Precious head pounded hard, she couldn't feel herself breathing, she was hurt.
Precious looked up to her mother, she was her goddess and her role model.
Her mother really broke her.
"I...Precious!" Grace realised all she said, her heart sank.
I will always be her precious curse! That's the curse that ruined her precious life, Precious thought, wiping her tears with the back of her palm.
Grace regretted her words, she had hurt Precious all because of her pain. She tried moving closer to Precious but Precious walked out of her, she entered her room and locked the door.
She heard the cries of her mother and the knockings on the door but she turned deaf ears to it.
She felt like she was the whole issue in their whole life, first the man who was supposed to father her saw her as an issue which made him run away. Then the woman who tolerated her regretted it.
Precious was hurt, mentally, physically and socially.
The sound of Precious ringtone made her lift her head from the table. She took her phone in her hand to see who was calling.
"Hello!" She spoke as soon as she wiped away my tears.
"Are you okay?" Bethel asked with concern evident in his voice.
"I'm fine, what's up?" Precious asked, trying to act okay.
"I'm so sorry, I never meant for any of this to happen. Can we meet up?" He asked.
"What? Right now? I mean, its late." Precious said.
"I know, I'm outside, look out from your window." Bethel told her and she did as told.
Precious used her window to go meet Bethel as she didn't want to see her mother.
"Hey!" She waved as she got to him.
"Were you crying?" He asked, wrapping his arms around her.
"It's fine! Just..." She trailed off.
"What brings you here?" She asked.
"I mean it's past eleven, how did you come here all the way from lekki?" She asked him.
The journey from lekki to banana island in ikoyi was quite a distance and him coming here so late made her wonder.
"My driver brought me here." He said.
"Does your dad know?" She asked
"Hmmm...He might and might not. Come on let's take a stroll." He entwined their fingers together.
"Do you wanna ride the swing. I mean it's clears the mind off." She asked him.
He also seemed bothered and Precious was sure it has to do with those pictures.
"Sure." He replied.
The stars were beautiful, the darkness made them more illuminating.
They looked far and at the same time near and beautiful. They seemed bothered and unaffected by anything, Precious thought.
Looking at the stars made her smile, she knew there was a reason for everything and God has a reason for everything.
She thought of how she came to the world at the wrong time ruining so many people's life and creating a mess.
She chuckled when she thought of how she was in a haste to see the world.
She turned to look at Bethel who was also staring at the stars like her.
"They are lovely right?" She asked
"Yes they are." He said.
She thought of making things right and she wanted to start with Bethel; she'd prefer losing everything in this life than losing her mother.
"Bethel." She called out.
Instead of replying to her, he kissed her; she thought of pushing him but her body did otherwise and she moaned into his mouth.
"Bethel, this can't be..." She tried breaking the kiss but Bethel had other plans.
"I know precious, but I just can't, I can't leave you and at the same time I want to, to protect you." He sighed.
"My--mom--do not want this, your dad will ruin us and--" she stuttered.
"Lets run away..." He cuts her off.
"Are you insane?! Do you think this is a white man country where you take drastic steps? This is Nigeria for crying out loud!" She spat out.
"Then what do we do because I'm not letting you go." He retorted.
Precious shook her head, she scoffed, " I never knew you were so stupid. You watch too much of white dramas to make you so stupid." She blurted out.
"Just get over it okay? It's over." She spoke out.
The light inside of her died as soon as she said those words.
"You are the one watching too much African magic to make your thinking so low. Our century is the 21st and not sixteenth where our parents choose wife for us." He retorted, clearly getting pissed already.
"It's not the century where a man comes to your house and ask your hand in marriage from your parent's without courting you!"
"It's not the century, where in Nigeria a man needs to speak to your parent first before speaking to you! It's not the century where in Nigeria a woman will marry a man she meets for the first time and accept it whether she likes it or not!" He spoke on top of his voice.
"Then this is not Europe or America or Australia where you tell your parents that you have a boyfriend, this is a country where you don't speak back to your parents or raise your voice at them!" She challenged
"This is a country where you listen to your elders and do as you are told because they know the best for you, so stop leaving a foreign life when you are in a country where the rules are made by the elders." She spat out.
"You. Are. A. Real. Son. From. The . western. Part. Of. Nigeria." She emphasized her every word through gritted teeth.
"You are a bloody Yoruba boy." She cried out with tears rolling down her cheek.
The headache got worse as she wanted nothing but to leave.
"Your people are well cultured and you are so different, exactly the rude, disobedient and I'll mannered boy." She spat out slowly making sure she hurt him enough for him to let go.
"Being rich has its advantage I guess." She added.
She needed to hurt him, to break him so he'd let go, so she stopped her tears, wiping them with the back of her palm.
"Just like I thought, you will always act right and prove others wrong but don't let that lead you on in life because if it does, you will go astray." He spoke through gritted teeth.
"Farewell, Precious!" He spat out walking away.
As soon as he went far, Precious crumbled as she let the tears out. I guess this is how it feels to break up! She thought.