BROWN SKIN GIRL: Chapter 1 to 10 - Page 10 of 10

?Brown skin girl?

?Chapter Ten

It was dark outside her house, and the night birds were already chirping in excitement. It was late. One could tell by the songs of the owl.

Becky and Trisha were not yet asleep. Becky was still trying to research what the poison on the dart Trisha showed her was. And Trisha… Trisha just couldn’t sleep, she was restlessly walking around in Becky’s room just so that Becky would notice that she’s still angry about earlier and apologize to her.

Becky acted like Trisha wasn’t even there. She wasn’t about to apologize to a 17 year old! What for anyway?
She extracted the liquid out of the dart and into a conical tube. It had color of greenish blue. She raised the apparatus to eye level and studied it for a while, aware of the distractions Trisha was childishly making.

She dropped the tube and freed her hands of the gloves. She began to work on the laptop on the other side of the table.
Trisha looked at her and pouted, standing with her hands akimbo.

Seriously? Couldn’t she apologize for earlier? Was she that proud a fellow? She kept pacing, dragging her soft fluffy slippers heavily on the floor and getting annoyed that it was not making enough noise. She rose a vase and dropped it with a distracting thud, careful not to let it break
Becky looked up from the system at her and she acted ignorant.

“Could you keep it down? I’m working!” She said
“Oh, sorry if I’m disturbing, I can’t help it.” Trisha replied cockily.
“Well, take it to another room!” Becky suggested dragging her attention back to her system.

Trisha sighed
“Why do you have a lab in your bedroom anyway?” She asked
“Cause I’m a detective and this is not my bedroom, my bedroom is next doors”
Trisha furrowed her brows.
“There’s a bed in here!” She reminded
“The bed is for when I need to rest!” Becky answered annoyed
Trisha scoffed. “Such a waste.” She said.
Becky ignored her.
Trisha’s lip formed a thin line.

“I’m still angry at you, you know!” She yelled
“Well, stomp off to your room and stop bothering me!” Becky said not taking her eyes off the system.

“… I’m helping you and its like I’m risking my relationship doing that but you…. You can’t even appreciate that.” Trisha remarked crossing her arms and throwing her weight on the bed.
“Well, I’m so sorry if I’m not used to saying thank you!” Becky said in sarcasm
“You made me break my phone! You should apologize!” Trisha blurted out.

“Pray to your gods thats not true.” Becky warned, still concentrated on the laptop.
Trisha clamped her hand over her mouth.
“Oops”
Becky’s eyes widened in surprise at what she saw in the system. Trisha furrowed her eyes
“What’s wrong?” She asked coming to check out what Becky was reading
“Poison ivy.!” Becky huffed
Trisha looked at the screen
“What’s poison ivy?” She asked ignorantly.
“Dmn! Who are these fools and why the fuck is poison ivy the best to use?” Becky said loudly raking her hands in her hair.
“What’s poison ivy?” Trisha asked again
“These guys are way dangerous than I thought.” Becky said ignoring Trisha a third time.
“What the heck is POISON IVY??” Trisha snapped.

Becky turned her head to look at her, as if just realizing that she was in the room
“Poison ivy is a natural plant,… Its poisonous.” She stated simply
Trisha rose a brow… “And you feel I now understand?” She said referring to the excuse of an explanation she gave.

Becky rolled her eyes
“The poison extracted from the plant is toxic to the human body. It travels quickly through the veins and capillaries specifically. Its speed is high but it works on the body slowly. When the poison gets into the body, one won’t find out immediately because the effects are hidden at first but the burst out at once.

The poison ivy eats up the necessary organs of breath in the body, especially the lungs, giving the victim difficulty to breath. It also comes with an itch. Around the neck and on the face. Red itchy spots disorienting the state of the skin. Poison ivy increases the sugar rate in the victim’s body by 60% leaving its victim prone to diabetes.

The only cure to the poison is the white lotus… A rare flower, hard to find it in summer, the white lotus grows conducively in the winter and sometimes in autumn.” Becky explained breathlessly.

Trisha stared at her wide eyed
“Em… I think I’ll go with the first definition of poison ivy.” She said dumbly and Becky chuckled, going back to the system.

