Chapter 3_ Abandoned and Crying

Despite witnessing the ongoing drama between Tina and Prisca, Sharon remained silent and didn't bother to ask them what was going on. as she never liked Tina, and she wondered what her brother saw in Tina, which made Patrick disturb her about Tina.

Sharon would agree that Tina was indeed cute, sexy, and very yellow in complexion, but Tina was still local to her. Patrick finally stepped out of his kitchen and into his parlor, as his house was a mini 2-bedroom apartment he had bought, and he shared the two rooms with Sharon.

Patrick stared at Tina, who was sobbing, and he saw that Sharon was busy laughing and drinking happily with her two best friends that visited. Irritated, Patrick immediately asked Sharon, "Where's your friend Sharon?"

Sharon asked him, with both hands akimbo, "Which of my friends?" Patrick glanced at his parlor wall clock, noticing that it was already getting late. This made him wonder why it was taking Prisca so long to bring Tina back to their village, which was a little further away from the nearby city where he lived with his younger sister, Sharon.

Patrick and Sharon weren't the only children of their parents; Patrick had three other siblings in addition to Sharon. And just then, Prisca finally stepped out of the restroom, saying to Tina, "Let us leave."

However, as they stepped out of the house to leave, a strong wind blew them away. Next, a heavy rain began to fall, prompting Prisca to turn back to Tina. She said, "You see, Tina, we cannot go out in the rain, as we will have to wait for the rain to reduce first or stop before leaving for home." I'm going back inside."

Prisca didn't even wait for Tina to respond, as she turned and went back into the house to continue with her discussion with Sharon and the two friends that arrived earlier. Tina began to cry as she stood outside by the door, refusing to enter the house, despite the heavy rain continuing to fall and soaking her clothes. Tina still stood outside by the door and sobbed.

After finishing his cooking, Patrick stepped out into his living room, only to find Tina outside with Prisca and the other three ladies discussing. He assumed Tina was still outside. It was already getting dark and still raining heavily, as the heavy rainfall made the night fall quickly.

Patrick ignored the ladies discussing it, and he went out and opened the door. He saw Tina sobbing underneath the little porch in front of his house, and he said to Tina, "Come inside, Tina; it's still rainy."

"No.." Tina steadfastly refused to move, refusing to return to Patrick's house. Patrick scowled as he made his way back inside. Later, he stepped out to offer Tina an umbrella, but she declined, stating, "There's no need for it."

"Take it, and use it to cover yourself, as you're already wet, and to avoid getting too cold, since you don't want to come inside," Patrick said, leaving the umbrella beside Tina. Knowing Tina's stubbornness, he went back into his house, not happy about Tina's attitude towards him. As the heavy rainfall continued, with lightning and thunder strikes, Tina stood outside, regretting to herself, "Why today, of all days, did I follow Prisca here, knowing that this heavy rain knows ... Mom will already be home from the market, and she won't meet me there. Richmond and Jude might be playing outside or wondering where I might have gone.

