She's Broken

Chapter Forty-One

First term holiday
Christmas cruise
The yacht ride.

Ini had never cruised in a yacht before, the closest she has had to such luxury has to be one of those little excursion she took on an old wooden canoe, with her siblings and cousins, and that itself happened many life time ago, during one of those long holidays where everyone in the family gathered together at the village for festivities and meetings. When Sam invited her for the Coker's Christmas yacht cruise, all she could do was imagine how grand, splendid and super fun it will be, sailing across the ocean in a magnificent floating "house", initially, she didn't dare to hope to much about the offer, more out of the fear of getting heartbroken should her parent refuse her to go, but to her greatest surprise, her mother had somehow managed to convince her never agreeable father to allow their daughter spend the holiday away from home for the first time in history.

But what she found more shocking was the fact that her father didn't put up a fight for to long, infact he has been a lot more tolerant to her and her mother's whims ever since she got back from Ashville for her first holiday, no one needs a soothsayer to know it's her excellent result doing the marvelous trick. A few days after her grand welcome back home, he had gone ahead to pay up all the debt her mother incurred from the extra expenses for her schooling without a single complain, thereby confirming the suspicion that he isn't usually as broke as he always make himself out to be, then just two days ago, he came back home from town, brandishing a brand new phone which he handed to her the moment she pulled open the door for him.

"This is for you Ini, I believe you've finally earned the use for one"
To say Ini was dumbstruck would be an understatement, staring down at the new pack of phone which he trust into her hand filled her heart with an unexplainable amount of joy and excitement that made her feel like she might combust from it any moment from there on, she could scarcely believe her eyes, she kept thinking it a dream, too good to be true and she'll soon wake to find out the brand new Samsung doesn't exist, that it was simply a figment of her overactive imagination, but she woke the next morning, to her blissful delight, to discover it sitting next to her on her bed, only then did she allow herself rejoice fully.

And finally on the D-day, when she's to go over to the Coker's residence, her father once again offer to drop her off, instead of having to take the public transport with her mother who doesn't yet have a car of her own, the journey was a pleasant but quiet one with only the music from the radio filling the air around them, he only gave his piece of advice as they began to draw closer to their destination. 

Keep up with your excellent grades and we'll have no problem, but the moment you slip, there will be no more indulgence.

It was a sound note of warning, to show her that everything she was enjoying of late comes at a price she must continue to pay to him, she totally understood him, knowing her father had always been a true believer in the reward system, he provided for his family but he never goes too far out of the way except he gets something, in the of case herself and her siblings, the price to be paid is an outstanding academic result.
They soon arrived at the Coker's mansion, haven been informed before hand of there visit by the woman of the house, Franca Coker, the security didn't bother them with too much protocol, they were let in almost immediately and Mr Thompson soon found his jaw hanging dangerously in awe and envy of the towering building before him as he drove in, he could swear that in the whole of his life, he has never seen such a marvellous architectural design before, it was definitely a sight to behold! But he soon recover his composure, dropped Ini and drove off immediately after he helped offload her bag, not waiting even a second longer to meet the parents of the house, something his wife would have made sure to achieve against all odds.

Meanwhile, Ini, who unlike her father hadn't stopped gasping at the mansion like a struggling fish out on dry land didn't think too much of the latter's hasty goodbye/retreat and lack of courtesy to meet the parents of her host as expected of him, she remained that way for a long time, trying desperately to fathom how someone who grew up in this "paradise on earth", that is Sam, somehow found her worthy of a friendship, she, she who grew up in a modest four bedroom apartment that holds no candle to this mansion, it's obvious they're worlds apart, still Sam never threw it in her face it make her feel less, infact, the longer she spent with Sam, the more she started to believe they weren't so far apart in terms of upbringing and privilege, Boy! How wrong she was. The certainly forgot who the Coker were.
To her credit, Ini realize she didn't suffer any stroke of panic attack like she did on her first night at Ashville, yes she feels a little intimidated, but not enough to throw her totally off balance, all thanks to the many lessons she had learnt in the last three month. All those thought and more we're still running through her mind when the approaching noise of an extremely loud, bemused laughter cut through her daze, grabbing her attention. Her first thought was that of deep embarrassment, embarrassment at being caught, ogling the mansion like a village urchin who has never seen better.