CHAPTER 75 - Mutant Identity 2

~Knock knock~

"Coming!"

He heard the lively voice inside the house and easily knew who it belonged to.

After the sound of rapid footsteps approaching, the door knob twisted—as the door was swung open to reveal a young girl.

"Bro Tisane?" She said as her eyes gradually widened.

"Bro Tisane!!"

Tisane braced himself as his sister ran into his arms.

"Hey little sister"

Probably due to being close by to hear her sister's shout, Joyce appeared in the doorway as she also ran forward and hugged Tisane.

"Let him come into the house first" Mrs Elizabeth said with a playful look of annoyance on her face.

"Good evening mom" Tisane greeted with a smile as he walked towards Mrs Elizabeth.

"Good evening son—how was work?" His mother said as they both hugged.

"Fine mom—by the way, thanks for the gifts"

"You're welcome"

The get-together celebration later turned out to be quite festive as Tisane's friends Bayo, Tunde and Ibrahim showed up for the party.

Also other friendly neighbors were also present.

"Hey Bayo sorry for my childish and stupid act the other day"

Tisane apologized to Bayo while they were having their own friendly catching up.

"It's okay Tisane...I was actually the one at fault for the stupid prank that I played on you and Melvina"

Bayo also apologized while scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

Bayo had always been the type of guy that you could describe in two words;

Cool and friendly.

"No it's alright, I understand.....you were just trying to get us together in your own way"

Tisane said with a smile as he warmed up to Bayo.

"And speaking of which—have you guys seen Melvina lately?" Ibrahim asked.

"No—why do you ask?" Tunde replied.

"No I am just saying—after the birthday party, she seemed to have dropped off the radar"

"Yeah that's true" Tunde nodded while holding his chin thoughtfully.

"She went to South Africa to see her parents" Bayo suddenly said after sometime.

"Whoa really?" Ibrahim and Tunde said simultaneously.

"How do you know?" Tisane asked as he stared at Bayo.

"Uh....she called to inform me"

Tisane suddenly had a slight melancholic look in his eyes as he remembered the last time he spoke to Melvina.

How he wished she would call him.

Or maybe he should call her and apologize..... right?

His sad romantic thoughts were soon interrupted by Ibrahim.

"Hey Tisane now that you work at the NPLC, maybe you can put in a good word for me so I can also have a shot at getting employed...what do you say?"

Before Tisane could reply, Tunde interjected.

"Hey I've been working at the NPLC for the past one year and you never asked me to put in a good word"

"Hmph I did but you always gave me the excuse of being too busy"

Ibrahim retorted with slight indignation.

"Uh...I was.....really....."

Tunde stuttered while scratching the back of his head with an apologetic look on his face.

------------------------------

James came into the kitchen to get a pack of can beer from the fridge when he saw Elizabeth preparing cookies.

"Hey honey" he greeted.

"Are those cookies?—I thought you just dished out cookies few minutes ago"

"Those were for the children"

Elizabeth replied with a smile while indicating the cookies before her.

"These are for the adults—baby can you please tell Mrs Wasiu to bring the sliced fruits for dressing?"

"Sure no problem"

James said as he kissed her and proceeded to leave the kitchen when she called him back suddenly;

"Baby please wait—I hope you noticed that your son is back?"

She asked while staring straight into his eyes.

"Yes I noticed" James replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Why do you ask?"

Elizabeth gazed at her husband in exasperation as she blurted out;

"You noticed?—then why haven't you spoken to him?"

"Lizzy you're not the one who will tell me when to speak to my son and besides we have guests tonight—I will speak to him tomorrow morning"

"You do know that he has to go to work in the morning" Elizabeth pressed on.

"So am I—look I will speak to him period"

James said in finality as he walked away with the pack of beer in his hands.

Sigh.

Elizabeth sighed as she wondered when her son and husband would ever get along.

----------------------------

"Hey Tunde I heard that you've been fired—what's up with that?"

Ibrahim asked as he drank his fruit juice.

Since this was a family party, the children and the youths were banned from taking anything alcoholic.

"You've been fired?" Tisane and Bayo asked in surprise as they stared at Tunde.

Tunde turned towards Ibrahim and punched him on the shoulder causing him to spill his drink.

"Hey!"

"Shut up blabbermouth...I've not been fired!"

Tunde yelled at him in annoyance.

"We were just laid off temporarily until the attacks have been taken care of"

Tunde, like Tisane also worked at the NPLC, but as everyone knows, the NPLC has branches all over the country—and it is to one of these branches that Tunde was posted.

"What attacks?" Tisane asked.

"The boko haram terrorists" Bayo said simply.

"Yeah those guys are becoming a real pain in the ass" Ibrahim stated in anger.

"I watched my best friend get shot in the throat as she choked on her own blood"

Tunde said while reminiscing.

"There was nothing I could do to help her as we all ran for fear of being killed by the terrorists"

At this point his eyes glistened with tears as his hands shook as they gripped his cup tightly.

"Hey it's okay man"

Ibrahim comforted as he put his arm across Tunde's shoulders.

"You're not to blame because you would have been killed also if you had tried to help her"

"Yeah the real demons are the boko haram"

Bayo said as he shook his fists in anger.

Tisane watched and listened to all this, while he recalled his conversation with Mr Victor.

'Well then....I guess I've made my decision'

He thought as his eyes narrowed.

'The boko haram insurgents have to be put to an end'

----------------------------

The party lasted into the night, until it eventually came to an end as everyone said their goodbyes and left for their respective homes.

Tisane went into his room as he scanned the place with a strange feeling of familiarity.

His mother had been kind enough to make sure the room was cleaned up nicely but was also thoughtful enough to leave his things the way they were.

He had not been to his room for the past two years but for some reason it felt longer than that.

As he took his bath and dressed up in his pajamas, he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in"

Thinking it was his mother or his sisters, imagine his surprise when he saw.....

"Dad?"

Tisane stared at the figure that came into the room.

"Hey son" James said as he also stared at Tisane.

"How was work?"

"Erm....fine I guess"

"That's good" James nodded as he came closer and sat on the bed.

"Listen son.....you now have a second chance at life....don't blow it"

Uh?

Was that supposed to be a pep talk?

"Over the years you've made a lot of mistakes which we were not proud of—but now with this job of yours I hope you can be able to set a good example for your sisters"

Tisane and his father never really saw eye to eye over the past years.

James wanted a son whom would grow up in his image;

All Tisane wanted was just the liberty of choosing the life he wants to live.

"All I want is for you to be responsible and capable of protecting your family"

James said as he stood up and gazed at Tisane;

"Promise me you won't mess up this time around"

Without actually replying, Tisane nodded while carrying a look of exasperation on his face.

"Good...see you tomorrow" James simply said as he turned and walked out the door.

Tisane just sat there as his body shook in anger.

Not being able to bear it anymore, he picked up a book that was on the drawer and forcefully threw it against the wall.

~Bang~

The book shattered in pieces and so did a portion of the wall resulting to a fist sized whole.

Shit.

Tisane stared at the wall in regret as he wondered what he would tell his mother happened to the wall that she recently renovated for him.

************************

At the mutant diagnostic facility....

Jerry walked into the director's office and spoke.

"Sir I want to inform you that I would be leaving the facility in the morning"

"Really?" The director showed surprise on his face.

"Yeah....I just want to thank you for not telling my family about this"

"Sure....your family members were not brought on board at the initial stage of your awakening so I see no reason why they should be informed now"

Jerry was from a dysfunctional polygamous family—and due to this the mutant school never informed his family members about his mutant identity.

All they were told was that he had been given a scholarship for advanced studies in a special institute.