Tina sobbed as the heavy rain continued to fall and increase until late at night. 

~~~~

Mama-tina, Tina's mother, was in her market space earlier, where she normally sells her fruits and food items at the village square. She noticed the sudden change in weather at first, and she knew it would lead to heavy rainfall.

Mama-tina immediately packed up all her fruits and headed back to her husband's house, where she continued to live with her children, despite her husband's departure with another woman ten years ago. Upon entering the house, she discovered Jude, her eldest son, slumbering there. The door remained unlocked, prompting her to question the whereabouts of Tina and her first son, Richmond, who had vanished, leaving only Jude at home.

Mama Tina approached Jude and gently tapped on his shoulder to wake him up, saying, "Jude, Jude! wake up.  "Where are your sister and brother?"

Jude was a 10-year-old boy, and he stirred awake and was happy to see that his mother had returned. He quickly hugged her happily, but he replied with both hands, "I don't know mom. When I saw Aunty Prisca arrive here, I had finished eating my food, and she was talking with Aunty Tina. And later, Aunty Tina said that I should go back inside and sleep if I've finished eating my food."

"Hmm." Mama Tina frowned, and she asked Jude, "Then where is Richmond?."

Mama Tina wasn't happy that only Jude was at home, but just then, Richmond rushed into the house, shutting the door before the strong wind blew, and the heavy rain began to fall heavily.

Richmond was at his friend Alex's house. At the age of 14, Richmond enjoyed assisting Alex's father in his furniture workshop, and he would greet his mother by saying, "Good evening, mom."

"Where's Tina?" Mama-tina quickly asked Richmond, "Where's Tina?" Richmond gulped, realizing that he didn't know where Tina had gone. He had left the house earlier with Alex when Tina was still at home, and he didn't know who had visited Tina after he had left or where Tina had gone.

Mama-tina frowned and became worried. She wanted to go to Prisca's house to search for Tina, as Jude had mentioned that Prisca was visiting them. However, just then, a strong wind blew, and the heavy rain increased.

Mama-tina cursed, and she paced about in their old-looking parlor as she went back inside, hoping that nothing bad had happened to her only daughter, Tina. Finally, she returned to the kitchen to prepare their evening meal, as it was already getting late. It dawned on her that a neighbor had previously warned her to keep a close watch on Tina's interactions with her friend, Prisca. Prisca always visited them when she wasn't around, and Prisca had a reputation for being corrupt and hanging out with different guys. But she had thought Tina was already disciplined enough, and she never took their neighbor's warning seriously. She believed there was no need to advise Tina against making any street friends, and now she regretted not warning Tina against Prisca or verifying the gossip their neighbor had shared about Prisca.

~~~~

Tina remained outside in front of Patrick's house, soaking wet and shivering from the cold as the rain finally subsided.

"If only I had known my way back home earlier, I could've trekked home to our village the previous time I stepped out at noon, when the sun was still out and shining brightly before the rainfall started," Tina thought to herself, shivering, as she stood in front of Patrick's house. Just then, she saw a car drive into Patrick's compound and park. Fear gripped her as she used her right palm to wipe raindrops off her face and saw the driver switch off the front-lights.

Tina continued to stare worriedly at the man as she watched him answer a phone call in his car. Suddenly, she heard Sharon's voice and the voices of her two best friends echoing and laughing as they stepped out of the house behind her. They cursed as they did so, despite the rain still falling.

Tina noticed that they had already donned a new, attractive short gown, distinct from the one she had seen them wear earlier at noon, as they appeared to be heading out for a party.

To Tina's shock, she also saw Prisca tagging along with them, and Prisca, too, had changed her black gown into a seductive red short dress. Tina quickly rushed up to meet Prisca and confirm if they were already going home, and probably the driver in the car was a good Samaritan who wanted to take them home, but before Tina could even approach Prisca and open her mouth and ask Prisca the question, Prisca immediately yelled at her, "Where do you think that you're going too, Tina?" With that soaked-up body of yours? "Please move backwards, as you're not following us, not to talk of soaking someone's car with such a wet, dripping body," Prisca added, and Tina frowned, as she couldn't understand Prisca's recent behavior toward her.

Tina became utterly embarrassed and swallowed all the questions she wanted to ask Prisca, while Sharon laughed out loud, stared at Tina, and noticed the umbrella in her hand. Sharon walked back to meet Tina, collected the umbrella from her hand, and said, "Don't be annoyed, Tina; kindly borrow this umbrella." "Aw, this umbrella even looks like mine, which I've been searching for inside."

Sharon glared at Tina, but Tina didn't respond to Sharon because she was still shocked by Prisca's statement to her. Sharon immediately took her umbrella and walked away. Sharon opened her umbrella to cover her head, then walked back to the car. Tina finally emerged from her trance upon witnessing the four women attempting to get into the car.

Tina immediately rushed up to meet Prisca again, asking Prisca to wait. What do you mean when you say that I cannot follow you? I thought we were already heading home.

"No, Tina, Sharon, please wait for me, and don't yet tell the driver to go." Prisca turned to face Tina, stood beside the car, and said, "Well, Tina, you see, I've changed my clothes, and what does that tell you, that I'm going out and not yet going home?" Besides, it's already late, and I will be returning soon. So why not go inside first and wait for us to return? When I return, then we can start going home."

"But.." Before Tina could utter a word, Prisca hurried back into the car and closed the door. Without waiting for Tina's response, she witnessed the car driver start the car. Tina stood outside the house, crying, as she watched the car driver drive out of the compound, leaving her alone.