Poison ivy… That was dangerous. What if Trisha hadn’t saved him? He would have suffered a whole lot.
“Dmn sht! That’s what happened to the prime minister’s wife!” She exclaimed after a while.
“Huh?”

“They must have found a way to get the poison ivy to her. Agent Kent said the prime minister’s wife fell Ill two days ago and has the itch.” Becky placed
“So, you’re trying to say that the poison ivy is in her body?” Trisha asked
Becky’s face fell
“Thats what I just said!” She said grimly
“Oh! Right.” Trisha exclaimed scratching her neck.
“Oh no.. Oh no.. Oh no..! How could agent kent be so careless about this! I’ll have to let them know by tomorrow and we’ll have to go in search of the white lotus”.
Trisha’s ears perked up in excitement.
“We? Like me and you?” She asked expectantly
Becky gave her a ‘you’re stupid’ kinda look.

“No. Agent Kent and his crew. They are the ones for the prime minister’s wife.”
“Oh… What happens if they don’t find it?” Trisha asked
“The woman dies!” Becky answered unconcerned.
Trisha frowned
“You’re not concerned? If any of them dies, you don’t care?” Trisha asked
“Of course I care, I’m human! But I care more about my job than their lives.” Becky replied taking an apple from the bowl and biting into it.
“That’s so heartless, Becky!” Trisha blurted out.
Becky turned to her and stared at her for a while.

“Don’t talk to me about hearts. I don’t think I have one. Because every part of my heart was ripped out of me in the past when it looked like the universe was against me and the earth opened its fking mouth to swallow up everyone I ever cared about. I’ve seen deaths a billion times, Trisha… I won’t be concerned because its nothing new. You lost your mom and a part of your heart was lost and may never be replaced.

I lost my family and my friends, people close to me, my fiance…” She paused and placed a hand on her chest. “I kept losing people until nothing was left here.” She recited trying her best to hide the emotions in her voice.

She took her jacket and walked to the door. “Go to bed. Its late!” She said and walked out.
Trisha was shocked. She didn’t expect that. She just lost her mom… That was the only life she had ever lost and Becky… Becky seemed to have lost everyone she cared for. No wonder she loved her dad dearly.
Trisha felt tears clouding her vision. She felt sorry for Becky. But what could she do?.

????

“So, we go… Pat, pat, poud and toss.” Trisha said demonstrating the dance steps as the guys sat and watched her.

“So, I came up with this step last night, I think we should add it to the dance, its better to end with this than the slide.”
“The slide? I thought we agreed on converging?” Kyle asked in confusion.

“No we didn’t Kyle.” Jack said and turned back to Trisha “I think its ok.” He said.
“Ok, Kyle.?” Trisha asked.
Kyle rose his brows. “Its cool.” He said raising a thumb at her.

She smiled and turned to Ryan
“Ryan?” She asked.
Ryan shrugged. “Whatever, let’s just get on with it.” He said coldly.
The rest of them looked at him a little surprised.
“What’s wrong,man? you seem a little off today.” Kyle asked in concern.

“A little? I’ll say a lot off!” Jack corrected
Ryan stood up.
“Are we running this one last time or are we all going home.” He asked them abruptly.
“Ok, let’s run it one last time.” Trisha said starting the music.

Trisha felt like she knew exactly why Ryan was acting off that day. His mum. She had the poison in her body. She prayed silently that they would find the white lotus on time. She really didn’t want Ryan to lose his mum. Or better put, she didn’t want anyone to die.
At a point in the dance, Ryan did a leading part and when they all came in, he began to miss his steps and making mistakes.

Everyone noticed. Trisha stopped the music. She turned to Ryan.
“What’s wrong?” She asked.
“Listen, I’m tired ok? Let’s just end this practice for today, we can continue tomorrow.” He yelled. Grabbing his bag and going deeper into the court.
Jack made to follow him but Kyle placed a hand on his shoulder
“I think he needs his lone time.” He said suggestively.
Jack nodded and they both picked their bags.
“Bye, Trish.” They said and she waved back with a smile. They left the court.
Trisha didn’t want to leave just yet. She knew exactly how Ryan felt.

