CODENAME: A.D.A

Chapter 13

"You guys were this close to getting killed" my mom shouted.

After my mom shot Tolani, some of the agents took him for questioning. Turns out, they knew we wouldn't be able to handle the mission so they had to send my mom and other people to watch us.

Since it was late, my mom drove us all to my house. Now here we are, all seated in the living room listening to my raging mother.

She paced up and down the room in anger. She's extremely angry.

"What is wrong with you?" my mom turned to me.

I knew this was going to happen. I knew I would soon be at the receiving end of her wrath.

"You risked everything because of a boy! If not for your stupid distraction, Tolani would not have had the chance to give Kayode the files. You're so dumb!"

A tear rolled down my left eye – not out of regret but because even though I was put in the same situation again, I'd risk it all for him again.

My mom walked over to me and dragged me up. I focused my gaze on the floor.

Her hand immediately connected with my cheek. The echoes of the slap sounded loudly. Waves of embarrassment washed over me.

She slapped me again.

I closed my eyes- waiting for the next one but to my surprise it never came.

I looked up. my mom's hand was raised high, only for it to be held in time by Victoria. My eyes widened in surprise. That was when I noticed that they were all standing.

"How dare you!" my mom said to Victoria.

Oh no. This will not end well.

"How dare I?" Victoria retorted.

She dropped my mother's hand with full force.

I gasped.

"That's my team mate you're assaulting and if you assault our team mate, we have no choice but to fight back"

"True" Choi said "Spy Rule #6"

Spy Rule #6: Always stand up for your team mates in time of trouble.

They formed a circle around us.

"You have no manners" my mom started "I- "

"Oh please. Spare me the pep talk. This has nothing to do with manners"

"Now listen here you- "

Victoria held up her hand as a signal for my mom to stop talking.

"An hour ago, your daughter was grabbed by a total stranger who placed a fucking gun to her head! Instead of you to thank your stars or whatever God you worship that she's still alive, you're beating her"

"She was careless"

"Will beating solve it? Huh? Will beating her take us back in time and correct the mistake? Is that the solution?

"You all could have been killed"

"But we weren't" Chen spoke "And it's all thanks to Ada. She was brave enough to make the first move at Tolani. Something that we were all scared to do"

"Are you trying to tell me that you have never made a mistake in your twenty-one years of being a spy?" Victoria asked my mother "Look me in the eyes and tell me that. If you can tell me that you've never made a mistake on a mission then I'll leave you to continue beating her but as long as you can't, you have no right. All you can do is correct her because you're no better"

"What's really the mistake?" Mike said "If we all had our eyes on Tolani the whole time, he would have still pulled a stunt because he was prepared from the beginning. If anything, The Conversion is to blame because they failed to do a proper background check. They assured us that he had no idea that he would be followed. Whether Ada talked to the boy or not, what happened would still have happened"

"Exactly" they chorused.

Victoria pulled me behind her.

"If you wanna get to my team mate, you'll have to get through me" Victoria stated.

"And me" Chen said taking a step forward.

"And me"

"And me"

I think I was a flash of fear in my mom's eyes but it went as quickly as it came.

She looked at me for a few seconds, nodded then left.

I burst into a fit of tears. This night has been an emotional rollercoaster for me. The worst part is that I was almost killed! I can't believe that Victoria out of all people would be the one to defend me. I thought she hated me. We never got along. Not once!

"Thank you" I sobbed "Thank you guys so much"

"I thought you were gonna die" Victoria said "I felt very scared which means I don't hate you as much as I thought I did"

"You were so brave" Choi said "If I had a gun to my head, I would have peed my pants"

I chuckled.

"Come here" Victoria said.

She hugged me. The others joined in too – making it a big group hug

"Mike, you're squeezing me" I joked.

"Oops. Sorry"

We laughed.