He did not talk to me. He looked at me for a while, and waved his hand for me to pave the way for him. When I did so, he entered his house and went to his room. He then passed by his secret room then came downstairs to where I was in the living room. With his phone in hand, he sat on the seat and urged me to sit.
"Sit."
"I mean, I should sit?" I replied. His silence made me obey his order without further responses from him.
"Why are you here?" He asked, adjusting his position on his seat comfortably, "I thought your father said that none of his children will ever come to my house." I was silent for a while.
"Yes he did," I replied, "But I am here."
"They sent you here to tell me that they are not attending my celebration, didn't they?" He asked. "What have they said about my celebration?"
"My father is very angry. He doesn't want to hear anything about it."
"And for you, what's your stand about the event?" He asked. The question melted the courage and happiness that I had. I wondered whether to say yes and betray my parents. My father had stressed that I should not return home if I would go to the event. Furthermore, the possibilities of attending were minimal since my birth certificate was kept in my mother's bedroom and there was no way it would be moved out of the house without her consent.
"I really don't know," I replied, "I can't access my birth certificate and other identification documents of my siblings. So it's obvious, count me out. I felt a strong urge to ask him why he needed our identification documents but the fear inside me prevented me from doing so.
"Then, it will be very difficult for me to convince them to give me those identification documents in time." He added, "You haven't told me why you came here?"
"Actually, I came here to swim, "I replied trying to feign the smile, "The sun was hot in our place and I just felt the urge to come and swim here."
"You mean you came all the way here to swim? Did your parents grant you permission? Or you escaped like the way you did the other time!" He asked, amazed.
"They don't know I'm here. I just lied to my mother that I had gone biking just in the streets near home. Then, I came here."
"You want to put me into trouble with your parents, don't you?"
"Don't worry, I'm just swimming and then going away." He then looked at the floor and saw the red footprints.
"Did you get inside the room?" He asked, looking at my feet. I was frightened. I opened my mouth trying to speak, but only stammered. I thought of the answer to give with no avail. "Speak!" He shouted.
"Yes… I'm afraid… I… I did!" I fumbled.
"Now you see what you have done. And where were you trying to go when I came?" I was surprised by his sudden change. I also wondered what was the red liquid that I had stepped on.
"I was going to wash my feet in the swimming pool so that…"
"Are you insane?" He shouted interrupting, "Do you know what you were taking to the swimming pool? Oh my GOD!" He quickly ran upstairs to the room.
"I don't know. Is it blood?" I asked even as he ran upstairs. I saw him looking back, which made him nearly trip in the staircase and fall. However, he managed to control himself. I could not hold my laughter. I followed him upstairs and stood at a safe distance from his room. I heard him walking around the room several times. He then opened the door. He took a piece of cloth, applied a colorless liquid, and wiped the table and the floor with it. He did it so quickly. Why was he doing it so quickly? He then opened his book quickly page by page. He looked terrified. Was this the reason why he had stressed so much about his privacy in the room? I nearly laughed as I watched him open the book page by page as if trying to look for something.
I had not washed my feet yet. And for a minute or two, I felt my right leg itch. I bent down to take a look at it. In the next second, the second leg began itching. I ran towards the laundry room, leaving patches of the red footprints on the floor and picked the brush which I used to rub my legs. I became worried when the itching became intense. Was this a punishment for getting inside his room? The itching worsened. My legs began to hurt. I scrubbed them thoroughly with the brush. I then went towards the room to inform him. I found him still opening his book while reading something.
"Oh my GOD!" He shouted as soon as he opened a certain page.
"What is it?" I asked him worried while standing at the entrance of the room.
"Oh my GOD!" He shouted again when he looked at me. He then looked at my legs. "Look at your legs! Have you been scrubbing them?" There was a feeling of horror. I looked at my legs. For a second or two, they were fine. Then something strange happened.
My legs began turning red. I was terrified. When I bent down to touch them, my hand began itching instantly, and I took the brush to scrub it.
"Don't scrub it!" He shouted. He came quickly with a glass container and poured a colorless liquid on my hand and I felt better. My legs were instantly becoming soft and red. Sweat began pouring out of my face profusely.
"What's wrong with my legs?" I shouted sobbing. I regretted having left the peace at home. My uncle ran quickly inside the room, took two glass containers and poured their contents in the red liquid container. The container began boiling immediately. He then headed towards his room quickly. He came out quickly with a white powder in a transparent paper. My legs began paining me mercilessly. I tried to stand up but I couldn't.
"I knew it!" He shouted worriedly. His words made me worried too. He then poured the powder inside the red liquid and starred it. The boiling stopped. "You see what you've caused!" He shouted.
"My legs! My legs!" I sobbed painfully. He watched the container with the red liquid for a while then ran towards me.
"Is it painful?" He asked worriedly. "Stand, let's go to the hospital!" He ran towards his room and came back with his car keys in his hand.
"What do you mean we go to the hospital? Can occult issues be treated at the hospital? I asked angrily. I tried standing but I couldn't. "Oh my GOD! I can't stand up. I can't walk!" I shouted. There came a sudden sharp smell of something being burned. My uncle ran to the room and closed the door tightly. He then came with a dark cloth and covered my nose such that it was difficult for me to breathe. He covered his nose too. He then lifted me quickly and carried me downstairs and out of the house to the car. He lifted the dark cloth from my nose for me to breathe. He opened the door of the car, and laid me on the back seats. The bad smell had subsided. He then got inside the car and drove off.