16
A friend of mom's stopped by to say 'hi'. Mrs Kiliani Beckett and my mom had history from way back.
They used to attend a Fashion Management school in London together. That was when Mom decided to help grandma Amanda to manage Amanda Empire. They've remained friends since then.
Kiliani was black. Her parents originally from Nigeria but they settled in London for business. I admired her easy and outgoing nature. She asked us teenagers about our careers and played a couple of games with us before leaving. She and her family, Mr Beckett and their four boys, lived close to our vacation home and most times they'd stop by for a friendly banter.
Slowly, our vacation drew to a close. Mom had to return to her business, dad too. Me and my friends prepare for the new term ahead and winter threatened to come sooner than usual.
"I say we pay Victoria's family a visit. How's that?" I asked my bestfriend as we walked hand-in -hand down a side walk bordering the busy Californian traffic.
Victoria's funeral was last week Saturday. My friends and some students from school attended. That day was solemn and sullen and the ceremony dragged on as quickly as possible.
Victoria's parents, Mr and Mrs Hatchet and her elder sister, Jasmine were distraught by the loss. Honestly, I was still in shock too.
"Let's go there and after that, remember that movie I told you about?"
"Resident Evil."
"Yeah, that one. We're going to the cinema later. I got us tickets." Shawn squeezed my hand in a pacifying manner.
I broke away from his gaze and focused on walking to Victoria's house with him.
Victoria's parents were not at home when we knocked. It was Jasmine that answered the door.
"Hey, Hazel right?"
I nodded. "That would be me."
She smiled, eyes flickering to my bestfriend. "Shawn?"
Shawn was stunned that she knew our names. "Yes. How-"
"-Victoria had always talked about you, especially Hazel. Come right in." Jasmine held open the door for us to enter the impeccably furnished house.
"Please sit." She offered us two white leather sofas and we occupied them.
"We just came to talk. You know, pay our condolences." I spoke, gauging Jasmine's reaction. Her countenance had fallen, dark clouds replacing her sunny disposition.
Jasmine dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief hastily drawn from somewhere. "Victoria had her flaws, she could be mean, she could be desperate, she loves the spotlight to be on her. Yet, she was my baby sister and I loved her. Victoria didn't deserve to die."
Gemma would beg to differ.
"Victoria used to be my nemesis but I was equally sad." Shawn said.
Jasmine laughed heartily. "That little cockroach had a lot of enemies."
A figure emerged from one of the many doors. Saraphina. Her closest friend, the only of of her friends that stuck around.
"Hazel, Shawn. What are you doing here?" She didn't mean her words to be rude or anything but she was downright surprised.
"We came to check in on the family." I answered
Saraphina's eyes were red and her cheeks and nose also blotched with red. She had been weeping.
"Thanks. I'm sorry, I haven't been much of a human to you and others." Her gaze strayed to Shawn.
"We didn't come here to point out anyone's flaws, Sara." Shawn stated and flashed her a reassuring smile.
"Victoria was scared. Haz, something terrible happened to her."
***
Saraphina took us to Victoria's room. Her pictures were still hanging on the wall, her belongings had not been cleared out yet. I know it would take a lot of courage for the family to do that.
"Hazel, there's something Victoria asked me to tell you."
Shawn stared at me, then at Saraphina. With a shrug, I faced her.
"What's going on."
Saraphina strode to a pink dresser and dug into a drawer, fishing out a tape recorder. "She said you must listen to this."
Shawn grabbed the recorder and looked it over. "What's in it?"
"I have no idea. Vicky gave it to me at that party, few hours before the shooting."
I froze, a sudden thought dropping into my head. "Do you mean-"
"That tape is the reason why Victoria is dead, Hazel. I'm pretty sure whatever is in there was worth Victoria risking her life for."
The whole world around me started spinning as Saraphina dropped those words. Shawn noticed my dizzy state and held me carefully.
"Are you okay?" He made me sit in a chair and watched me carefully.
"Yes, I will be."
💭💭💭
After seeing 'The Resident Evil' at a cinema, the taxi Shawn called left me off at my house and drove him to his.
Blake was lying with legs crossed in the sitting room playing Dancing Line on his tablet. Noticing my arrival, he greeted me with a cheery smile.
"And she arrives! How was your date?"
I narrowed my eyes at him, the sofa dipping as I sat in it. "It was not a date, Blake."
My brother abandoned his phone and peered up at me. "So, what do you call going to the cinema with your love interest?"
Love interest?
"A friendly outing."
He rolled his eyes. "Keep fooling yourself. How did it go?".With the evil glint that made an appearance in his eyes, I had an idea of what he was asking about.
"You dirty-minded freak." I scolded him.
Blake laughed and I hit him with a throw pillow to silence his laughter.
"Is mom back yet?" My gaze trailed to the wall clock. It said 7:50pm.
"Yeah, she should be up in her room. Dad had a board meeting and won't be back till nine."
I sighed. The life of a working-class parent was hard.
Blake picked up his phone again and typed something in it. Remembering the conversation we had last week, I seized his phone.
"Who's she?"
He made a face at me like he was confused. "What do you mean."
What a pretender.
"She."
"Who's she?" He smirked.
"Oh come come on Blake, you know who."
He grinned. "She?"
I hit his arm with my hand. "Stop fooling around."
He laughed and unlocked his phone. Bring up a photo from his Album, he shoved it in my face.
