Chapter ten

Simone.

"Madam Simone,wake up!"I heard the same line  that I have been listening to for the past seventeen years.

"Leave me alone!"In case you were wondering, I just started saying this line four years ago. When Caitlin decided to put our entire class into groups.

"It's your dad calling you!"The maid said smugly and I knew why.

Let me tell you a little about my Father:

My father is Kunle Adeboye,the owner of a multi national conglomerate. He deals with almost everything. He has nightclubs,a lip gloss production industry. He produces sugar,cement,napkins,rice....just name it. Some people actually call him the head of the Nigerian Mafia.

My mother is Mona Adeboye. She works from home,even though she has a law degree. She has a tiny figure but she can't be taken advantage of,mostly because of my dad.

Now back to my dad!

He is a big,soft,cuddly bear despite his seemingly hard face and bulky stature. But the last thing you would want to do to my dad is disobey him.

The first time he had told me to do something and I didn't do it was when I was in primary three. He didn't talk to me for three months. Yes!Three months. I begged and did all sorts of things but my dad just ignored me.

Then one day after school closed,his BMW was waiting for me outside the school.

I got in excitedly and he said just twelve words"Never forget what it's like to lose the respect of your father."

After that time,we never spoke about the incident again but the fear was already there.

I was an only child but that didn't mean that I was pampered. In fact,it was the exact opposite.

"Tell him that I would be downstairs in twenty minutes."I looked closely at the maid who had answered me somewhat rudely earlier and I didn't recognize her. She was a little bit young so I guess she wasn't used to taking orders. I would make sure I dealt with her, I thought.

"What is your name?"I demanded.

She rolled her eyes in front of me and said"I don't think it is any of your business Madam, but my name is Toke."

The nerve of this she goat.

"Get out now or you will live to regret it."

The way her eyes bulged out in fear gave me an odd satisfaction but my so called satisfaction dimmed when she said:

"See,you will not want to try that!"She hissed loudly after her statement.

My mouth hung open as anger and shock over took me. No maid as ever been this rude to me. Ever.

"Who do you think you are, you poverty stricken idiot? Do you know who I am?"

She rolled her eyes yet again and said"Simone Adeboye,daughter of the great Kunle Adeboye. Ruthless freak. I have heard a lot about you and I just want to let you know that I came prepared."

"Get out of my room this instant or you will go back to the village you came from. Idiot."

She hissed again and stormed out and I bit back a laugh. She will still get it. For some reason, she reminded me of Ada and that only added to my irritation.

Let me take my bathe first then the idiot will know that you don't mess with Simone.

**

"Darling,come take a seat."My mom spoke as soon as she saw me.

I put  my sad face on and I began to accumulate tears in my eyes. I already knew what I would do to that Toke of a girl.  But first I have to know what my dad wanted to talk to me about.

I took the seat next to my dad"Good morning dad."

He looked up from the news paper he was reading and smiled at me"How are you,my lovely daughter?"He paused for a little bit and said"Why is your face like this?"

Trust my dad to notice things like that. I let the tears in my eyes fall and I said with mock emotion"Daddy,do you think that I am freak?A ruthless freak?"

My dad,who had been slouching in his seat before sat upright and his eyes screamed murder.

"Who said you are a freak?"My mother spoke this time around and I turned to face her. She was as angry as my dad.

"A maid. I think her name is Toke."

My mother's eyes narrowed into slits and I wasn't in the least surprised when she screamed"TOKE!"

The entire house fell into a deafening silence. Even the maids stopped what they were doing. My mother rarely screamed. Whenever she screamed,all hell would break loose.

The girl from my room scurried down in fright and I bit my lip to conceal my smile. Well,this will be fun to watch.

"Who are you?Who employed you here?" My father said and I almost burst out laughing. He was not trying to be insulting but he really didn't know who employed her.

"I did!"My mom replied and scoffed a little when my dad turned to glare at her"Oh,don't give me that eye,Kunle. It's annoying. Did I know that she would come here and be insulting our daughter? You guys should just leave me alone."

My dad's eyes softened a little bit and he muttered"Mona,sorry. I am just angry."

My mom nodded and gave him a small smile.

Sometimes,their relationship amused me a lot because my dad was really strict, but when it came to my mom,he would turn into this little rat and be at her beck and call. She amazes me so much with a little power.

"Back to this idiot,"My father's voice brought me out of my thoughts back to real life." You have the audacity to call my daughter a freak?"

Her large eyes turned even larger. Making her look animated.

