17 INEVITABLE

They say death is inevitable but that's until you loose someone close to you. I'd experienced first hand what loosing a parent felt like but not the way Jay did.

My mom was shot straight to the heart in front of me and she died in my arms. Before she closed her eyes, she smiled at me. That smile, I would never forget it. I didn't think my mom felt much pain before she died but I could only imagine the kind of pain Mr. Jacobs must've felt when his entire body was set ablaze. I don't think there's anything more painful than having fire consume your skin and internal organs while people watched and did nothing to help, instead, they only fueled the fire.

Mr. Jacobs had burned to ash in front of his wife and son. That was one of the worse ways to die.

I eventually didn't get any sleep that night. After Jay had told me what happened to his dad in South Africa, I spent the night crying because I could only imagine how traumatized he was.

"Good morning" I greeted no one in particular after I'd entered the kitchen to find Mrs. Jacobs, Sebastian and Jay preparing breakfast.

"Good morning, dear" Mrs. Jacobs said turning away from the frying pan shortly to give me a smile. "How was your night?" she asked although I was sure she'd seen the huge eye bags and my red puffy eyes.

Without saying anything or even looking up at my face, Jay walked out of the kitchen hastily. I bowed my head and walked to the fridge, "It was fine" I replied to the question Mrs. Jacobs had asked me earlier knowing she and Sebastian had noticed the tension between Jay and I.

"You're sure you're alright?" she turned to me with a concerned look this time around. It was obvious she didn't mean just me but me and Jay but I nodded anyway.

Breakfast was just as awkward as I expected. Knowing Jay, he was the kind of person who liked making conversations while he ate but he was just so determined to finish his food and probably leave the table. He didn't look up or look to his side which made the rest of us to stare at him.

When he finally looked up at us, we immediately adverted our gaze.

"Rachael, Sebastian said you wanted to go and get your clothes?" Mrs. Jacobs asked but it didn't sound like a question. I simply nodded in affirmation. "Are you sure? I can always buy new ones for you. I don't see the need to go back there"

"I have a lot of clothes there. Buying new ones would be a waste of money" I said to Mrs. Jacobs. Jay got up with his plate and left the table without saying anything and that made us to stare at him, or in my case, watch him with the corner of my eyes.

Mrs. Jacobs sighed, "Okay, if you say so then" she continued eating her noodles.

After breakfast, I had a hot bath and a change of clothes. Luckily, Mrs. Jacobs had some clothes that weren't too big for me. They weren't too oversized but they weren't perfectly fitted either.

I left my room to go and find Sebastian afterwards. His room was just down the hall so I entered without knocking.

"Knock before entering" he said as soon as I entered. He was seated on his bed reading a book.

"You've entered my room countless times without knocking" I sat at the edge of his bed and observed the small room that wasn't so different from mine. The only difference was that he had a standing fan instead of a ceiling fan.

"That was before" said Sebastian. "So what's up with you and Jay?" I knew he'd ask that question and luckily, I'd prepared questions of my own.

"Why didn't you tell me Mr. Jacobs is dead?" I asked Sebastian making him to finally look up from his book.

"I just saw you yesterday. It's not something I would just say like that" he defended himself. "And besides, I didn't think I should be the one to tell you"

"But still..." I trailed off. "What about Aisha?, have you heard anything about her?" I was eager to hear anything concerning my best friend. It had been more than two months already since I last saw her and I was worried after what that girl at the mental hospital, Prisca, had told me about helping Aisha.

"No, I haven't heard anything" Sebastian replied.

"How I'm I supposed to reach her?" I asked myself but anyone in the room could hear me. If Aisha was truly somewhere in the North then there was definitely no way of reaching her.

"You can ask her parents for a phone number or something" Sebastian suggested and I knew that might work but I felt that wouldn't be enough. I needed to see her face to face and know for sure that she was alright.

The door swung open, bringing me out of my thoughts. Mrs. Jacobs walked in and said, "If we're going to get your clothes, we better go now 'cause I might be busy later on"

Sebastian and I exchanged looks before nodding and following Mrs. Jacobs out of the room. I didn't feel like going back to that house but Sebastian couldn't possibly get everything alone so I had no other choice but to go. I could've simply let Mrs. Jacobs buy me new clothes but she was already doing too much by letting my brother and I stay with her and on top of that, cater for us. I couldn't let her buy new clothes for me knowing I had a lot clothes at aunt Thelma's house.

But to be totally honest with myself, the clothes weren't the only things I wanted get. There were pictures I left there— pictures of my mom. I had a lot of textbooks and notes I would definitely need when school started in less than two weeks. So, in as much as I didn't want to go back, I had no choice.

__________________

I felt a little relieved knowing Mrs. Jacobs was going with us to aunt Thelma's house because I didn't think aunt Thelma would let us leave with our belongings.

Mrs. Jacobs had trouble finding a parking space when we got to the street because there were some police cars and an ambulance in front of aunt Thelma's house. However, the crowd of people along the street made it even harder to find somewhere to park.

Seeing all these people in front of aunt Thelma's house made me confused. It reminded me of the day Mr. Francis's corpse was found at our school. However, the scene still looked new to me.

After Mrs. Jacobs had parked in the middle of the street, we all got out of the car and I could recognize a few faces as people who lived in the neighborhood.

"Madam, what is happening?" Mrs. Jacobs asked one of the women that stood across the street. Neither of us could go into the house with the police crawling in and out.

"That couple that live there are dead" the chubby woman replied with a scowl. The news shocked me. I'd just seen aunt Thelma the previous day and now she and uncle Harry were dead.

"Oh my God" Mrs. Jacobs mumbled. "What happened?"

"The man shot his wife with a gun and shot himself afterwards" the woman replied. "It happened about an hour ago. They were in a heated argument and the next thing the neighbors heard were gunshots"

I suddenly felt a lump in my throat. The news made me confused and flabbergasted at the same time. Why would uncle Harry shoot his wife? People don't shoot their wives because they are having an argument.

The dead bodies were wrapped up and I watched as they carried them into the ambulance one after the other. I couldn't tell which was aunt Thelma or Uncle Harry but I didn't think any of them deserved to die. Although aunt Thelma had wanted me dead and uncle Harry had scarred me for life, it was hard but, I wished neither of them death.

Like I said, death is inevitable.

Maybe if I'd never come into their lives, they'd still be alive. If I'd never come into their lives, Cynthia and Patricia would've never enrolled at Empire where Cynthia had gotten pregnant. That pregnancy led to both Cynthia and Patricia's death. If I'd never come into their lives, uncle Harry would've never raped me and maybe he and aunt Thelma would've been much more than mere corpse.

Knowing I wasn't in good terms with any of the Akachi family member before they died made me feel bad but it also thought me a lesson: it's important to always be in good terms or at least forgive those who had wronged you, no matter how hard it might be. No one has their life in their hands. Death could come at any moment. This minute you're breathing and the next minute you're not.

Death is inevitable.