The Domino Effect

𝟸

"Nunu you're starting to get too big for me to be carrying you on my shoulders like this!"my daddy said as he faked almost tipping over and I laughed. It was a hot summer evening and while Emaja was at her dance class, he decided to take me on a walk to see the sun set, and grab some ice cream on the way.

"Daddy come on! I'm not that big for a ten year old. Besides, you're super strong!" I said lightly patting him on the head. He shook his head and laughed.

"Is that so, miss who talks very advanced for her age?" he asked looking up at me.

"Yup!" I responded and gave him a kiss on the forehead. He made a face remembering the fact that my lips were sticky from the ice cream and I burst out laughing.

"Make sure you don't let a single drop of that ice cream hit my head Nubia, I'm warning you." he said adding a growl at the end.

"I promise you I won't daddy." After a few more minutes of walking, he finally stopped. From where we stood, we had a view of the beach in the distance. The sound of the calming waves, and the beautiful view, made the night.

"We're right on time to see it, look Nunu." he said pointing out towards it.

"It's so pretty... it looks so golden..." I said looking at it with so much wonder.

"It's just like you sweetie." he said as I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave him a hug.

"Daddy did you know that my name actually means gold? I researched it at school."

"Of course I did, that's why I-- your mother and I had given you that name..." he said getting quiet and looking back out to the sea.

⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽

Faintly over and over, I would hear voices in my sleep, voices that were disguised and I couldn't recognize. All night long, I kept tossing and turning in my bed. Back to back to back to back, I kept having the weirdest dreams. Everything was warped and nothing was making sense. I couldn't even remember any of them. They weren't just regular weird dreams either, I could literally feel everything. I groaned as I heard my alarm go off on my phone signalling for me to get up. I struggled to get out of bed and into the bathroom to get myself prepared for the day ahead. Emaja didn't talk to me at all before she left the house, I didn't even know when she actually left. All I knew was that Reanne left with her. The most she did was leave a note with some money for me to buy something to eat for lunch. Even after how pissed I got her, she was always looking out for me. When she was upset, the best thing to do was to give her some space, but with the way I was feeling, I wanted her close... even if I couldn't explain what was going on to her.

I hopped into the shower and stood under the steaming water, holding onto the wall for what felt like forever. I knew I needed to hurry up to get to class on time but I just needed a minute... Where am I even supposed to start when it comes to all of it? Where do I even start looking? I thought to myself. So many fucking questions and yet? There were no real good answers. As I continued my shower routine, I started to mentally prepare for when I got paged once I got to school. I had yet to actually check my phone, so I knew people I actually gave a fuck about were going to have something to say. I laughed a little as I finished, quickly dried off, creamed my skin and walked back to my room naked. I felt goosebumps forming along my body as the cold air hit my skin and my nipples got hard. I finally got to the room and closed the door behind me. I sighed as I quickly planned an outfit in my head.