Dad came back home that evening. His dark blue suit was smudged and rumpled and his black shoes brought sand into the house, ruining the rug I tried so hard to sweep. He loosened his tie and he looked like he was run over by a bus.

He smelled of lady perfume. And I swore I saw some lipstick on his face and neck. He smelled of liquor too. But he didn't look drunk either. He never drank. My father may have had some bad habits but he never drank.

"Migwo daddy." I greeted him.
He gave a nod and walked upstairs to his room. I closed the door because I didn't want mosquito to finish me that night.

I walked back to my room. I sat on my bed, I prayed to God silently for my mom. For her to endure all the pain my father caused her. I made myself  more comfortable on the bed as I closed my eyes for a nap. Then I heard a loud bang coming from the direction of my parents room.

I silently prayed to avert the worse, I almost literally flew out of my bed and ran towards the room. Not even knocking, I opened the door, my face went pale as I saw my father with a Dry Gin bottle in his hand. It had some red liquid that resembled blood.

My eyes trailed down and to my sheer horror, my mother was lying on the floor, lifeless, motionless and stiff. The red liquid which I then concluded was blood was flowing like a river from the back of her head. Her eyes were wide open which scared the heavens out of me.

Her pink jalamia was now a deeper shade of red as it soaked up the blood. Her black slipper was in her left palm, maybe she used it to defend herself. The tiles had blood running all over them and the white rug had a new pink colour added to it due to the red liquid.

I held the door frame as the shock was too much to bear. I didn't know if I should start crying or scream till my head blows off. Then my bum landed on the floor creating a loud thud. The sound alerted my father from his state of mind, he turned around and noticed my presence. He looked at the bottle, looked at my mom and then at me.

He came closer, putting his fore finger on his lips, telling me to keep quiet as he brought the bottle closer. I let my instincts take over my body and I ran as fast as I could away from him.

Every time I blinked,  I saw her body. Every step I took increased the emotional pain that was slowly gathering. Every drop of sweat that dropped from my body reminded me of the pool of blood I saw.
Every breath I made increased the hatred and numbness I had for my father.

I ran till I got to the junction of the street. I looked back, I didn't see anybody chasing me. I felt safe for a second but I wished it was more than a second. The night was quiet, no kiosks were open. The street boys were no where to be found, the usual Mallam who sold suya wasn't open either.

It was deadly quiet.

Looking around for where I could rest my legs, I found an old caravan.
It was closed and there were logs of wood at the front so I could sit on it for a while before I could think of what to do.

If anyone had told me that I would lose my mom that night, I would have  cursed the person's generation. The horrid images of her lifeless eyes flashed through my head as fear lingered around me, I felt I was going to die the same way or get consumed by the hate that grew in my soul for my father.

All these feelings I felt at once as hot tears burnt my skin. I was hopeless and there was no one to my aid. I looked upon God at that moment knowing He would be watching me. I prayed for my safety and that was when something buzzed in my pocket.

It was my phone. I forgot I had it in my pocket and the only person I could call that moment was Amanda. I called her and told her all that happened.

Minutes later, I saw a car pulling up at the opposite of where I sat. Someone came out of the car and I knew that figure was Amanda.

I got up and ran to her and she hugged me. I cried on her shoulder, and her thick jacket hugged my face. She guided me to the car. Her father was driving while her mother was at the passenger's seat.

"Thank you ma, Thank you sir." I said with a broken voice "You are welcome dear." Said Mrs. Adepero, Amanda's mom. "I have already called the police. They are on their way right now." I nodded.

By the time we got back home. Dad was no where to be found. Nor did he  leave a single trace of where he went. The Police showed up and brought an ambulance with them.

As the medics wrapped my mom's body in a body bag, it still felt like a dream. A really scary, painful, heart wrenching dream that I tried so hard to wake up from. But u never woke up.

Amanda hugged me throughout that night and I was never going to forget anything that happened.