SCARRED

Chapter 11

                   STUPID FEAR

As she walked down the street, she began to regret why she had not let Henry walk her out, because if she did, then she wouldn't be walking. She decided to stop feeling so bitter and focus on the fear, channeling it to her steps. Besides, she was very close, her house was already in the line of her sight and she prayed and prayed that the figure standing out there was her sister not her mother. She looked down, trying to comport herself before she got to the gate. The bright blue following her steps caught her attention. Blue was never her colour but Oma was too stubborn to listen. She didn't even like putting nail polish on but Oma was having none of that, as she forced her on the chair and did her toe nails with the help of Precious of course.

   She missed her best friends, she really did. They hardly ever had a fall out, but when they did, it seemed to affect Anna the most. This fall out they had was the worst of all and it made her heart ache at the thought of them not making up.

She looked up just in time to see her sister right in front of her. She was about to let out a sigh of relief when she remembered the urgency with which she had read the message.
"Where were you Anna?" Her sister asked and that earned Kemi a look that made her feel dumb.
"Don't look at me like I'm dumb." She retorted. "You are the dumb one." Anna's confusion had become over the top as her sister spoke. With an eye roll, Kemi continued speaking.
"Oma came over with Precious." Her arms were crossed over her chest as she watched Anna's whole demeanor change, fear immediately written all over her face. "Ma did not see her, I  did and I told her that you were not around." Anna let out a sigh.
"Are you dumb or something Anna? Or you really wish to die? Why didn't you tell Oma our plan and to think that you are one of the smartasses in your class. Just imagine Ma saw her, you know how she feels about lies and boys. You are not supposed to date till you are eighteen yet when you get an opportunity to, you decide to just blow it." Kemi stopped her ranting, a look of disappointment on her face.
"Let's go in." She said with a low voice not giving Anna a glance.
Anna of course wanted to reach out to her but stopped herself. She couldn't be this angry just because Anna didn't tell Oma, there had to be another reason why she vented.

Inside the house, Anna went in search of her mother. She walked to her mom's room, but she was no where in sight. But as she heard the clattering of steel pots, Anna's eyes widened with dread. Ma was in the kitchen cooking. She lingered in the passage way, thinking of a way to sneak past the kitchen and into her room without her mum noticing. Anna loved cooking, she really did it was like her next favorite thing to do after writing and eating and sleeping and some other things but she did love cooking. But she hated when her mother would hover behind her and peer over her shoulders to monitor what Anna what doing. She hated when she was dropping a plate in the kitchen and her mother would walk in and complain about this thing or that thing. She hated when she was doing the dishes or sweeping the kitchen floor and her mother would decide to order her around to do other things in the kitchen. Overall, she hated being in the kitchen with her mother. It was usually a nightmare for her. She walked forward a little, before peeping into the kitchen to see her mother facing the stove away from her. On her tippy toes, she moved as swiftly and sneakily as she could past the kitchen. She was about to start a victory dance in her head when she heard her name.

"Anna?" Her mother's voice rang through the house and Anna wanted to disappear. "Is that you? Are you back." She nodded her head even when her mother couldn't see her. Once again, her ninja skills were put to shame by her mother's sixth sense.
"How is Oma and her mum?" Her shoulder's were now slumped in despair as she found her way into the kitchen, putting on a not so convincing smile to hide her real pain. "Was Precious there?" Her mother was now looking at her. She suddenly felt like her mother had asked that question to taunt her. Maybe her Ma did know about her lie and was trying to emotionally blackmail her into fessing up.
She brushed the stupid thoughts, her mum probably had no idea of what had happened, and she was not going to let some stupid fear make her do something she would regret.
"Your sister doesn't want to help me with the cooking, can you be a dear and help me wash the meat?" Her mother asked ever politely. That was another problem. While her sister would straight up tell her mother that she didn't want to cook, she could not say no to the woman especially when she used her polite words. She begrudgingly went out of the kitchen to drop her bag before strolling back in and heading to the sink where she knew that the dreaded meat awaited her. She hated washing meat, it was too boring unlike when she washed fish. She soaked the meat in water and began cleaning off the many dirty particles from on top of them, the blood that was stuck on them going off as she did so. After the first wash, she threw away the now bloody water through the sink before soaking it again, this time in salt water.