Secrets Teens keep

15. Vanessa

She pursed her lips, adjusted her weave and I could tell her poor speech was coming.

“All I do is to…..” I cut her off.

“To provide all the beautiful things we have and give us a better life.” I mimic the words she always repeated when I confronted her of her absence.

Is it so hard to ask for an attentive and caring parent? Not one who cared about appearances on social media. I understood her work was not easy, taking most of her time, still it shouldn’t be hard to know what’s going on in my life, not what I show on social media.

Her smooth makeup free face showed no lines as she frowned, glaring at me.

Ugh, it hurt to look at her cause it was like staring at a mirror. An older version of myself. I prayed everyday that I do not end up to resemble her in character or any other attributes.

“Being rude to me will not be accepted and quit acting like a child.”

Ignoring her, I moved past her to leave the closet only to be stopped by a tight grip on my shoulders.

“See ehn, life is hard. People grow up without parents and they turn out perfect.” Towering over me, she gripped my chin to make me look her in the eye. “You’re my daughter and I expect you to be as strong as me, nothing less.”

“Am I understood?” She added, gripping my chin tighter.

“Understood,” I gritted out.

She grinned satisfied with my response and released her hold on me.

“When I return from my trip, I promise we’ll have more than enough time to spend together, okay?”

“Whatever,” I said and left the closet to grab the things I needed into a small Gucci purse.

She followed and sat down back on my bed, rubbing sleeping June’s belly. She looked at her gold Phillip Patel wrist watch and said, “I have a few minutes to spare so why don’t you gist me. About school, friends, boyfriends?”

I sat at my dresser beside my bed with the intention of ignoring her till she got tired and left, then my ears perked up at what she said.

An open invitation to tell her all about Uncle Dan, since it was the biggest thing bothering me except Laura’s hostile attitude. Do I tell her? Even if I did, what were the chances she’d believe me. She was so unpredictable and the fact that I didn’t know my mom so well to know how she’d react to certain things made it difficult.

“I..”

I paused at the forceful opening of my room door.

“Our flight leaves in an hour, let’s go,” Uncle Dan said to my mom and left the room after sending a sly grin my way and a wink.

My mom got up from the bed and hurried behind him. “I’ll see you in a week, Nessa.”

One week of freedom. A whole week without Dan was like a year of chocolate supply.

The sound of a WhatsApp message made my phone vibrate on my desk and I opened it to find a new message from the group chat, “Killer Girls Vibes” that consisted of me, Mabel, kemi and Laura.

Laura
: Hi bitches! Beach party at 1pm Who’s in?

Mabel
:Yes please! My face has been stuck in books all week.

Kemi
:Me too😩 I'm in but bills on you?

Laura
:Yes kemi, the one and only adaku.