Dreams of our life

Benson High School was burning down in September 2019, and it was from the kitchen where the fire started due to the poor wiring that was running along the walls and ceiling of the room.

The fire on the grounds was growing slowly but surely, but it took some time for other students who were studying farther away from the kitchen to recognize this.

The fact that there were fire extinguishers in every classroom was a stroke of luck and saved lives.

When the fire broke out in the kitchen, the boys in the nearby classrooms acted quickly to grab extinguisher cans and rush there to put it out.

Other boys assisted by removing school supplies, and others escorted the girls away from the dangerous situation.

Since this was a Day high school, all classes were abruptly suspended, and every student was asked to return home.

Teachers were panicking and calling for ambulance and fire services to get better control of the situation.

Aarush and Liz would typically return home together on foot everyday so Liz waited for him at the gate as she had seen him rush towards the kitchen to give a helping hand in extinguishing the fire.

Given that both of their homes were in the same area, watching out for one another made natural sense.

After the fire was put out, Aarush pulled up his phone from his pocket to discover several missed calls from Liz's number.

He bit his tongue and wondered if she was fine. He called the first time and the number didn't go through, he tried the number again, and when it was answered, his heart was at ease.

When Liz received the call, she frantically answered it and informed Aarush that she was waiting for him at the gate. He hurried there and when he saw her, he rushed and gave her a bear hug out of concern.

"Am glad you are fine." He told her and he immediately wanted to order an Uber, but Liz refused, so they left the school and started walking home.

"Let's just walk back. it's better." she sighed and held his hand.

Aarush concurred, and the two of them strolled back to their homes while encouraging one another, telling jokes, and even posting a selfie of themselves on Facebook and Instagram.

When they both arrived at Liz's house, Aarush gave Liz a cheek kiss before deciding to head over to his house, which was just a few meters away. They both smelled so bad, and Aarush had a football game to catch up on.

Liz walked into her house from the front and went straight to the refrigerator to fetch some water to drink. However, before she could drink, she overheard a male and female voice laughing from her grandmother's chamber, which was upstairs.

"Now what is this?" Liz asked herself whilst looking sharply at the stairs leading to the upper part of her home.

"People are weird nowadays." She murmured thinking who else would be in the house on such a day.

There were only two rooms up there, and one of them was empty. It was for Liz's mother, who was away in the city working.

Liz set the glass down on the sink and then held her breath, wondering aloud who had the gall to be in her grandmother's holy bedroom.

According to cultural standards, no other guy was permitted to enter that chamber even under the circumstances of divorce.

"If this is someone else, they will immediately leave." Liz swore as she remarked and pulled the kitchen curtain down fearing to be seen by the neighbours.

The laughter got more irritating and Liz was certain that the source of the ongoing laughter was Douglas, the delivery man who had been surprising the family with specialty pizzas and other surprises for almost two years.

Since he was a very jolly person and too talkative, this man found his way to every heart except for Liz who saw through his predatory schemes as she assumed.

"What on earth could he be doing up there?" Liz paused, then moved slowly in the direction of the upper room to find out what was happening,

As she drew closer to the room, she could hear the voices of Douglas and Angie, her grandma, and it was obvious that they were having a lot of fun.

When she got near to the door, she stood there for a while hearing Angie and Douglas having a flirtatious talk, which made Liz feel so disgusted.

"She is this stupid ! at her age?" Liz jeered and turned around breathing hard, with her hands on her waist.

"My God what is this?"

Liz, filled with anger pulled the door open and stormed inside, where she found Angie lounging on the side couch and Douglas sitting on the floor next to her.

Even though the bed appeared to be undisturbed, both were wearing private clothing and didn't appear bothered at all by what they were doing.

"What has brought you here?" Angie asked Liz, looking at the girl with a demeaning look displayed all over her face.

Douglas quickly got to his feet and reached into the wardrobe for a robe that belonged to Angie's husband Max, who was away on business in another country.

