Sacred Oaths

EPISODE 28: WHERE TO?

SACRED_OATHS

Author: Samuel Frederick

Episode 28: WHERE TO?

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So far, my life had been ruined: from the moment I got kidnapped, to the moment I was denied access of contacting my family, even till the moment when I lost my dear friend to a cold-blooded death... my life had not been the same since then. Just when I thought it was all over, the big shocker came; I got expelled from school.

Life, to me, happens to be a mystery. I couldn’t cry. I couldn’t shed unnecessary tears anymore. I simply accepted it all as fate. For me, what had happened had happened, and there was no going back. It was simply baseless to cry over temporary plights that life throws at me. Whatever the case may be, I was determined to weather the storm.

Two weeks passed by and I forgot about it. Although it still crossed my mind sometimes that I was basically a school drop-out, I always tried my best to shove it off my thoughts.

During those two weeks, a lot happened in the house. I had gotten used to almost everyone already, and we coped with each other like a family. But something bothered me immensely…

Boma’s odd behavior.

Truthfully, Boma had always been there for me, and he took it upon himself as a full time responsibility to cater for me, but still, he was something different entirely. Since the day I was taken into the house, right from when I started sharing the room with him, he had never slept on the bed with me—not even once. He preferred sleeping on the rug all the time. He never touched me. He never made advances toward me. He never caressed and laid with me, and it gave me a great deal of concern.

I often looked in the mirror, checking myself out to see if I wasn’t attractive enough for him. Was I that bad? I’d always ask myself. Was I out of fashion? I always checked myself out properly. Or was there something he disliked about me? I asked myself times without number, but no answer came forth. I was dying painfully deep down inside. I couldn’t take it anymore!

So, on a certain Thursday afternoon I decided to summon courage and ask him while we were both in his room, having lunch together.

“Boma.” I called, looking at him.

“Yeah?” He responded absent-mindedly, chewing his meat.

“Boma!” I called again, and he turned his head and looked at me this time around.

“Yes?” He answered properly.

“I’d like to ask you something,” I said, tapping the bed absent-mindedly like a frightened child under tension. His eyebrows furrowed as he shot me an awkward look and motioned for me to proceed.

I cleared my throat and summoned extra courage to ease the tension.

“Boma, I know you are a man,” I began, carefully avoiding his soul-piercing eyes, “and I also know that due to your natural masculine features, you are bound to have constant sexual urges and desires for a woman’s touch. It also means that you…”

“Go straight to the point,” he interrupted me. “I don’t have all day.”

I heaved a sigh, took a very deep breath and blew it out, feeling the tension rising again.

“Why don’t you touch me?” I finally let it out, feeling a huge burden being lifted off my shoulders. He looked at me in a weird manner, squinting his eyes as though he didn’t understand my question, so I pushed on.

“Why don’t you lie on the same bed with me? Ever since the day I moved in, you have always preferred sleeping on that rug! You don’t touch me! You don’t make advances toward me! You don't even give me that affection that’s meant to make me feel like a real woman! What’s going on? Am I that bad?” I demanded from the depth of my heart, pouring out my innermost feelings to him.

I waited patiently to hear him speak, eager to hear what he had to say, eager to know what he had in mind. There was a long, awkward silence between us until he finally spoke.

“You won’t understand.”

“I want to know! Make me understand.” I demanded plainly.

He looked me in the eyes and I stared back too, waiting for an answer.

“You won’t understand.” He repeated and, like a mere joke, he stood up from the rug, took out his sleeved shirt from the wardrobe and walked out of the room. He walked out on me.

Boma actually walked out on me!

I lost my appetite and stared into space, feeling my eyes tearing up. I soon felt drops of tears trickling down my cheeks, very slowly. I felt light-headed, and my body vibrated rapidly as my temperature increased too. I wasn’t feeling too good. I needed to clear my head.

I washed my face and went downstairs to see a movie. When I got there, Nancy and Rita were already there, watching a movie as they both smoked and discussed in their usual fashion. I joined them quietly, sitting beside Nancy. With time, I noticed they were both staring at me persistently.

“Fifi, is everything all right?” Nancy asked, yanking me out of my troubling thoughts.

“Yes, everything’s fine!” I faked a smile. “I’m cool.”

“I called you about three times now, but you never heard me until I tapped your hand. What were you thinking about?”

“Nothing, honestly.” I lied. “I’m fine.”

“Hm. Well, if that’s the case, then tell us why your fine eyes come dey red like this?” Rita asked, still not buying my lies and the forced smile on my face. “Your eyes are as red as fresh tomatoes.”

It was obvious that they had noticed how moody I was. I couldn’t deny it anymore, so I had to excuse myself from their presence by going back upstairs and then I locked myself inside the room.

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One hour.

I woke up and realized that one hour had passed when I checked the wall clock. I realized I had fallen asleep while thinking, and just as I expected, I had a throbbing headache to accompany my heavy, reddish eyes.

I looked out the window and noticed that dusk was fast approaching, then I stood up from the bed to ease myself but almost immediately, I heard a knock at the door. I cleaned my face with a towel as quickly as I could before attending to the person at the door.

“Babe wetin dey do you?” Nancy’s voice resonated across the room when I opened the door. “You better no go kill yourself oh.” She added immediately. “I just came to tell you that boss man is around. He said you should change into something nice and meet him outside of the gate.”

“Right now?” I asked.

“No, right later!” She said jokingly. “See your eyes like fresh tomatoes. Poor girl.”

I managed to smile, not knowing what to say to her.

“You better hurry up!” She added with a cute wink as she turned around to leave. “He’s waiting for you.”

Within a short period of time, I had changed into something casual: a cropped white top and black jeans, courtesy of Boma who was responsible for my new clothes since I left home. I glanced at the mirror at first, then I walked back and stood in front of it, carefully gazing at the reflection that stared back at me. Even without make-up, I was certain of my attractiveness to an extent. I wasn’t really that bad. Was I?

When I went downstairs, outside of the compound, there was a small car parked there already. I could sight Boma inside even though the glasses were closed, and he seemed to be alone. I heaved a sigh and went to the car, opened the door and took the passenger seat beside him.

“What took you so long?” He asked, dodging eye contact with me.

“I had a shower, and it delayed me a little bit. I’m sorry.” I apologized as calmly as I could. He didn’t say anything afterwards. He only nodded in response, and right then, an awkward silence ensued between us.

“Nancy said you demanded to see me?” I spoke up, breaking the unbearable silence that was literally driving me nuts.

Boma gave me a sideways glance with a slight smile forming on his lips.

“Yes,” he answered sweetly. “Let me take you somewhere.”