TEENAGE TRAUMA

Chapter 20- Something more.

Days had gone by and we still hadn't done anything about our new discovery. Amber told us that she had tried talking to her dad about speaking to Kevin but he hadn't given her a reply. So we were just waiting patiently until one day, he visited the school. Apparently he was just there for his constant inspection of the school so we asked Amber to try to arrange for us to speak to him that day.

Her dad just so happened to pass by our classroom during our break time, walking towards the Principal's office. Amber ran after him and I followed on behind her, seeking to witness their interaction. I carefully hid behind the wall and peeked at them. "Just wait for one second, please!" Amber screamed at her dad just as he was about to enter into the reception. "You haven't told me if you agree to speak to my classmates or not. Well if you do, now is the perfect opportunity to call them aside and listen to them, it's urgent", she continued. But something was different in her voice. It lacked the usual commanding tone. I had never heard Amber speak to anyone so..respectfully. "It's ridiculous how you actually think I could ever possibly agree to that. You know how busy I always am, I don't have time to waste listening to your friends, Amber. When you finally bring those your grades up and aren't failing any of your classes, then you can ask me for favours". Her dad replied her in a very condescending manner and walked into the reception.

Hearing the way her own dad spoke to her even at school made me feel bad for Amber. But looking at her face, I realised she wasn't surprised or upset by what he said. She just rolled her eyes and looked directly at me. "Well, you have your answer and you heard it directly from him", she said, walking past me, back to our classroom.

I kept trying to understand the look on Amber's face after her dad spoke to her that day. Like she wasn't expecting anything more subtle. Like she wanted to talk back and challenge him but hated that she couldn't because she knew he wasn't wrong. Like she was sick of hearing that from him but couldn't prevent it. Maybe she actually wasn't affected by how he viewed her at all, or maybe she's just really stoic.

The next week Friday, my mum and I were at the school, attending a PTA meeting which began half an hour after school closing hours-2:30 pm. When she finally went into the main hall for the actual meeting, I along with other students, was left alone to wander about till it was over. I was walking towards my classroom when my eyes met with Tricia's.
"Wow, you're here" I commented.
"Yeah, I just decided to stay back because.." Tricia answered, pausing for a second to think. "I don't even know why I decided to stay back. I planned to sit in the classroom on my phone or something", she continued.
"Well instead of just sitting here, why don't we go to Miss Ope's office? Just to look for whatever we can find, to explain her relationship with Aunty", I suggested.
"I guess that's a good idea..she should be inside the hall right now for the meeting, right?"
"I don't even know. But I haven't seen her since I got here".
"Let's just go now. The meeting may not last much longer". She agreed and we made our way to the counsellor's office.
On getting to the door of the office, we heard a woman's cry, making us hurry in. Tricia burst the door open, running in but we were both stopped in our tracks as soon as we saw Aunty, with Miss Ope lying on the floor by her feet.
Aunty looked rather disgusted on seeing Tricia and for some reason, she didn't even look at me at all. It was like I was invincible. Tricia looked to her right hand side and tapped me, calling my attention to the bag of various weapons lying open on the table next to me. It contained firearms of different shapes and sizes. It reminded me of what I had seen in the big room when we went to her house, the horrifying sight replaying in my brain. Tricia glanced down, her eyes resting on a small handgun on top of the others. It was sleek and compact, the kind often tucked away in a police officer's holster. She picked it up and examined the pistol in her hand.
"Just put it down and get out of here" Miss Ope cautioned.
Suddenly, Tricia pointed the handgun at Aunty, shaking to her spine. "Leave her alone" she ordered. Obviously she had never touched a gun before. "Tricia put it down, don't shoot her, please! You girls need to get out of here" Miss Ope warned.
Aunty on the other just looked at Tricia from head to toe and started laughing, "What do you want to do? Shoot me, Rita. You can't. Because you're weak, just like you mother", Aunty managed to say as she laughed at Tricia.
"That's your mistake. Mum was not weak at all" Tricia argued back.
"No. I'm talking about the mother you never got to know. The one that gave birth to you", Aunty answered, cracking her knuckles and walking towards us.
On hearing that, Tricia fell sad and it was clearly written on her face that she was trying so hard not to believe something, "You..you don't know who she is" she muttered with a disagreeing nod, looking confused as ever.
Aunty didn't say anything afterwards. She just took the pistol from Tricia and threw it back into the bag of firearms which she picked up and flung on her back. Then she shot a scornful look at Tricia and left. She literally didn't look at me the whole time, like I wasn't even there. And that may seem like such a tiny detail but it was a really big deal to me.

Miss Ope immediately got up, fixing her clothes and her hair. "You guys need to leave now, I have a meeting to get to" she said to us.
"You really think we'll leave, just like that? Why the hell was Aunty in your office?" I asked her.
"It's not your business and you need to keep your mouth shut about that, okay? No one needs to know" Miss Ope answered, persuading us.
"That's if you can answer our questions. What exactly is your relationship with her and why was she hitting you?" Tricia asked her.
Miss Ope turned to us swiftly, looking very angry. "I don't owe you any explanation whatsoever. I have told you to get out of my office and shut up about this. I'm not going to tell you any more than that. Now leave, don't make me repeat myself!" She ordered us.
"Madam save your agression for someone that it actually scares. We can easily go and tell everyone in that hall what just happened here and you can't do anything about it. Is it detention you want to give us? Because that's all you can do! All of us in this room know that there's more to this than you're letting us know about. And we're not going anywhere till you tell us all you know and help us put her behind bars, once and for all. I don't know what it costs you anyway, why are you trying to protect her?" said Tricia, challenging Miss Ope.
"She has my daughter". Miss Ope paused and informed us.
"Like she kidnapped her?" I asked.
"Like she kidnapped her since she was born. I'm not doing anything to piss Aunty off because I'm not trying to bury my daughter like I did my son"
"Wait, you're saying Aunty took your son from you and killed him. Now she has you daughter as well?" Tricia asked.
"Yes. And that's all you need to know to understand that I will not do anything to get her in trouble because I'm supposed to get my daughter back soon if I just do as she's asked. Now get out. I have to get to the hall". Miss Ope explained, leaving the office and standing by the door. Tricia and I got out and she locked the door and left for the main hall.

"Well that just took a really unexpected turn.." I commented.
But Tricia didn't say anything in reply. She just kept staring into empty space with a blank expression on her face. She seemed lost in her thoughts. I texted my mum and told her I had to get to Kevin's house to discuss something urgent, then Tricia and I left for his house.

......

Kevin, Tricia and I sat on a couch in the balcony, pondering about what Miss Ope had told us. "Well why hasn't she gone to the police?" Kevin asked.
"Because it's Aunty. She could kill even her own daughter in the blink of an eye, talk less of the counsellor's.
"Well this might be exactly what we need. If we could get Miss Ope to report this to the police, together with all we know about Aunty, we might be able to get them to lock her up once and for all" Kevin suggested optimistically. "I don't think we should get the police involved just yet. I mean, there must be a reason why Miss Ope hasn't done that all this while. And who knows, maybe that's what she tried and led to the death of her son. We don't want Aunty killing her daughter as well". I said.
"Oh please, you think Aunty hasn't killed the girl as well? She definitely would if she wanted to, she isn't the type to keep to her word", argued Tricia.
"So what is our next line of action here?"
"We have to speak to Miss Ope. I have a feeling we need to know the rest of the story", Kevin answered.