Islanders (Nigerian) #3

Chapter Eighteen

Marcella had gone to school with a little hope of what Azeezat could do. Would she really stop coming?

 
"Marcella!" Her father had called out in his firm voice as he saw her pass by the kitchen on her way to school.

 
She paused and took a few steps back and peaked into the kitchen. Her father wore a black suit and had his hair hair tied back in a bun. He dropped his cup of coffee on the counter in the middle of their large kitchen. He was facing her mom who was doing something at the same counter. A few uniformed maids moved around the kitchen.

 
Their kitchen was large enough to fit in thirty people with five feet intervals between them which was still smaller than the modern industrial kitchen at her Great-Grandfathers house that had been honoured with the presence of world famous chefs and their teams.

"Good morning" she said as she walked into the kitchen. Her brother was sitting on a high chair beside her father in his school uniform eating toast.
"Morning" both her parents chorused.

"Tobi, I told you not to do that" her father said firmly as he scolded her brother who had been trying to insert his toast that was likely to have peanut butter spread on it into his tea. He quickly retreated with a big grin as her mom laughed.

"Daddy, call me Marcel" he said. Marcella had named him Marcel when he was born and he corrected everyone, everyone except their great grandfather who had named him tobi.
Marcella ran her hands through his hair as she walked by. He had the same texture of hair like she and her father. He shook her hand off and continued eating his food as she hugged her father who placed a kiss on her head and then her mom.

She had been avoiding him since he left her room on the day of the incident.

"Was there something I was missing?" She asked him within sub "I didn't know what came over me, Dad."

He had asked her what happened but she didn't say anything other than that.

"We will be going over to the house for the remembrance preparation and the annual charity ball and fund raiser" her mother said as Marcella reached for a toast. She didn't enjoy eating very early in the morning and her mother had stopped forcing her to do so since she turned fifteen. She had added it among the things she wanted for the coming year in her birthday request list.

"I need to know that you've heard me, missy" her mother said in a different and more assertive tone. She looked over at her blankly and nodded. She hated this time of the year. The fundraiser was held in honour of her birth mother who she never knew and her mother's family which she hardly remembered that compromised of her grandfather, grandmother and uncle. They had died in a plane crash and her mother had died at birth.

"Make sure you come home immediately, Today" Her mother said emphasizing on the last word as she looked at her husband making her know she was in for it. They all looked over to her brother who wasn't paying any attention to them as he nodded his head to whatever beat that came from his headset.

"Tobi told me what you did yesterday" her father said blankly

"I did what I thought was best" she answered blankly. She looked into his eyes because she knew better than to look away.