"Lef dat where it is," Anthony growls as Evan reaches for Michael's sword. "Anthony, you know how much Michael likes this sword." Evan sighs in frustration. "And me say, put it down, tell him me sey, if him draws bigger than mine, come tek it from me, by the way,a wey him deh?"
"He's at my cousin's house." "A over deh so the pussy a hide?" Anthony snorts. "That's where you're wrong brah, Michael isn't the type to hide from anyone or are you forgetting who we're talking about here?" Evan snorts back at him.
"Let me refresh your memory. He's the one that single-handedly demolishes the other side's base and half its members and he's the one that will walk in here guns blazing and whip swinging, locate you, put a bullet in your head, and walk out of here without even as much as a scratch on him, so take my stupid advice, until you have proven without a doubt that he's the father of your sister's unborn child, leave him the fuck alone." Grabbing the bag that contains some of Michael's things Evan storms towards the door.
"Hey man, where is he?" Evan asks entering his cousin's house. Joseph points to Evan's room. "Has he eaten anything?" Evan asks. "Not much, just a piece of a muffin and a few sips of tea," Joseph replies. "Alright, here is enough money to assist with his meals and such, until we sort this shit out." Even says.
"Come on cuz, this isn't necessary." Joseph protest. "The vegan shit that he eats is expensive, trust me, you're going to need that." Evan walks towards his room door and slowly opens it. He thought Michael would be lying down but he was seated on the floor, his eyes closed, his back to the wall as silent tears ran down his cheeks.
"Hey, I bought you a shake," Evan says softly, kneeling beside him. Michael slowly opens his eyes and meets Evan's nervous gaze. "Thank you." He said taking the shake from Evan. "Hey, I know it hurts but I promise we will get to the bottom of this."
"I'm having a hard time dealing with the fact that Liah has turned against me." Evan not only heard sadness in Michael's voice, he also heard anger which made him even more nervous.
"Hang in there alright, we will get to the truth soon enough and then you and Liah can work this thing out." "The woman I fell in love with thinks that I'm capable of having intercourse with a child, I don't think we will ever be able to work this out." Michael's tone was so cold it sent shivers down Evan's spine. In one swift movement which made Evan jump, Michael was on his feet, he put the shake on a table and stormed towards the door.
"Hey...um...I brought some things I thought you could use." Evan calls after him. Michael stops and turning slowly scans the bag and the surrounding area, his dark eyes then slowly travels to Evan's face. "My sword?" He enquires. "Anthony refused to hand it over." Evan sighs. With a snort Michael turn and continues on his way, a few seconds later Evan heard the bathroom door slam shut.
**
Jody snorts when she sees Liah enter the locker room. Liah has been avoiding her all morning but it ends here. Marching towards the room, Jody enters to see Liah taking deep breaths while pacing back and forth. "What the hell is wrong with you Liah?" Jody demands.
"Just leave me alone Jody, I don't need this now." Liah turns her back to Jody and continues taking deep breaths. "Like hell! Moses didn't do this and you of all people should know that. You spent over two months locked in a room with this man and you were the first to defend him when you heard about that girl in his room back at Razor's house, so why don't you believe him now?" Jody asks hands on her hips.
"Because Zoey says that he's the one that got her pregnant. What? Do you think I want to believe her? Do you think I didn't question her? I spend hours questioning her and everything she says adds up." Liah sneers in a low tone.
"Like what?" Jody snaps. "You know what, I'll admit it, yes, I was the one who went after him. I chose him, so maybe he just went along with it to not hurt my feelings. Zoey says he told her how he was attracted to her because she didn't throw herself at men, and how he respected her for that. So I guess he meant me, right? I threw myself at him and even though he was turned off by it, he still went along with it." Liah gritted out.
"I don't believe that Zoey is a child, he wouldn't have touched her like that and he certainly wouldn't have had a conversation like that with her. Besides, you were the one who said he felt the same about you as you did him." Jody pointed out.
"Yeah, that's what I thought but I was there Jody, I saw how they interact with each other. I saw how smitten she was with him, so it wouldn't have taken much effort on his part to seduce her."
"He's not that type and you know it." "you see, that's what I kept telling myself, that he wasn't that type and that Zoey was safe with him but I was wrong Jody..." "And what if he's been set up?" Jody snaps cutting her off.
"By whom?" Liah snaps back, throwing her hands in the air with frustration. "Moses believes David is behind this and he has a point, you hurt David, Liah, what if this is his way of getting back at you?"
"David is a man of God, yes he has his faults but he would never do something like this. Moses is the guilty one here and everything he's saying is just him trying to throw suspicion off himself. Everything that my family is going through right now is my fault." Liah cries.
