COMING HOME

Chapter 8

~~I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
                               John 10:11(NKJV)~~

Caleb and her friends were calling her phone. Her hands failed to stay intact to pick any call. She closed her eyes, picked the phone into her slippery hand using her other hand for support then picked.

'Caleb!'

'I'm right behind you babe. I promise you, everything is going to be fine.' He sounded frantic.

'Okay!' She didn't let him talk further before hanging up. She looked up and saw the driver through the rear view mirror staring at her.

Her phone rang again. It was her mother.

'Hi mum.' She tried her best to sound normal. She didn't want her unsteady voice to worry her.

'I heard what happened. Salami just called me.' Salami was her mother's nephew that worked as the Chief Security Officer in her school, a reason for their arriving early at her faculty.

'I'm fine mum.'

'I know that but who was she?'

Tobi's mind roamed, who exactly could she say she was. 'A random woman.'

'Oh really?'

'Yes mum.'

'Then why would she create an unnecessary scene?' Tobi turned to face the window when she heard the question. She didn't have the answer herself.

'Mum, I'll call you after I lodge an official complaint.'

'You won't be doing that. The school already has your official statement of what happened.' Tobi frowned, it was no use protesting. 'They are taking you to the airport, you're coming straight home.'

She should have known, her mother wouldn't waste her time calling to ask her what she wanted. A tear slipped down her cheek and she cleaned it with her palm. Months back, she'd looked forward to going home to get married to someone she thought was the love of her life.

Her shoulders slumped, energy drained from her body, her eyelids were closing and she was feeling the impact of not sleeping the previous night. She rested her head comfortably on the back of the chair and closed her eyes.

When she opened them, she was home in Abuja.

Her sister stood beside her bed making a phone call. She turned and saw her awake. 'Oh, I gotta go. She's awake now. I will, bye.' She faced Tobi fully.

'Hi sweet thing, give me a hug.' She leaned in and hugged her sister.

'Hi, I don't want to bother myself with how I got here.'

Her sister smiled and handed her a glass of water. 'I was in Benin at that time. I came to see aunty Adesuwa and surprise you but I got a call from mum, she wanted me to come home with you. You were dead on your feet. The once or twice you woke up got me really worried.'

'Great, I feel better knowing I was a liability.' She said dryly and sat up.

Tj sighed and sat on the bed. 'Mum is mad, I've never seen her this angry, not even when she lost Mobile contract. What happened?'

Tobi folded her legs and put her arms across them. 'He has a child.' Her sister didn't look surprised.

'I know that but my question is, why would she want to openly harass you?'

'I don't know either. I thought she would rest after a while but she had better plans.' Tobi stared into nothing.

'Daddy is pissed too. The messages on your phone were really scary. How were you able to still go out with all her threats, weren't you scared?'