Queen Gugu's mansion
3:30 am
N's POV
"I dey come," Kalisha said after hearing knocks at the door. Hearing her voice again, especially in her pidgin language, is making me melt. I can't wait to see the shock on her face when she sees me.
The door opens, and looking at my love again is making me tear up. She is in her natural state: dark spots, acne, blemishes, and some pimples on her face. With or without makeup, she still looks out of this world. Her melanin skin is hypnotizing me. She has on a black tank top with blue pajamas and black socks. Her nails are painted pink. What made me smile the most is seeing her hair; it looks like she had a haircut since the hair is low and faded. She looks fantastic, and I'm so glad to see her again.
"N? N, na you?" Kalisha asks, speechless and her eyes on the brink of tears after witnessing me.
"Yes, my love. It's me. Can I come in?" I tell her and asks.
"Before I let you in, I need to do this." She said. I'm anticipating what she's about to do.
She gets closer and gives me a hard slap on the face. It caught me off guard because I was expecting a hug or a kiss since it's been a while we saw each other. I rub my face and question why she slapped me.
"What a way to welcome someone. Why did you slap me? I expect this from Shani, not you." I ask her, still rubbing my face.
"Haba! It should be obvious; you left me after we had sex. You scared me shitless when you fought David, and I didn't know you were going to survive trying to find Mike Benson. You don't know how anxious and worried I was. I teared up multiple times, knowing that you were going to cheat on me, never come back, or even die. That's the reason why I slapped you. Plus, I slap just as well as Shani; we're sisters if you forgot." She explains her reasoning, pouting, and folding her arms. Giving me the death stare.
"I'm so sorry for leaving you. I should have let you know that I was going to leave. I wasn't thinking about how you would have felt and the stress it would have caused. Please forgive me?" I ask, giving her my puppy eyes and whispering.
"Comot from my face sha!" She tells me and then sucks her teeth. Closing her eyes and looking away from me.
I get closer to her and wrap my arms around her body for a hug. She's still mad, but I plant kisses on her cheeks and neck. She ended giggling and slapping me on the chest.
"N, stop it, na. You are foolish, you know." She said, still laughing.
"I know. But this foolish man loves you so much. I promise I won't ever leave you again without letting you know first." I tell her.
"Okay, I forgive you. But if you do that again, I will make sure you go to the mental institution like David. Now enough talking, come, and show how much you missed me." She commanded.
I kiss her lips; feeling so soft and heavenly. I miss this feeling so much, and I can tell that she yearned for this as well. I want to stay in the position with her for a long time, but it's cold outside, sunlight is approaching, and Ebele needs a room to rest. So I stop kissing and hugging her.
"Kalisha, before I forget, I need to introduce to you someone. This is Ebele." I let her know. She looked at them and waved; they waved back.
"I found Ebele chained up and tortured in Mike's basement. They need a place to rest. Plus, they're homeless, so can you allow them to stay?" I ask.
"I need to ask my mom first because after what David did at her Owambe, she has trust issues with new guests. As for now, you both can come in and relax for a bit." She said.
Kalisha, Ebele, and I walk inside the mansion; the door gets closed. Ebele gawks at the beautiful interior of the mansion, feeling like a wonderland to them.
"Wow, so this is your place?" They ask Kalisha.
"I wish. This is my mom's place, but sometimes I do live here." She responds.
"Either way, this is a breathtaking mansion. I have never seen or been in a building like this. Thank you for letting me in; most people aren't that generous to me." They said.
"No problem. Also, why aren't people nice to you?" She asks.
"I'm non-binary. I don't know if you know what that means, but being part of the LGBTQ+ community has not been easy in my life. People I knew and loved abandoned and left me to rot. The only reason why I am here is to rest and have a place to live, make a new family, and meet Shani for a job opportunity at her salon." Ebele explains.
"I'm so sorry to hear that. I met a lot of beings from your community, including non-binaries. Life is not easy for any of them. Let me get my mom and everyone else; I want you to meet them. I will ask her if you can live here." She tells them and goes off to tell everyone.
A few seconds have passed by, a lot of people are downstairs. Kalisha, Shani, Jymia, Queen Gugu, Aunty Chipo, Grandma Nomusa, Mitch, and Kelsy. I have never seen this many people stay in one place. Though, with a mansion like this, I can see why people would want to stay here.
