Short Story Galore serialization continues 7
He voiced his intentions. “Don’t
worry. You’ll be alright. I’m going to leave you for a moment now and ring dad
and Doc Howie. Or better still, we should get over to him fast.” As he spoke,
he was laying her full length on the three-seater, her head on a throw pillow
he placed against one of the armrests.
She suddenly sat up straight. “No
… bro … no,” she stammered. “Not dad, not Doc Howie, not nobody.” Her sobbing
grew more.
He tried to console her.
“Whatever you want, sis,” he said calmly in a I’m-in-control tone of voice to
steady her. “I think I should take you up to your room. I’m sure that’s what I should’ve
done in the first instance. But you gotta calm down, okay?”
She allowed him to pull her up
from her sitting posture onto her feet. He supported her with one hand around
her shoulders. Docilely, she followed him up the polished wooden stairs. The
only incident of note during the climb up was that halfway, more spasms gripped
her and they had to stop for a bit.
In her room, he spread her out on
the mattress and made her comfortable as best he could. He turned on all the
lights, switched on the airconditioner, and tuned the stereo to a station
airing soft music.
Then he went back to her. He
kneeled down on the floor beside the bed so that his head was just above hers.
He clasped her left palm in his and used the right to smoothen her hair.
“Don’t you want to talk about
it?” he queried. “It’ll help you. For right now. Bottling it in you will only
make you hurt more. Spill it all out. Tell me what put you in pain. Someone
molested you, right? Is it someone you know?”
When she didn’t answer, he continued
to try to soothe her. “’Cause if it’s some stranger, it might be a long process
before he’ll be brought to justice so you’ve got to try and forget it for the
meantime and forge ahead. It was traumatic when it was happening, but you can
and will come over it. And whoever’s responsible will definitely be brought to
book.”
“Try and sleep,” he begged her.
He brought his hand down from her
hair to the nape of her neck to massage it.
She stiffened at his touch.
“What?” he said, alarmed. “Did
you remember something? Kate, talk to me.”
Somehow, he kept control of his
own tension. Something like this had never happened to him before, and a lot of
emotions were in play in and out of him, exerting pressure on him.
She looked into his concerned
eyes, shook her head slowly, meaninglessly. “I feel dirty,” she managed.
Uche instantly slipped into the
new role that was expected of him. “Of course, sis. How stupid of me. I
should’ve thought of that.” He helped her gingerly off the bed. “While you go
shower, I’ll mix some juice.”
Note: This is the second page
of Something Called Life, the second of the short stories in the Oseyiza Oogbodo book, Short Story Galore, which’s
serialization began some weeks ago. More excerpts to follow on this blog. It’s
available on Amazon, OkadaBooks and many other stores through the links below.
Other available Oogbodo books are The
Good Life and The Newell Murder.
www.amazon.com/dp/B07DJYFJ28
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DJYFJ28
www.amazon.de/dp/B07DJYFJ28
www.amazon.fr/dp/B07DJYFJ28
www.amazon.it/dp/B07DJYFJ28
www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B07DJYFJ28
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