Liz was shocked by Douglas and Angie's daring in exposing themselves to her in the space, and she observed everything there as if it were a movie.

After a few seconds, Angie rose up with a gloomy face, put a towel around her body, and moved closer to Liz.

Angie had a really harsh look that frightened Liz when she looked at her in the eye but Liz stayed composed.

"Mom, this guy....."

"Get out."

Angie yelled at Liz to leave the room while Douglas went back to sit on the couch comfortably.

"He is lying to you.."

Liz shouted at Angie telling her how Douglas was only after the money but Angie would not listen to anything more.

"Stupid, get out now."

"Mom he is a hooker...."

Angie slapped Liz hard before she could finish her sentence, and at that point Douglas intervened to settle Angie down because she was getting more furious and threatening to throw Liz out of the house.

"Please leave." Douglas informed Liz as he held Angie back to his arms.

Liz was left with nothing to do in the room and walked out feeling very uncomfortable and ashamed.

Liz started crying as she ran downstairs towards her room and when she had got in, she locked herself inside and only cried louder but the pain only grew.

They had been living three of three of them in the house as the rest of the members were away in school or work.

The rumors from the community members were right all along but Liz always doubted, thinking Angie was a saint.

She reached for her phone and tried to call Max, her grandfather, on WhatsApp as she didn't have an international calling bundle but he didn't answer.

Liz then sent him several messages pleading with him to give her a call, but despite the messages being marked with a blue check, no response was received.

Liz put her head on her pillow while feeling hopelessly depressed and hoping that Max would reply in time.

After a while, she received a notification on her phone and when she checked to see if max had replied,

It was Aarush asking if she was okay or if he could covertly deliver a burger for her to her house.

"Am good, a little busy right now." Liz told him in a WhatsApp message.

Aarush then responded to Liz with a heart emoji and a suggestion to meet early the following morning.

"Ok. chat later." Liz put the phone on top of her drawer after texting Aarush and started to cry more. This was a side she had never seen of Angie, the woman who had taught her virtues of a woman since her childhood days.

Aarush wanted to ask more but felt Liz was not in the mood so he decided to wait till morning when they would both walk to school together.

After hours of waiting for Max's call but getting none, Liz fell asleep until late in the night when she was awoken by a call from max.

It was a direct international call but he cut the call before she could answer it.

Max knew Angie would be so annoyed at hearing Liz talk on the phone in the middle of the night so he quickly texted Liz to come online.

"Check WhatsApp" Max told Liz in the text and she quickly turned her data connection on as it was lower than 20Mb.

Liz used to call Max Dad because her own father was scared of fatherhood.

Max had happily taken in Liz right from the day she was born but Angie frowned upon the idea of another girl living in the house.

Max was the one who at times renewed Liz's data bundles since he was aware that Liz's part time jobs were online were a little stressful and yielded less.

From a young age, Liz loved paying for her own basic needs so Max obeyed and only interfered when he saw she was broke.

"Dad, Douglas was in the house with Angie upstairs." Liz texted max the moment she was online.

Other messages from friends popped up but her main focus was on Max.

"What, Liz are you sure?" Max asked in text and questioned how long Douglas had been in the house and what he would do whenever he was in the house.

"I don't know, I got home early from school, you know there was a fire and I heard them laugh upstairs, so I went to check on them and they were a bit nude."

Max was still typing and then he abruptly went offline and didn't come back online again.

She texted him about the whole scenario and waited for his reply but got none so she plugged her phone to the charger and switched on the socket and waited for his reply but received none.

Her Airtime was low to make an international call and she couldn't borrow so she dozed off after waiting for so long.

When she woke up it was morning and Aarush was in their usual spot waiting for her.

He had called a couple of times but her phone was in silence and he had sent multiple texts too.

He had even sent her Airtime and sms worried that she was perhaps broke but she had not seen all of this.

