Fading Star

26

My whole body was shaking by the time I got back to my hotel room. Everything started to make sense. The exaggerated calm attitude Blessing had, the way she was looking at me. I couldn't believe she would do that to me. Don't just conclude yet, she might have been bluffing. I said to myself. I had to talk to someone. The first person I called was Delilah. I told her what transpired between Blessing and I. She was equally shocked but she advised me not to do anything about it. I thought of telling Richard but I decided against it. He asked me about my meeting with her. I just told him it went well.
Saturday came and I couldn't make it back to abuja. I was so sad. Richard told me he was back home and everything was okay. I called Richie.
"Hey I'm sorry I can't make it. I'll make it up to you I promise." I said to him.
"It's alright mum. Guess what?" he said excitedly. I could tell he wasn't bothered about my absence. It gave me a sinking feeling.
"Uhmm... I can't guess. Tell me" I replied.
"Well there are two things. I passed my SAT and I just received my admission letter from university of southern california" he said happily.
"That's great. I knew you could do it. Congratulations!" I was so happy for him, for us.
"There's something else. Nana said she'd go to prom with me. Can you believe it?"
"Wow Richie that's wonderful. What about her scholarship exam?" I asked surprised. Nana was supposed to be in Lagos because of her scholarship. I was uncomfortable to think that they had the house to themselves all this while.
"She doesn't need to. Her uncle promised to sponsor her. He lives in the US" he replied.
"That's good to know. Congrats to you both. What about your mum? Have you heard from her?" I asked curious to know if Blessing was going to the Graduation dinner.
"Yeah she called me this morning. She's in abuja already. She said she'll be there. I really wish you would be here too" he replied. I sighed. I wanted to leave but there were things that needed my attention. I decided I would stay and finish everything before leaving. Atleast I'll be at the house party.
"Cheer up I'll be back tomorrow morning". I replied.
"Alright. I can't wait to see you. I've gotta go. Bye" he said.
"Bye" I replied.
With that the conversation ended. I hung up. The Saturday was gloomy for me. I missed Richard dearly. And my encounter with Blessing was still disturbing me. I had a terrible feeling that she had something to do with the fire, if not everything.
She said something about the security guard being her friend. I decided to find out more about that. I went to the victim's house where I met his mother and his sister. They were kind to me.
His mother, Mrs Akin told me that Blessing had often visited her late son just before his death, and he seemed troubled after every visit. She also said that Blessing spent on him alot and also gave him a lot of money. I had a feeling Blessing forced him to start the fire and unfortunately he didn't make it out of it. It was sad and unfortunate. I thanked them and left.
I was so mad at Blessing. I thought of every possible way to get back at her but I just decided to let karma get at her. Besides I wasn't sure she was really behind it. I had no proof.
I had a meeting in the evening and by the time I finished it was late in the night. I dialled Richie's number to hear how the prom went. It was switched off. It's 12am already. He must be sleeping, I thought. I decided to call Richard instead. He didn't pick. I called 5 more times. I was getting worried. Many thoughts came to my mind but then I remembered they had a busy day so they must be tired. I texted them both. "Hey I've been trying to reach you. I hope you had fun. Call me as soon as you get this. I miss you" I hit send and hoped they'll call me soon. I fell asleep soon afterwards.
I was woken by a call at 3AM. I didn't check the caller before picking.
"Hello?" I said drowsily.
"Hey baby. Sorry I missed your call"
The person replied. It was Richard.
"Sweetheart where have you been? What happened? I've been worried" I asked.
"I know, I'm sorry. I've been sleeping. I didn't even hear the phone ring. I was thinking of calling you earlier but it skipped my mind" he replied.
"It's okay. How's Richie? I couldn't reach him. Is he okay?" I asked.
"Yeah he is. Though I came home earlier than him and I've been sleeping since I came back I don't know what time he came home. I guess he's asleep" he replied.
"Okay my regards to him. Love you"
"I love you too. Goodnight" he said and hung up.
The next morning I was less busy. I tried to round up everything so I could go back to abuja the next day. On my way back to the hotel I passed by a church. I started thinking. I wasn't really a church-goer. In fact the last time I went to church was for my wedding. I told the driver to park the car. I wondered if it would be weird if I walked in since I wasn't a member. After a little thought I asked him to drive on. Maybe when I go back to abuja we'll start going to church as a family, Richard, Richie and I. It seemed like a nice idea.
On getting to the hotel Richard called me.
"Hey I was just thinking about you. How are you doing?" I asked excitedly.
"Alison, Richie has not been home since last night" he said. His voice was shaky.
"I've been trying to reach him but his number is not going through. I asked his friends but they said the last time they saw him was when he was leaving the prom last night. Has he contacted you?" he said in a rush.
I was confused. Richie always spent the night at home. Where could he be? I wondered.
"No he hasn't. I'm sure he spent the night at home. Maybe he went out this morning. There's no reason to get all worked up. He's an adult he can take care of himself. I'm sure he'll be back soon" I replied calmly.
"He didn't come back since last night I'm sure. His bed is perfectly made. Nobody saw him coming home last night. Alison I'm worried" he said. He sounded disturbed. I had to assure him that Richie would be fine. I found it a bit strange but I didn't see any reason to panic.
"Listen honey, I'll take the next flight back to abuja. I'm sure he'll be back before I arrive. By the way, you should contact Blessing just in case he went to see her. He'll be home soon" I assured him. He relaxed a bit but he still sounded worried. He said he would call Blessing.
When we finished talking I called my P.A to book a flight for me. I had to go back to abuja the next day. Hopefully Richie would be back home before I arrive, I thought.