Safe

Twenty One

     Lola was giving Nike the cold shoulder–the coldest shoulder that anyone could give or receive in fact– and she hated it.
She hated that her sister wouldn't look at her when they sat at the table as a family or even speak to her at all. The silent treatment has gone on for days till even their parents noticed something was wrong between them and tried to intervene. Lola had given an excuse about work and being tired and Nike had mumbled something about not having much to talk to her sister about and both parents had got the gist and left them alone.
When Nike couldn't take it anymore, she called Hannah for advice then texted over and over because she wouldn't answer her calls. Turned out her friend was ignoring her too and it made her so miserable that she finally decided to swallow her pride and apologize to her sister so one night after everyone had gone to bed, Nike left her room and tip toed over to her sister's, all the way muttering her apology to herself as if rehearsing would make it easier. As she neared the door, she heard Lola speaking softly as though she was on the phone and she noticed the door was ajar. It was only appropriate  to turn around and wait in her room or knock and make her presence known but she hesitated for a minute, long enough to teeter between the two options.
"I'm so confused." Lola was whispering. "I'm just trying to help."
Nike couldn't hear the response but she heard the anguish in her sister's voice as she spoke and shivered as a fresh wave of guilt washed over her.
"She's just being so foolish. So incredibly foolish. I can't just keep quiet about this, I'd be obstructing justice if I did." She whispered almost harshly and Nike bristled at the word 'foolish'. What did Lola know about her situation? Or about her friend protecting her from harm while she'd been in the middle of nowhere, trying to survive.
Annoyed, she spun on her heel and stomped back to her room not caring if Lola heard her. And she did hear, at least the sound of retreating steps which made her turn around in surprise.
"Lola? Are you okay?" Tobi asked over the phone and she nodded in response before remembering that he couldn't see her.
"Yes, I'm fine. I left my door open." She answered as she stood to close the door.
If Nike had felt guilty enough to apologise before, she was now angry enough to hold on to her grudge forever. She stormed into her room and slammed the door so hard that Lola jumped down the hall.
"She's being such a bitch." Lola said as the door slammed.
There was a sigh from the other end then, "we talked about this. You need to be lenient with her, just talk it out okay."
Lola agreed with a sigh and said goodbye before hanging up and sitting at her desk where work stared back at her. She took one look at it all and went to bed. She had no energy for such things.
•
•
With the world against her, Nike decided it was time to put to good use the ace she'd had underneath her sleeve the whole time and began packing her things up. Her family of course didn't notice anything out of the ordinary so it took them by surprise one morning when she came downstairs, messenger bag slung across her chest, pulling a suitcase behind her. Her parents stopped talking and turned to her in surprise while Lola who'd been on the phone in the kitchen stopped mid sentence, phone wedged between her shoulder and cheek. She looked from her younger sister to her parents and shrugged at the silent questions on their faces as Nike moved towards the door, bags and all.
"Adenike? Where are you going?" Their mother asked, surprise evident in her voice. Nike stopped at the door, turned to look at her audience and casually announced, "I'm moving out."
It was one of those moments when everything stood in uneasy stillness, like the sea before a tempest. Lola's mouth rounded into an 'O' and she unceremoniously hung up the phone while both parents looked at each other then at their second child like she'd lost her mind.
"Excuse me?" Her father scoffed.
This time, Nike actually turned. She leaned back on the arm resting on her suitcase handle and put the other hand on her waist, armed with a poker face so perfect Lola worried she'd been practicing it.
"I said, I'm moving out." She repeated, as if they hadn't understood her the first time and as if the words were of no consequence.
"Why?" Her mother sputtered and Nike shrugged.
"It's time." She said.
"Time for what?" Lola asked still stunned by the direction things were taking.
"Time for me to grow up." Nike answered, sending a very pointed expression at her sister and Lola bristled.
"Nike, what is this behaviour? Will you take such a big step without informing your parents?" Their father asked angrily, haven recovered from the initial surprise.
"I didn't think you were interested in knowing." Nike answered, sounding almost bored.
"What does that even mean!" Her father boomed as he moved towards her, an action that shocked even the attitude out of her. Their father never raised his voice, ever.
"It means I don't want to live here anymore so I'm leaving!"
"Nike! You can't just get up one day, pack your things and leave your parents home! Take that bag upstairs right now!"
Her mother yelled. Nike barely flinched as she was more accustomed to her mother's ire than her father's righteous anger.
"I didn't just wake up and pack my things." She sighed. "I've been thinking about this for a while."
"And we didn't deserve to know?" Lola asked sardonically.
"Did you?" Nike shot back. "You're not even talking to me! Why are you pretending to care!"
"Of course I care!" Lola cried. "Are you crazy! You're my sister!"
"Doesn't look like that from over here." Nike said matter of factly.
Everyone in the room took another moment to look at each other and assess the situation again. Lola was on the verge of tears, their father was surprisingly calm and their mother looked like she wanted to find a good cane and beat the madness out of her.
Nike still stood at the door, prepared to leave. In one hand, she held her car keys ready for when she took the steps out of the door.
"Nike, sit down and let's talk about this." Her father said tenderly hoping he could reason with his daughter who before then had been perfectly behaved.
"There's nothing to talk about daddy." Nike sighed. "Just let me go."
"Why do you want to leave?" He tried again.
"Because no one in this house cares. You put me on medication and forgot me in a corner of this house to gather dust like some antique while you're all going about your lives. You're pretending everything's perfect and that I'm not losing my mind living here with you!"
"We didn't know you felt that way." Kola responded in a near whisper.
"Well now you do." Nike said and moved to leave.
"Wait!" Lola called. "what about your other stuff?"
"I already moved them." She answered then smiled at their surprised faces. "This is what I meant when I said you don't care. You're telling me you didn't notice furniture being moved out of this house?" She asked with a denigrating scoff before walking out the door. They heard the car door slam as she put her things away and Josephine jumped up from her seat, determined to stop her mad daughter if her husband wasn't going to.
"Adenike! Come back here!" She shouted as she rushed outside where she found Nike about to climb into the car. She rushed forward and tried to grab the keys from her daughter who just sighed and held the keys out of her reach. Nike motioned to the security guard to open the door and climbed into the car.
"Go if you want but you won't take the car we bought you. Give me those keys!" Josephine raged at her daughter through the glass. The window rolled down and Nike's bored voice responded, "technically, daddy bought the car. It's in my name anyway so I can do whatever I want."
"Will you at least tell us where you're going?" Her father asked in defeat, clearly not knowing how to respond.
"Maybe when mum has had time to calm down." Then she honked for the gate where the guard stood frozen while he watched the theatrics. The poor man was caught between obeying her and looking to his actual employers for instruction.
"Open the gate." Kola told him.
"Daddy! You can't just let her go!"
He put an arm around his first child and smiled a sad smile.
"She'll come back when she's calm. Maybe everything is just too much for her at the moment. Don't worry okay." He assured as they stood there and watched Nike drive away.