The Runaways

Chapter 1

                                                                      

Mentally checking to see if she had laid everything she needed to pack o her bed. Clothes, underwear (you would be surprised how many times she had actually forgotten to pack underwear), toiletries, purse, laptop and chargers.

Seeing as she had everything laid down she began to pack the things into her grey small travelling bag. As she was arranging the items into her bag she began to rethink her plan of running away. Which technically, wasn't running away since she was going to stay with her sister? But then again leaving the house without informing her parents would seem like running away.

She shook her head as if to shake away the thought of backing out of her plan. It's not like they would notice, pretty sure they would be happier she had left earlier than planned. With parents like hers, staying in the house was an option anymore. Not even staying three more months till her university opened.

Zara had a father that was too busy with his work to care about his family most times and her mother probably angry from lack of attention from her father always made life miserable for her and her siblings. Living with her parents used to be bearable because, she had her siblings with her. But over the years her sibling gaining independence left the house and Zara being the last born was unfortunately left to deal with their parents.

Over the last year while she wrote her final exams in secondary school, dealing with her mother almost made her lose her mind. She was so happy when she got accepted into a university far, far away from the clutches of her mother's constant nagging, which seemed to increase. Maybe because she realised in a few months I wouldn't be here to deal with her crap.

And dealing with a mostly drunk, nagging mother was not the way Zara planned to enjoy her summer before university. And that was why she decided to "runaway", and staying with her sister in Lagos was definitely better than staying here.

She placed her laptop carefully on top all the stuff she had managed to squeeze into her suitcase. Hoping that it closed was the next battle, sitting on the suitcase she forced all her weight onto the top of the box and struggled with the zip.

After finishing with that task, she checked her watch hoping that she had not wasted time because she had to reach the bus park before 6am. Luckily it was just 5am; she had an hour left before her bus left the park. So she picked her bags and left her room quietly, for once disliking the largeness of her house, she hoped that the noises she would make wouldn't echo unnecessarily.

Feeling like she was in a spy movie, she darted quietly or as quietly as possible that someone dragging a suitcase could move. As she moved to the staircase, she hoped that their house girl had not woken up. Her move from the staircase to the front door went as smoothly as possible.

Unlocking the front door seemed to be the hardest part in leaving the house because turning the key would definitely echo in the very quiet house. Deciding to get it over as quickly as possible, she turned the lock and opened the door as fast as she could, hoping that the rest of the house would sleep heavily through her noisy exit.

It seemed like she had timed her exit from the main house correctly, because she could hear Mohammed's radio crackling as he fetched water to wash the cars. Smiling she opened the gate and left.

She began her long trek to the main entrance of the estate, silently cursing Uber because God forbid they opened a branch in Port-Harcourt which would have saved her the walk. Walking as fast as she could, she hoped that getting a taxi this early would not be hard.

She reached the gate and greeted the security guards on duty. Checking her watch, she saw that it had strangely taken only 20minutes to leave her house and get the road. And it she had thought she had wasted time during her spy time.

Smiling at her good fortune, she hoped luck would be on her side in reaching the park early as she hailed a taxi. As she watched him reverse to her direction she prayed he would be cheap.

As the taxi came to a stop beside her, she bent to window level to begin haggling of price with the driver.

"Good morning, how much to God is Good Park?" she asked as she rebalanced the bag on her shoulder.

"Bring 1000, make we go," the driver replied, but seeing the look on her face her said, "If that one too much, bring 800naira."

Would have priced this man down to 500naira, but seeing that he is the only cab here, let me just go. She decided, opening the door. Saying a quiet prayer as she entered the back seat, because she still didn't trust taxi drivers after what happened to her sister a while ago. But seeing the rosary on the man's car mirror, she relaxed slightly.

By the time mother wakes up, I'll already be on my way to Lagos. With that thought in mind she smiled as the taxi sped through the streets of Port-Harcourt taking her to her freedom. 

A/N

Annnnddd I'm done with my first chapter, hopefully I'll actually complete this book. But then again it's fun to write and I'm enjoying the fact that I get to introduce you guys to the Nigerian world . So hope you enjoy the story..... Please vote and comment!!!!