"Wait, are you regretting going after him? Is that what this is about? Are you choosing to believe this nonsense because you're feeling guilty? For god sake Liah you said that you fell in love with his integrity. Would someone with integrity do something like this?" Jody asks.
"No, but what if that was all an act? What if this is who he really is? I took his side every time, no matter what it was I always took his side because I'm in love with him but I'll never forgive myself for my part in this. I never should have trusted him." Pushing past Jody, Liah runs from the locker room.
***
Jody sighs heavily as she drops her bag on a chair. "Hi baby," Joseph greets her with a kiss on her lips while drying his hands on a towel. "Hi, babes." She greets him with a smile and a hug. "How was your day?" He asks. "Ugh, okay for the most part until I spoke to Liah."
"What is she saying?" "She's still convinced that Michael is guilty. I just don't understand how she can go from defending him to believing that he's capable of such a thing."
"Not sure baby but I really don't think he's guilty. The man can't eat or sleep, he has absolutely no idea how to handle any of this." Joseph says worriedly. "Wait, he hasn't eaten?" Jody asks. "Not much, he drank the shake that Evan brought for him, and a few hours ago he had another corn muffin and some juice." "For the whole day?" "Yep." "Well, that's not going to work, what are you cooking?" She asks. "Well, I heard that he likes fish, so I'm cooking some vegetable fish tea." He says.
"Alright, it's nutritious and easy on the stomach, he should be able to handle that and I got some mixed raw nuts for him to snack on. I'll go give them to him." Sighing heavily she walks towards Evan's door but before she reaches it Michael opens it and steps out.
"Hi," She smiled at him, he nodded but said nothing. "These are for you." She held out the bag and he took it. "Thank you, was Liah at work today?" He asks. "Um...yeah." "How is she?" "Still very angry and still buying into her sister's lies," Jody grumbles.
"Dinner is ready," Joseph calls from the kitchen. "I'll pass." Michael turns towards the room but Jody stops him by grabbing his hand. "Oh no you won't, you need to eat something before you get sick." She then drags him to the table and pushes him down on one of the chairs.
"Stay, don't you dare move a muscle." She orders. "Woof." He says with a small smile which caught her off guard because he looked so depressed but she was glad he still had his sense of humor. "Good boy." She returns his smile before entering her room. A few minutes later she came back wearing a different suit of clothes, she then went into kitchen and return with a bowl in her hand which she place before him.
"Eat," she orders. "He really didn't feel like eating but they had gone through all this trouble it would be an insult not to at least try and even though he was feeling sick to his stomach he had to admit that the soup was quite delicious.
They were in the middle of dinner when there was a knock on their front door. "I'll get that," Joseph says getting up and walking towards the door. He opens it and was a bit surprised to see Liah standing there. "Um... baby," Joseph calls but Liah shove him aside and enter the house, then stop dead in her tracks when she saw Michael seated at the table.
Michael's spoon froze a few inches from his mouth then slowly returned to the bowl as his eyes locked with hers. "Liah," Her name was like a breath leaving his lips. In a split second, he was out of the chair and moving towards her. "What are you doing here? What is he doing here Jody?" She shouts.
"Liah, please calm down and listen to me." He pleads trying to grab her wrist. "Get away from me, don't touch me!" She screams. In one swift movement, he grabs her arm, swings her around and pin her against the wall next to the front door.
"A short while ago you couldn't get enough of my touch, but now you're replaced by it?" He asks his tone cold. Joseph moves towards him but turning his head slowly Michael pin him with a look that halt Joseph's steps.
"Why do you refuse to listen to me?" He ask his dark eyes boring into hers, his face inches from hers. "Why have you chosen to believe that I'm capable of such an offence? Liah you've to believe me, I'm not gulity of this. Not only is she your sister, she's also a child. How can you believe that I would ever commit such an act?"
"Believe you?" Liah snort scornfully. "Zoey told me how you made love to her for the first time in the bathroom, just like we did. How would she have known about that if you hadn't told her, we were the only ones there." She growls then continues.
"She told me how you lift her in your arms afterwards and lay her on her bed, telling her how much you love and respect her and how she wouldn't regret giving herself to you. Believe you? Get your disgusting hands off me." Twisting roughly out of his loosen grip she shove him roughly away from her.
"Congrats on living up to Razor's expectations!" she shouts running from the house and towards the gate. Jody came towards him but he held up his palm. "Don't," He growls, then turning he storms towards Evan's room. Joseph and Jody look at each other but said nothing.
Thank you all for reading
words of encouragement
Don't rush what god is taking his time to
prepare
Riddle from the last ch: what bus crossed the Atlantic?
Ans: Colum-bus, ha, really? Alright then, that happened, here's another.
What do you get when you cross a river and a jogger?
Good luck guys.