Broken | ✓

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: GIVING BACK

                                Jide

I drove as fast as I could, breaking every traffic rules and regulations that existed. Luckily for me it was Nigeria so nobody cared. If I was flagged down, all I had to do was wave a thousand naira note at the officer and I would have been fine. 

I parked my car and rushed out. I met the maid at the entrance and I could tell she had been waiting for me.

"Good evening oga Jide" ( oga: used in place of Mr, mostly by Nigerians) the short fat light skinned maid greeted. I had frequented the house so we had gotten acquainted.

"Where is she?" I waved her greeting off.

"Upstairs, in her room" she replied.

I descended the stairs, taking two stairs at a time.

"Sandra" I knocked.
There was no reply.

"I'm coming in" I alerted her.

She was sitting on the bed, her back against her head board in one of the shirts she had taken from me without asking. Her head was buried in her knees while her hands hugged herself  as she rocked back and forth. I wondered how long she had been doing that.

"Sandra" I called.

She looked up, her eyes were red and puffy, so was her face.

"Jide" she cried.

I moved towards her and wrapped my hands around her, pulling her to my chest as I patted her head.

"Shhhh, it's okay" I hushed.

She leaned into me and wailed, shaking and hiccupping. I tightened my grip around her in an attempt to comfort her. It broke my heart to see her like that. I held her till she became a little bit still.

"What happened?" I asked.

"He had a heart attack two weeks ago and he had been in the hospital since then"

What she said pierced my heart. She had been going through this alone and she had always been there when I needed her, even when I asked her to leave and when she needed a friend I was nowhere to be found.

"God, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I'm so sorry Sandra. I should have checked up on you, called or texted anything than ghosting you like that. I'm so sorry"

"It's okay. It's not like I wanted to talk to you" she sat up.

"I'm so sorry" I apologized.

She looked away.

"Where's your mum and your brother?"

"The hospital, I was about going there when my brother called me to break the news" her voice broke.

"I didn't know what to do, so I just dialed your number" she added.

I rubbed her shoulder.

"I can't believe he's gone Jide" she broke down again.

"Was it this painful when your mother died?"

I nodded.

"I don't want to feel this pain Jide. I don't think I can handle it. Help me not feel this pain, ease this pain" She squeezed my shirt.

" Please Jide" She cupped my face in her hands and pressed her lips to mine.

"Sandra" I pulled away.

Before she would use sex as her way of helping me ease my pain me but what she never understood was there are some voids sex can't fill and there are some wounds sex can't heal as there are some memories sex can't erase, sex could only distract you for few minutes.