"N? You're back, oh my god!" Jymia yelled, rushing to hug me.
"I'm glad to be back. How are you?" I ask her.
"I'm doing great. Thank you for kicking Dadi's ass. He needed a good ass-kicking for disrespecting all the other women and me." She said.
"You're welcome," I replied.
Shani walks towards me. I feel like she's going to slap me as Kalisha did for the same reason. But I won't make a fuss about it if she does because I do deserve it. She stands in front of me, eyeing my every move.
I'm usually never intimidated by women, but Shani got this "don't mess with me" attitude that can make any man shiver. Her slaps do hurt a lot, and I'm scared whenever she lifts her hand. As I was thinking this, she picks up her arms. I'm anticipating the slap she's going to give me, but she hugs me instead.
I was not expecting this at all, and it caught me off guard. Usually, Shani is the most aggressive one, but seeing this soft side makes me respect her greatly.
"Kaabo pada N. Inu mi dun pe o pada wa. O ṣeun fun ohun gbogbo ti o ti ṣe" Shani tells me, but I don't understand what she said. I still got a lot to learn about the Yoruba language.
"She said, Welcome back, N. I'm so happy that you're back. Thank you for everything you've done." The queen said and gave her a thumbs up for helping me understand.
"You're welcome, Shani. I'm glad to see you again, and I appreciate this softer side from you." I tell her. She lets me go and pats my face while smiling at me.
Everyone else in the mansion greeted me with a warm welcome back.
"Mom... Shani... I want to introduce to you Ebele. Ebele is homeless and needs a place to stay. Also, Ebele wants to work at Shani's salon. So I wonder if you both may help." Kalisha insisted.
"Bẹẹni, o le ṣiṣẹ ni ibi iṣowo mi. Emi yoo ṣeto ipinnu lati pade fun ọ, ki o le bẹrẹ iṣẹ." Shani said. Kalisha translated for me; she told Ebele that they could work at her salon and set up an appointment.
"Mo dupe lowo yin lopolopo," Ebele is giving Shani thanks. I'm surprised that Ebele could understand and speak Yoruba.
"Ebele, first off, I love your name. Second, I understand how you are feeling. Being cast out by certain individuals and being mistreated. We all experienced that, and it's damaging. But I'm glad that you never gave up despite the harsh situation you've been through. It makes me proud that you're not ashamed to be yourself. Never let anyone bring you down because of the way you are." The queen tells them.
"Thank you, my queen." They respond.
"As for housing, you can stay here for as long as you want. I never let strangers live in my mansion, but I trust you. Plus, you've been through so much, and you deserve to have a good life. Once you receive a lot of money, I will make sure you get the best house of your own. But I do got some rules for my mansion: don't invite anyone to live here, don't steal, always clean up after yourself, respect everyone in the house, and never go inside my room. Do you got that?" She asks.
"Yes, my queen." They replied.
"Welcome to the family. If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask. We got you covered, and you won't have to suffer any longer." The queen hugs Ebele. Everyone, except for Kalisha and I stay.
"So N?" She asks.
"My name is no longer N; it's Njau," I tell her. Revealing my real name to my love feels so good.
"Njau, I love that name. Sounds good on you. What does it mean?" She asks.
"I had to look it up before I got here, and it means young bull," I explain.
"Wow, it fits you perfectly. Is there anything else you want to reveal?" She asks.
"Well, My parents and I are Sierra Leonean. I ate traditional food like Cassava leaf. My family was nice and caring. I loved watching cartoons as a child. My birthday is in nine days. Lastly, Mike Benson is not the one that killed my parents." I explain.
"Wow, that's a lot to take in. I'm just happy that you remember your past and found your true identity. Also, if Mike didn't kill your parents, then who did?" She asks.
Before I could reveal who killed my parents to her, there's a knock on the door.
*******
Opening the door and I notice two black officers, a male, and a female. All three of us are suspiciously looking at one another. I get triggered whenever I see a police suit; it reminds me of all the horrible experiences I have dealt with them. Even though these police officers are black, I still don't trust them, and I wonder why they are.
"Who are you?" Looking at the name tag, Officer Jordan asks me a question.
"I'm Njau. What are you doing here?" I ask them, still skeptical about their arrival.
"Are you the owner of the house? If so, then we need everyone to come out." Officer Durant asks.
