30 Days Together

Chapter 5

Akina could feel Kyle’s absence and she hated it. She hated that he had made her feel emotions she never once felt. Not even when she still had friends back in middle school had she felt this way before.

“Do you know what nurse Harrison told me?” her mum asked once they were in the car. “Do you know? Huh?”

Akina snapped out of her thoughts and turned to look at her. “No I don’t ma’am,” she responded.

Iris rolled her eyes she drove them home or more accurately, the place Akina called a roof over her head. That was all it was, there was no love there. It was just an empty place. It wasn’t home to Akina ever since her dad left.

“She told me I should be feeding you, imagine that?” Iris said coldly. “Don’t I feed you Akina dear?”

Akina was quiet as she tried to find the best answer. She knew it was a trick question and she had to trade carefully if she were to avoid any form of punishment from her mum.

“Yes, you feed me,” she lied instead. She lay her head on the window and watched as they passed street by street.

Iris made a turn and they were now in their street heading towards home. “That’s exactly what I told that nosy nurse of yours.  But do you know what she did? She called your father and told him everything,” she went on. “And now he thinks he can just come back into our life after he left. How unbelievable of him, who does he think he is?”

Akina piped up at the mention of her dad coming back. She really missed him and it had been long since she last talked to him considering her mother had taken away her phone. Though she did send him emails once every week.

“Don’t get that smiley look on your face young lady,” her mum snapped. “He is not coming back unless he plans to take you with him,” she said coldly. “I can’t believe that nurse of yours thought it was in her place to get involved with my family,” she went on ranting.

That was something that Akina would be looking forward to. She couldn’t continue living with her mother and pretending that everything was okay when it wasn’t. “I don’t have any look on my face,” she tried defending herself but even she knew she was smiling like an i***t.

Iris packed the car in the driveway behind a silver Mercedes. Akina knew that car all too way and all she wanted to do was get out and go to him. But she knew she couldn’t get out of the car unless her mum told her.

“Stay here and don’t move.”

“Oh hell no,” her mum opened her door and walked right up to the Mercedes. She knocked roughly on the window and then the door opened.

Akina held her breath as the man she called her father got out of the car. She easily rolled down her window and listened on to what they were saying. Shawn Matthews was a tall dark man with piercing blue-green eyes. He had the build of someone who regularly visited the gym but Akina knew he had never stepped a foot in a gym his entire life.

“What are you doing here Shawn?” she heard her mum ask coldly. “Because the last time I checked, you had decided to leave me with your daughter.”

Her dad stood there silently watching his ex-wife go on a rampage. “I’m not here for you Iris,” he sighed, “I’m here for my daughter because it seems that you are incapable of taking care of her. So where is she?”

“Don’t you dare walk in here and tell me I’m not a good parent, because lord only knows I take care of that girl as best as I can,” her mum stood akimbo as she glared at him.

“That’s not what Beth said,” her dad said.

“That stupid nosy nurse knows nothing of how I raise my child.”

Her dad scoffed, “so now she’s your child huh? What happened to her being my daughter and mine alone?” he asked sarcastically.

Her mum was speechless at his words and a smile tagged at Akina’s mouth. It felt nice to not be the one on the receiving end of their argument even if it was about her.

“That’s not fair,” Iris said sadly. “I gave birth to her you know.”

“Yet you never loved her like she was your own,” her dad replied coldly as his features hardened. “So stop acting like you actually cared about her when we both know you didn’t.”

It seemed like the tension was getting stronger and very palpable. Akina opened her door and got out.

“Dad!”

Both her parents turned around to look at her. Her dad’s face softened at seeing her and her heart felt like it could burst right out of her chest. “Baby girl, how are feeling?” he asked softly as he walked to her.

“Get back in the car,” her mum said before she could respond to him.

Akina stood there contemplating whether to get back in the car or to go to her dad. Was it worth it? The miserable life?

Iris snapped again, “I said get back in the car NOW!” she yelled.

“She’s not going anywhere,” her dad. “Akina come on, we are leaving.”

Akina got her bag from the car and moved closer to her dad. She wanted to be with him and that was all that mattered.

Her mum scoffed, “she’s not going anywhere with you Shawn,” she said. “Go in the house and don’t come out until I tell you to.”

Akina stood next to her dad unmoving. “No,” she finally said, “I want to go with dad.”

