"Princess, what's the matter? Why are you crying?", Mr. Ade asked but there was no response. Fear jumped into his heart and he quickly dialed his wife's number. Her number was not going through and he hurriedly locked his office door and made for his car. His heart was racing and different thoughts were running through his mind. He ran out of the office and passed by his secretary without a glance. When he got to his car, he entered and zoomed off at the highest speed, still trying to reach his wife on the phone. At the fifth dial, her phone started ringing and she picked at the first ring. "Ademi", she said. "Ibukun, where are you?", he asked her. "What's the problem? I'm in the office", she answered. "Go home now, your daughter is in danger. I want you to get there before me since your office is closer than mine. I am on my way too." "What happened?", she asked with agitation. "Just go home, woman", he said with a raised voice and disconnected the call. Mrs. Ade who was chatting with her boss stood up abruptly with her bag and ran out of the office to the car park. Her boss was baffled and dumbfounded at her behavior and kept looking at her till she was out of sight. "Temi ti bami o ( I am finished)", she lamented as she drove. She drove at a very high speed and got home 10 minutes after. She parked the car outside and ran into the house. When she got inside, she looked around for her daughter but Salamat was nowhere to be found. She saw the broken pieces of the flower vase on the floor of the sitting room and she raced to her daughter's room. Her heart was beating wildly with fear of the unknown. She tried opening Salamat's door but it was locked. She ran back to her room to get the spare key to the room. After retrieving the key from the drawer in her bedroom with a shaky hand, she went back to Salamat's room and succeeded in opening the door. She was met with the sight of her daughter sprawled on the floor unconscious. Mrs. Ade ran to her and kept calling her name. She was already crying hysterically. She carried her and made for her car. When she got to the car, she dropped her in the backseat and drove off to the hospital leaving the gate wide open. Mr. Ade got home 20 minutes later and saw the gates open. He went into the house and noticed the whole place was in a mess with his wife and daughter missing. He dialed his wife's number and heard her teary voice at the first ring. "Ade, we are in the hospital, come over as fast as you can." "Which hospital?", he asked trying to act calm. "Our family hospital", she replied before he disconnected the call. He went out and locked the gates before entering his car and then he zoomed off. ***** Habib was soaked in his blood as he ran all the way home. He ran as far as his legs could carry him hissing and wincing at the pain he was feeling. Fortunately for him, there was no one at home and he hurried to the bathroom to take a shower. After taking his bath, he packed the blood-stained clothes inside a polythene leather and brought out the first aid box to treat himself. As soon as he was done, he went out with the polythene leather and took a bike to Damola's house. When he got there, he narrated every detail to Damola who was shrieking in laughter. "Why are you laughing? Do you think it's funny? I followed your advice and now I am regretting it", Habib said bitterly. "You are a big fool!", Damola insulted. "A girl broke your head and you are looking this pathetic. What do you expect me to do now? Sympathize with you or what? Well, I am not as foolish as you are because no girl can ever do that to me. You are acting like a lady which shows you are not man enough. And besides, you didn't even do what I asked you to do so therefore you are the biggest fool I have ever encountered", Damola said still laughing. "I couldn't do that. Infact, it was out of anger that I slapped her. I like her so much that it hurts knowing she's hurt right now. I just realized what I did was bad.....very bad of me." "Idiot! You better leave my house this minute before I bounce on you and don't you dare blame me for anything. You are too foolish for my liking." "Wait for a second, Dammy do you think she will report me to her parents?", Habib asked raising his head sharply. "So what?", Damola questioned with irritation. "They might involve the police", Habib remarked. "What? Police? It's time for you to go, don't use your stupidity to implicate me. I wonder when you will become sensible", he said pushing Habib out of his one-room apartment. "Damola don't do this to me. Where do you want me to go now? I can't go back home now because they can easily find me there. Let me just stay here for tonight and I will leave here first thing tomorrow morning. Please", Habib pleaded but Damola was adamant. "No way, Mr man because right now I need to go and see my new girlfriend." "That does not stop me from staying here", Habib muttered softly as Damola kept pushing him to the door. "Ah.....it does, because my babe will be here tonight and we don't want any form of disturbance. So you better leave before I get angry", Damola said and succeeded in pushing him out. When Habib was outside, Damola slammed the door and locked it from inside. "Stupid boy." "Damola, this is not fair. God will judge you", Habib said with frustration. He stood outside for another five minutes with the hope that Damola might have a change of heart. When he was tired of waiting, he started debating on where to go to. His head was aching badly and he was also hungry. He was about to walk away when he remembered leaving his blood-stained clothes inside Damola's room. He was about to knock on his door when an idea popped up. "Why bother myself when I can easily implicate this useless boy with the clothes. He claims to be my friend yet he can't help me in my time of need. You will regret doing this to me by the time I am done with you. Idiot", Habib uttered and walked away.