The ORION Project | ✔

chapter 8

The Ilori siblings walked the familiar path home together for the first time in a long while and they all looked worse for wear. Sanmi's hair was ruffled from running his hands through them and nothing could hide the bags under his eyes, he was thinking of how things had managed to go to hell in one seemingly day and what the hell Joshua Phillips might want with his sister. He wondered if Joshua was punishing him for something.

Ewatomi's shoulders were slouched and her fists clenched tightly at her sides, there was single chess piece in her purse, she had stolen it from the Grace's lecturer's office and loathed herself with every fibre in her.

Grace Ilori was miserable, and there was a big bump at the back of her head, it throbbed with pain but not as deep as the pain and anxiety bubbling in her chest. Years of work was teetering on it's weight, about to tumble into an abyss because someone had picked her life to ruin, as if were sport. Her nose flared in fury at the thought, and for a dark moment, she was sure she would kill whoever ruined her with her bare hands if she ever caught them. Tears welled in her hands at the thought of the stupid trial the university had set for her, they weren't focused on trying to prove her innocent, instead they wanted a public execution. She'd be damned if she let them win, but what would she do, she was just one girl and they were an army against her.

She sneaked a glance at her siblings, feeling something like love well up in her, they had stood by her, trying even though there was nothing they could do. She thought of Tope who had been calling since the incident, she couldn't summon the courage to answer them.

They trudged the stairs that led to their apartment, Sanmi first, then Ewa following him and Grace behind them. She thought of letting herself tumble free down the stairs and wondered if her death would be painless.

They reached the door and Sanmi knocked, they were surprised to see their mother at the other side of the door, mouth twisted downwards in disapproval.

"It is 7pm, where have the three of you been?" Her question shocked them even further, it had been a while since she cared about anything concerning her children. Grace heard their father's distinct shout from the parlour and her heart sank, so this was why their mother pretended to care. The lion had returned home.

"School, ma." Ewa answered, she brushed past their mother, gripping her handbag harshly. She kicked off her shoes and stepped into the house. Grace stalled for time, letting her siblings go before her. The last time she had seen their father was a month ago, he was rarely home, and they had had a huge fight that ended with Grace calling him a useless father, he had thrown her out of the house, she had only returned when she was sure he was not returning. Now he was back.

"Be on your best behaviour," Her mother said, fingers digging into Grace's shoulder painfully. Grace looked at her and wondered why she had settled for a stupid man as a husband. Their mother was stunning like Ewatomi, fair skin like Sanmi's that might have been flawless once but was now marred with scars from beatings. She had pretty doe eyes and a face that was slightly wrinkled from stress, she could still pass for a forty year old woman when she was in her mid fifties. She was also educated, having studied architecture in school, she could have been working anywhere she wanted but instead she owned a catering business.

"Okay," Grace said, despite how much she wanted to speak rudely to her mother for being so foolish, it would only earn her a slap. She took of her sandals and was in the motion of standing when she noticed the designer shoes that was shoved under the generator. "Do we have a visitor?"

Linda Ilori suddenly looked nervous. "It's one of your father's old friends from school, remember, be polite." She was hiding something, Grace was certain, she bit her fingernails like Sanmi normally did when he was nervous. Most times she felt like a stranger in her home, she had none of their features, except for her father's narrow eyes. She was nothing like them.