The mishap

My father had gotten the job that Okan had offered him in his office. He had a high post in the company. After the dinner meeting, their meetings were endless.

They had become closer because of family and business relations.

I received the result of my exams. I did not prepare for my examination months before the actual day though I still revised for it a day before and I miraculously got B's and A's. My mother was disappointed with me for not getting an A star, though she wasn't too upset.

I was decorating the sidewall of my roof when Milo came rushing towards me. She shut the door, leading towards the staircase, behind her and came close to me then said, "Uncle Okan has befouled father's mind. I am despising him right now. Let me catch my breath."

I looked at her in bewilderment and said, "What do you mean?"

She exclaimed, "Uncle Okan explained to Baba that Mama should not drive so far every day to reach her school and so she should teach in her own school. In fact, they should run their own school. You know that mother would never desire to work with or anywhere near father because of his short temper and dominant personality."

I cut her off while she was telling me the details and said, "How do you know all this?"

She replied saying, "When you're living in your own fantasy life, I tend to keep myself aware of what is happening in the real world.

I questioned her, "Where did you hear all that?" She replied saying, "I heard them talking about it in their bedroom. Father said that uncle Okan was ready to donate money to the cause but they decided that they would not take his help, rather they would take a loan from the bank."

Time passed by fast. My parents had bought the land for building the school after facing several financial problems. My mother had multiple arguments with my father. She was reluctant to leave her old job and work with our father. After long considerations and arguments, the final decision was ultimately made by my father.

I had joined a University to pursue fashion designing because of my immense interest in arts and designs. There, I had great friends and teachers. We were like family as we looked out for one another and appreciated each other.

My teacher had installed a new car which was why she had decided that we would entertain ourselves with a car trip. The plan was to go and get a slushie then take the long route to each girl's home so our teacher could drop her. I did not inform my parents of the situation as I knew that they would not mind me going since there were other friends of mine with me. We were treasuring the time we were having by doing karaoke and driving at high speed.

Even though I was horrified by 'speedy rides' I still said nothing since everyone was having an excellent time. Our teacher was driving on an empty, one-way road. She had to rotate our car on a cut but she somehow did not notice it. She did not alarm other drivers by horning and kept on driving. Suddenly, a car at a moderate speed ramped into ours. I did not know what had happened as I had my eyes shut tightly. Our car took several rotations until it had landed upside down. My teacher and friend in the front seat had gotten hurt. I saw them drenched in blood. Miraculously the three girls, including me, sitting in the back seats did not get as injury compared to those sitting in front. People came hurrying towards the car when the accident had taken place. We were assisted and dragged out of the car. All we heard about our teacher and our friend in the front seat was, "They're alive, they're alive! Call an ambulance, hurry! hurry!"

One of us three, backseat friends, was Sarah and her house was close by. Her parents weren't home so we welcomed ourselves in. Then each of us took turns to take a bath so they could wash the dirt and slushie off our body.

We barely got hurt. I had gotten a piece of glass in my index finger. One of my other friends had gotten hurt in her arm whereas the other was hurt in her leg. We were all engulfed in the tides of trauma therefore we sat still and quiet. Once I had taken a shower and cleaned myself. I then called my house landline. My father picked up the call, and I said, "Hello Baba; where is Deniz? I needed to speak with him."

It was challenging for me to fake being cheerful when I felt like mourning. He said, "Deniz is outdoors playing, is it something important?" 

I replied saying, "Yes it is! I need to question him about a school book of mine that he had taken, it is urgent."

Father was silent for a minute and then I heard the voice of my Angel in disguise, Deniz. He said, "Hello Belle! which book do you want?" 

I said, "I need your help! I had a car accident a couple of minutes ago. Don't panic and just listen to me! Don't let our parents know of anything yet. I want you to come and pick me up. If Baba notices me coming home from a taxi then he will be enraged. I need you to pick me up! I'm at Sarah's house. Please help me! it's too distant from home which is why I'm not walking back home."

Deniz was silent for a minute then he responded saying. "Fine, I'll come and pick you up but more importantly, are you hurt?"

I cut him off saying "No-no, not at all! don't worry about me. Just hurry, please!"

On the way back, my brother asked me very little of what had happened as he knew about my personality. He knew that at the time, I wanted to be left alone and not reminded of what had just taken place. When we returned home, I went straight to my room and lay in my bed. My silence made Milo say, "Are you okay?"

She came and rested beside me then said, "Belle, what happened honey?" Did you get into a fight? What happened! Tell me."

After not receiving a reply, she then said, "This is the last time that I am going to ask you about what has happened." I looked at her in pain and started shedding tears. I lay in her lap and wept. She was silent and kept wiping the tears off my face with a tissue.

After a few minutes of constant wailing, I looked at her and said, "I had an accident and I could have died.

She said, "Tell me of every detail! Listen, I'm here for you."

I told her everything that had happened. After telling her about it, I felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulder.

Our conversation was interrupted by Deniz striding into our room. He said, "Listen to her footsteps. Mother is coming to tell you to get dressed. Act normal or else she will know of what has occurred."

Our mother came in and said, "Darlings, get dressed as soon as you can because we are supposed to go to the highlands with uncle Okan. We are already running late because of Belle's school van, but it's alright. Damian told me that the wheels had punctured. It wasn't too troublesome for you to come back, was it?" 

I kept my eyes down to avoid eye contact as I knew that I would never be able to hide my tears if I would look at her directly. She repeated saying," Belle, are you alright?"

I raised my eyes and saw her then started to tear up. I could not let her know of the mishap. I looked at Milo with pleading eyes. My head started to spin and everything seemed blurry. I felt light and feeble. What was happening to me? All I said was," I feel weak."