"No, I'm not the owner. But I can bring everyone down." I tell them. I walk away to notify everyone.
"Njau, what do they want?" Kalisha asked me.
"They want everyone to come down. I don't know why, but I hope they don't cause any damage."
After gathering everyone in the living room, we are confused and concerned about the police being here.
"We know this is strange that two human officers are in a mansion filled with vampires. We appreciate that none of you tried to attack or suck our blood. You're probably wondering why we're here so late at night. Well... We got some tragic news." Officer Durant tells us.
A lot of murmurs and gasps are causing a commotion. My love is gripping my arm, worried about what they are going to reveal.
"I'm the owner of the mansion, and I want to know what happened." The Queen commanded.
"Well, miss, there are two vampires that you know are dead." Officer Jordan said.
"What? Who?" She asks.
"We only know the identity of one and not the other. Do you know a vampire named Ahti?" Officer Durant asks.
"Ahti? Do you mean the drunk? Dadi's foolish friend? What did he do?" She is confused when hearing his name. Even everyone else is surprised as well.
"I can't explain it properly, but this video camera will show what happened to him." He said, plugging the camera on the TV.
The video shows Ahti being confronted by the police. While I was watching, I witnessed Commissioner Adams, the man that ruined my whole life. Seeing his old and disgusting face is making me boil up inside.
"That's him! Commissioner Adams is the one that killed my parents and ruined my life!" I shrieked, and everyone gasped, paying attention to my freakout.
"What are you talking about, sir?" Officer Durant asks, looking at me like a psychopath.
"Back in 1996, Commissioner Adams and other policemen working at that time came to my house, killed my parents, cut off half of my tongue, and burned our house. My family didn't commit any crime and killed the wrong people." I confessed. Everyone is shocked, and Kalisha is hugging me for comfort.
"Do you got proof that this happened?" Officer Jordan asks.
"Yes. I even got evidence from one of the policemen at the incident." I tell them.
"Okay, we will take a look at that later. But let's continue watching this because it's dire." She said.
The video continues to play, and we all witnessed Ahti getting strangled by one of the policemen. Then we eventually see him burn to death by the bright light in the interrogation room. Many tears, wails, fear, panic, anger, and shock filled up the entire mansion.
I didn't know Ahti that much. The only thing I knew about him was that he drunk a lot, he hung out with Dadi, and he helped ruined the Owambe. I don't know if he was wrong or worse than Dadi, but nobody deserves to be treated like that.
"I know it's depressing to watch, but there's one more thing you all have to witness. I wasn't there at the incident, but I found it in the video camera." Officer Durant said, feeling guilty that he's showing us more horrible tragedies.
The second clip played, and it was the incident where I got confronted by the two officers.
"Wait... I recognize that person. N, is this you?" Kalisha asks me.
"Yes, it is me. How did you get this?" I ask the officers.
"I don't know. It was already in the video camera." Officer Jordan said.
"Where did you even get it?" I ask.
"I found it at a church." Officer Durant revealed.
"A church? I lost my video camera at a church, and I video recorded this same moment." Ebele confessed.
"I didn't know. We'll give it back to you, sorry." He said.
We continue watching. Everyone sucked their teeth and was offended by the racist remarks said. Everyone lost their mind and will to live when they saw me get shot thirteen times. The video stopped playing. Officer Durant took out the camera from the TV and gave it back to Ebele.
"We're so sorry that we had to show you that." Officer Jordan sympathized with us, trying her hardest not to cry.
"I thought coming to America would fix things and make our life easier. We all thought we got away from the terrorism that happened in Nigeria, but terrorists still roam in the United States." The Queen said, bawling her eyes out.
"I never witnessed this much hatred for our kind. I may not have liked Ahti or forgave him; he's still one of us. I wanted the best for him and to change his terrible behavior. But that's never going to happen thanks to racist police officers killing and gunning down African vampires. Is this what they think of us? I tire!" She added.
"I'm lost for words. How are we supposed to deal with this? What are we supposed to do? Someone tells us how we're going to stop this hate crime against our kind from continuing? I don't want to live in a state where it's not safe for any one of us to live in." Kalisha said, crying harshly. Seeing her depressed makes my heartbreak because she doesn't deserve to witness all this pain and suffering. I need to do something to end it all for good.
"I know what to do."