The Road That Leads To You

“Jaden, Jaden Peters. I will never forget that name.” Miriam looked at me with pitiful eyes. I knew she wanted to comfort me but words were not enough to heal me, to erase the pain I felt inside. “Girl, you have to quit this and move on, he's gone and he's never coming back, you heard him.” Jaden and I were high school sweethearts. It was nothing like the usual damsel in distress and prince charming story. I was tough, strong-headed, bold and confident, no one dared bully me or make fun of me. I was very serious with my studies, I worked harder than most of the students because I was on a fully funded scholarship, if I got distracted I could lose my scholarship. Because of this I didn't want to be in any relationship, I had crushes but it never surpassed that, until Jaden came into my life. He changed everything. Jaden came to my school, St Paul's Anglican School as a transfer student. Everyone avoided him, according to the rumors he has a reputation for violence. I still remember how Miriam and I sneaked into Principal Anna's office so that we could look at his reports and recommendation letters from his former schools. It was bad. He was blacklisted in three out of four schools; he stole, bullied his classmates, organized vandalizations of school properties, beat up teachers and so many other mean things. I always believed that every human has a bit of goodness in them and they just needed a little light to make them see that part of them, but I didn't see Jaden that way. To me, he was lost and irredeemable, so I avoided him like the plague. I chased perfection back then, I thought I was more perfect than everyone else. He didn't fit into my world of perfection so I hated him. What shocked me was how intelligent he was, how tremendously good he was at maths and geography, he was amazing in sports too. “Ketura, I know that he's bad news but can you give the boy a break? You talk about him all the time girl, you hate him, we know so can you please chill?” Miriam said. “Whatever.” I didn't care if I had declared my hate for him a thousand times, I just couldn't stop. Who does he think he is? I thought. He's so full of himself like he's so untouchable, he's not even as handsome as Miriam says he is. See?! See how he flirts with all the girls, he has no class or taste. I was deep in thought when he approached me. “Ketura, right?” I nodded in response, somehow I had lost my voice. “Good, you forgot your test script on your desk,” he said whilst placing my maths test script beside me, “you did good, 80% is not bad at all. You're smarter than you look.” He winked and walked away. Miriam shrieked in excitement, “Tura he spoke to you, oh my God!” “So? What's the big deal?” “What's the big deal? Girl, Jaden walked up to you, he spoke to you and he called you smart.” “I don't need Jaden or anyone to tell me how smart I am. What does he mean by “you're smarter than you look”? Are smart people supposed to look a certain way? He insulted me, Miriam. I hate him more than I did two minutes ago.” A tickly feeling like mild electric shock ran through my body, my cheeks were as red as rose, my heart fluttered. At that moment, I could feel the blood flowing through my veins. I prayed in the deepest part of my heart that Miriam wouldn't notice how hard her friend had fallen. Miriam and I walked from the canteen to the chemistry lab for our final class of the day. Forty five minutes later, the bell rang, signifying the end of the class, everyone packed their bags and walked out of the door. I bade my best friend goodbye and began to walk home. I didn't like going home, my home wasn't a home in any way; mum was the breadwinner, Dad was a drunkard, an abuser and a chronic gambler, grandma had tuberculosis, we lived from hand to mouth. That's why I worked two jobs, so that I could take care of my needs and support my family as well. Everyday after school, I would rush home, freshen up and resume my afternoon shift at Uncle Dee’s Cafe. I worked as a waitress there and my shift lasted for three hours. Once I was done, I'd go to The People's Bank. I worked as a cleaner. I only needed to clean for two hours and I'd be done for the day. After work I went home, I did not lay down to sleep or rest, I had school work to do, I would sleep when I was done. That was how my life looked like from Monday to Friday, I was eighteen at the time. “Good afternoon mum.” She didn't respond. I didn't feel bad, I knew her mind had traveled far. My mum was always thinking about everything; where our next meal would come from, how I would go to the University, grandma's expensive but necessary surgery, my father's gambling problem, she thought about everything. Her eyes looked tired most of the time. Most times I thanked the heavens that I am an only child, I always imagined how having siblings in this condition would feel and look like. I'd be miserable, mum would be more miserable. My mum, Vera, was still young, she was thirty five, tall, curvy, attractive, she had a beautiful set of teeth, a captivating smile and a big heart. The hardship she was experiencing couldn't hide her beauty, I got my beauty from my mother. The only thing I didn't inherit from her was her height, I inherited my father's height. My father was a short man. “Mum,” I tapped her gently on her shoulder, “I'm home mum, good afternoon.” “Oh! Hey baby, how are you? How was school today?” “I'm fine mum, school was fine mum. I need to bathe and then head out for work.” “You work too hard baby, you don't have to.” “I don't have to mum, I need to, at least for now until things get better for us.” “Your food is in the kitchen, you can heat it up when you're ready. I'm going to see Father Ezekiel.” Father Ezekiel was the family priest, my mother's best friend and childhood sweetheart. He was the father I wished I had; he taught me how to ride a bicycle, taught me how to read the alphabet, he taught me everything. I walked my mum to the door and shut it behind me. My phone rang, it was an unknown number. I didn't pick it. The number called two more times and on the third ring, I picked. “Em, who's this please?” I asked Silence. “Okay, listen, if you won't say anything why call me? I'm hanging up now.” “Wait.” I paused, I know that voice, is it him? “Jaden? Is this Jaden?” “Yes it is, Ketura.” “How did you get my number?” “Don’t be mad, Miriam gave it to me. I told her I wanted to talk to you.” “I'll kill her when I see her.” He laughed. That was the first time I heard him laugh, it made my heart dance in my chest. “Where do you live?” “Why do you want to talk to me?” “Don't answer my question with a question, Ketura, I asked first.” “I don't care, Jaden. We don't talk at all, I don't like you, you don't like me and -” “I like you, you have an attractive personality. You don't dislike me, Ketura, if you did you'd have hung up.” “Jaden, what do you want to say? I mean, you called for a reason so, what is it?” “Nothing. I just wanted to talk to you.” “What? Why?” “See you tomorrow, Ketura.” He hung up. Why did he want to talk to me? Why didn't Miriam tell me? I had a lot of questions in my head, but I had to go to work. I heated up my food, ate a little and left for work.