After looking at her phone and seeing it was already 7:30am, she unlocked her home screen and read a number of pop ups notifications from Aarush,she sent him a call back message and he called immediately.

"Babe, I'm sorry, Give me 10 mins to freshen up. I will be there."

"Okay love, I will wait." Aarush said in a warm tone.

Liz rushed to the bathroom and had a quick shower. When she was done, she rushed to the kitchen to pack some breakfast but found the kitchen occupied by Douglas, the man she couldn't stand seeing anywhere in the house.

He had finally managed to take control of Angie and was also lustfully looking at Liz with his bare chest and revealing underwear.

As he greeted Liz, his lips curled into the worst smirk.

Liz turned around and left the house feeling more challenged since she was so humiliated.

"Douglas is really running the house," Liz sobbed but wiped away the tears because she knew Aarush would question her a lot if he saw them.

Aarush watched her run to where he was waiting, and even though he immediately realized something was wrong, he decided to act as though nothing had happened.

After all, Liz was a sensitive person who would become annoyed by even the little things.

"You appear lovely." He said to her as he combed his fingers over her braids and Aarush made fun of her.

He was trying to put a smile on her and it worked but deep inside, Liz was burning with anger.

"You are the apple of my eye." Aarush teased Liz and she beamed.

"Quit kidding." Liz insisted as she thanked him for the credit boost.

" I'll do that again because I adore you."

As they headed to school that morning, Aarush continued to make her laugh with jokes and stories from their earlier days as he reminded her of them.

Aarush was aware of the Douglas and Angie rumors and had even independently verified them, but he didn't want to be the one to tell Liz the news because it was a little confusing and unreal at that moment.

Since the national examinations were to take place in a month and Aarush and Liz would be finishing their high school careers at Benson, it made more sense if they concentrated more on their studies than the rumors.

Max didn't text again, and Douglas began to visit the house more frequently until when he moved in with his belongings.

Liz waited for Max's reply but it never came through and Aarush became her only pillar of hope.

Liz kept trying his phone number and checking out his Facebook page for some information but it was all quiet.

By the end of the year, Liz and Angie were already on non speaking terms and Douglas was already handling the house purchases and he was also Authorizing whatever Liz wanted from Angie.

The situation at Liz's home became more open to everyone who knew them and there was no more talking about it since Liz was the only one who was openly against the relationship.

Many times Liz wanted to open up to Aarush but it was hard for her so she kept the whole ordeal to herself.

They both spent quality time together after the exams and a couple of times Liz went over to Aarush's home after his multiple invitations and got to know everyone in the house.

When the results for the final exams were out, Aarush had scored higher marks and got an offer to join one of the prestigious universities around the country while Liz was among those that passed from the third grade.

There was just no hope for her and she had to ask Angie for support as Max was nowhere to be found.

After keeping quiet for several weeks and finding it difficult to accept Douglas as the new resident of the Max house, Liz felt it was past due for her to talk to Angie about getting into the university.

After the New Year's festivities, February-the month that saw the start of admissions to universities practically everywhere-was just two weeks away.

Since obtaining Liz's high school transcript from Benson High School, Angie hadn't mentioned Liz attending campus other than to shame her for her terrible marks.

Liz paced around her bedroom that morning, January 15, well aware that Angie's behavior with regard to her university admittance was off-kilter.

Angie was vocal about Liam's admission to high school but kept quiet about Liz's acceptance to the university.

Liz had two brothers in total, with Liam being the youngest.

Baron, Liz's second brother, was away at a distant boarding school that lasted longer because it catered to students who were interested in agriculture and technology.

Baron would spend the majority of his holidays working on big farms and laboratories there, coming home just for the Easter holiday.

Saed, their mother Kisti's ex-husband, would be where Baron would spend the rest of the year's holidays.

