Chapter 29 - VIOLATION OF PROPERTIES

𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛'𝑠 𝑁𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟

She rinsed and towelled herself. She marched out of the bathroom to her room. Her eyes were drained of water and liveliness cause of how long she cried in the bathroom. The water in the tub did its job by hiding her tears. She dressed in her night dress. In a black A-line silk satin night dress coupled with a rope, she tied the belt and dried her hair with the dryer. She marched her way to the kitchen when it rang on her head, she haven't seen Daniel. She was so down and lost, that she forgot to check for him.

She scrambled to the sitting room but found him not. She saw Toro there with his legs crossed, watching whatever that was showing on the tv. She searched everywhere but still no sign of him. She came out of the bathroom which means he wasn't there, to begin with. She searched the kitchen as well but no sign of him. She knew it, her worst fear has come true. He had sent him away.

She could have taken him with her or better still drop him off at the hospital to stay with his mom and pick him up later. For some reason, she trusted this man pretending to listen to the tv, but he proved her wrong. What is his deal with not having anyone here? Is he somehow allergic to people? Does he have a phobia for people?

She coiled her right hand into a fist. What's up with men? Why do they love making one miserable all the time? 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒, she thought. They love feeding their egos.

"Where is he?" She asked. Toro turned to look at her and arched her brow at her inquisitively. "You sent him away, didn't you?"

Toro almost cracked up at the look she gave him. Her brows were pulled together and the look in her eyes was of murder and it says she's ready to tear him apart if anything happens to Daniel. "He's sleeping- in my room," he replied and returns his eyes to the tv.

"Your room?" She moved to stand before him. "What have you done to him?"

"What do you think I am?" Toro threw her a rhetorical question. He got a shrug as a response. "That I'm some insane person who will harm a kid. Even if I were to harm him, will I've told you where he is in the first place?"

"I never can tell," she tucks her arms against her chest. "You were bent on sending him away and how sure am I that you aren't lying about him sleeping in your room?"

"You can go see for yourself," he signalled to his room with his head. And she did. She rushed up to his room and shoved the door open. Toro shook his head and dismissed her attitude.

Nino walked into his bedroom, her parent's bedroom. Ever since they died, it became hard for her to come close to the room. She feels this empty void in her, that they are no longer with her. She could feel their presence each time she stepped a foot into the room and she took an oath not to do so anymore. She didn't pay attention to the room when Daniel came in to thank him for the egg rolls he gave him. She darted her eyes around the room, no matter how much her blood boiled at what he turned her parent's room into but she controlled her body. She finally rested her eyes on Daniel that was lying on his bed.

A smile found its way to her face as her eyes landed on him. Saw how peaceful and relaxed he was, she walks toward him and sat beside him. She stroked his hair gently, looking at his relaxed face deep asleep. She's yet to understand the sudden friendship between Daniel and Toro. How could two people who never knew each other interact like they've known each other for years? She traced her fingers from his hair down to his face and stroked his face gently.

She deviates her eyes from him and took in her surroundings, he didn't make changes in this room. He only changed the curtains, the single settee and the table including the bed sheets. She wondered when all these changes were made. She stood up from the bed and went over to the drawers, she pulled out one and saw her parent's photos laying there. Plus the ones she is in with them, she became furious at his actions. He could've just given her her parent's photos than treating them like they were nothing.

She pulled all the photos out and even rummaged the other drawers to find any of her parent's valuables, she found her mom's locket. She pulled it out and her mind flashed back to the day she lost her parents, her mom clutched it tightly while lying in her pool of blood. Her eyes were immediately attacked by tears. She sniffed back the tears and turned back, she almost jumped when she saw him on the door post. How long has he been standing there?

"Haven't you heard of privacy?" She was taken aback by his comment. "You could be arrested for that. For violation of another person's properties," his hands were tugged in his pockets.

She snorted out a chuckle. A sarcastic one. She moved close to him, taking with her the photos and the locket. "Properties?" She maintained eye contact with him.

"Did you call going through my parent's drawers violation of properties?"

"You must be forgetting I'm the owner now," he took two steps close to her. Sealing the gap between them.

"Of course, why do I keep forgetting that?" She gave him a dry laugh and licked her lower lip. "You could have given me these after you have occupied the room." She showed him the photos and locket.

"I get this is your house now!" She raised her voice which left Toro stunned. Why is she raising her voice over mere photos of her parents? "But you could have just given me my parent's photos then tossed them away like they are nothing."

"Toss them away?" Toro chuckled at her choice of words. "Putting them in the drawers is tossing them away to you? What kind of a lizard brain do you have? You're lucky I didn't completely toss them away, you know what I mean."

Nino tilts her head back at his comeback. She shook her head and went over to Daniel. She tried to carry him up although he was heavy for her but she managed to pick him up and dash out of his room to her room. Toro plopped himself on his bed when she left. Something else made her upset. Putting those pictures in the drawer can't possibly turn her into a firecracker.

And he caught her crying in the rain. What could be wrong

with her?

Nino placed the sound-asleep Daniel on her bed. She lay him gently on her bed and pull the blankets over him, her body quivered as a sudden wave of cold gushed in through her open windows and parted curtains. She shut the windows and pull the curtains together. She placed the photos on her working desk beside her books and laptop, she held the locket against her chest for a fleeting moment and closed her eyes. She drowned in the memories surrounding the locket.

"Dear, whenever you are in distress or feel like the whole world is turning its backs on you, always remember your father and I are here for you." Her mom smiled at her (Nino) reflection and wore the locket over her neck.

"This is my gift for you," she kissed the top of her head. "Your ninth birthday gift and I got mine too. The locket will always bind us together. It will be your companion if we happen not to be there with you in the future. This locket will guide you through your tough times."

Nino clutched the locket close to her chest and let the tears stream down her eyes. When she was done pouring her emotions out, she placed the locket on the table and left her room. She almost bumped into Toro who walked out of his room as well.

"Are you feeling okay, Nino?" He asked and she detected a little bit of concern in his voice but dismissed it and walked off. Toro stared at her back until it completely disappeared through a door.

Nino alighted the stairs that lead down to the basement. She coughed when her feet touched the ground, she took into view the basement that has been out of use since her parents and uncle died. She groped in the dark for the switch which she found and switched on the lights. The basement smelt dusty, old and rusty. White clothes covered almost everything in the basement, she clasped a hand over her nose and mouth as she tugged away the sheets hiding the stuffs. She looked at her father's works both the finished and unfinished ones.

She placed a stool and climbed on it to reach for the high window. She opened it and climbed down. This was the second place she avoided after the death of her parents but she didn't know what coerced her to come down here. She missed her parents and these trying times intensified it. She looked at her father's work, she picked up sheets of paper on the desk her father worked on. So many illustrations he did here, some he didn't get to launch before death snatched him away.

The paintings her dad did, the beautiful artworks that could bring millions to the company but here they are rotten away in the cold old basement. Tears sting her eyes as she looked at his works. The clay, the 3d photo hand camera. The wooden table and chair look rusty now. And were withering away. It's been years she since stepped foot into this basement. She wants to forget completely about them but lately, she's beginning to miss them.

She dropped the sheets and lowered herself to the last stair and hugged her knees. She lowered her head on her arms cupping her knees and sulked.

"Never knew a room like this existed in this building and.....𝑤𝑜𝑤," she heard his voice but ignored him. She wasn't in the mood to exchange words with him. She heard the sound of sheets and other rattling sounds but she never for once raised her head to look at him.

"Did you make all these or?"