Hi babe ,just wanted to check up on you,hope everything is good over there' I spoke with my phone held to my ear with my left hand while signalling Paul to leave the classroom with my other hand.

"Actually things are not good hun,one of the estates in owerri caught fire,it was really horrible. Thankfully there are no casualties but the insurance company is pissing me off .I've tried to be very civil with them but their stupid manager says I'm immature ,really me !do I act like a child?"

" Paul! She's not here ,you can leave now please, I'm on the phone, sorry about that hun ,my moo..I suddenly became aware of myself and coughed.

"Are you okay Mer?"

Of course I am,you were saying something about being immature, KJ do you by any means have a lolipop in your mouth? and an iron  man toy beside you right now? I inquired grinning

"No,um maybe ,OK yes,what has that got to do with anything .That man insulted me and I am not letting him go scot free.".

With that I broke into laughter, my 28 year old fiance carries a toy around in his pocket and eats candy when he's upset,that does scream maturity.

" Mer would you please stop laughing, you're making me feel bad right now"

"I'm sorry it's just that you're quite predictable sometimes ,I think you'll figure everything out .You are a big smart baby.ummm KJ I'd really like to discuss something with you when you get back, it's uh very important."

"Mer is everything okay,are you alright? He questioned concerned
Everything is great, it's just something I need to discuss with with you,sorry I have to go now,bye love you!"

"Good day Mr Joseph ,give me few minutes to get ready,Scott let's go your dad's here."

Thankfully Paul had left the classroom to meet his sister. My mother was so angry at the kids when they thought she was my grandmother that she threatened to bring monsters to the school. The children were scared and it took a lot of convincing to get them to leave the classroom.

Scott on the other hand was not shaken ,my mom left after she had  thrown my class into chaos and promised to call me.

We met Nathan at the school gate and got into his car for him to take us to his house.

My phone rang again and it was Gina this time

'Hello G ,what's up?'

'Oga I said give me my 10naira,is it not my change, I don't want to leave it for you o,if you don't give me my balance I will not get down from this cab oo'

My ears were burning from the way Gina was screaming and I was amused that she was requesting for 10#.It sounded ridiculous but then Gina was a clown

'Hello M ,how far na, oga you be idiot! You wan chop my change ,onye oshi!!!,try nonsense now and I go break the glass of this your carton wey u dey call moto.onye iberibe!!
Mer are you still there,no mind this idiot man wey wan chop my change' I could hear the man hurling insults at Gina who seemed more than comfortable word bantering with him.

' Na your mama be ashawo ,see as you dey like ape,no be your mates dey carry people free?"

You get luck say you give me my change ,nonsense man.Mer are you there? All these taxi drivers can be so cunny ,the other day I was stranded because I had to get 50# to pay one of them and he couldn't even let me go,until I paid the whole thing. I was cooked by the sun because I was looking for money to pay the guy.I vowed that day that I'll never let them eat my money,even if it's 1kobo.'
Nathan was grinning by the time I stared at him,he must have heard Gina,' You are very funny G,biko why did you call?Is everything OK?
Yes oo M biko eh could you please hold on a little wherever you are,Daniel's coming over and I need some alone time with him,also please get me my soap and deodorant on your way back I just discovered mine has finished."

" G seriously where do you want me to go,KJ is not around besides you didn't even give me money to get those things for you."

" Oh please your dad is rich ,tell your mom to give you money joor or else don't even try coming back to this apartment'

With that she ended the call ,very annoying person.

' You could stay for a while after the tutorials, it's going to be Scott and I after all and a little female company wouldn't hurt ,now would it bud?
Nathan said winking to Scott,what was with him and winks anyways
Of course dad,I'd be pleased if miss Meredith were to stay a bit in our house,I can't wait to show her all my toys, and everyone would be so jealous if they found out she hung out with me"

"Ummm I don't think that'd be appropriate, Mr.Joseph I'll see if I can figure out where to go,besides I need to get things at the mall for my friend'
I replied hoping they'd give up

' we could drive you there,if you agree to stay and we'd also drive you home,please stay the house can be very boring sometimes oh and don't be too civil my name is Nathan ,you can still call me Nate."

Okay Mr. Sorry Nathan I'll stay but it's because of the free ride I'm getting'
Scott was more than pleased with the idea he kept winking at me, which was very funny.

When we got to their house I was amazed by the building, it was so similar to KJ's family house one could say it was the same architect that handled the two projects,the water fountain the grasses and flowers it was actually like a replica of My fiance's family home.

I do get why they are bored,that house is too big for two people to live in it.
Nathan offered me a very chilled orange juice and I was so pleased that he did. Once we settled down I began my teaching.

I started with alphabets which Scott pronounced in wrong way all the time,teaching him reminded me of when father used to teach me the same thing. Father knew how to converse in all Igbo dialects and could write well too.

We made a little progress after two hours and I decided to end the class there .Nathan came in to check on us and Scott excused himself immediately. It was as if he wanted me to alone with his father.

"How did it go,is he learning anything yet?Nathan inquired

Yeah I think he is,he is very smart you know,so who did he get that from?

