Chapter 3 :The heavy rain

Sharon saw all the drama going on between Tina and Prisca, but she hissed and didn't bother asking them what was up. She never liked Tina and wondered what her brother saw in Tina that made Patrick disturbing her about Tina.

Sharon would agree that Tina was indeed cute, sexy, and very fair-complexioned, but Tina was still too "local" for her, and Patrick finally stepped out from his kitchen and into his parlor, as his house was a mini 2-bedroom apartment that he shared with Sharon.

Patrick stared at the sobbing Tina and saw that Sharon was busy laughing and drinking happily with her two best friends who had visited. He got irritated and immediately asked Sharon, "Where's your friend, Sharon?"

Sharon asked him with her hands on her hips, "Which of my friends?"

Patrick stared at the parlor wall clock and saw it was getting late, and he wondered what was taking Prisca so long to take Tina back to their village, since their village was a little farther away from the nearby city where he lived with his younger sister, Sharon.

Patrick and Sharon weren't the only children of their parents, as Patrick had three other siblings aside from Sharon. Just then, Prisca stepped out from the restroom and said to Tina, "Let us leave."

But as they stepped out of the house to leave, the heavy wind blew them, and next, the heavy rain started to fall heavily, making Prisca turn back to Tina and say, "You see, Tina, we cannot go out in the rain, as we will have to wait for the rain to reduce first or stop before leaving for home. I'm going back inside."

Prisca didn't even wait for Tina to respond as she turned and went back into the house to continue her discussion with Sharon and the two friends who had arrived earlier, while Tina stood outside by the door, starting to cry, as she didn't want to enter the house, even though the heavy rain continued to fall and soak her clothes.

Patrick stepped out of the kitchen and to his living room, as he was done cooking. He discovered that Tina wasn't inside with Prisca and the rest of the three ladies discussing. Patrick assumed Tina was still outside, and it was getting dark, with the heavy rainfall making the night fall quickly.

Patrick ignored the four ladies discussing and went out, opening the front door and seeing Tina sobbing underneath the little porch in front of his house. He said to her, "Come inside, Tina, it's still raining."

"No," Tina refused to move an inch, as she didn't want to enter Patrick's house again. Patrick frowned and went back inside, later stepping out to give Tina an umbrella, but Tina refused to accept it, saying, "There's no need for it."

"Take it and use it to cover yourself, as you're already wet and to avoid getting too cold, since you don't want to come inside," Patrick said, leaving the umbrella beside Tina, as he knew she was very stubborn.

Patrick went back into his house, not happy about Tina's attitude towards him, as the heavy rainfall continued, with lightning and thunder strikes, but Tina still stood outside, regretting to herself, "Why today, of all days, did I follow Prisca here, knowing this heavy rain would fall?... Mom will already be at home from the market, and she wouldn't meet me at home, and Richmond and Jude might be outside playing or wondering where I've gone too, hmph..."

Tina sobbed as the heavy rain continued to fall, increasing until late at night.

***

Meanwhile, Tina's mother, Mama-tina, was in her market space earlier, where she normally sold her fruits and food items at the village square, and she noticed the sudden change in weather at first, knowing it would fall heavily.

Mama-tina immediately packed up all her fruits and went back home to her husband's house, where she was still living with her children, even though her husband had run away with another woman ten years ago.

When she got home, Mama-tina met only Jude, her last-born son, sleeping inside the unlocked house, and she wondered where Tina and her first son, Richmond, had both gone.

Mama-tina approached Jude, gently tapping his shoulder to wake him up, and asked, "Jude, Jude!.. wake up. Where's your sister and brother?"

Jude, a 10-year-old boy, stirred awake, happy to see his mother had returned. He quickly hugged her waist happily. He replied with his hands apart, "I don't know, mom. I had finished eating my food when I saw Aunt Prisca arrive here, and she was talking with Aunt Tina. And later, Aunt Tina said I should go back inside and sleep if I'd finished eating."

"Hmm..." Mama-tina frowned and asked Jude, "Then where is Richmond?"

Mama-tina wasn't happy that only Jude was home, but just then, Richmond rushed into the house, shutting the door before the heavy wind blew and the heavy rain started to fall.

Richmond, a 14-year-old boy, had been at his friend Alex's place, helping Alex's father at his furniture workshop. He greeted his mother, "Good evening, mom."

"Where's Tina?" Mama-tina quickly asked Richmond, and he gulped, not knowing where Tina had gone, as he had left the house earlier with Alex when Tina was still home, and he didn't know who had visited Tina after he left.

Mama-tina frowned and became worried, wanting to go to Prisca's house to search for Tina, since Jude mentioned Prisca visiting them. But just then, the strong wind blew, and the heavy rain increased.

Mama-tina cursed and paced about in their old-looking parlor, going back inside and hoping nothing bad had happened to her only daughter. She went to the kitchen to sort out their evening meal, remembering a neighbor had warned her before to monitor Tina's movement with her friend Prisca, as Prisca was known to be corrupt and hang out with different guys. But Mama-tina had thought Tina was already disciplined enough and never took the neighbor's warning seriously, regretting not warning Tina against Prisca or confirming the neighbor's gossip.

***

The heavy rainfall continued until dark night, and Tina was still standing outside in front of Patrick's house, soaked wet and shivering in the cold as the rain gradually reduced.

"If only I had known my way back home earlier, I could've trekked home to our village when the sun was still out before the rainfall started," Tina said to herself.

Just then, Tina saw a black car drive into Patrick's compound and park, and she became scared, using her right palm to wipe the rain drops from her eyes. She saw the driver switch off the front lights while answering a phone call in the car.

Tina continued staring at the black car worriedly, then she heard Sharon's voice and her two best friends' voices echoing and laughing as they stepped out from the house behind her.

Tina saw they had changed into new, hot-looking short gowns, different from the ones she had seen them wear earlier.

To Tina's shock, she also saw Prisca tagging along with them, having changed her black gown into a red, seductive short dress.

Tina quickly rushed up to meet Prisca, wanting to confirm if they were already going home, but before she could speak, Prisca yelled at her, "Where do you think you're going with that soaked, dripping body of yours, Tina? Please move back, as you're not following us, not to talk of soaking someone's car."

Tina frowned, unable to understand Prisca's recent behavior towards her. She became utterly embarrassed as Sharon laughed and walked over to take the umbrella from Tina's hand, saying, "Don't be annoyed, Tina. Kindly lend us this umbrella... Aww, this even looks like mine, that I've been searching for."

Sharon glared at Tina as she took the umbrella and walked back to the car. Tina snapped out of her daze as she saw the four ladies trying to enter the car. She rushed up to Prisca again, asking, "Wait, Prisca. What do you mean I can't follow you? I thought we were going home?"

"No, Tina. Sharon, please wait for me, and don't tell the driver to go yet," Prisca said, standing beside the car. She turned to Tina and said, "Well, you see, Tina, I've changed my clothes, and that tells you I'm going out, not yet going home. Since it's already late now, why not go inside and wait for us to return first? When I return, then we can start going home."

"But..." Before Tina could speak, Prisca rushed back into the car, shutting the door, and the car driver started the car, leaving Tina standing outside the house, crying as she watched the car drive out of the compound, leaving her alone.