Hard Man

47b

"I want to be alone, Baba."
    — Chioma

"Can you please get in before I sleep off?"
    — MG Damola

"Imagine taking protection from the man who killed your father."
    — The Boss.

Babalola was stunned.

He stared at the fiasco with wide eyes, wondering if Ify was dead, seeing as she hit her head with such deadly force. To his shock, Chioma didn't stop. She straddled Ify's body and continued to hit her. He had never seen her so violent.

When he heard a faint cry from Ify, his body unfroze, and he charged forward, plucking Chioma off her like she weighed nothing. Chioma screamed, kicking and flailing her limbs at Ify.

"You witch!" Chioma spat in Ify's scared face. "Let me teach you a bitter lesson."

Why? It was the biggest question in Babalola's head, but he held Chioma firmly, keeping her away from Ify. Ify slowly sat up, her face bruised and her hand rubbing the back of her head. She rose shakily to her feet.

"Chioma, what did you do—?"

Chioma screamed again and roughly pushed against Babalola so she could tug free of him, but he held on steadfastly, not letting go. "It was you, wasn't it?" Chioma asked. "You were the friend my mom used to monitor me."

Ify's face drained of color, and Babalola felt shock explode through his body. So it was Ify? Not Winnie?

"Speak up!" Chioma growled, angrily pushing against Babalola. He had half a mind to let her go so she could punish Ify the way she deserved. But that would not make her feel better, so he continued to hold her back.

Ify pressed against the door, her gaze on Chioma, an intense look of guilt on her face. They stared at each other for a long moment before Ify shook her head and left the room. As soon as she was gone, Chioma relaxed. She stopped fighting Baba, and she let him lead her to the couch, where she sat down without a fuss.

He stood before her, arms crossed over his chest as he stared down at her. She was crashing, and it was because she hadn't taken time to process her emotions. He didn't know if a therapist would help, but he needed her to give herself space and feel everything.

She rose to her feet again. "Let's go back to your house."

Babalola frowned. He didn't like the term 'your house,' but this wasn't the best time to bring it up. Instead, he focused on the relief he felt that they were getting out of this place. He didn't like this house at all.

He led her out of the apartment and closed the door as normally as possible since the lock was broken. Chioma didn't care; she stalked towards the car and entered the passenger seat. Babalola got behind the wheel and backed out of the house as quickly as possible.

Chioma was silent, and it bothered him. She was slumped against the chair, without her seatbelt on, her face turned towards the window. He hated the silence.

"Chioma?"

"Hmm?" She turned to him, and at that moment, he saw the exhaustion on her face.

"How did you know it was Ify?"

She sat up, a thoughtful expression on her face. "You said they closely monitored my relationship with you."

"Yeah."

"And that my phone was tapped."

"Yeah."

"That was how I knew." She shook her head. "Winnie has never had access to my phone. Only Ify. And only Ify knew about us from the beginning. Everything Winnie knows about us are exaggerations, but Ify knew the truth."