CHAPTER 6

TYRA

"They don't love you! You're deceiving yourself, Tyra!" Tiana said quietly

Already in tears, I couldn't find the words to defend myself. The worst part was that for the first time, I believed her. I stared at the papers and certificates she had thrown before me. The pictures of my real parents and me as a baby were stained in dried blood.

"I have a place you can go to for now. With a friend. It's safer than staying here"

"Y…y…you want me to leave? I don't even understand what's going on…I-" 

For the first time since I had known her, Tiana hugged me, and I held on to every second of it. It made more sense than everything going on around me. I looked at her, shocked, as I pulled away.

"Tell me the truth! What happened to my parents? What happened to me? and why are the people I've been calling my mom and dad ever since I was 8 trying to murder me?" I said to her

Tiana couldn't even look me in the eyes.

"Please. I need to know"

Knock. knock.

I looked to the door and immediately held back my tears. I and Tiana rushed to hide the papers, pictures, and certificates under the rug. I ran to the restroom to hide while Tiana opened the door.

"Yes momma," she said in a slightly raised voice.

"Where's Tyra darling? I've been looking for her all over the place. The butcher is ready. He won't wait for long. The vans are here to carry the body, the owner of the cemetery is waiting, and we still haven't signed the contract yet!"

Silence.

I peeped through the toilet door and saw Tiana looking very uncomfortable. "Mom-"

"Don't say it."

"Must we do this? What if someone finds out?"

"Tiana-" Mom said and held her shoulders "I know it's scary sometimes, but this is how we earned this fortune. We won't get caught. I promise. I also promise that as this isn't the first time it won't be the last. Now that that's settled, you go check the balcony for her and I'll go check the third-floor parlor" With that Mrs. Williams gleefully left the room.

I waited a few seconds before walking out of the bathroom.

"You were in on this, weren't you?" I said at a loss for words.

"You need to leave!" Tiana said ignoring what I just said "I can call a friend to get you out of here. Pack a bag. A small bag. My friends will put you on a flight to Akwa Ibom state or Bayelsa maybe. You'll be safe there."

I stood there in silence. I couldn't move and then I felt heat streaming down my cheeks in tears. I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to be an orphan again: unsafe, unloved, homeless, and in constant pain. I didn't want to leave this life that was full of luxury, companionship, and joy. I didn't want to believe that my apparent mother and father weren't who I thought they were. It felt like the walls were closing in on me and my life was crumbling in front of me. I tried to speak but only tears could express the feelings that I felt. Tiana wrapped me up in a warm hug.

"You can stay here for a while if you're not ready yet. I know this is a lot to take in. I don't think they'll search here. Just try your best to stay hidden and they'll never know. Perks of having a messy room. I'll go and search for you along with Momma, OK?"

I nodded and watched Tiana leave the room, grateful for the first time in my life that I had her. I crawled to the bed and wrapped myself up in blankets like Tiana had said and let my brain lose its grip on sanity. I recalled everything that I had just learned and tried to organize it in my head.

My foster parents killed my real parents. My foster parents have been planning on killing me just like they did my parents. Before they would murder me, they would make me sign a contract leaving all my inheritance from my actual parents to them. Tiana, who I thought hated me doesn't and wants to help me escape but if she does what's going to happen to her?

At that exact moment, Tiana barged in with her right arm covered with its blood. She had been shot.

"I called the police. They're downstairs already and interrogating Momma." She looked scared to her bones. I ran to the bathroom and got a towel to wrap over the wound.

"Thank you," she said as she tried to hide the pain, I knew she was feeling. Suddenly she kept quiet and started to squint her eyes as if trying hard to focus. In the silence, I heard loud footsteps coming up the stairs and straight to the room we were in.

"The policemen," we both said at the same.

A smile spread across my face. They would arrest my mother and father, and I would be fine. It was the perfect solution. I looked at Tiana expecting to see the same relief on her face, but she looked like she had seen a ghost.

"We need to leave right now," Tiana said and began to shove clothes in a bag.

"What do you mean leave? The police getting them is the perfect solution, isn't it?" she wouldn't look at me.

I walked up to her boiling with rage and made sure she looked at me. "7 years! 7 years Tiana! That's how long you've been lying to me, and you still are. Unless you don't want me to open that door right now, tell me what's going on."

Then and there was the first and probably last time I would see her cry.

"I did it!"

"What did you do Tiana? Talk to me!"

"I murdered with them! I hid the bodies with them! I killed pregnant women and their unborn babies with them! If they get them, they're coming for me next!"

BANG! BANG! "Tiana Mofoluke Williams! Open this door right now or we'll do it for you!" A policeman shouted through the door.

On hearing his voice, Tiana began muttering and violently shaking her head. I didn't know what to do, so on impulse I slapped her. Don't judge, it always worked for Sydney, and it seemed to work for Tiana. She snapped back to her senses almost as quickly as she had lost them.

"I'll pack a bag. You unlock the door to the balcony" Tiana said and quickly ran to her wardrobe.

I ran across the room to the huge metal bar doors that locked up the balcony. It brought back good memories, and I caught myself smiling amid all the tension, confusion, and noise from the policemen pounding on my door. I found a nearby lamp, picked it up, and used it to break the padlock that locked the door. I swung the doors open and felt immediately refreshed by the burst of fresh air that came in. I knew this balcony like the back of my palm and had been climbing to sneak from my room to Tiana's room to steal her clothes since when I was little.

"Got it!" Tiana said slinging a small bag over her shoulder as she joined me on the balcony. I looked at the towel I had tied over her wound and it was soaked in blood and dripping all over her arm. I felt nauseous looking at it. "We jump on 1," she said, and I nodded.

"Tiana if you don't open the door we are shooting it down, so I advise you to open it!" a policeman screamed through the door

"It's bulletproof. They can't!" 

"We need to leave," Tiana said nervously

"Tiana, its bulletproof, right? -"

"…" 

"Right?!"

"3!"

"What do you mean three? Is it bulletproof or not?"

"2!"

"Tiana, answer my question this instant." At this point Tiana held my hand, readying me for the jump.

"1!"

We jumped.