Serendipity [BoyxBoy]

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Trigger Warning; Underaged drinking, Sexual Assault.
(this chapter is divided into three parts with '▪️▪️▪️', if you want to avoid the trigger warnings mentioned above, skip the last part. Don't jeopardise your mental health over a work of fiction!)

Ehi woke up to Mummy screaming.

The sound startled her so much that she jumped out of her sleep and started crying. She may have wet herself in the process and the prospect of that made her cry harder. She had just been cleared off the mackintosh and she didn't want to go back to it.

She climbed out of bed and ran out of her room, avoiding the dark corners because scary things lurked there. Mummy was in the dining table, dressed in her nightgown and shouting into the phone as she frantically pulled on her tennis shoes. Daddy was standing behind her, looking more worried than Ehi had ever seen him.

"Mummy!" Ehi wailed, running towards her.

When her mother turned to her, they were tears in her eyes and it only made Ehi cried even harder than before. This was the first time she was seeing her mother cry.

"Oh, Ehi. My sweet baby," Mummy said, her voice sounding choked. She crushed Ehi in a hug and the tears in her eyes began to slide down her face.

"Mummy, what happened?" Ehi managed to ask. Her voice was shaky and wet snot ran from her nose into her mouth. The fact that Mummy didn’t move to wipe her face was more reason to be worried.

Mummy cast a glance at Daddy who gave a slight nod.

She swallowed hard. "It's your brother," she said, her tone sombre. "He and his friend are in trouble."

▪️▪️▪️

Once Nosa was done with his business at Irekan’s house, he went home and ate dinner while his parents watched television in the living room.

It was just past eight and a football match was on, some game that Irekan was probably watching because he loved soccer just as much as he loved anime. Nosa’s parents liked to do this thing where they shared suya and beer while they watched football matches. Apparently, it reminded them of when they were young bachelors so all the kids stayed out of their hair.

Ehi was already in bed and Egho was in her room. Nosa ate his dinner in tiny quantities, the nerves in his stomach making it hard for him to take full spoons of jollof rice.

What if something went wrong? What if he foolishly told Irekan he liked him and Irekan decided to leave him there? What if he met the band afterwards and they all thought he was an anxious, panicky nerd? Was it too late now to back out?

Nosa covered the rest of his food with a plate and put it in the fridge. He would go to bed now then wake up later, long after both his parents were passed out on the couch.

He walked to the living room to thank them for the food only to find both of them already fast asleep. A small smile tugged at his lips. They were always so tired when they got home from work that he wondered why they even tried to watch TV.

"Mummy. Daddy," he whispered, tapping their shoulders gently.

"Hmm, did we win?" His dad asked at the same time his mum asked, "What is it? What happened?"

"You fell asleep," He told them.

His father rubbed at his eyes and pushed himself from the chair with much effort. "Sweetheart, let's go to bed," He said, tapping his wife who groaned in protest. "Nosa, finish the suya and beer."