STORMS AND TWISTS

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Clara had already gotten home but that younger brother of hers had refused to show up. She grew worried because he always made it home on any day before her. She began to develop an ominous feeling that something bad had happened to him. It was 7:30p.m and as it appeared, she was the only one at home. Their father was out on official business.

She took her car keys and decided to swing into action. She checked the road that led to the school but he was nowhere to be found. She got to the school and approached the security men on duty.

“Good evening, sirs.” She said in a shivering voice.

“Good afternoon, madam. How may we help you?”

“My younger brother schools here and he’s yet to be home”. She explained but the security men would not hear her out on time.

“For all you could know, he might not have come to school today. Those truants do that often”. One of the men said. The others burst into laughter.

“Hey, my brother doesn’t play truant. I dropped him up and saw him enter the school”.

“No one was left in the school”. They argued but she stood her ground.

“Someone could be in danger. Please just give me this chance.”

The men exchange glances among each other. They seem to have reached a conclusion. One of them was to follow her to search for her brother. The man shrugged and followed Clara. Clara suggested that they should separate to make the search easier.

She walked slowly and looked at everywhere she could lay her eyes on with care. She got to another end of the hallway and made another turn to the further part. To her uttermost shock, she saw Casey in a pool of blood.

“No, this can’t be. It can’t be”. She said and shouted loudly. It attracted the attention of the security guard that accompanied her.

She lay down before his almost lifeless body. She tried to raise him up but that was not effective.

“Don’t do this to me. Please Casey, stay here for me”.

The security guard also came and saw her hands stained with blood. Her white dress also got stained in blood. As it appeared, that didn’t matter to her.

“How did that happen?” The guard said.

“Does it look like I know to you?” She said, comically.

They got Casey rushed to the hospital. He was on intensive care all night and Clara was worried a lot. She kept pacing up and down until the doctor emerged out of the ward. She jumped at him immediately she saw him come out of the ward.

“Doctor, how’s my brother? Is he okay? Is he going to be fine?” he asked, breathing heavily due to tension.

“I wouldn’t say that for now. He has slipped into coma”. The doctor said, hanging the stethoscope back on his neck.”

“Doctor, you are joking right. Tell him to stop his incessant pranks. I will go in there to make put this charade to an end of you don’t”. She said, putting up a nervous smile in her face.

“Unfortunately, it’s not a charade or prank. You really need to rest, Miss ‘Manuel.” The doctor said and went his own way.

She kept crying until the nurses had to force her out because she was disturbing the peace of other patients.

Melissa entered her room immediately she got into the house. No one was in the living room at that time. She locked her door and broke into tears. She had never felt so horrible in her entire life. Casey was dead and it was all her fault.

She always wanted to do things at her will living a wayward and glam life but it went at the expense of Casey’s life. He would have been dead. Carl and the others beat him so bad that it will take a miracle for him to recover.

He warned her but she was adamant. Carl was only being deceptive towards her. Casey knew that all along and he warned her but her response was an act of defiance. Carl and his friends were about to assault her but he came in and fought for her just so that she could escape the trap they set for her.

She watched as they beat him to a pulp. She felt remorse but the deed was already done. Her mind flashed to a lot of things. She remembered Clara. She would be so devastated right now. She felt her pain.

“I’m sorry, Clara. Please can you find it in your heart to forgive me? I know what it feels like to lose a brother”. She said, wailing loudly.

She had been selfish all along. She cared about her life as a celebrity musician than anyone else. She even treated her twin brother as trash and made him less important to the world. She turned her brother’s back against her. She wished she could go back in time and rectify her actions. She was deeply embedded in regret.

“I’m so sorry I know I have made a lot of mistakes and I don’t know how to rectify it. I am in a mess right now, God please help me”. She cried out.

She knew she wasn’t familiar with God but she just had to call him. She was deeply distressed. She couldn’t talk to anyone but she knew her little sister, Julian was in the habit of praying to God every morning or night or whenever she had problems.

She lived in a big house with four siblings and parents but there was no one to talk to. Julian was too young for that, Josiah would tell everyone, she was not close with James their second elder brother, Cody would freak out and hate her more if he heard that.

She was at cross-roads. There was no one to talk with. She was about to tell Carl that she was moving back to New Orleans the next day when she caught him cheating on him. That resulted to the fight. She realized that the girl ran away and his friends came in.

It was all planned. Now she reflected that that it was all planned. Casey was keen on opening her eyes to the truth but she was too blinded to see that.

“I’m sorry, Casey. I’m sorry”.

Carl was glad that he was able to complete his plans. That would leave a reminder for anyone that could consider defying him. He had the school with him and nothing would stop him from dealing with his contenders.

He got to the school the next morning and then he saw everyone gathering at a spot. The janitors were cleaning something off the floor and everybody seemed to be interested. Some were crying and some shook their heads in pity. He could recall that that was the spot where they killed Casey.

He looked at those sobbing. “Pathetic saps”. He thought to himself.

Just then, he saw Jeff and Harry coming towards him.

“Are you aware? Casey is in coma.” Harry said.

Carl dragged them to a corner.

“Do you know that could spell out trouble for us? We have to kill him. By the way, I have to see my uncle in his office”.

“I heard his sister saw him in a pool of blood when she came here for a search. She is presently in your uncle’s office as we speak”. Jeff told them.

They walked on towards the proprietor’s office and then they heard noises when they got to the doorstep of the office.

“Just pray that my brother comes out of coma alive without casualties or else I will sue this school and make sure everything you have goes down the drain, Mr. Proprietor.” She stormed out of the office.

Carl, Jeff and Harry were dazed to see the famous Clara ‘Manuel coming out and she seemed angry. She was the one shouting in the office now. She even called him her brother and that could only mean one thing.

“Clara ‘Manuel is Casey’s sister”. They all chorused together.

“Oh, no. she’s very influential and her dad is so powerful. What have we done?” Carl lamented.

“Yeah, we are doomed.”Jeff said and thunder struck.

“For God’s sake, this is not a rainy morning’. Harry said.

“We can’t kill him now. If we do then we are doomed”. Carl said and thunder struck again.

“I hate silly weather”. Jeff said and they walked on.

...

Melissa was packing her bags. She was going to New Orleans in the afternoon. She reluctantly packed her bags. She was thinking about the horrible scene. The scene might never leave her memories. It remained fresh in her memories and it haunted her.

The more she was hiding her involvement in the incident, the more she was killing herself. Her conscience was guilty and she felt like dying. She looked through the mirror and all she saw was a sad, gloomy face.

Just then, she saw her mother approaching from behind through the mirror. She tried to sober up with a smile but the smile dried off accruing to the fact that there was no reason to show it.

“Melissa dear, you look sad, tell me what’s wrong. You don’t look like you are well.” Mrs. Morris said, taking a closer look at her face.

“Mommy, I’m fine”. She said wryly. A tear trickled from her face.

“You are fine but you are crying tell me what’s wrong. You haven’t eaten since yesterday afternoon. You are leaving today and I want you to be fine”. She said in a caring, motherly tone.

“It’s just that I will miss everyone especially Cody”.

“I thought you and Cody are not like terms”.

“I meant Julian.”

She hugged her mother and then burst into uncontrollable tears.

“It’s going to be fine. Just be good for me, okay”.

“Okay mom”.