CHAPTER THIRTEEN - RIONA'S TERROR
CHAPTER THIRTEEN - RIONA'S TERROR
Wright got down from the car, he looked at the house and he was glad that the lights were off which
could only mean that Riona has retired for the night.
He knows that Riona would definitely not let this issue to slide as she would make sure to bring it up
tomorrow. He is not yet sure of what to tell her, but at least he was happy that while he awaits the event
of tomorrow to unfold, he would be allowed some rest for tonight.
While having the dance with Maeve, Wright had not known how quickly the time had gone by. It was
when he realized that he had spent a lot of time with Maeve that he had immediately requested that
they leave.
He opened the door carefully. Of course he was certain that there was no need for sneaking, but he
had to be careful just in case Riona wakes up as a result of noise.
As soon as he entered the house, he breathed in relieve. He was glad that he was able to make it back
without having to deal with Riona just yet.
However, his joy was cut short when the lights went on.
Wright was shocked by this as it became obvious that he wasn’t alone in the sitting room.
He heard a voice say “Its past 1 am dad”.
He turned his face slowly to where the voice had come from and he realized that Riona has been sitting
on the couch all along. He was taken by surprise because just a moment ago, he was jubilating that he
would not have to face her. ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .
This means that she has seen him sneaking in and so he felt pity for himself.
He decided to ignore her and go in but as he was about climbing the staircase, she continued and he
reluctantly stopped to listen to whatever she was going to say.
“You ignored my call, and now you are also going to ignore my presence. What is happening dad, tell
me what is going on?” she asked.
She stood up from the couch and went to stand in front of him. “What is it with all the sneaking
around?” she.
“It is late Rio” Wright managed to say.
“Of course I know that it is late that is why I told you that it is past 1 am. When did you even start
coming back this late?” she asked.
She was beginning to get agitated and so was Wright who felt she had no right to talk to him in such
manner.
“I am your dad, Riona, and you must respect me as such” he said.
“And still I have a right to know exactly where you’ve been all night” she retorted.
The tension between them was already building up. And it was becoming obvious to the both of them
that they were both getting on each others nerve.
“And you don’t talk to me in such manner girl” he flared.
Wright was beginning to raise his voice, and to keep up with him, Riona also raised hers.
“To hell I will. If all you do is keep late nights with no thoughts of informing me whilst at it, and sneaking
to enter your own house, I have every damn right to talk to you whichever way I chose to” she
screamed.
Wright was bewildered and he wondered what had come over his little girl and when she got this
aggressive. She has always been a very outspoken person, but Wright could tell that he had never
seen her like this, completely out of control to the extent of talking to him in such a degrading manner.
Although he agrees that his attitude tonight had not been the best, he still believes that it does not in
any way warrant his little girl talking to him in this manner and so he screamed. “Riona!”.
Riona was not expecting such a loud scream from him. She looked at him and a tear dropped from her
eyes.
“I stayed awake all night daddy, and I even made us dinner but its lying on the dining table, untouched”
she said.
She had gotten emotional as she could not understand why her dad, the only person that she has in
her life right now, would chose to treat her this way.
She made to run away from him, but he was fast enough to catch her by her hands and drew her close
to him.
“I am sorry if I had hurt you Rio, I never intended for that to happen” he apologized.
Hearing the apology from her dad, she began to sob. She would do anything to ensure that her dad
never leaves her side but it is beginning to look like the more she tried, the further apart he drifts.
Wright could not bear seeing his daughter in her present state. He admits that he is wrong, but that
does not warrant Riona’s outburst. However, he would do anything to make his daughter happy and he
understands that her unsteady emotional state must be as a result of the trauma suffered from losing
her mum.
“I would not leave you all alone again Rio, I promise” he assured her.
He led her to sit on the couch, and he placed her to sit on his thighs. He strokes her hair as he looked
into her eyes.
“Do you promise never to leave me on my own again dad?” Riona asked.
“Of course dear, I will always be with you” He promised.
He knows Riona was trying to emotionally blackmail him just as always, but he had to give in anyways.
The little girl has suffered so much in just her short stay in life and he understands what she must be
going through. So if she was trying to blackmail him, he was just as prepared to give in to that.
“Will you tell me a bedtime story dad?” Riona asked.
“Sure I will honey, but definitely, that would not be today” Wright replied.
Riona was not ready to let her dad go. He had spent his entire night in the company of some other
person, and he must spend this very moment with her, because now it is her turn to stay in his
company.
To achieve her aim, she decided to bring in other topics for discussion so that he will not have any
excuse to leave her.
“Do you still love mum?’” Riona asked.
Wright never expected such a question from Riona and he wondered why she would be asking him this
question at this point in time. However, in other to make her happy, he decided to go ahead and answer
her.
“Yes of course dear, I love Evolette, and I have never stopped loving her” he replied.
Riona smiled. She was glad to know that they are still one big, united and happy family.
“I have never stopped loving her dad, no day passes without me thinking of her. I think of her every
seconds of the day. I feel her presence, and I know that she is here with us, every time” she said.
Of course, Wright loves Evolette too, but he believes that Riona was taking this too far. Evolette was
gone now and it should be accepted as such. He wanted to bring this up with Riona, but since he was
not sure how she would react, he decided to keep it to himself.
“How often do you think of her?” she asked.
Wright wasn’t sure of whom Riona was talking about. Was she still talking about Evolette, or was she
referring to someone else. So to clarify, he asked her “Who?”.
“Who else dad, mum of course or is they someone else that we are talking about?” she replied.
She was surprised that her dad would lose touch with their discussion, or was he thinking of someone
else? Riona could not even bring herself to think of the possibility of such.
It was now obvious to Wright that Riona was been deliberate with her attitude and he wondered what
she seeks to achieve with all of these. However, since he is hoping to avoid having any other fight with
her, he has to keep cooperating with her.
“She is somewhere deep down in my heart, her memories will forever remain with me” he said.
Riona was intrigued by his response and so she looked at him in shock. She could not believe how he
had just described her mum. So right now, with everything that her mum represents, all that he thinks of
her is nothing but only a memory? She could not believe just how soon it took for her dad to quickly
forget about her mum and reduce her to only but a mere memory.
But no, she would not just overlook this reply. Her dad must have to explain to her what he means by
saying that she was somewhere deep down in his heart and that her memories will forever remain with
him.
“Memories?” she asked.
She wanted to be sure that her thoughts were not correct, that her dad had only lacked the proper
words to describe how he feels. She waited for him to reply and she was expecting him to correct
himself.
Wright looked at her and he wondered why she was staring at him in such manner. What was she
expecting him to say, that Evolette was seated right on couch right there with them? No, if that is what
she wants to hear, it would definitely not be from him. He thought.
When Wright continued to stare at her without attempting to say anything to her, she decided to
continue with her question.
“All you think about mum is only a memory? She only left a moment ago, have you totally forgotten
about her dad?” she asked.
He was still not replying her. She could tell that he was only trying not to get on her nerves, but to hell
with that. He had been getting on her nerves for far too long, he could as well carry on with that now.
“Are you seeing someone else daddy?” she asked.
This last question came as a shock to Wright. He wanted to quickly answer her and put her right, but as
he opened his mouth to talk, the words refused to come out and instead, he stuttered.
“Daddy” she called out once again.
Wright gathered all the strength in him before he could bring himself to respond to her allegation.
“Not at all Riona. Why would you even think of such? You see all I am trying to make you understand is
that your mum, my wife, she is gone, gone far away from us. There is no denying that we would all be
united soon, but we got to keep living and not keep everything on hold. We owe that much to her” he
said.