Bury a friend PT 1

Hakim Bello had always been grateful to the Badmus family for assistance after his father who was Mike's driver, died of a tragic illness. So it didn't cause any problems when he got a call from them asking for a favor in return, especially when he was going to be compensated for all his troubles. He was a lanky man in his forties, had a small mouth and pale eyes that could keep one staring at his face for a long time but somehow, the boss had chosen him as the perfect guy for the job. He just had to act as a guardian to their only child, Veronica while she proved she could handle settling back in with her peers by proving it in a town she didn't know anyone. 

Easy, he had thought had first. Veronica although from a rich background wasn't a brat. She was as respectful to him as anyone younger could be and she always minded her business but Hakim was starting to get worried. It was already two weeks and from what Veronica had told him, she wasn't fitting in, rather she was being isolated but Hakim was worried that he might not receive his payment if this test didn't work well. He was all worried until four days ago when Veronica came home with good news. 

"Uncle Kim," Sha had called him like she fondly as she walked into the living room.  "I'll be having some friends over on Friday night."

The word friends had stunned Hakim, freezing his hand and the beer bottle in the air as he was about to take a sip and turning his eye from the TV to her. She said nothing else but marched up the stairs to her room. 

He had hoped it was true, and if it was, he was going to give her space and watch tonight's game at a bar down the street. He had helped her set the drinks and snacks and games and was about to head out when they both a knock on the door. 

*    *     *

Grace knocked again impatiently, standing in front of the house that matched the address and description Veronica gave them. Margret in her usual way had hesitated if she dressed well enough for the party. June had worn a short black gown while Grace had gone with an all-black casual attire and her signature denim jacket which she wore always when she was out of her uniform and Margret had chosen a sleeveless white top and blue jean trousers. Her insecurities had risen when Thomas's face gave a concerned expression when he looked at her before picking Joana up. 

She couldn't believe she could care about what anybody thought about her fashion sense, she was of average height, had dark brown eyes that matched her skin tone, full afro hair that complimented her small face and her choice of clothes was as modest as a good Christian girl should be. It was at least better than Grace who seemed like she had the same set of clothes for every occasion. 

June and Grace had tried to explain to her that she looked fine, that it was Thomas's way of teasing her because he knew she would start overthinking it as she did. It didn't stop her from doubting it till they got to Veronica's. 

"But still, you don't think there is a bit of truth in how he looked at me, do you?"

Grace sighed. She was about to knock again when the door opened. 

"May I help you?" Hakim asked peering his head out the door. 

The girls just looked at the man for a little while. Grace presumed it was the guardian Veronica spoke about. 

"Good evening sir, is Veronica at home?"

"Ah yes! You must be the friends she said we're coming over... Come in."

As they walked in, their eyes scanned around the well-furnished living room until their eyes met Veronica's. Everything was in order but not as fancy and graphic as they had imagined. 

"Guys, welcome!!" Veronica said spreading her arms to hug them. "Hope it didn't cause any problems locating here?" She said after she hugged grace. 

"No, I live two streets away from here," Margret answered.

"Good. So the party is about to start, have your seat." 

An awkward silence fell across the room which was broken by Hakim who was still standing by the door.

"Veronica,"  He said wiping his two hands at the butt cheek area of his jeans. "I'm going to go to watch the match." 

Veronica while was still wondering while the girls suddenly kept quiet didn't give a reply and he didn't need one.

"Have fun girls." He said forcing a smile with his small mouth then left. 

"Where are your friends Veronica?" June asked bringing back Veronica's thought and attention back to the room. She hadn't known she was also quiet since Hakim left. And then she had remembered her response when June had asked if her friends were coming. 

Yeah, sure! 

She had unconsciously lied back then. No one else was coming but if she said that, it would ruin her impression with the girls. She had to lie again. 

"Oh, Uhm," she said not finding any words at first. She reached for her phone from her back pocket and pretended to check any recent messages from her phone. "See, my friends are having trouble getting here... They are coming from far, and there's traffic and all." She paused to see if they bought what she said. Their faces showed they did. 

"So," Veronica stressed as she picked up the bowl of chips with one hand three red party cups filled with drinks on the other. "Let's just get it started while we wait, shall we?"

They all giggled at the voice impression Veronica made when said 'shall we' and for a while, everything went back to normal. 

"So your sister, she already out with that John guy huh?" 

June nodded. 

