THE LAST TRIP DOWN THE WEST 4

Mary stirred in her sleep, she was feeling uncomfortable. That feeling we get when something is off, or when someone is staring at us... yea that feeling that makes the hair at the nape of your neck stand at a grossly uncomfortable attention, well, she was getting that feeling.


 she sprung out of her couch and opened her eyes simultaneously. she looked around and realised the it was either she had been sleeping for two days straight or she was having one of those episodes where you wake upon from a nap and realise that you have no idea what day, month or year it is.
she looked at duke's bed and he was still in it. sleeping soundly like a drunk puppy. she realised that she wasn't the only one who had been enjoying the sweet sleep. she glanced at the wall clock with the huge "PM" letters written. on it. instead of the usual numbers that told what time of the day it was, it was symbols that represented what duke should be doing at the moment. the spot where 12 would be was occupied by a book and pen. meaning that he had to be studying with his teacher at that time . she looked at it presently and saw that the time was on the game pad icon, which meant that he was supposed to be playing video games at the moment.
she stood by his bed and wondered if she should wake him or leave him to wake on his own. she considered all the odds and came to the conclusion that she couldn't handle it if he started to throw things around the place again. so she sat on the bed and pulled his big toe gently. he stirred and opened his eyes, his eyes went straight to the clock and he was out of the bed in a flash.
"its games time, will you play resident evil with  me today Mary?" he said. the sleep was still in his voice but Mary knew that she would be un able to talk him into going back to sleep. she was fine with that, at least he won't be biting her head off for letting him oversleep. He was skipping into the game room, frantically setting up his game obviously trying to make up for lost time. he sat down to it and started to play.
sometime later, Mary was laying the bed when she looked up and saw him by the door. she was alarmed, duke never skipped an activity. he had been playing for less than ten minutes and he still had about 45 mins to go. she dropped the bed sheet she was holding and rushed to his side. being conscious not to touch him at all.
"Are you okay? do you need something? are you hungry?"
she was saying. nearly frantic for all the possibilities that were running through her mind. she bent low and looked into his eyes. he looked away and said
"Mary can we change all my leisure time to story telling time?" he said, pointing at the wall clocks simultaneously
marry almost laughed.
" sweetie," she said
"we don't need to chang it on the clock, we can just tell stories anytime we have leisure.
"but that's impossible, if the clock says to play games, then we can't tell stories" he said
" its very possible dear. we will just ignore the clock"
duke looked at Mary as if she had just blasphemed.
" are you kidding me!" he exclaimed exagerratingly. we cannot ignore the clock! nobody ignores the clock, " he turned and walked over to the nearest clock and exclaimed again, probably for effect
" NOBODY!!"
Mary could see that he was getting worked up. that was the last thing she wanted.
" its okay... its okay... she put her hands out to touch him withdrew it quickly almost at the as,e time, she noticed that he also withdrew away from the prospective touch.
" I'll talk to your daddy about it' we will have someone fix it tomorrow."
" it can be done today. tell him I want not done today."
Mary looked at him and smiled cynically
" like hell I will" she said. she imagined herself so short, standing in front of her boss and telling him that she needed to have the clock icons changed immediately. that would be one very funny sight. despite the cynicism in Mary's voice when she said " like hell I will' the words seemed to calm Duke down and he went to sit on the couch, he supported his chin with his palm while resting his elbow on his lap. his stance made it obvious that he was waiting for her to finish what she was doing and go and get his dad.  it suddenly occurred to her that Duke did not get the sacarsm in her last words. he had assumed that " like hell I will" meant that she would neo his bidding.
at this point, Mary found herself wondering if she should set the records straight and just tell him what she really meant, or she should at least attempt to do his bidding since she had given him the impression that she would. she looked at him and knew that she dared not try to tell him what she reapply meant. she would be setting fire to the house. so she finished upon laying the beds and stepped outside the room and went to look for her boss.
