Two months was all it took me to get my life back. My memories still hurt, but not like before. Physically I was fine, mentally, not quite there and emotionally, I was trying my best. It wasn't easy. Vicky helped me in many ways she could. By cheering me up and comforting me.
Even when she was supposed to be resting enough at night, she would come by my side in the middle of the night when she heard me crying. There were times I used to try my best to cry silently and I must tell you, the worst type of cry is at night when everyone is asleep and you have to control it with your hand over your mouth to not make a sound.
At times I could care less if I was crying loudly because at that moment I wanted to be held and be consoled. But what could I do? Nothing. I just had to take one step at a time because it took time.
"Hey, watch it," a lady snapped as she bumped into me.
"I'm so sorry." I was lost in thought again. I did that once in a while. The mall was kind of filled up with people.
"Oh, yeah?" She sounded pissed and blew a bubble with her chewing gum.
I didn't know how we bumped into one another, but the shopping bag I had with me fell off. Someone must have pushed her so she bumped into me? Or someone pushed me and I bumped into her?
"Tosin?" the gum bust again.
Now, why did that gum remind me of..."Faith?"
"Tosin? That's you?"
"Oh my God, Faith?" I hugged her with happiness. What was she doing in New York? "What are you..."
"Jesus! I can't believe I'm seeing you here. First, let's get a drink." Faith quickly helped me gather my stuff and we happily exited the mall. I must have looked happy seeing her, which was sincere by the way, but deep down I couldn't help but wonder if the gangsters were here in America for vacation.
Is Toyin here?
As we went to a new restaurant that Faith said she loved, which was Vicky's favourite place too, I couldn't help but wonder if they must have seen each other here before or just passed by each other without looking.
After we settled down, we ordered our drinks. Faith had really changed. She was more beautiful. I only saw her 1 month ago and she was looking this great! The only thing that never changed was how she chewed her gum. And I didn't think she was going to change that.
We asked about each other for a while before someone brought our drinks.
"Tell me what you're doing here."
"Chilling baby. On a vacation," she crossed her legs and made a bubble before bursting it.
"With the gangsters?" I whispered.
"Nah, just me."
Oh thank God but I knew I shouldn't believe that easily. They probably knew where I was.
"And what happened to you? You just disappeared like that! You ditched your car and your phone! And wow, you are pregnant."
"Yes, I am," I smiled.
So yeah, I kept the baby because I couldn't bear to add more pain to my life. Vicky especially convinced me about it and she made me believe in God. I changed my perspective of God and finally accepted him. It was hard at first, but I gave in gradually. I was making progress. To my greatest surprise, I discovered I wanted the baby badly. My baby was keeping me alive. I didn't know the gender yet but hopefully, the baby will be a girl. My baby was what was keeping me moving in life.
"You are married?"
"No, not married."
"What of Jeremy?" she winked.
"Bygone. Let's talk about you."
"But first, why did you run away?"
"It was hard, Faith. I couldn't take it anymore."
She nodded. "All right, but that shouldn't give you the right to have ditched Toyin too. She couldn't find you. She was devastated."
"I'm sorry I was selfish. I was scared and I ran away from my life."
"I'm glad to hear you admit you were selfish."
"Tell me everything that happened, Faith?"
Faith sighed, rolled her eyes, checked the time and started. "After the horrible fight," she stared into space like she was recalling it all, "all those that survived came back home before we went back to pack the corpses. We tied them up in white wrappers and informed those that had parents or anyone close to them that we know of. Shit! It was difficult. We were tied up with work. Those with no family relation were buried in the cemetery. Bisola's body was next to Joe's. It was hard to tell what happened. We didn't tell them about the fight. We made things up. I hate lies because, in the long run, I will find myself lost in them.
"Anyway, Kitan gave his parents a letter that Bisola dropped for him to give to her parents. We didn't know what the letter was about, but willingly, Bisola's body was buried next to Joe. None of the bodies were brought to the mansion, but the second house."
"A second house? The forbidden one?"
"No, we didn't know of it either until Jasper directed us there. None of us stepped into the mansion for like a week. The cops got wind of it and some people were arrested. Especially from We Roar Group. Thankfully none of our faces were displayed to the police because they couldn't get us. And Nafisat lost her hearing..."
Oh my God
"But she regained it back. Abbey died, and Toyin was traumatised. Bisola's death shook her and when she heard you ditch your car and that you ran away, she fought us. She said it wasn't true. She blamed Henry and Jasper for it all. She and Jasper aren't together again. They broke up. When she finally realised you weren't coming back, she hated you, I guess. She will suddenly call you names, especially you being ungrateful. Later she stopped saying things and went numb. She is in the hospital. She is diagnosed with PTSD."
"Dang it, I'm an asshole!”
"Sure you are, I was mad at you, but I understand why you did it all. I still think you are a coward."
"I know!" Painfully tears slipped and I quickly wiped them away. I was calling myself all sorts of names I could think of. Bitch. An ingrate. Jerk. Asshole. Coward. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry won't fix it, Tosin. Starting a new life here with your baby is a good thing, but before you give birth, fix the fixable. Motherhood or parenthood won't give you the time. Check on Toyin. She's lost everything. Her lover, her best friends, her parents_ they are alive but she's pushing everyone away_ her mental health too. And I must tell you that all that's going on in that head of hers were the fight, Bisola's death and being betrayed. "
Tears kept threatening to fall tremendously and I gave up trying to wipe them away now and then. I was beginning to care less if people were watching or not.
"How is the group? And Henry?"
"God bless Henry for the suggestion of wearing a mask, who knows I might have my ass in jail for life imprisonment," Faith sighed. Three weeks after the whole thing happened, Henry called us all to a meeting and cut off the organisation. He said it was too much. The death of the members hit him hard. He paid..."
"What did you say Henry did?"
"Cut off the group. Deactivate it. It doesn't exist anymore. Henry and Jasper are affected too. We lost our friends. Part of me wished we never investigated Joe's case, Tosin because none of this would have happened."
"Faith..."
"But I get it, the truth must be revealed and especially for Bisola's sake. Anyway, back to what I was saying, Jasper paid us all off in a huge amount. We all accepted it after Henry insisted we did. We packed our stuff, bade each other goodbye and for the first time in my life, I saw Jasper and Henry cry. We all did. There was a time Henry kept saying he couldn't believe you ran away. We all kinda hated you then. The Scorpion Group is gone, and the staff too were paid off. The only thing I wish I saw before leaving was Henry's face."
"The group is gone."
"So gone, sis. The last time I heard, the mansion was on sale. I guess they are moving back to the state where they are from.
That was a good thing. We never have to see each other again. "Wait, the state? Where do you stay, Faith?"
"Richman's hotel. What about you?"
"At a friend's," I said and told her the address.
"I might check on you before going back."
"Thank you. What of Seun and Rotimi, did they make it?"
"They did. They've travelled out. That's what most of us did immediately. Seun is in Scotland, Rotimi is in Dubai."
"I'm glad they did."
"Sure. But not all are okay mentally. Some of us are still living through the horror. I still have nightmares. Henry had insomnia but I don't know if he still does."
"You still keep in touch with them?"
"Of course!"
"Which hospital is Toyin in?"
"David's specialist hospital. You know that right?"
"Sure.” I didn't know why Toyin was in such a place, was her mental health that bad?
"I have to go, Tosin," Faith stood up.
"Thank you for forgiving me." I hugged her.
"Understanding is important." She smiled and left me standing there looking at her till she was out of sight.