CHAPTER 99

After everything I hopped into the DPO's car with Scar.

During the ride the dpo was all smiles without seizing for once his incessant talk about me being a good citizen of the country.

His voice after a while started sounding like the noise mosquitoes made in my ears especially in a hot night. I swear. I almost ran mad from hearing him talk all his gibberish.

If me rolling my eyes till they almost left my socket was not an indication of my inability to listen to him any further then I didn't know what was.

When he finally dropped us off at the junction of my street I could not be any happier I actually jumped for joy.

Scar giggled at this. He muttered something like, "I know how you feel." But hell no he didn't know how I felt.

The DPO THEN WAITED FOR THE POLICE MEN WHO HE HAD BEEN ASSIGNED TO MY HOME TO GET INTO THE CAR.

"Thanks." I muttered to them. They replied but I didn't hear them. I completely zoned out. I really didn't like to hear their voices.

Since Ken had been arrested he told me that they had to report back to the station and I did not object to it. After all they had been of no use to me all this while.

All they did was hang out in the dirty bar adjacent to my compound drinking, gossiping and arguing the whole day. From their dark faces when they entered the car I could tell that they didn't want to go. They wanted to continue lazing about.

After the dpo drove off I could not help but sigh in relief.

Scar and I walked home suffering intense stares from my street occupants "air quotation" that. I was used to their stares anyway I always promised my self to do well in school so that we won't have to live in a street like this anymore, preferably we would stay in an estate where everyone minds their own damn business unlike here where everyone wants to know about everyone and everything.

I was glad that my mother was not like them.

My mother would come out of the house and go straight without greeting anyone on the street to avoid hearing any gossip about our family, especially my father. She was of the opinion that if someone gossips another to you then they will gossip you to another. So she avoids going to stores just to listen to gossip. That and she was always busy trying to make more money.

She did all kinds of small businesses like, selling clothes from one office to another and also network marketing. She barely had time for herself not to talk of listening to street noise. Now, I couldn't be anymore glad about this because the way everyone stared at me as I came down from the police van, ha, I trust that my name would be on everyone's lips.

In my goodness I had assigned positions to some of the notorious street gossips. The three women living opposite my home had their own shops, but won't tend to it, all they did was talk about my family like we were the Kardashians of Nigeria.

So I named them the leaders of the gossipers association 'world wide' key word being 'world wide'.

Mama Aghogho the shop owner of the provision store in the next compound was the indisputable president of this association, note the word indisputable meaning no one could compare to her. She was the alpha and Omega. This woman gossiped even her own family. And she's so old, and she's shrinking already. But her mouth remains ever young.

Then there was Mama Zara, she was the vice president, arguably disputable since I could see upcoming board members (other women who gossip less,but enough to earn them a sport in the organization are board members) trying their best to take her position.

This woman was a street tout sorry to use that word, but I could not describe her in any other way. Her provision store was even empty. I was left to wonder why she still opens it.. Oh I remember.. To gossip!. Her sons were getting worse by the day as her mother figure was really weak.

One of them was just recently arrested last month, I think. It caused a whole lot of fight that day. His mum ended up fighting half the street when the police came to take him away. Still all she does is stay in the shop to talk about other people who were actually living better than she was.

God why won't people learn!

Then there was the third, Mama Rashida. The amiable secretary; every gossip after going around comes back to her shop for documentation as the secretary. She failed not in her duty, she was always punctual and welcoming to gossip.

I disliked her the least!

After all out of all the three evils you had to choose the lesser.

I knew that these three women had definitely held a meeting in their different shops, to talk about my relationship with Scar which was a businesses of theirs. Note the sarcasm.

It was not like I cared any way, It never disturbed me when people talked about me. It actually made me feel important because if I was not they won't spend their precious time talking about me.

I was happy that Scar didn't seem to mind the gossip too.

When we got to my gate we parted ways with a smile. I hoped that I would see him again this night. I really hoped.

Fortunately for me, I came home to find out that my mum left for her usual job hunting in the morning and business in the afternoon, so she came back the same time I did. I even came back a few minutes before her.

My brothers covered up for me and we both agreed to tell my mum that I had been home since morning. The plan would work well if the woman selling downstairs would mind her own damn business.

I made sure to bath immediately I got back home in the evening. I scrubbed every part of my skin with a vengeance like it could wash away everything that had been done to me. I wanted to punish my body for its weakness.

After taking my bath I took a tablet of sleeping pills which my mum used to take sometimes for catarrh. Then I folded myself on the bed and cried myself to sleep as the memories of the day flooded in my mind drowning me in a well of despair.