ᴅᴇᴇᴘᴇʀ

53

Everything will change,
Nobody stays the same,
Nobody here's perfect,
Oh, but everyone's to be blamed.

__

Lies...

They have so much power over the human mind.

Especially ones told in defense.

Although it is an illusion, it sits in the mind, and creates a strong conviction that blocks the subconscious like a clot, hindering the truth from surfacing.

Albeit, Chimdi knew that everything she told herself about Farouq and his reasons for doing what he did, were all lies. Still she waited.

Hanging on a half baked hope. Hoping that her lies would one day turn to the truth. Hoping that he wasn't as bad as his actions had portrayed him to be.

However, as the truth surfaced, she knew it was over and that it was high time she faced reality.

But, why couldn't she face reality? Why couldn't she let go of that half baked hope, that false hope in form of a loose thread, which she so helplessly clung to.

She couldn't entertain the idea. Refused to accept such knowledge.

'Farouq could be a lot of things, but not a predator' was all her mind could think of.

Even as she let her legs lead the way to wherever it was taking her to. As far as, it was far away from her friends and their pitting looks.

She couldn't even let her imagination treat her to a mental picture of what TJ's face would look like. She didn't want to think about him. Him and his lost but concerned look. Him being calm about everything was what irked and assured her at the same time.

Refusing to think of him and any of her friends at the moment, she let her mind wander to the one person that really needed to be thought of at that moment... Farouq.

She let her mind play back reels of the lean and tall black boy Antni had first introduced to her. He'd been a free spirit. Always laughing and smiling. Always throwing out compliments, flirtatiously or not.

She thought of his stories of growing up in a humble background, thought of his love for his grandma and how he'd wished to give her the best.

Now that Farouq Waziri, she thought, wasn't capable of stooping so disgustingly low. He wasn't capable of being a predator.

Once upon a time, he'd had dreams of making it big, of creating opportunities for his juniors. He'd talked about making the entertainment world a safe haven. How could he be the breathing danger that would now terrorise everyone?

It didn't make sense to Chimdi. He could be anything. A selfish bastard? A lying asshole? But he would never be a predator.

But they don't come with a name tag.

She shook off such thought.

And as her feet led her to the Beach's parking space, away from everyone one, her eyes caught hold of an odd sight.

She stumbled, hands rubbing her face to ensure she wasn't seeing things, same time her phone rang. A look at it revealed it was Lara, probably calling to check up on her. She rejected the call. That would be enough to let the other girl know that she wasn't in the mood.

And as she drew closer, really drew closer, she found that the odd sight was struggling with the security officials.

"I'm here in peace!" He screamed, struggling with the hefty men. "Damnit! Do I look like a terrorist! Let me go!"