Chapter 16 UNEASY JOURNEY
Godiva’s POV
It was finally the day I had dreamt of since the start of the school year. We were to converge at school as early as 7:30 am that morning, so I got up from bed by 4:00 am, had my Bible study, prepared a light lunch pack for Div and me, before finally having my bath.
At exactly 6:30 am, Dina and I were all set and good to go. Our parents took a photo of us with an antique digital camera Mama owned. We were already running late because we were waiting for Dina’s father to finish dressing so he could drop us off in his taxi.
We arrived at school a few minutes to seven. We almost started running, thinking we were late, but on getting there, they had just started forming a queue. The boys stood in one lane, and the girls in the other. Mama had Dina’s Mum help with our luggage while she went to submit our consent form.
Mama stood beside us in the queue, telling us about her first ever school trip.
“The main hoe looks hot, you’d think they’re sisters,” someone’s voice echoed from the boys’ queue.
Turning, I noticed Hakeem and Jerald chuckling, with Jerald still whispering something in Hakeem’s ear while looking our way. That was when I realized they were referring to Mama.
Aside from Hakeem, some boys whispered something, pointing at Mama and me, but I didn’t take it seriously at that time. There was absolutely nothing to suspect.
“I really thought you’ve changed,” I said, standing beside Jerald and Hakeem with my arms folded.
Jerald was about to say something when I cut him short.
“Please have a bit of regard for my mum, because you know nothing about what she’s been through,” I added, then walked away back to my queue.
“Who is that?” Mama asked aggressively, pointing in the direction of a slim, pretty lady walking toward the car park.
“Isn’t that Hakeem’s Mum?” Dina said uncertainly.
“Know her from somewhere?” Dina’s Mum asked Mama, who nodded slowly from side to side, as if contemplating.
“Thought it was the hoe who ran off with Diva’s father,” Mama replied, looking disgusted. “On closer look, it isn’t her. She doesn’t look this beautiful and well kept,” Mama added, laughing hard.
“Everyone, drop your luggage by the trunk and get yourselves inside the school bus,” Mr Curtis, our geography teacher, said, pointing to the trunk.
Everywhere became rowdy, with some struggling to drop their luggage and others struggling to get into the bus with their partners.
I knew it was time to dismiss Mama the moment I sighted Leo running toward the bus with his luggage.
“Goodbye Mamas,” I said as I hurriedly gave them a peck on the cheek, waving at them aggressively. It was obvious I was up to something.
Regardless, they waved back, looking suspicious.
“Hey babe,” Leo said as he pecked me on the cheek. I turned to him with a smile full of mischief.
“Isn’t that your Mama?” he asked, looking toward the direction of the car park where Mama was almost out of sight.
“Yes! That’s her,” I replied, smiling.
“Damn, wish I arrived a second earlier. I wanted to pay my homage to the beautiful women who birthed you girls,” he added with a smile.
“There’ll always be a next time,” Dina’s voice came from behind as she gave him a side hug. Earlier on, she had gone to drop our luggage.
“Let’s partner up,” Ben said, extending his hand to Dina for a handshake.
Getting into the bus, our seats were swapped somehow. I ended up at the far end of the bus with Ben as my partner, while Leo sat away with Dina.
All through the ride, my gaze was fixed on Leo, who seemed to be having fun with Dina.
The drive to Town Shanghai was supposed to be a five-hour drive, approximately 250 miles. Our staff decided it was time to take a break after we had driven for about three hours without stopping.
We finally stopped by an eatery to have snacks by 11:00 am. Once again, I was reunited with Dina and Leo.
Leo, Ben, Dina, and I sat on a table of four, interacting as we scrolled through the menu. I felt disgusted the moment I caught Jerald’s eyes on me.
I knew he wanted to apologize, but I wasn’t in the mood for his hypocritical apology when I knew he’d keep doing worse.
After eating, we were asked to head back to the bus holding our seat partners.
“Hold my hand, Dina, so we won’t miss each other this time around,” Ben said, turning around to hold Dina as we headed to the bus.
I turned and smiled at Leo as I locked arms with him.
I felt very excited sitting beside Leo when the journey continued. However, along the line, I felt sitting with Ben was better.
At least we did a lot of catching up, getting to know each other.
But with Leo it was different. We could barely keep up with a conversation. All we spoke about was how deep and affectionate our love for each other was.
And if I’m being entirely honest, I wasn’t exactly feeling it.
At around 2:30 pm, we arrived at our destination.
I couldn’t stop praising the beauty of Town Shanghai. It was all decorated with different Chinese elements, beautiful sculptures of Chinese heroes, and flowers.
We sat in groups gossiping about our mean teachers as we waited to be taken to our accommodation by the tour guide.
The tour guide was a tall, handsome, and well-built Chinese man named Mr Bao. He briefed us about their rules and promised to brief us further the next morning when we were well rested.
I slept from around 4:00 pm until 7:30 pm, when Dina woke me up to get set for dinner.
I wasn’t really interested in their dinner because I had eaten the lunch pack I prepared when we arrived. However, I decided to go for dinner because I needed the air.
While we waited for the food at the Chinese restaurant, Jerald came and sat at my table beside me, accompanied by Rachael, a 12th grader.
I knew this was going to be trouble.
My eyes scanned the hall for a possible escape route.