I Got you

At the early hours of the morning, the wind began whistling. The leaves of the trees rustled as the branches creaked in the direction the wind pushed them. The wind intensified, and the weather became chilly. A cold breeze brushed through Dina's legs up to her head almost immediately. She pulled her blanket from her side, over her body. Her teeth gnashed, and her hands shivered as she struggled to cover every part of her body. Finally, she placed a part of the blanket over her head until she could rest on it, then she leaned forward and pulled her knees into a tight embrace. The wind intensified, and so did the cold, then the rain began to spatter. She blew air into her palms and rubbed them together before dapping her chest with it. It eased the cold she felt then she heaved a sigh of relief.

She became comfortable with the weather and began to feel hot, so she stuck out her toes and removed the blanket halfway to her chest. She turned to her window and stared at the plain navy-blue sky. There were no stars, and the clouds were faintly present. She sighed again and rolled her eyes away from the window.

"What time is it?" She asked as she tapped around her sides in search of her phone. "1 a.m.?" She sat up with her eyes widen, blinking in a rhythm of twos. "Damn you, rain!" She flung her phone to her nightstand and fell back on her pillow. She laid sideways and pulled her blanket over her head.

She got up and held the window blinds. A cold breeze brushed her face, and she smiled. “This is weather for two”, she said and closed the window.

She closed her eyes to sleep, but a crack sound from a glass sprung her to butt. She heard the sound again and looked towards her room door. She listened to the sound again, and this time, it was louder and forceful; she shook in fright. She stood and crept to the door, tiptoeing all the way, ensuring she made no sound. She placed her palm on the door and leaned closer to listen to the sound again. This time, she heard footsteps, fast-walking, and sounds of chairs thrown to the walls in different directions. Her heart skipped, and she stepped backwards and covered her mouth.

She turned her room key gently to prevent the noise from attracting attention, but it betrayed her. The footsteps stopped, and chills ran through her body. She ran behind her closet and pinned her back to the wall. She covered her mouth, squeezing it tightly so the sound of the air released from her mouth wouldn't be heard. She remained in that position until she slept off and gradually slid to the floor.

Dina nodded to her right and opened her eyes immediately. She rose her hands to stretch as she yawned while looking around to figure out where she was. She massaged the sides of her head and stood to her feet. Staggering a little, she supported herself with the wall before getting stamina. She walked to the door and grabbed the doorknob; just then, flashes from the previous night ran through her mind. She took a step back but shook her head and turned the doorknob; she unlocked it and walked out.

She crept towards the stairs while stretching her neck to peep. She walked down the stairs after clarifying it was safe. She got to the living room and noticed the scattered overturned chairs. Then she tiptoed towards the kitchen, where she suspected the sound originated. When she got to the entrance, she noticed shatters of transparent glasses all over the floor, kitchen unit, and knives littered. Her body tingled instantly. The thought that the intruder could have been a killer sent chills down her spine. She slowly walked in, looked around and found the kitchen window broken, the knives and cutleries scattered around the floor and tables. She started panting heavily and her fingers shaking over her mouth. As she walked around the kitchen, she stepped on a piece of the broken window glass and limped towards the kitchen dining table to support herself. She made a mild groan as she pulled out the glass.

She limped out of the kitchen and headed towards the first aid box hanging on the wall in the living room. She dressed her wound and relaxed for a bit. As she sat, she tried figuring out where the footsteps she heard headed. Aside from her parent's room, hers was the only one upstairs. Her parents travelled, so they weren't around and besides, she didn't hear the footsteps climb the stairs. Then it dawned on her – her parents had given a stern instruction not to let anyone into the visitor's room, even if her friends come around. They left something in the safe, and they didn't want anyone to tamper with it. She stood and tried to run towards the guest room, but the stinging pain from her injury made her pause. She supported herself with her knee until she got to the guest room.

