SAVE ME

Annabelle Dennis

“Morgan” I called to her sleeping form and shook her a bit but she only stirred and continued sleeping.

It’s 7:30 am and Morgan is still sleeping. Ricardo will be here any moment from now that’s why I am trying to get her up and prepared for when he comes.

“Morgan, wake up” I tap her leg again and she grumbled something but didn’t sit up at all. “Morgan? Come on, wake up” I shook her leg quite aggressively and she kicked my hand away and then shifted away from me.

“Stop” her words came out muffled and I sighed.

I am seriously not ready to deal with an annoying early morning Morgan.

“Morgan” I sat on the bed and shook her again, I don’t want to leave her this way… I need her to be ready before I leave and at the same time, I don’t want to be late for my appointment.

“Morgan? Get up and go get yourself ready for school. I have an appointment in…” I paused to check my watch ‘Oh my GOD’ I jerked up from the bed and went to grab my bag.

“Ann, just go. I will get myself ready and I will call Ricardo or just walk to school” she said and I shook my head.

“Well, that wouldn’t be happening since lover boy called yesterday and said he will come by to pick you up, I would want to stay till you’re through but I really have to go” I went over to hug her “I might pick you up but I will call you if that would be so” I smiled and walked towards the door when I remembered something.

“Oh, there’s food in the fridge, warm it up and eat something before you leave, okay? Ricardo too” I said and she nods her head. Just then the doorbell rang and I thought ‘that should be him’

“I think that is him, see you later love” I waved and left the room.

I took my keys from the table when I was downstairs and I strapped my bag on my shoulder and then head for the door. I opened said a little prayer before I opened the door to meet an older-looking man who wore all-black clothing, with his shades hiding his eyes from me standing outside with a smile on his face.

“Hello” he greets and I nod my head.

“Hello sir” I greet back “Are you looking for someone?” I asked because that was my first thought or he might be lost and just need direction to where he is heading to.

“Um… yeah but I think I knocked on the wrong door,” he said looking around.

“Okay, but can I help with looking for the one you seek?” I asked him and he chuckled.

“Err… no child, I will find who I seek soon,” he said and I nod then saw a car pull up behind him, Ricardo came out of the car and walked towards us with a smalls furrow on his brows as his eye settled on the man in front of me.

“Hey Ann” he greets me and looked at the strange man again, he nodded to him and the man returned.

“Thank you very much, Miss Ann,” the man said and I nod my head.

When I looked closely at him, he does seem familiar but I can’t say where I saw him.

“Thank GOD sir,” I replied and he turned to leave my doorstep “Sir?” I called to him and he stopped to look at me “I didn’t get your name” he grinned and thankfully it didn’t look creepy.

“John,” he said then walked to the other side of the road to a black pickup truck before he entered and drove off.

‘Strange’ I remarked to myself.

“Who was that?” Ricardo asked when he got inside.

“I don’t know, he said he was looking for someone but got the wrong door instead” I answered him.

“Okay but just be careful of who you open the door for, who knows he might be dangerous,” he said and I nod my head because I could see the worry on his face as he looked at the man.

“Sure, I am sorry but I actually thought that it was you and didn’t bother checking before opening the door,” I said and he nods his head.

I get why he feels in such a way, his worrying made me feel a bit anxious that I might have brought some kind of danger to us and memories I never wanted to remember came rushing in and I shook my head at it.

“There’s no need for you to apologize, I just want you both to be careful where’s Morgan?” he asked.

“I a right here and why do we need to be careful?” we both turned to the voice of Morgan coming from the stairs.Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

“Hey baby girl” he opened his arms for her to get in and she walked up to him and they hug.

‘They are so cute’ I thought to myself.

“Hey”

“Finally got up, eh?” I asked when I saw that she wasn’t wearing her night dress rather she had a blue denim skinny high-waist jeans, folded at the bottom, coupled with a white lantern long-sleeve lace blouse, matched with a pair of brown Ricker Chelsea boots and a tote bag strapped on her shoulder.

I could see that she wasn’t wearing any extension or wig today and I am happy about it. I know how she struggled with hair loss when I met her and it took a huge toll on her.

Her hair is in a low bun with tendrils on each side of her pace, her lips were painted with a really deep red lipstick overall, she looked amazing.

“Yeah, I just thought that I should get ready so that my mama won’t get mad at me” she looked at me when she emphasized ‘mama’.

