Shades

Chapter one.

Chapter 1

Mia came back from a party only to see her mum sprawled out on the cold floor  fainted.

She had blood oozing from her nose and her pale neck showed signs of strangulation. Mia was very worried and confused.

They lived in a very secluded neighborhood and no one was anyone’s keeper if you know what I mean.  Today being Tuesday, all the workers had left earlier so there was no one else at home and the taxi she just arrived in had already left.

At eighteen she had a little driving experience, hell she didn’t even have a license yet but logic was the last thing on her mind. She needed to get her mum to a hospital and she needed to do that fast.

Mia breathed a sigh of relief as she banged the passenger seat where she just placed her mum. Goodness! She needed to exercise some more. Her mum was not even heavy yet she was so out of breath. Through all that tumble, her mum did not even stir and she was getting worried. She had a fair idea of who could have possibly done this and she’d deal with that matter when her mum was a better.
She almost threw up when she started the car. She thought she’d die when the car reversed all of a sudden. Calming her nerves, she took a deep breath and stepped on the accelerator. The movement from the driveway to the gate made her more relaxed and confident. She stepped out to open the main gate and  drove out leaving the gate wide open. She drove at a slow pace but at least that was better than sitting at home doing nothing or even worse, calling the Ghana police service.

Mia managed to drive to the main gate of MF Estate where they resided and called for help when she saw the security personnel on duty. The security man quickly took over and drove them to the C and J Hospital where she was attended to at the emergency ward. The man whose name was Mr. Bannerman had to leave back to his post but promised to try and see if could come back. He commended her though for her efforts saying he had never seen a girl as brave as she.
The clock seemed to go at the slowest pace ever and she had been there for only two hours yet she had not heard anything  from the doctors. Mia heard faint whispering in the background and when she snapped out of her reverie she saw a tall boy, man, she didn’t know how to describe him. He looked around her age, maybe a couple of years older and behind him was the cutest little girl she had ever seen.
“Hi.”, he said. “Uhm I need your help. Can  you please take my  little sister to the washroom?  she needs to ease herself, and it’ll be awkward if I take her there myself..

“Uhh sure. ” She said.

“Hello there, my name is Mia, what’s yours?”

“I’m Clara, you’re so pretty you know”.

Mia smiled a little. She really needed this ray of sunshine since today had been nothing but gloomy. She had no idea why she went to that stupid party. Hell, she hated parties but mum had been forcing her to go out more often, to “get a life” and just when she took the advice, look what happened.

“Come on, let’s get you to the washroom. We don’t want you doing it on yourself.”

Mia teased the little one when she snapped out of her reverie.
Grabbing Mia’s hand, Clara scowled, “I’m a big girl now, and I don’t pee on myself any longer.” She said with a proud raise to her chin.

“Hmm, I see. I’m very sorry then big girl.”

Mia had to carry Clara so she could wash her hands at the sink. The girl was one hell of a talkative, and apparently, they were at the hospital because their nanny collapsed and there was no one else at home save her brother who she said was called Peter.
They got to the reception only to see Peter on the phone, and he in turn quickly grabbed his sister by the hand and without so much as a thank you, he quickly took off. The poor one was even denied the right to say goodbye to her new found friend. Mia rolled her eyes. Such a rude man, boy, whatever. This behavior of Ghanaians really put her off sometimes. They were really nice if they wanted something but once they got what they wanted then you were just trash. She was happy she was not a full Ghanaian at least for mum was partly British and for that she was grateful. She could claim British citizenship whenever she felt like because she fortunately looked the part. With huge brown eyes, creamy white skin and curly dark brown hair, no one could disagree.
Doctor Appiah approached as she was about to take her seat thus stopping her from doing so. He said her mum was doing alright and that she had to take things slow and also make sure to watch her pressure.
“On a more serious note Mia, this has gone on for far too long, you need to inform the police. How much longer are you going to listen to mum and not report the situation, or you want her to be beaten to death one of these days?” He quipped.
Mia broke down into uncontrollable sobs, Doctor Appiah was right but the thing was he was too influential for the law to pick her side over him. Her dad was a supreme court judge and those folks were like the custodians of the very law that was supposed to give her mum justice. Her mum had learned to live with the beatings and insult so well that not even the house staff knew what was going on, sometimes even she was kept in the dark as well.
Throwing herself into the doctor’s arms she answered, “Do you think I haven’t tried that? What have I not done? Mum is too damn stubborn for her own good, the only thing left for me to do now is to convince her so we ran away, that’s the only way out.”
Meanwhile in the cafeteria, Peter was receiving an earful from his sister for his disgustingly rude behavior. “Shame on Pete, I’ll let mummy know you didn’t let me say bye to my friend Mia.”
“Quiet Clar, I’m trying to think, besides, I just wanted help in getting you to the washroom, you said thank you after she took you didn’t you?”
“Yes but you must say it too. I won’t see pretty Mia again and it’s all your fault because she’ll be mad at us.” With that the little child began to cry. Peter rolled his eyes. This girl might just kill him one day with her teary puppy eyes since he never knew how to refuse her something when she cried. He got her to finally stop crying when he said they were going to find her friend again. It was shocking how quickly the teary face morphed into a happily giggling one at the news.
As they approached the reception, he saw Mia locked in an embrace with a man who he guessed was a doctor by his dressing. He didn’t know why he felt angry all of a sudden, probably it was because of how young she was and the hug seemed too intimate.
“Let’s get going Clar. As you can see Mia is busy and we will definitely see her some other time alright?”
“Oh but I didn’t even tell her goodbye.” She whined.
“Clar it’s getting late, I need to get you home, you have school tomorrow remember?”
“Alright. Promise we’ll see her another time?”
Peter sighed. His sister was really a handful sometimes. “Yeah I promise.”