"I'm bringing her home next week Saturday."
I gasped, dramatically pressing my hand to my chest. "Funny, because the only place you bring girls is your bed."
Blake chuckled. "Nice one, sis, nice one."
The 'girl' was quite beautiful, in Blake's standard of beautiful. Fake lashes, fake hair and probably fake boobs. Her face was coated in excessive toxic chemicals.
"Ew." I couldn't help but express my disgust.
"What do you mean by ew?"
I returned his phone. "Everything about her seems fake. Where did you pick this one up, from a human barbie doll trash house?"
Blake cringed at my acidic tone. "Ouch."
"Yes, ouch. Mom and dad are going to be repulsed."
My brother rose and disorganized my hair. "Let me worry about them, Hazy. Just don't try any crazy shit with my girl friend."
"I'm making no such promises." I shook off his hand.
Blake's eyes wandered up to mom who had just come downstairs. Her naturally black hair was tangled in rollers and she was wearing a long black casual gown that reached the floor. The fabric was covered with faint vertical lines.
"Mom." I went over and hugged my mother.
"Hello sweet heart, how was your date?"
I shot Blake a glare. He twiddled his fingers in an annoying manner. "Mom, I only went out with Shawn, as I always do." I stressed the last four words properly.
Mom laughed. "Blake couldn't keep his big mouth shut, huh?"
"Mom." Blake groaned.
"Next time, refrain from tattling." She mocked him and pulled me to a sofa to sit with her.
"What's on the T.V tonight?" She grabbed a remote controller and pressed the power button.
The T.V brought up CNN. News of the war in the Middle East filled our ears.
"Mom, could you change the channel."
She fixed Blake a look. "This is the real world we live in, Blake. Twisted and out of order. There's no running away from the truth."
Blake swallowed any further thoughts because when Mom got philosophical, any attempts to oppose her would be regretted.
It's not like she didn't allow us to express our thoughts. In fact, mom and dad were the best parents ever because they related with us like they related with their friends but in strictness, they didn't compromise.
"What happened to Victoria should serve as a reminder that anything can happen. Just be ready to deal with it." Mom was looking at me now.
I nodded. "Yes, mom."
Dad gracefully made an entrance. "Beautiful people." He addressed us in his fashion.
Mom beamed at him, standing to lay a kiss on his lips. Blake and I smiled knowingly.
"Good evening dad." We chorused.
"How are you both?" Dad loosened his tie and handed his briefcase to mom.
"We're good. Any goodies?" Blake asked.
"You're a grown ass man, Blake. Leave the asking to your sister." Dad sank into the space beside me and played with my hair. "Hey kiddo."
I laughed. "Dad, stop ."
He got distracted when mom showed him some videos on her phone. I used the opportunity and slipped to another sofa.
"Who's up for an eatout tomorrow?" Dad asked.
Blake blinked, looking surprised just as I was. "Are you for real?"
Dad smirked at him. "I'm just kidding. Of course I mean it."
Mom laughed, slightly boxing dad for that sarcastic comment.
"Time and place."
Dad raised a brow at Blake's question. "Spencer's, 6:30p.m. Aren't you coming with us?"
"I'm a grown ass man. I'll drive myself." Blake retorted, getting hit by a throw pillow from mom.
When our family time was over, I jogged up to my room. The tape recorder Saraphina gave me was still in my bag. Undecisive about whether to play the tape or not, I had abandoned my bag on my bed and gone down for dinner.
Now, I was staring at my bag like it were an UFO.
Buzz...Buzz
Fishing out my phone from the pocket of my white windbreaker, I answered my best friend's call.
"Hey." I greeted as carefree as I could.
"Have you played the tape yet or you're playing the coward just standing there and staring at it?"
I laughed. "Rude."
Gazing at my window, I found Shawn waving dramatically at me with a huge grin on his face.
When I let him in, he ruffled my hair and bypassed me to my bed.
We didn't really speak much about what happened during the vacation, the heated moments and all that. It felt like everything had gone back to the way they should be.
Shawn unzipped my bag before I could even move an eyelid.
"Hey!" I screeched, flying across the room and yanking my bag out of his clutch.
Shawn stared. "Are you okay?" He tugged on the strap and I tugged back.
"At least give me a warning before you snoop around my stuff."
"What are you hiding in there? A family of slimy bugs."
Gagging, I hurriedly shoved my bag in his chest. "There, you can have it."
"Women." Shawn muttered, shooting me a look as he took out a half-eaten packet of Oreos.
He stole one and handed the remaining to me. "This is what you're hiding? Haz, you're worse than Allie, I swear."
With a roll of my eyes, I grabbed his nose until he howled in pain.
"Jeez, what demon from hell possessed you?"
"Asmodeus*"
Shawn stared again. "What the hell have you been reading?"
I dug a hand under my pillow and retrieved a book. "Demons and evil spirits."
He started weirdly at me, attempting to snatch the book. I quickly retracted my arm.
"Why the hell are you reading that?"
"Curiosity. Can we go back to playing whatever is in there?"
My best friend made a face at me before regarding the tape recorder.
"Let's do this."
*ASMODEUS: Asmodeus or Ashmedai, also Ashema Deva, is a prince of demons, or in Judeo-Islamic lore the king of the earthly spirits, mostly known from the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit, in which he is the primary antagonist. In the Binsfeld's classification of demons, Asmodeus represents lust
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