It was the feeling she felt two years ago when her mom was sick. She had smelt death at the corner and she was scared before it even happened. And then her mom met her fears. Then the fears had been a huge burden in her heart that she could barely concentrate on anything.

She began to hear loud hard thuds on the ground. She turned to see Ryan bouncing a ball aggressively on the ground, close to the post.
She walked slowly to where he was, counting her steps as she did.
She stood few meters away from him.
She thought hard on what to say that would comfort him and he ignored the fact that she was there.

She opened her mouth to say something and like he perceived she was about to say something, cut in.
“Don’t bother me!”
“I’m not about to bother you, just want to plead on behalf of the ball in your hand… If you keep hitting it that way, it won’t be long and it’ll break.”
Ryan held the ball
“Basketballs don’t break, lady. They lessens.” He corrected looking her.

“Breaking or lessening,.. None sounds like a good end for the ball.” She said.
He rolled his eyes and continued tormenting the innocent ball.
“Same way if you keep on hitting the thought in your mind this way, it won’t meet a good end.” She dropped and made to leave.

Ryan stopped bouncing and turned to look at her retreating self.
“Wait!..” He said coldly.
Trisha stopped and turned to him, glad that her statement did a good job.
She took slow steps back to him.

“I…” He started and sighed not wanting to look at her.
“She will be fine, Ryan.” Trisha assured.
Ryan looked at her
“You know?” He asked in surprise.
Her eyes widened at her mistake
“Err… It was… I… Em… The news. Yeah, I saw it on the news. It was on the news” she lied blabbingly.
Ryan raked his fingers through his hair.

“Dmn! Its already on the news. These Journalists can be so… Ugh!” He said in annoyance bouncing the ball again.
Trisha smiled nervously, it won’t be long till he realizes that she lied. She mentally shrugged. For now. That’ll have to do.
He sat on the floor, hugging a knee and stretching out his other leg.

Trisha fought a little battle in her mind and the side of going to sit with him won.
She took a deep breath and went to sit cross legged beside him.
Rejection was what she never liked and that was why she had to contemplate on comforting him.

“She’ll be fine. I can assure you that.” She said, trusting so much on Becky’s co workers.
“Don’t tell me that!” Ryan snapped.

She felt a bit hurt by the outburst
“You have no idea how it feels… Seeing her in so much pains…” He said a little quieter silently cursing the painful crack in his voice.
Trisha overlooked the hurt and welcomed the understanding she felt in his situation.
She shifted a bit closer
“I think I have every idea of what you feel and worse.” She said, failing to seive out the sadness in her voice.

Ryan turned to the side to look at her in slight curiosity. She looked to the ground.
“Two years ago, my mom fell sick.” She said. Taking her mind back to the memory that she didn’t enjoy remembering
“I was… Sad! Afraid! Scared!… Her state…” She said in thought

“… It was so bad that at some point I began to imagine life without her.” She said shakily.
She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. She didn’t want to cry in front of him, and she wasn’t!
“I kept praying for her to make it through, but still I kept what I felt was bound to happen in my mind. I have never been so afraid. I feared she would die…. That night…” She took in a deep breath and turned to look in the opposite direction. She blinked her eyes furiously and got rid of the tears in her eyes. It was stupid to come and give Ryan reason to cry instead of comforting him.

“Well…” She shrugged. “Long story cut short, she didn’t make it.” She said casually.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Trisha.” Ryan said in sincere pity.
“Don’t be. Its past! I’ve moved on.” She said, giving him a small genuine smile.
“My point is… If you keep fearing she’ll die, what’s the point when she does… Which she won’t.” Trisha said. “Sometimes, I feel like my fear killed her.”
“Don’t say that… It wasn’t your…”

“No, I mean it! I’m not trying to feel bad or anything, its just that it… It thought me a lesson. I read a book ‘laws of attraction’. If my mum hadn’t died, I won’t have believed anything in that book. Your thoughts, feelings matters far much more than you think.” She said getting the courage to look him in the eye.

“If you come to think of it, Most of the bad things that has ever happened to you, you thought it into reality. The book said and I quote.. ‘The universe is listening to our every command. The master of it is our thoughts.’ I came to realize that the probability of my mum staying alive actually depended on my ability to keep her alive in my mind.” She said.