"N-no,I-i I was just playing with her oo."She turned to where I was sitting and eyed me up and down while mouthing the word"Idiot!"

Is this Toke girl crazy?

I sat up and said out loud"I didn't want to say anything before but after she called me a ruthless freak,I confronted her and..."

"I trust you jare, my daughter."My mother interrupted me to " hype" me up and I let her finish before continuing:

"She slapped me!"

The pin dropping silence that followed was very uncomfortable. The shock on her face actually made me feel a little bad about my lie.

"Jesus!"The girl screamed and my mother dropped her fork in shock which only added to the dramatic effect.

"Why the hell are you screaming?"My father cursed.

My mother gave him the stink eye and he in turn gave her an apologetic look.

"I am screaming because your stupid daughter is a liar. The girl is even worse than I heard. Fool. Idiot!"

Ok.....the attendant silence that followed her outburst was getting awkward.

My mom stood up from her seat and said"I want you to get out of my house. If you don't see yourself out,you will be escorted out by the police and you will be spending the night in behind bars."

The girl seemed to immediately realize what she had done and tears pooled down her face"Please ma,please. I have an old grandmother at home. Please ma." She begged.

My mother sighed and I knew that she was feeling pity for the girl.

My mother said"It is up to my daughter. She gets to decide if you will stay in this house."

I looked at her face just to find any kind of remorse but the girl just gave me a look of pure disgust.

Why did she seem to hate me so much?The look in her eyes reminded me of the one in Tayo's face when he had left me. Frustration and anger washed over me and I said,"Mom.... Dad, tell her to get out. My face is still throbbing from her dirty slap."

My father's face hardened more  when he heard about the slap, and he thundered "you heard her. Get out. Now!"

The girl started crying and she sped out. Making me question my initial outburst.

**

"Simone,that is my seat. Stand up,now."Ada,the idiot in my group,had taken to annoying the hell out of me since I got to school.

She stood in front of me now,arms akimbo and a defiant look on her face. She was looking for trouble.

"Hey,"She said after she saw that I had no intention of talking to her "I am talking to you,Simone. Are you deaf?"

I snubbed her with great effort as I turned my head to the other side. I was currently drawing something in my really private book. I had no idea what it was but it was starting to come together.

"Am I talking to a dead person?"She piqued up again but i ignored her again.

Then she did the worst thing possible.

She threw my damn book on the floor.

All I saw was red and everybody within a five foot radius stood up and moved out of the way.

"Are you angry because I threw your drawing book on the floor?"

That word made me snap. I could literally smell my anger.

Ada's eyes widened and she tried to run but I was faster. I grabbed her hair and pulled her down. She laid on the floor and I wasted no time on climbing on top of her and giving her both slaps and blows. She tried to block it with her hands but I was faster. 

You should stop Simone.

I didn't listen to my subconscious and I continued to show her my worst.

"What is happening here?"I heard Principal John's voice but I didn't even care. I kept on clawing on Ada's face until I felt a hand bring me up.

"To my office. Both of you!"

Till today,I don't know how I got to the office. I didn't know if I walked or if I ran.

The only thing I remember was that Ada and I stood in front of her father as I clenched my fist together so as to stop myself from slapping her one more time.

"Do you two have any idea the amount of damage that you have caused?"Principal John spoke to us through gritted teeth as if he wanted to pounce on both of us at the same time"The head girl and Assistant head girl fighting. What type of example are you setting?"

"She started it."We chorused together like we had  rehearsed it. Some people would have found it cute but it only seem to irritate the Principal further.

"Are you sane?Simone,"He turned to me"What happened?"

I cleared my throat"Sir,Ada has been disturbing me since I came to school this morning. She called me a dead person and then she threw my personal things on the floor."

Principal John glared at Ada and said"When will you stop this your useless jealousy?Are you okay?Get out of my sight!"

Tears filled Ada's eyes and I couldn't care less. I tore my gaze away from her,when she walked out the door,and fixed it on the Principal's.

"You are not exempted oo. If you get into another fight your badge will be revoked."

Great!I had two threats on my head. A girl just can't win,can she?

"And one more thing,"He continued when I turned"Since Ada is clearly unfit,you will be coming on Saturday to tutor someone in Literature."

"But I am busy this Saturday."I countered. In reality,my Saturdays were as useless as they come but I also didn't want to spend it tutoring some jss1 geek.

"See it as punishment for this fight. Do you rather I called your parents and get you suspended?"He raised his eyebrow with mock seriousness and I wanted more than to slap his balding head.

"No sir. I'll be here on Saturday."