She met the door halfway open, so she peeped from the available space to check out the room. Clothing littered the bed and the floor, the stools overturned, and the bed uncovered. She searched the room further as she gently pushed the door. She walked in and looked around. She wondered what the stranger's interest in the room was as she walked to the cupboard. The state of the room made her suspect it was a thief instead. She opened the wardrobe and skimmed through to see if anything she could remember was valuable inside. She searched through the cupboard and found a piece of paper sticking halfway out from under a shirt. She leaned forward, squinting her eyes to take a good look at it, then she pulled it out. It was folded into a rectangle, so she unfolded it.

It read, "I got it all on tape. Got you!" With laughing and goofy face emoji drawn beside the words.

Dina arched her brow and read it out aloud with a questioning tone. She scanned the cupboard and the room with her eyes and noticed a CCTV camera above the door; she scoffed and chuckled. She shook her head while laughing out loud; then walked out of the room. Dina rolled her eyes and tapped her forehead constantly while laughing. Then, pulling a side-stool out from the corner of a cushion, she placed her injured leg on it. She noticed that there are CCTV cameras installed at the corners of the ceiling in the living room. She looked at the paper and laughed again.

"He got me back. I didn't know he'd return today. I'm sure there's a camera in the kitchen as well." she laughed. "Gosh! I'm embarrassed" she laughed again.

"How's my 'I’m back from my business trip’ announcement?” Kelvin asked with a wink as he walked in from the entrance with her parents.

“Mom, dad, you too?” She widened her eyes and opened her mouth. “I guess there wasn’t anything valuable in that room”, she scoffed, and her parents shrugged. “You’re insane, man” she rolled her eyes at Kelvin, who sat on the cushion handle beside her and held her shoulders.

“It wasn’t easy coming up with this prank after the last one you did. You gave me a hard time, girl, so I needed to get back at you, and I came up with this ultimate plan.” he caressed her face and blew a kiss to her. “Come to think of it – the rain helped a lot. I didn’t expect it, but it wanted me to win.”

“Come on; you went too far. You even broke the kitchen window? You scared me, and don’t bring the rain into this” She punched his belly. “You’re lucky we’re in Nigeria; if not, the police would have spoilt your ‘ultimate plan’” she did the quote sign with her fingers.

“I know we’re in Nigeria, my darling. Now, stop sulking and give me my reward” he tapped her jaw.

“Mom, dad, you allowed him to break the window?” She said after shoving his finger.

“Yes, darling. That’s why you have to give me my reward so that I can fix the window,” Kelvin cut in, and she glared at him. “Don’t give me that look, darling. I mean, you paid some people to pretend to attack me, and they broke my car mirror and window, and you didn’t pay a dime” he raised her face to his.

“That’s different “, she pouted.

“I guess I won you in this round, so send my three hundred thousand Naira. Should I send my account details again?” He emphasised ‘again’.

“Not fair. You’ve won five times already” she turned away from him and folded her hands. “I was even injured. Look at my foot ‘darling’” she pouted and gave him cat eyes.

“Won’t work, honey” he nodded and walked to sit with her parents. “What do you think, dad and mom? I think she’s trying to manipulate me again.”

“Women,” her father said and laughed.

“Let her go this once. She is injured,” her mom defended, and Dina pouted even more and blew kisses at him.

“This once? Out of the five times, I won, she has only paid once, whereas I’ve paid all the time” he shook his head and waggled his index finger in disagreement.

“I’ll pay you with something else” she winked at him.

There was an awkward silence for a split second; then Kelvin interrupted with a sigh. “We’re not married yet, so we can’t do that until a month from now; that’s why you suggested it” he shook his head, and she turned her eyes away from him, feeling caught. “I know how to deal with you” he stood and approached her.

She giggled as he lifted her and spun her around. Her parents looked at each other, then at them, smiling from ear to ear. He dropped her gently on the floor, holding her close to himself by her waist. He lifted her face to him, still holding her close to his body, and pecked her cheeks.

“You will send my money, then I’ll take you out tonight, to a place of your choice”, he grinned.

“Yeah, whatever” she blushed and rolled her eyes. “I’m glad you’re back home. I missed you” she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I missed you too” he pecked her forehead and rested it on his chest.

THE END