Chapter Six

Seeing his wife storming away from him like that James decided it was best to make amends. He quickly followed her and he caught up with her before she was out of the living room. He reached for her hand but she snatched it away as she kept on walking angry,  not to be dissuaded he tried again and this time she stopped and he could feel her body slightly trembling but he forced her to turn to face him.

With a sheepish look he slowly pulled her close to him, cupping her face in his hands he murmured apologetically ‘Lora, I must admit maybe in my speech I was out of line and I am really sorry. I hope you can see from Connie’s expression that she is not telling us the whole truth, there is something she is holding back. Let us not forget that these teenage girls are at a stage they want to experiment. Now that she has mentioned a guy let us not rule out the possibility that they met up with guys and probably her friend decided to go and shake up somewhere. Do you have any idea of the kind of party she was attending at Trish’s place? 

Lora remained quiet for a moment, James’s opinion made sense but she preferred facts to speculation so she answered him in a cool tone despite the seething fury she was feeling “James, while you have made your position clear regarding my daughter your opinion makes sense but let’s stop insinuating anything here. Connie seldom hides things from me and after all she is right there in the kitchen lets go and find out what she has to say.’ Shaking off her hand from his hold she headed for the kitchen.

Looking up from the kitchen table she was sitting nibbling away at her breakfast Connie instantly felt irritated seeing her parents again and she knew from their expression that their talk was far from over.

James leaned forward on the table she was sitting with a scowled expression ‘Young lady ditch that look on your face I am not your age mate. In fact let me rephrase this for you in case you did not understand me the last time. Apparently it appears that sleeping out was part of your plan too so where did you girls and your boyfriends go to last night?’

Before Connie could answer her mother interjected ‘James, you keep putting words in her mouth and at this rate we won’t get anything. I think you leaving is a good idea I will handle this myself.’

James eyed Lora narrowly he was taken aback by her words and her stern look told him she was serious ‘Whatever, I am off anyway. But I will make one thing clear to you young lady, if you go about creating a mess don’t expect me to bail you out. You make your bed you lie in it.’ James barked as he walked away.

When they were all alone Lora sat next to her daughter and she took her hands in a reassuring way, quietly she said ‘Connie darling, you know that I am not just your mother but your friend. I m concerned about you, this situation is not some kind of game and it hurts me that you have started keeping secrets from me. All I want is to establish the truth so I can help you that is all.’

‘Mom, I don’t understand what it is that you are expecting from me.’ Connie replied in a bored tone.

 ‘Then tell me this, who is this guy you were talking about and does he have any connection with Emma not returning home last night? Lora quizzed curiously.

Startled by her mother’s words, Connie replied her slowly, her mind pondering on the possibility of what she said being the case ‘I_______I, don’t know mom. By the way who told you that she didn’t return home?’ 

Connie began to think of all the possible things Nick might be doing to Emma as she recalled his slap across her own face. There is no other way to explain his photos of her except that they were photo-shopped. ‘What if he had photo-shopped the three of them and going after each one with his fake allegations?’ Connie thought as fear gripped her.

‘Her mother of course, she was here this morning not that boyfriend or whatever of yours you were talking about. Connie you must realize that if you don’t speak the truth now, you will find yourself in the hands of the police should something bad happen to her,’ Lora said her voice emphatic.

Realizing the magnitude of the issue Connie decided to tell her mother everything that had happened the previous night but she deliberately left out the part of meeting Nick. She didn’t want to raise alarm yet until she was sure.

 ‘I swear mum it was Emma’s idea and even though Trish and I tried to persuade her to come home with us she refused so we ended up leaving her at the club and that is the whole truth.’ Connie concluded the last part of her reply in tears.

Lora sighed in disappointment, she did not want James to say I told you so. 

‘Connie, how many times have I prohibited you from going to such places and you know very well about all the abductions that are taking place around. As if disobeying was not enough, you went on to lie about your whereabouts.  Tell me, if something had happened to you where were we supposed to look for you..huh? Ignoring her daughter’s tears Lora went on angrily.

Wiping her tears with the back of her hand she snapped ‘I am sorry mom but sometimes you treat me as if I am still 16years old.  Most of my age mates and younger ones are allowed to go to clubs, attending beach parties and all those places while I am jailed in this place. I will be turning 20 in a few weeks for goodness sake and I just can’t wait to leave this place.’ 

Lora was stunned, this girl in front of her was a stranger not her sweet Connie.

‘I don’t believe what I am hearing. You must understand that what you did last night is inexcusable and it will not go without a punishment. Whether or not should we allow you to go clubbing is a discussion for another day for now pray that your friend is found in one piece or else you are in deep trouble’ Rising from her seat Lora snarled before storming out of the kitchen.

Connie was left sulking her appetite completely gone. She didn’t know what to make of the situation. It was one thing that James didn’t like her because she was not his biological daughter but her mother too? Everything in her life was turning into a turmoil. If only she had not gone to the club in the first place, she would not have met Nick and Emma would not have disappeared. For whatever reason Emma’s mother decided to talk to her parents instead of asking her who was with Emma last night has now caused her to slip her tongue about Nick, she gritted.

Connie found it hard to cry as helplessness enveloped her. She had no idea of how she was going to deal with this situation, her parents have lifted their defense wall against her leaving her to deal with the situation on her own. If it was true that Nick was somehow involved in this, it means that not only her life was in danger but also Trish’s. 

A part of her refused to accept that he was involved, he was downright rude and proud but he did not look like the kidnapping type. For instance they were all alone when he slapped her, he could have gagged and thrown her into the car afterwards but he didn’t, so as much as she might want to believe it, she has to look at another angle.  The heat in the house was becoming unbearable for her and she didn’t know where to go or who to turn to. Suddenly a thought crossed her mind like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. Smiling she quickly placed her plates in the sink and went to the living room to make a call.