The Soles Of Damini Manor

CHAPTER 16: USE THE SOLES, DON'T LET THE SOLES USE YOU

Kola

Kanyin walks in after school and finds Deb and me staring at a pair of purple Nike sneakers. I had come across them when Deb instructed me to grab a mop from a closet. The shoes were hiding in plain sight because Deb had opened the closet doors more times than she can count and has never found them.

"Purple Nike's?...We have to find out who they're for," Kanyin says, joining us at the kitchen counter to gawk at the shoes.

Deb grabs one of the shoes, spinning it upside down as she scours it.

"What are you searching for? One hour in the library, and we'll find the owner," I tell her.

"My Dad said most of his friends cherished sneakers at Dark Sole. He said they would stitch their names to a part of the shoe in case someone found their hiding spot and claimed it as theirs," Deb states in a low voice, still scouring the bottom of the sneaker.

Kanyin pops up from behind her. "Have you tried searching inside?" She asks Deb.

"Good idea," Deb mutters, taking out each of the white laces until she can easily raise the flap of the sneakers. Deb was right, under the flap is a name stitched Angel.

We don't have to say anything. We're all thinking the same thing. The shoes knew we were searching for Angel's sister, and suddenly, they revealed themselves. It's almost like the shoes are trying to help us with this investigation in their own twisted little way.

"These are running shoes," Kanyin points out. "Was Angel any good at sports?" she asks.

"Obviously, during my digital dive, I saw that she used to be a pro volleyball player," Deb mentions nonchalantly.

"She went pro?" Kanyin asks, her tone raised.

Deb nods. "It said she was ready to join the Olympics before quitting to study law. I wonder why she ditched such a promising future for boring old law."

I grab my phone from my pocket, quickly searching for how Angel spent her life. If she was an Ebony, then it meant she was also flashy, Mom is exactly the same.

I skim through articles about her wins until my gaze falls on one particular news headline revolving around her.

"It says she had a child, so she chose to study law instead. She was pregnant," I tell them.

"Oh wow," Kanyin mutters, stunned by the big reveal.

I climb down from my seat, grabbing a water bottle from the cupboards.

"If Angel had a child, they must be around your age because the headline said this happened in 1999. The year Kanyin was born," I predict, taking a gulp of the water.

Deb plants a finger under her chin. "If your theory is correct, then Angel's sister wouldn't return to Lẹ́kò alone, would she? She would definitely be the guardian of Angel's child, right?" she clarifies.

"Not if Angel got married," I say, destroying her theory. "If she had a husband, whether they divorced or not, he should be the legal guardian for the child, not her sister," I explain.

Kanyin shrugs. "Unless he's in jail, but that's a stretch."

"I guess we went round and around in a circle just to be right back where we started," I complain, climbing down from the stool before heading straight for the stairs.