"Is that why you guys were looking for a little bit of excitement, no boyfriend?" Veronica said and studied their reaction for a moment. "Or are you two?" She teased Margret and Grace. 

They all laughed.

"Hell no!" Grace said still laughing "We aren't dating. And we aren't a big fan of relationships either, some of us anyway."

"Aiit, I'm just teasing ya." Veronica winked.

She left them and returned with the remaining snacks and drinks and sat, folding her legs on the carpet floor. Grace figured it was her turn to ask her question.

"So then, Veronica. What's the actual story with you? Who is Veronica--"

"Bello," Veronica had interjected quickly. She had brought the idea of having a different surname so people won't know who she was. She didn't want anyone knowing about her illness so even weeks before she came to the town, she already had her background story in check. Lying wasn't new territory for her at all. 

"Well my parents are rich, as you can see..." she gesticulated with her hands to the house but got serious from there "I was a pretty sick child while growing up so I missed school growing up. I was homeschooled for most of my younger days and when I got better started attending a boarding school." She paused to act more dramatic. They were eating up her story once again. 

"Well, I was a real rebel back then, wasn't part of any girl group or bad gang, I wasn't interested in school work either, just wreaking havoc everywhere. So I failed and failed but daddy's money kept pushing me till I graduated."

"Wow, but that doesn't explain why you are here," Margret said still puzzled. 

"Here's the fun part, I never thought my dad was turning a blind eye to all that to pay me back with this, repeating my SS3 days and I had no choice but to comply because he threatened to take away his support for college. And that's why am here." She concluded bowing her head. 

"Oh!" The three girls said together. They were all about to fall back to their momentary silence, listening to the music that was playing from Veronica's laptop until Grace spoke up. 

"Guys, we should play a game."

"Yeah," Veronica agreed "Something spooky should be fun on a night like this, any ideas?" 

Margret shook her head. 

"I'll check google," June said picking up her phone. 

They all took a sip, waiting for June's feedback. 

"Here is one, The Candy Man."

"Sounds lame," Margret replied. 

"Hide and seek?" 

"Too childish."

"Truth or dare?"

"Too common."

"Bury a friend."

They all threw intrigued looks at each other. 

"Catchy," Grace stated, "How do we play?"

"It says here that each of us has to narrate we would how would go about killing a particular person we know and the rest of the group would try to figure out the evidence that would lead you back to the crime."

"Sounds fun," Veronica stated. 

"So who's going first?" June asked. 

They all went quiet for a while until Margret raised her hand.

"What the heck." She said aloud. 

"Hmmm, the quiet one is going first."

Then they all joined Veronica, forming a circle on the floor. 

"So who do I want to kill?" She wondered tapping her index finger on her lip. "It's probably going to be somebody I hate right?"

The rest nodded. 

"Well, in that case," Margret said having the right person in mind. "I killed my mum's boyfriend Sylvester."

The girls made some spooky sounds then giggled altogether.

"My mum has been seeing this guy for about eighteen months now and I knew the guy was bad news from the beginning. But he started showing his true colors when my mum had Stanley, my baby stepbrother for him. The motherfucker doesn't even have a job anymore and he doesn't even help with a single thing in the house, all he does is go out drinking then comes back home at night to get free food and free sex." 

As much as it pained Grace and June, they have heard this story before. It was only new to Veronica. 

"Don't forget he has been making advances towards you lately," June added. 

Margret nodded. The memory of the first time Sylvester tried to take advantage of her still sent chills down her spine. She was asleep in her room when she had felt a cold big hand trying to slip inside her pajamas. Her mouth made no effort to scream but luckily the rest of her body sprung into action, stabbing him with the object closest to her, her diary pen. Sylvester had run back down to the living room, not wanting to draw the attention of Margret's mother and it worked well for him; she didn't believe what he had done when Margret told her the next morning. 

"You know how I plan on killing the stupid man? The next time he's gonna make a slick move right that again or even get closer to me than 2 feet anytime we're alone together, I will be ready with a knife which I'm going to shove up his throat and I'll watch as he bleeds to death. Tada!"

The other girls threw glances at each other, noting how impressed they were.

"Nice one Maggy, I never knew you had it in you," Grace said grinning.

Margret blushed. 

"But it's pretty clear what evidence would lead them back to you."

"The knife..." Veronica jumping in. "You didn't get rid of the murder weapon, everything would lead back to you."

Margret turned to June to see if she agreed. She was. 

"Oh well... So who's next?"