Saed was a loving father to all of his kids but was unable to provide for them as he would have liked. As a result, he spent most of his time avoiding the Max family and was accustomed to hiding from Liz, who he believed to be embarrassed of him.

Baron and Liz were close, and so was Saed and Baron.

Since Max was nowhere to be located, Liz knew that Angie was purposefully dodging her university entrance.

His WhatsApp and Facebook accounts both stayed inactive since September of 2019 and Angie said nothing about his whereabouts.

"Lord, please help me." Liz said a prayer before leaving her bedroom to go talk with Angie about her University admission.

While Angie managed the Bigger shops, Douglas was in charge of the Max hardware stores which were rather the smaller shops around the town.

He dictated the daily operations and Angie approved all transactions that she deemed necessary.

When Max was present, Liz was permitted to work in any of the stores but ever since he vanished, Angie made it difficult for Liz to work in any of the stores.

"Good morning, Mom." Liz said hello to Angie and crouched down next to the couch she was occupying.

"Good morning." Angie responded without displaying any emotion at all.

Angie then went back to watching her show and showed no signs of being curious about what had suddenly drawn Liz to her.

Liz waited and hoped that Angie would ask why she had come to her but Angie instead turned her back to Liz while still holding the remote control in her hands and picked up some chewing gum that was on the side stool.

Liz felt extremely uncomfortable but she couldn't do anything at that time. Liz was desperate to join school and Aarush was also asking her about her admission.

Aarush had already got his admission and was set to leave the town by the end of January.

After a little period of stillness, Liz spoke out, worried about Angie's possible reactions to her requests.

"Mom" Liz called Angie and looked around the room before telling her why she had come to talk to her.

"I need money so I can get into the university. I've already located a hostel close to the school."

Angie stared Liz in the eye and grinned oddly as she chewed gum after hearing Liz's request.

"Nice girl, wow. Finally, you were able to complete everything on your own."

Angie made a remark and persisted in making fun of Liz's subpar high school scores.

"What will you be studying, then?" Angie enquired while beaming broadly.

"Information management and record keeping." Liz replied

Angie laughed and questioned what kind of job Liz would obtain after graduating.

"A library worker?" Angie chuckled and went to the refrigerator to get some juice for herself.

Liz remained silent while waiting to hear Angie's final word since she was at a loss for words.

"Listen" Angie Cleared her throat after taking a sip of the juice and proceeded to give Liz some words of thought.

"You are grown up now and should understand that things are not easy for me. I will get you a starting fee and you should work hard for yourself."

After that, Angie left Liz there and went upstairs.

But Liz didn't understand what Angie was saying, so she became excited and texted Aarush that she would be starting her semester at Axle Christian University by the middle of February after having consulted with the university previously and being deemed qualified for admission.

That evening, they both got together, and they had a great time eating, walking, and taking pictures in one of the renowned studios.

When Liz decided to call it a day, she was escorted by Aarush and went home to find Douglas waiting for her in the living room. By this point, Liz was used to seeing him and was powerless to change that.

"How are you doing today?" Douglas asked Liz who thought he appeared to be a little tipsy and lusty when he asked her while fixedly glancing at her.

Douglas followed Liz as she said, "Fine," and she stopped in the middle of the hallway to ask him what was wrong.

"Nothing significant; we simply need to discuss." He said

"Okay." Liz replied and he requested her to go to the study room with him, which was just across from her bedroom.

He locked the door once they entered, but Liz maintained her composure while feeling anxious inside and wondered what was up with Douglas.

He gave her a long look before touching her shoulder, which caused Liz to feel a range of emotions.

Do you feel fine? Liz questioned him and while he was speaking a few things to Liz, Douglas took out $900 from his Pocket and gave it to her.

"This is all we can offer you at this time, Don't waste it."

Then Liz questioned why he was the one handing the money after initially feeling a sense of security.

"Did Mom ask you to give me this money?"

With a smirk, Douglas replied, "No."

Then he left the study and made his way upstairs.