I rolled my eyes.

“You really look good Morgan but I really need to go,” I said and point at them “Make sure you both eat something before you leave,” I said to them and opened the door.

“Thank you,” Morgan said.

“Yes mum,” Ricardo said and I smiled.

“See you later kids,” I say and left the house to my car that was parked beside our house.

I felt like someone was watching me so I paused and turned to look around then I thought I saw the shadow of someone pass at the corner of my eye, I turned around but I saw no one there.

Maybe I am just being paranoid, nothing will happen to any of us. I got inside my car and took in deep breaths then let them out.

“GOD will protect us,” I say before starting my car and reversing till I was on the road and on my way.

Ricardo White

“Let’s go,” Morgan said and I shook my head and held her hand then led her to the kitchen.

“Mum said that we should eat,” I tell her and opened the fridge.

I saw a bowl of red-colored rice which I brought out and looked at Morgan to explain what it was. She was scrolling through her phone as she sat on one of the stools.

“What’s this?” I asked and placed it on the counter for her to see.

Morgan looked away from her phone and looked at the content of the bowl, a smile graced her lips and she looks at me. I raised a brow for an explanation of why it was in this color.

She stood up and placed her phone on the counter then transferred the content to another bowl before putting it in the microwave, bringing out a plate, two spoons, and two glass cups. I was going to ask again but she beats me to it.

“It’s called Jollof rice, with a double ‘L’, it’s a popular African dish that originated from Senegambia” she paused to think for a while “Yes, Senegambia. I googled it if you’re wondering”

“Why is it red?” I asked and helped out to take the bowl from the microwave after the timer went off.

“It is prepared with tomato paste, hence its color. Mr. Roberto treated us to dinner last night and introduced us to this fine meal. Ann was even thinking about learning how to cook it so that she can make us something whenever you guys come over” she explained.

“Okay, that’s cool,” I say and we went to the living room to eat.

“You like it?” I asked and she nods her head and then continues eating. I could see that she loved it and I suspected some spice because of how she was taking more water and fanning her mouth.

“It’s spicy” I comment before taking a spoon into my mouth and savoring the taste.

It’s spicy for one but it tastes so good, better if I may say so I took more into my mouth.

“You like it?” she asked after swallowing the portion in her mouth.

“It’s okay, just a bit spicy but good,” I say and took some more.

“That’s because you can’t handle spice,” she said and stuck her tongue at me while I shook my head.

She’s right about that, I am not a fan of so much spice in my food but I think I can make this food an exception.

As we ate, my mind wandered off to the man that I saw standing by their door minutes ago. It’s strange but I feel like I know that man or maybe I have seen him somewhere because of how familiar he looked. I am hoping he isn’t some kind of creep or something because my guts don’t seat well with him around.

But on second thoughts, what if he was actually lost? Or sent but by who? Who would want to hurt us? We have no enemies who would want to bring us harm.

Ann and Morgan need to e super careful. He could be a criminal and I am thinking that we should report him to the police but on what account? We have nothing solid to use against him or maybe I am just overthinking things and I should just chill out.

I felt Morgan touch my arm and I was brought out of the reverie I was in for a while and I smiled at her.

“Yeah, yeah,” I say and took a sip from the water.

I looked down at the plate to see it empty with just one or two grains of rice there. I really didn’t know how long I was thinking that I didn’t notice when she finished all the food.

“You look disturbed, is everything okay?” she asked and I nod my head.

“Don’t mind me, I just drifted for a while, are you ready to go?” I asked and she nods then stood up while I followed and took the plates to the kitchen.

I washed the dishes and felt her stand behind me as I did so but I just didn’t want her to worry about me because I am overthinking something that we might not need to worry about.

When I was done, we sat for a while to sit down but at the same time, I was time conscious. Our paper for today starts by eleven and it’s just past nine.

“I think we should leave now, we need to be in school before it’s eleven,” I say and she agreed.

“Okay, I do feel relaxed, let’s move”

Narrator’s POV

“Hello?” Mr. White says to the phone when the other person picked up.

“Anything new?” asked the man from the other end.

“Well, yes. I will email them to you by evening” he said while looking around the neighborhood.

“It better be something worth me waking up from my peaceful sleep”

“Trust me,” Mr. White said and hung up, he sighed then entered his car before driving away.