There was a pause as Ryan diluted her words, looking at her in hidden admiration.
“Ryan, that was my mistake. I told you this because, I don’t want you to make the same mistake.” She said softly
“It depends on you. All you have to do is to keep believing. Don’t let her die. Keep her alive… In here…” She guided her hand to his chest and placed it there not breaking eye contact.

Ryan stared at her in awe. He didn’t feel as worried as he felt any longer. Her speech was supposed to sound like rubbish to him but it didn’t. It made complete sense. Which was so unusual because he was the proud and almighty Ryan. No speech was supposed to change perspective like hers just did, that was so unlike him. Well, maybe it was because he saw her as someone who had had an experience in that area.

It seemed like her eyes were hypnotizing him. His eyes left her eyes and did a quick travel to her lips, those lips he had come to begin to admire and he found himself leaning in.

Trisha didn’t know how long the staring contest lasted but she was sure she was still in her right senses. She watched Ryan’s eyes travel down to her lips and her eyes widened an angle as he began to lean in.
The war in her mind came again.
Damn! What was going on? Was Ryan about to kiss her? This was so unexpected. Or was this one of his pranks. She gulped. It was so untrue. Ryan wasn’t really going to kiss her. She assured herself.

She felt his breath on her lips. His eyes on her lips too. She gasped slightly as he softly rose her jaw with his hand.
His lips met hers in a soft brush.
Her eyes shut for a moment, trying to figure out if it was a dream or her imagination.
Oh yeah, it was just her imagination. Ryan wouldn’t kiss her.

She felt his hand leave her jaw and land softly on her neck, forcing a throatful gasp from her.
Wait a moment, if this was her imagination, why did it feel so real?..
She opened her eyes and pushed him away, her eyes wide with surprise.

His eyes flew open as he came back to reality. His eyes widened.
Trisha nervously tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear
“Err… I.. I think… I’ll be on my way, I… I can her Becky’s horn.” She stuttered and stood immediately.
“I’m sorry, i… I didn’t mean to… I’m sorry…” He apologized quickly standing up too as Trisha half ran out of the court, grabbing her bag.
“Trisha, wait!” She was gone.
“Arrrgh!” His voice rang in the court.

He grabbed his head in his hands
“How could you be so stupid?” He said to himself, slapping his head in regrets.
What thefk came over him?
Fine, he had had a crush on her since the day they served detention together, still! That wasn’t a liability for stupidity!

That was so unlike him! He had never lost complete control of himself before then. Arrrgh!
Could he ever even face her again!

Dmn! He’ll have to tell her that wasn’t him! Which it wasn’t! Arrrrrgh!
Trisha got out of the school and met Becky standing outside busy with her phone.

“Thank goodness you’re here Becky, let’s go home.” Trsha said quicky in relieve.
Becky shrugged
“I’ve was here few minutes ago, but I didn’t want to interrupt anything.” She said teasingly, raising a brow and giving her a side long look with a smile on her lips.

Trisha groaned. “Can we just go home!” She said taking the lead.

“Not yet, we’ll have to wait till he leaves.” She said.
“I’ll be waiting in the car.” She said, stretching her hand impatiently for the keys.
Becky threw the keys to her and she caught it.

“Well, I took a picture, incase you want to remember the moment.” Becky teased, waving her phone in her front.
Trisha groaned!
“Urrrgh! Becky, Delete that! What is wrong with you?” She yelled lowly.

“Isn’t this our boy you were kissing?” Becky asked looking at the picture.
“I wasn’t kissing him! He was kissing me! And you don’t know when people need privacy.” Trisha defended. Becky rose a knowing brow.
“Ugh. Whatever.!” Trisha yelled and stomped over to the car. She opened the door and slammed it shut.

She let out a huge breath.
What just happened? What just happened? Was that Ryan? Or someone in a mask? Where did that kiss come in? Why the heck did he kiss her? Why would he want to?

A lot of questions on her mind. She dung her fingers into her hair and sighed loudly.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” She screamed, knowing her voice was just mufflings on the outside.
Why thefk did she let that happen?
Could she even face him the next day?