“Stop acting like such a brat and do as you are told,” her mum said.

Her dad pushed her behind him, “go and get what you need. Then we are leaving.”

Iris scoffed, “she’s not going anywhere with you. I’m the parent with custody, did you forget that Shawn?” she asked glaring at both of them.

“Not anymore you don’t,” her dad said as he went into his car and handed her some papers. “According to this, I now have legal custody of our daughter and hence she’s coming with me. I have that final say.”

Both Akina and her mum were surprised. Akina quickly recovered and a huge smile broke out on her face. She rushed inside to get her things. She was finally going to be able to genuinely smile after so long.

She threw a few of her clothes and shoes in a duffle bag, grabbed her laptop, her medication and a few other things before she was dashing back downstairs. Taking a deep breath, she opened the front door and stepped into the late evening air. Her parents were stood there glaring at each other and she could feel the tension hanging heavy in the air.

“Fine!” her mum exclaimed. “Take her and I hope to God I never have to see the both of you any time soon.”

Her mum sashayed into the house and slammed the front so hard Akina almost heard the hinges come off.

“C’mon, let’s get you to your new home,” her dad said with a sad smile. He took the duffle bag from her and threw it in the trunk before turning back to her.

They got in the car and drove to Akina’s new home.

“You’re gonna like your new home, I promise,” he said as he threw a glance and they both smiled.

****************

Her new home was nothing like her old one. It was located in a part of town where all the rich owned their homes. The house had high ceilings that gave everything a new depth. The kitchen had a marble countertop with nearly everything made of marble. The living room had leather couches and a huge flat screen TV hang on the wall, a PlayStation and some games that were haphazardly placed on the coffee table. Sure she knew her dad made a decent amount of money as a doctor, but she had no idea it was a lot for him to afford to live in a part of town reserved for those who had enough money they could afford casual vacations to the Bahamas every month.

“Really?” Akina asked her dad stupified.

He shrugged, “what can I say? I still enjoy video games,” he replied with a huge grin. “Let me show you to your new room,” he gestured with his head for Akina to follow and she did.

They took the stairs to the second floor and took a left turn. “You’re gonna love your room,” he beamed.

“I’ll believe that when I actually see it for myself,” she said laughing.

Her dad stopped in front white door and turned to look at her. “Are you ready?”

The huge smile on Akina’s face was all the encouragement that he needed to turn the knob. He slowly opened the door and moved out of the way for her to enter first.

Akina entered the room and she stood there gawking. The room was huge and was painted a baby blue. It had a king sized bed placed right in the middle, a desk with a laptop pushed in the furthest corner next to a huge bay window, a bookcase and two doors which she assumed one was a closet and the other a bathroom.

“What do you think?” Shawn asked sheepishly.

She fully entered the room and opened the two doors. The first one was indeed a bathroom and the other a closet with only hangers. She then walked to the bay window and looked out, the window faced another window whose curtains were drawn. The bookcase was filled with different kinds of books. “I love it,” she finally said. “Especially the books and the widow.”

Her dad released a sigh of relief, “I thought you might appreciate the view and the books,” he said. “You can sit out, sock up some sun and read.”

Akina watched the window as she saw a silhouette of someone moving about in the room. “Who lives next door?”

“I’m sure you’ll meet them soon. Linda is really nice and her boys aren’t that bad, especially the little one,” he answered instead. “Anyway, I’ll leave you to unpack and get familiar with the place. I’ll be downstairs in my office, first door to your right if you need me.”

“Thanks dad. Really, thanks for everything.” She walked up to him and gave him a hug. “I really missed you, you know?”

“I missed you too pumpkin,” he replied and softly kissed her forehead.

They let go and he left her to unpack.

“The Wi-Fi password has already been setup, just thought you should know,” he added as an afterthought.

Tears breamed in Akina’s eyes and she had to force them back down. She unpacked her clothes and hang them. She then searched her school bag for her journal. “Where is it?” she asked no one in particular. She frantically removed everything from her bag, “I know I had it with me at school.”

She searched everywhere before she finally gave up and flopped on her new bed. “I can’t believe I left it.” She sighed frustrated and then remembered she had left it in her locker. She started laughing at how she nearly had a panic attack over not finding it in her bag.

