The Days After

KNOCK... KNOCK...

Series of raps resonated on the brown wooden door which was painted cream in color. The raps began to sound hurriedly with each passing second, much to the anger of the one who was squeezing himself just against the door.

It was Lekan and he was in his room. But right now, he was not feeling himself. He had the ring which the Lawyer had claimed his father had willed to him seated on top of the envelope, just by his right hand side. He wore a wine sleeveless top, blue and purple spotted socks while having black combat shorts on his lower half.

Lekan looked disheveled, tear lines pasted over his face, revealing hta he had been crying of late. And also revealing that he was not one to care about his hygiene. He had not really been into bathing since the time the lawyer had come down here.

And today, like all the days that had elapsed since then, his Uncle was at the door, knocking. Today, the knocks had come in a bit different and he could not help but know that this time, it would come laced with salt into his wounds.

So after, it had not turned like that but the premonition he had kept on telling him that it would turn out this way. He just only had to wait to see that. However, whether or not that was happening, he did not really care.

He just cared only for his own sanity right now. And at the very moment, his Uncle being in the house was disrupting that. Which was why he had locked himself up. the other factor was that he wanted to fix what the Lawyer had meant by the ring as his inheritance. It just did not add up. And he wanted to make sure there was some sense to what his father had done.

His room was pretty much simple. But yet, it had an exquisite feel to it. He was seating against the door of his bedroom, the one he usually used whenever he returned from the boarding school his father had dumped him into.

To his left hand side was a three layered book cabinet, on which some books had been stacked in there. Mostly science books his father had taken the liberty to stock up in there for him. That also meant that he did not have to look that way. So, for him, the cabinet as more of no-no rather than a sort of mini library for his usage.

Just on top of the cabinet was a mirror, having some fancy signs on the side of it it, revealing that it was also engraved into a wooden hold. To the side of the cabinet, that is, after the door, going to the left was the wardrobe where his clothing where. It was also brown in color and after it was an alcove where a couple of books and bags were, mostly things he did not need again. A sort of dumpsite for himself which was convenient because it was all hidden by the alcove.

There was a wall opposite to them which bounded the alcove and then linked with the other walls of the room. It had a window in the middle of it, the window having a fancy curtain of milk. The milk curtain was parted, revealing the day blind that was behind it, allowing to filter in the light that came into the room. And to the upper corner, just opposite the wardrobe was a bed, large and wide, a Queen sized bed with soft beddings and grey blanket which was squeezed into a ball, just right at the center of the bed with its yellow colored bedspread.

To the opposing wall where there was a window, was his reading table which served as an ironing table when the need arose. It had a plastic chair by the side, the color of it being black, as were the walls in the room. The table was covered by a spotted black and white material over it while an extension of it, to the left hand and closer to the door was where the Iron, a silver white sleek thing, was positioned on, flat on its steel.

There was space between the head of the bed and the wall and also space between the table and the wall as well. The space between the table and the wall was occupied by a laundry basket of green where a couple of used clothes were already piled into. While the space between his bed and the wall was occupied by two black travelling boxes.

"Open this door now, Lekan!" his uncle cried out from outside the door, his rapping beginning to die out now.

" This is the third day that you would do this. You are stressing my life out, you know that, right? You spoilt brat!" The door boomed out under a heavy slam.

'I swear to God , if you dont open this door for me, I am going to break it down. Are you mad or have you lost your senses? Locking yourself up there?" his uncle shouted out, making Lekan shudder out momentarily.

"Just go!" Lekan whispered out, hugging his knees to his body as he buried his head in between his chest and his legs now.

"It is not your fault. It is the fault of your useless parents who allowed you to become as rotten as you are." Uncle Desmond chortled out in mock laughter.

'If only they had listened to me then. Give me this boy, let me train him for them since you both dont fucking have his time, but no, your stupid parents would not allow me to." Desmond shouted again, his words making Lekan grab himself until his fingernails began to dig into the skin of his knees.

"But no..." Desmond blasted out again, not caring what his words were meaning to the boy who was only trying to cope with the mourning of his parents. The same parents he had seen die before his eyes.

"Your stupid"

BANG! Desmond's shoe banged out against the door now.

"...Foolish..."

BANG! Another kick from his shoe rang out against the door.

"...useless..." Desmond cried out once more.

BANG! Another kick from the door resounded against the door.

"Parents would not let me do it. Now, LOOK AT WHERE THEY ARE! DEAD. DEAD, USELESS PEOPLE, LEAVING ME WITH GARBAGE LIKE YOU TO DEAL WITH!" Desmond blasted out without restriction, name calling against the dead parents of Lekan.

Hearing the words made Lekan tremble over, He lifted his head up and bit into his lower quaking and trembling lips, as he tried to force away the tears that were threatening to rain down from his eyes.

"If you did not like them, then why did you accept to be my guardian?" Lekan cried out, tears streaming out of his eyes.

"Not like them? Of course, why would I turn down the money that came with it? Am i mad?" Uncle Desmond replied with a sharp laughter.

"Shit... That is not what I meant." Desmond quickly chirped in, si vocie now mellow as he realized he had said something he should nto have said in the frist place.

"That is not what I meant, okay? Now, get out of that room. If my food gets cold, the food that i cooked for you... If it gets cold, then be rest assured that i would beat the living day lights out of you."

Desmond cleared his throat loudly while Lekan leaned his head against the door, tears running down silently even as he whimpered, still biting his lower lips as he tried to stop the tears from coming out.

"I am going to get the carpenter. You had better come out before I return with the carpenter and get to eat this food that I placed outside here. Or You re done for. You hear me, YOU ARE DONE FOR!" Desmond screamed, banging his fist against the door for the umpteenth time so far.

The sound of the receding shoes of his uncle echoed out into the distance, informing Lekan that eh was gone. but still there was not the desire in him to step out of the room. Not when his confirmation about the whole matter had been true.

He frowned, sucking in air as he looked at his hands now. His fingertips had been dyed in blood already. Blood he had gotten from stabbing into the flesh at his knee cap earlier on.

He looked to the ring which was by his left and sighed out to himself, loudly and sad. Reaching out, his bloodstained fingers grazed against the ring.

And as it did, the whole space about him flickered, the room vanishing only to be replaced by a scene so familiar but yet something he could not place.

And right at the center of the room was a lady in a long gown, cackling as she laughed about like some maniac.

Lekan blinked just as another series of knocks resounded on his door. This time, these knocks were gentler.