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she walked down the long corridor. it was nearly 7pm so most of e staff had gone home. the only staffs who lived in the building were her, security, and driver. every other person came and went. the building felt so quiet, so silent. she could almost hear her footsteps echoing behind her. she decided that she would check e car park first to see if all the cars were in the house. if they all were, it would mean that her boss was in. but if even one of them was missing, it could mean that he wasn't in the house. when she looked outside and counted the cars, she noticed that the black Mercedes was missing. she therefore assumed that her boss wasn't around. she was relieved and was going to tell Duke that his daddy was not around and therefore, they could not get his consent just yet.
she turned back into the house and started to walk back towards the belong corridor. as she neared the entrance of the corridor, she heard some click clacking sounds comking from the dirrection of the kitchen. she was going to ignore it but it was irregular and noisy. it news obvious that it wasn't the cook nor the maid at was in there. she walked towards the kitchen  gently and got ready for a fight in case it was an intruder. she tried to be as quiet as she could by walking on tip toe. she was mal most into the kitchen when someone said from the kitchen.
" you can walk on tip toe all you want but I know you're there." the voice was feminine and laughing. Mary was about to jump the person and shout "help thief" when the voice continued.
" if you think you will bend me over and fuck me in your kitchen ... "
mary's eyes opened wide. and it continued to grow wider as the person whose voice she had been hearing jumped out of the kitchen and said
"... you are dead right!"
"JESUS!!!" they both yelled at the same time as the lady jumped on Mary. Mary shouted because she didn't see it coming, and the person shouted because, she was expecting someone else. someone that wasn't female or short. they both fell to the floor and then started to try to get up.
" what the... what the  fuck is this!!"  the other lady was saying. Mary on the other hand just got to her feet and started to run away from the lady in blind embarrassment. she ran as fast as her legs could carry her and then smashed into a wall. she fell back and was back on the ground. she hit the floor wit a thud and closed her eyes for a second. She thought "what the hell was that?" there wasn't supposed to be a wall in that direction! she was sure she was running in the right direction and it had to be that the lady in the kitchen was a witch to have brought a wall to her way.
Mary... are you okay Mary? Fumbi call the hospital. use the land line so they know its me"
is she dead?" someone was asking
" shut up Fumbi, people don't just die like that. get the ambulance"
well, she looks dead to me."
" I think she might need a mouth to mouth"
what! " no way in hell are you putting the mouth I kiss in that thing's mouth."
" this could be a matter of life and death... I think I knocked the wind out of her"
" I don't care if its a matter of heaven and hell, you're not kissing her."
" so you would rather have her die than get a Mouth to mouth resusication..."
" I swear by god Bolaji, if you put your mouth in that thing,'s mouth, it will be the last you see of me."
" wow! " her boss exclaimed. " wow" he exclaimed again. Mary could feel his hand tense up on her shoulder where he had put it. It seemed to her that he was about to smash his fist into something. she wanted to talk and stop this conversation, tell them that she was fine,m deliver her message and go but then he said
" you know what, fuck this. I'll help this girl. she's my staff." and he started to bend towards her. Mary became frantic and in her anxiety' she put put a weak hand to stop him.
" Oga... I dey. I dey okay."
Mary said weakly. He looked her over and said
" can you stand?"
" yes Oga.". he helped her up and then she said...
" Oga... Duke say..."
" you'll tell me what duke said later. now go to your room."he said curtly
he turned around and started to leave. Funmbi followed him, close at his heels.
" who is Duke? " she was asking.
" nobody... no one" he answered.
Mary's eyes started to burn. the tears were heavy in her eyes and she tried hard not to spill it. how could he do that to his son? " nobody?" seriously? she could feel the anger welling up inside her. she had heard those words before.
" nobody! "
" she's no one"
" you are a nobody, I could kill you and no one would notice"
" you are nothing, you've got nothing, you are nobody."
Mary 's head spun as she walked blindly towards the boy's room. she pushed the door open, walked in, shut the door and broke down crying.