Rolling off the bed, Akina made her way to her desk and turned on the laptop that sat there. She pondered on what do before deciding to search for Kyle online. Akina no social media account and she knew it was going to be hard to find any information about him, but it wasn’t an impossible a task that she couldn’t do it.

She had no idea why she even decided to look up Kyle. It wasn’t like they were friends or anything and she doubted he would still want to talk to her after she had outright called him a no one in front of her mum. She cursed herself for doing that but she knew it was for the best. People like him always ended up leaving her and she wasn’t sure she could handle being left. And so she never got close to anyone. It was a defence mechanism that helped her cope.

Akina found Kyle’s f*******: page and clicked on it. It had a few pictures of Kyle, his friends, some girls who Akina figured were his former girlfriends and some were with Kyle and his friends at Jessica’s party. That much she knew. Jessica always threw parties and everyone who was a someone was invited to them and considering she was dating Wyatt and Kyle was popular; it was no surprise that he would be invited.

She searched his i********: after and it mostly had pictures of him shirtless and smiling at the camera. It made him look so young, adorable and cute. She couldn’t help but gawk at his body. He had a well-toned and tanned body with his six pack out for the world to see. It was no wonder his pictures all had more than 5,000 likes and why he had more than 10,000 followers. He was hot and Akina had to admit that to herself if anything else.

                                                                                 *****************

The next morning, Akina woke up early and took a shower before she made her way downstairs. It had been so long since she had last gotten a proper night’s sleep.

She entered the kitchen where her dad was sat at the island drinking a cup of tea with a newspaper in hand.

“Morning dad,” she said as she took out a cup from the cupboard and poured herself a cup of tea. She couldn’t remember the last time she had tea and not coffee. She sat down and took a sip from her mug.

Shawn looked up from his newspaper and folded it. “Morning pumpkin, how was your night?” he took sip from his mug before placing it back on the counter.

“It was the best sleep I’ve had in a long time,” Akina answered and meant every word she uttered.

“That’s good to hear,” he said. “I’m off to work and I’ll see you in the evening. Here is my card, get whatever you need with it.” He handed her his credit card.

“But I don’t need anything,” Akina protested.

Shawn rolled his eyes, “of course you need something. Just take it.” He placed it in her hand. Make sure you eat something before you head to school, okay?” he gave her a look that conveyed how serious he was.

Akina rolled her eyes, “I will, promise,” she replied with a smile as she made a cross over her heart.

Her dad stood up and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Take care of yourself and be safe.”

Akina watched him as he took his lab coat and then grabbed his car keys from the tray near the front door. “Have a nice time saving lives dad,” she shouted as the door shut.

She finished her tea and looked for a bowl and some cereal. She was going to start taking care of herself and it all started with her eating properly. Checking the time, she realised she didn’t have time to wash her bowl and put it in the sink along with her mug. She quickly rushed to her room, grabbed her bag and then headed off to school.

                                                              *******************

Thankfully Akina was not late and still had time to go to her books and journal. But her journal wasn’t there. She searched where she had put it but it still wasn’t there. She was beginning to panic, that journal had all of her inner darkest secrets and thoughts and she couldn’t imagine it falling into someone’s hands who wasn’t her.

“Hey stranger!”

Akina was startled and she slowly turned around to look at the person. She was surprised to find Kyle standing there smiling at her. She had assumed he wouldn’t want to have anything to do with her. “Hey!”

Kyle slung his hand on her shoulders. “I hope you feel better today because I have a surprise that I’d like to show you.”

“Yeah, I feel better today. Thanks,” she responded truthfully.

Kyle beamed showing his perfectly white teeth. “Great! I’ll meet you at your locker after last period,” he said and then removed his hand from her shoulder. “It will be great, just trust me.”

Trust, that was something that Akina hadn’t been able to do for a long time. She could never trust anyone because they always ended up hurting her. But for whatever reason, she found herself trusting Kyle, though not fully but it was trust nonetheless.

“I hope it’s worth my time.” A grin broke out on her face as she thought of what the surprise might be.

“It definitely will be.” Kyle threw a sly smirk and wink in her direction. “Welcome to the world of Kyle surprises Ms. Matthews.”

She couldn’t quite understand why Kyle wanted to be her friend but she was happy nonetheless. She was so used to being by herself that Kyle’s presence in her life shook the very foundation of her comfort zone.  But it was something that she could get used to.