Citrus

twenty-two

Bisola

It was first Sunday again.

As I stared out the window, watching as the trees dance and the warm breeze meet my skin, I let out a long, tired sigh. The little children ran past me and into the room and then back, their giggles resonating all around the house.

We had just finished cooking the food, with Sister Boluwatife and Grandma plating the meals on the table, the enticing smell of the food engulfing the dining room and making my stomach rumble a little. I sat down on one of the dining chairs, sipping slowly on a bottle of cold water as I waited patiently for someone to arrive.

And as I heard the front door creek open, my body perked up.

I stood, walked to the living room, and faced Issac squarely as he turned to look at me, and then his face fell.

I rested my hands on my hips, "Issac, we need to talk,"

His lips turned to form a thin line as he stared down at me, folding his arms, "I have absolutely nothing to say to you Bisola,"

He began to walk away, so I hastened my steps, and blocked the entrance from the living room to the dining table with my arms, raising my eyebrow at him. Issac rolled his eyes and took a step back.

"Can you please excuse me Bisola?"

I shook my head, "You're not passing through this place until we both talk and we must talk, please Issac, I have something I need to tell you,"

He stared at me for a long time, his eyes registering, contemplating. I bit my lip nervously, hoping that he would agree. I still needed to clear some things with him on what had happened at my house and if I don't do it today, I'm sure I'll never get the chance to again.

Issac, after giving me a long look, finally sighed, unfolding his hands to place them in his pockets, "Fine, let's talk,"

I let out a breath of relief as a small smile tugged on my lips.

"But let's go someplace else, somewhere a lot quieter,"

I nodded my head in response.

☕︎

Issac dragged the seat from the reading table and sat firmly on it, his eyes scanning the guest room and his nose scrunching as he inhaled dust.

I strolled to the edge of the guest bed, settling down on it. This was the guest room mainly reserved for visitors but since Grandma rarely had any of those, it wasn't frequently used as gathered a lot of dust. No one ever came here, it was the best place for me and Issac to communicate.

I fanned cobwebs out of my face and coughed a little bit. I looked up to glance at Issac who was resting on the chair, staring patiently at me too, waiting for me to say something.

I cleared my throat, and folded my palms together, "Issac, John told me everything."

"Is that so?" his voice seemed unfazed, "Well that's good. I hope you have seen the reason why I told you to stay away from him,"

"It wasn't his fault Issac,"

"As if I knew that's what you were going to say to me," He scoffed and sat up, "so what other lies did he feed to you, that it was an accident? That he didn't know what he was doing?"

"Issac he-"

"He killed my sister," Isaac cut me off, his voice filled with so much rage and anger it made me flinch, "Amanda is dead. Gone. She's never coming back Bisola and you expect me to accept that all this was a mistake? Never!"

"Issac," I pleaded, a tint of desperation in my tone, "People made mistakes. I have made mistakes and you have too. John is sorry for what he did, I can assure you that so please just forgive him,"

Issac stared at me with utter disbelief, "You're seriously telling me that he took one's life and has the right to say it was a mistake? That he was sorry? Would sorry bring my sister back to life?"

I couldn't answer his question as my voice ceased, bile rising in my throat.

"Why don't you say something?" he continued, staring at me wide-eyed. His hands clenched into fists. I kind of understood where he was coming from; his sister is dead, she isn't coming back, and there was no way he was going to forgive John, I should have known that. But-

"Issac, I need you to listen to me," I began, my voice low, "It was an accident, it wasn't John's fault. I know it hurts, you lost your sister-your only sibling. I understand that but please, don't harbor any resentment toward John, he did nothing wrong,"

From the look on his face, none of what I just said got through to him.

"Bisola, I'm sorry but it can't happen,"

My heart fell.

"That bastard killed my sister, it wasn't any goddamn accident. He told you the full story, didn't he? It was all his fault, no one else's, and don't think he is going to go scot-free, he's going to pay for what he's done,"

I bit my lip, my brows squeezing together, "What do you mean by that?"

Issac gave me a small sadistic smile, stood, dusted the dirt off his trousers, and began to walk out the room, "Oh, you'll see, Bisola. Very soon," then slammed the door shut behind him.

The rest of my day was spent thinking of what Issac had implied by saying John was going to pay for what he did, coming up with nothing, and leaving me heavy-hearted.

Why did things have to turn out like this?

☕︎

Dragging myself from the car to the porch steps, my ankles hurting because I'd been standing for quite a long while, cleaning up the dishes at grandma's place. Temi and Titi rushed past me, entering the house followed by Dad and Mum, then me, but my movement stopped momentarily when I heard a loud bang coming from the front gate.

"Tàni? Who is that?" my mother asks, giving me a puzzled look. We weren't expecting anybody and it was quite late, who could it be at this time?

"I'll go and check," I declared my mom nodded, closing the front door. I walked swiftly to the gate and swung it open, letting out a loud gasp as I saw John, all sweaty and perplexed, as he gave an exerted sigh when he saw me.

"For the love of God Bisola, why weren't you answering your phone?"

Looking quite confused about why he was at my house, and why he seemed so disheveled, I answered slowly, "My phone is damaged so I-"

"Forget about that," he cut me off, wiping the sweat off his brow, "First of all I need your help with something,"

"What?" I asked, already getting worried."What is it?"

"It's Gloria," he drew a sharp breath, "She's dead,"

◀︎▷

Sorry for the short chapter! I promise to make up for the next one.

Reminder: Gloria is the housekeeper in the Salami mansion...in case you've forgotten ;)