by my class window and quickly called her. She was even trespassing, junior students aren't allowed on the senior school block and you know that. So I punished her by asking her to buy something for me from the tuck shop. She first complained and complained but she still answered after I threatened to ask her to kneel down till closing time. When she came back from the tuckshop, I asked her to give me my change, but then she said I didn't have any change. I was so surprised because I gave her a whole 1000 naira note for her to give me like 600 naira change, but then she denied me ever giving her a 1000 naira note and here I am now, with my money still lost in her hands."
My sister finally looked up with all the drama going on and when she saw me,her tears increased and she ran to hug me.
I heard moyo hiss but I ignored her.
I wiped her tears "Dara, everything will be fine, just tell me, did they lay their hands on you?".I asked, although I didn't know what I would do if they actually laid hands on her.

"Doyin, I'm sorry for the stress I'm putting you through, please don't be mad at me and please don't tell mummy and daddy about this!" She pleaded, still crying.
"I won't, I won't, now wipe your tears and answer my question"
"No they didn't" she sniffed.
" They just punished me and asked me to sit on the floor" she said.
I heaved a sigh of relief.
"That's better" I said.
I looked at moyo and her clique. It was my time to talk and I was going to finish this chitchat once and for all.
"So how much did she 'steal' from you miss?" I asked, smiling.
The look of amusement burst out on their face. They were probably wondering why I was so calm. Well, if you didnt know , that's the best way to piss off troublemakers. My secret technique.

"Psst, what are you doing?" Victoria whispered.
"See, I'm tired, let's just end this and go home"
"But we have to show them pepper for treating your sister like that" she hammered
I sighed.
"The deed has been done , hasn't it? It would be foolish to pay evil for evil. Let's just collect the money and leave, and then tell them never to bother us again." I said.
"Doyin, can't you see they are on to us? They are after us and I know why. A single word won't make them back off".Victoria said.
She was actually right though. But I needed to know the reason why they kept on bothering us. I always knew Victoria knew something about it and I was right. She did know something about it.
"It's worth a shot" I replied.
She sighed and looked at me
"Okay, your wish"
She then faced moyo
"Answer the question, how much did she steal from you?" She asked her.
Moyo scoffed.
"As if you would pay the money back, just let her serve her punishment for losing my precious money"
"Just answer the damn question!" Victoria yelled.
Moyo paused for a split second, then started laughing.
"So now you are yelling at me right??okay oo, I won't even talk. Do whatever you like."
She turned to face me.
"Your sister is to give me back 600 naira with 100 naira interest for wasting my precious time like this." She said.
"Thief!!" Victoria hissed.
"Hey! Leave her!" I said and brought out a 1000 naira note from my pocket, then handed it to moyo.
"Take this and keep the change or use it to treat your smelly mouth, let's go girls"
I said and grabbed my sister and Victoria by the arm with Victoria's mouth still hanging open from the density of the roasting I gave moyo.

"Why did you do that? She was obviously lying about giving your sister a 1000 naira note. She most likely gave her a 500. I know her well". Victoria said to me.
"I know". I said to her.
"I was just pissed".