The Trip

Hidden Truths 1

At another location, somewhere on the street, a young man strolled restlessly down the lane of the street. His occasional clashing of his legs against stones, which made him stagger continuously, attracted the attention of the few people he passed by.

This young man was Samuel. ' Did I really cause my group to fall apart? ' He thought inwardly. As soon as he thought this way, a hint of panic developed within his eyes. He looked extremely crazed at this moment. Thankfully, his eyes were lowered so no one noticed it. If not, they would have taken him for someone who had lost his sanity.

Though his expression wasn't as indifferent as Frank's, he didn't seem to be in a much better position than him. Intense glints occasionally flashed through his eyes, with his facial expression switching repeatedly. He almost looked like someone deranged and the only thing stopping that was his neat appearance.

He was lost in his thought. He couldn't understand how his idea out of a bit of goodwill and more of gaining acknowledgment within his friends' circle led to this. It was supposed to be a situation where everyone gave thumbs up to his idea.

" Why does it end up like this the moment I am involved? " He spoke to himself. Raising his head and staring at the sun, not minding the rays shining into his eyes or the passersby staring at him weirdly.

" Maybe he is right, I am destruction incarnate. My presence causes destruction to everything good." He muttered under his breath. Only he knew who the " he " referred to.

At another place in town, close to Bethel's house, a high class building stood firm on the ground, with a beautifully painted fence and gate surrounding it.

Three big jeeps could be seen within the compound, at the parking lodge of the house, the garage. It was obvious this house belonged to a rich household. Within the building, in one of the big rooms, on a chair laid Cynthia, who had changed into a superb quality house wear.

If the group members were to see her now, they would definitely be shocked as this looked nothing like the Cynthia they knew. No eyeglasses, hair not tied into a bump and she actually wore designer clothes. She was like an identical twin of the girl they knew, same face but different bearings.

She laid on the chair, her head raised up with a pillow supporting it. Her eyes gazing at the rolling fan while deep in thought. Her expression was also pale.

She kept on reminiscing about the incident. ' Was I the cause of it? Maybe if I had kept my mouth shut, it wouldn't have gotten to that. " She thought.

It wasn't that she wasn't aware of her rude character, but that it seemed to be a part of her. She just tended to say things that she didn't really mean out of anger. Having tried many things, she still couldn't get that attitude out of her system. " Sigh..., no matter how much I try to hide and fake it, I still can't change who I am " She muttered in a mosquito voice while staring at the ceiling.

At another location, a girl stood in the front of a tattered-looking building. She stared at it with disdain, not one bit hidden from her expression. This was her house.

Anyone who got to know this would definitely be extremely surprised, as one just couldn't associate a girl well-dressed like her with such an expired-looking apartment.

The worst of the worst was that this wasn't a one-family apartment. It was a face-me-I-face-you apartment, a term Nigerians used for tattered bungalow buildings made in such a way that there are no sitting rooms, only a single room. The peculiarity that brought about its weird name is the way the doors of each single room flat in the building faced themselves in pairs.

Blessing walked into the building whose exit door was wide open. She scurried her way through the buildings and finally stopped at one somewhere in the middle of the doors on the left. She didn't bother knocking and simply pushed the door open with her fist as it didn't even have a door handle. Only her and her parents actually knew that the door was never locked as there was no means to lock it. They simply made it seem like it was locked by jamming it. They weren't all that afraid of thieves as they didn't have anything of quality within the room apart from their clothes and bed.

She walked into the house and was greeted with the sight of two malnourished-looking people eating.

As soon as her eyes set on them, annoyance immediately welled up from within her. She felt a form of anger develop in her core.

The gazes of the two fell on her. One was a middle-aged man, while the other was a middle-aged woman.

Blessing's eyes shifted from them and fell on the meal they were eating. Disgust immediately flashed through her eyes. She didn't even care that they could see it. These two were her parents and from her actions, it was clear that she looked down on them completely.

" Hey dear, you are back " The middle-aged man spoke lovingly, ignoring the apparent disgust in his daughter's eyes. The woman, on the other hand, said nothing, only taking a glance at Blessing before continuing with her meal.

The meal they were eating was a famous Nigerian delicacy called beans which was supported by another cheap delicacy called garri. This delicacy should normally be considered as a good food, as there was hardly any home that didn't cook it frequently. But the problem that brought about Blessing's disgust was the nature of the beans on their plate.

The beans looked so watery that it was obvious that they overwatered them to make sure they would be big enough for the family of three to eat to their fill. She kept on having different thoughts in her head that she completely forgot that her dad had just greeted her, or maybe she didn't, purposefully not answering him.

She left the door open and was about to walk to bed and lie down when a feminine voice sounded " Go and lock that door ". The voice was so authoritative that she immediately returned and locked the door behind her while twisting her expression. She obviously didn't dare to disobey the voice owner.

" Hey, stop dear, don't bully her " Blessing's dad spoke to his wife. The woman in question just shrugged her shoulders and continued with her meal.

" Sorry dear, please come and eat " The middle-aged man spoke to Blessing in a soft tone. " Am not hungry " She yelled and ran to a corner, sat down, placed her glabella on her hands, which rested on her knees, and started sobbing. If any of the friends where here, they would definitely be shocked as the omni-nonchalant blessing was actually crying, definitely laughable.

" Sigh..., since she is not hungry, let me eat then " Blessing's mother spoke sarcastically, while carrying the pot up, purposefully making some noise with the pot.

Blessing, who was sobbing, raised her head and saw her mother carrying the pot that contained the remaining beans. She immediately stood up and ran towards them. She held onto the pot, wanting to snatch it from her mother's hand.

" Are you okay? " Her mother yelled in anger. Her yell caused chills to run down Blessing's spine. Surprisingly, she still didn't let go of the pot.

Her dad, who was beside her, finally intervened, robbing his wife's shoulder.

" Hubby, I don't like the way you are pampering this girl " His wife said to him in annoyance. He just smiled at her and gave her a nod while still patting her shoulders. Knowing she had to give him face, she finally let go of the pot while giving Blessing a warning glare.