Ms Wilson's Replacement

33: Expecting to hear the worse

"Friends ask you questions; enemies question you."
~Criss Jami

Jumai is standing and staring at me as though I have suddenly developed seven horns on my head in the last thirteen seconds and I swallow hard and stare at her in fright, expecting to hear the worse from her, maybe there was another way to do this, but Joey didn't give me much of a choice I should have known that that boy was going to be my downfall. Nothing has been the same since he came home and now here I am praying for the best but expecting the worst. To my surprise, she nods and gives me a small faint smile.

"Fine, let's do it," she says. "How do we get him out of the house?"

Having Jumai put aside her hatred for me for one day so that we can throw a surprise party for her son is a success on my part and I didn't think it was possible.

I turn around and I find Joey smiling at the back mischievously and giving me a thumbs up.

Tomorrow is listed as Eli's birthday on my calendar and the plan is to throw Eli a surprise party and make the preparation for the party a very simple one so he doesn't detect a thing. Joey bullied me into throwing a party for Eli, Joey has bullied me into doing a lot of things lately it started after he confronted me with the truth.

Flashback

"Lying isn't good." I scolded him feeling annoyed with

"I needed to prove to myself that you weren't Anna and today helped to prove all my thoughts and suspicions."

I sigh in defeat and drop to sit down on the sand, I've never felt so helpless as I did now and there was no way out, the only way out would be to harm Joey because threatening him will not work and I will rather die first before laying a hand on him.

I might as well give up now and stop fighting what I knew was going to happen one way or another. "What are you going to do about it now? Are you going to tell Eli?"

"Does Anna know you're here?" He asks his voice no longer as victorious as it was a moment ago.

I pressed my lips together and nodded, "This was all her idea."

"Where is she?"

A tear ran down my face and I quickly wipe it off, "I don't know and that's the truth and if you want, you can tell it to Eli."

"Tell what to Eli?" I heard Eli asks coming in from behind and I didn't bother turning around or getting up, what was the point? I buried my face in my hands and wait for Joey to reveal the truth to Eli.

"That she got her hands dirty trying to get my slippers out of the sandcastle I built. I think she thinks you wouldn't find her pretty anymore." Joey replied and I uncovered my face to stare at him with confused eyes.

Why was he helping me? Why was he hiding my secret? Why is he lying for a stranger he knew nothing about?

My questions were shoved off as Eli took hold of my cold and dirty hands making me look up at him and I found him smiling

"You're beautiful and you've got a great heart and I don't care if your hands are dirty, I rather you tell me how they got dirty."

I laugh and a tear rolled down my face and before I could reach for it, Eli wipes it off and placed his forehead against mine, "You got my mind all messed up with that last line." I chuckled and after a while of confused silence he busted out laughing.

"Yeah, you've got more than a dirty hand, your mind is filthy as well." He leaned in and pecks my lips before stretching up and stepping back before giving me his hand. I took his hand and he pulled me up to my feet.