' That'd be his mom ,she is one very smart woman ,she's so creative and intelligent you'd want all your children to have her brain'

I noticed that he used 'is' instead of 'was' which means that Scott's mother is alive. I didn't want to pry so I just shut my mouth and stared at the photograph of Scott as a baby.

"She left me and Scott about a year ago ..he began She started doing drugs,hard drugs and it wasn't safe for Scott anymore. I tried so many times to get her help but she didn't want to be helped .We were supposed to get married that year but we didn't, and after she took a lot of money from our family account I was so broke that I had to come back home with Scott.
My god father and my mom have been helping me out so hopefully by next month I'd be out of every debt."

I was touched with his story and I felt like hugging him,which I couldn't do considering he was not a close friend. I only started talking about Scott's photograph and how he was Nathan's copy. His  eyes and smile could be seen in Scott's.

'I would like you to come with us to see Avenger's infinity war next week,j hope you are a Marvel comic fan'
I love marvel movies and their superheroes and I love science fiction movies in general but my fiance might be around at that time,so I think I'd love to spend time with him, but thanks for the offer' I replied

Oh ! You're engaged, well he is one lucky guy ' he let out slightly disappointed.

"Well Nate, it's time for you to hold up your own part of the deal,let's go get Gina her stuff' I said getting up.
We picked Scott from his room and he tried to get me to stay but failed ,we got to the mall and Nathan paid for everything even though I tried to stop him from paying . Apparently he was paying for my company today.
We left the mall and he dropped me off ,I was actually happy that I had agreed to his proposition. It wouldn't really be bad if I had another friend besides Gina,peter and KJ.I bade them goodbye and they left after scott winked at me.

I headed to the apartment and  I could hear raised voices ,that was  odd was Gina having a fight with Daniel. I never got to find out because my phone rang and strangely it was Jane.
I didn't even know she had my number, she sounded so distressed that I had to leave immediately .I hope it's nothing serious.

'Wetin be your number?' The man in the uniform requested looking very serious

5 ' the cab driver replied before he was waved to move by.I was disappointed with the way the soldiers had joined in on collecting money from cab drivers. It was unfair that those sent to protect the citizens now extorted from them.

I had initially told the cab driver the direction that Jane sent to me and it wasn't long before we got there.
The gatekeeper let me in and strutted to the door of the mansion and rang the bell. I was welcomed by a very sad Jane, she had puffy eyes ,running nose and a red face. She  must have been crying for long.

When she saw me she,threw her hands around me and we just stood there. She was still sobbing while I patted her back and consoled her.

We stood there for a while ,I felt it was better to let her pour out all her emotions through tears before talking to her. When  I felt she was a bit better,I made her tea to calm her nerves and urged her that have a bath.

Thanks so much Mer for coming, I didn't mean to disturb you,I just needed a friend to talk to ' Jane said as she walked to the bathroom.

It's no big deal,you'd have the same for me too,so do you Still want to talk about it? Or should I just pretend that nothing happened. I'm very good at pretending sometimes I said winking at her. The Joseph's have taught me well I thought to myself.
She only laughed and went into bathroom

I decided to look around ,her bedroom was quite large,it reminded me so much of my room back home.
She had pictures of herself hung on the walls,those of her mother and KJ and family portrait. They looked like one happy family ,even the monster looked happy.

There was also a picture of Jane and a girl that looked so much like her. One could actually mistake them as sisters. I decided to get a closer peek and that was when Jane walked in .

'Her name is Juliet,she was my best friend'

Oh! Was ,where is she now ? I inquired not knowing what else to say
She is very sick ,she is in a psychiatric hospital, I went to see her today .Who I saw there was not her. She was so lost and scared ,she didn't even recognize me. But she kept saying the evil man is feeding her. When I tried to reach out to her she grabbed me and almost squeezed me to death. She was screaming of a man feeding her.
I felt so bad after seeing her today,I want to help her but it kills me to know that I cannot'

"That's sad,do you know what caused her madness? Is it a family sickness or something?"

"No,something happened to her and I know what it is ,I just don't know how to tell people, it makes me feel so bad'
Don't worry Jane ,if you are not ready  to tell me ,then don't. I think I actually need to be on my way now,I don't Gina is Okay too'

Can I sleep over at your place? Just for tonight ,I don't want to stay alone Mer."

'Yes sure,you can ,let's go to my place.I hope you can drive'

ANDREW'S POV

Dr Steve how is she?Well I don't want her coherent at all. She's feeding my daughter strange things and I don't want that. Change her medication whatever you have to do but make sure she doesn't make sense.
Get me your brother on the line ,tell him Mr Andrew has a job for him. This time it's a lady,which means he gets to play too'

Andrew please tell them you're with your wife,leave  those calls your making or I'd have to break your cell' Mrs Johnson snapped.

I'm done hun,let's go to bed' I replied slightly grinning

I had to get her away from myself and my family no matter what it cost,I won't let her ruin my life. I wrapped my arm around my wife and slept off.

A/N:danger lurks by the corner