Chapter 28: chapter 28

Chapter 28Bryson's POVAfter making sure that everyone had left, Ray drove us back home. A long edgy silence enveloped the insides of Ray convertible. Tense, I even had second thoughts about deciding against our plan but the curiosity I had somehow halted me from doing so. We had different plans today and that didn't include attending any of our classes. We had requested our friends to sign on our behalf the attendance forms, which were all bullshit by the way. How could grown students sign such forms?We had decided that we'd go in our parents room and see whether we'd find anything suspicious, anything to tip us off on their suspicious behaviour.We wanted to try and uncover what they were hiding. We didn't know exactly what it was, but we knew that something was the matter. We had known them for years to tell when something was wrong.Once we arrived, we made sure to pack the car outside the gate. We didn't want catching any attention especially from the new housekeeper. Our parents valued education, they took our studies seriously. If they were to find out we skipped classes, there would be a lot of explanation to do and we couldn't risk that.Ray had caused a distraction at the gate, and even though we knew our parents reviewed the CCTV footage monthly, we'd have long accomplished our mission by the time they did so. Once we got safely and undetected across the vast compound we made way to the backyard. We slipped inside through the back door, careful enough not to notify the house keeper of our arrival. Lucky for us, the staircase to the upper rooms was hidden from the kitchen. I swear it felt a little bit wrong sneaking into the house, but the determination on Ray's face kept me going.'You know Ray I feel like it has something to do with mum leaving all those years. ' My inner guts stressed so, and despite my attempts to dispute them, my mind didn't cease from drifting to the possibility.'Me too, ever since mum came back, she has been a little different. Yes the love she had is still the same, I know deep down that remains legit, but something else is totally amiss. Even dad, they've been acting kind of weird. ' Ray added, tiptoeing his way up the stairs and finally into our parents master bedroom.'You know now that you've said it Ray, the warning mum gave us to stay away from Ava wasn't to protect us. ' I had doubts about it, but now I was beginning to make a little sense.'It was all for Ava man, why would they love and care for her this much? Don't you see they treat her like their daughter? Blood daughter?' I added, shaking my head.'Yeah Bry, and it's all real, they don't even attempt to hide it The adoration in their eyes when they are speaking to her is all real. Could be because she is an orphan but like you said, there's more to this'We were lucky they didn't lock their bedroom door. But then again, why would they leave it open if they had something to hide?'Where do we start? ' Ray looked around the room, standing right in the middle of the modern elegance. This bedroom featured a beautiful upholstered head & footboard, coupled up with white upholstered button chairs. There were two mirrored night stands on either side of the king size bed, that made the room appear even more spacious.The last time we were here with Ava, I didn't really look around having been too engrossed in the safe and the adoption certificates. I hardly noticed the hollowfibre duvet that neatly covered the bed, with grey fluffy pillows finely arranged near the headboard.The dark wood flooring matched and complimented the white colours and the chandelier with hanging lights. A large window on the farthest side of the bed added to the nice look, with gray curtains drawn perfectly to allow for light to bounce through. The high ceiling was painted white, that seemed to match well with the area gray rug that sat around the bed.'Uuh the closet ? ' I suggested.'What about the safe? I saw a couple of things there when Ava opened it. ' Ray countered, tilting his head towards the portrait that hid the safe from our view.'But we don't have the combination keys..' I argued, lifting my left eyebrow questionably.'We could ask Ava to forward them to us. ' Ray pulled his eyebrows together and slipped a hand inside his pockets to take his phone.'Or we could first search around and if we don't find anything then we can ask her. ' I waited patiently for his answer my eyes trained on the closet.'Ok I'll go in the closet, while you go through the stuff in the dresser. ' Ray added, as of he had read my thoughts.'But we don't even know what we are looking for Ray. ' I voiced my concern.'You're right, but anything that seems maybe out of place. ' He left for the closet.'Okay, try to be organised as much as possible. We don't want them suspecting someone went through their things. ' I walked towards the dresser, leaving Ray to fumble around inside the closet.So we began searching for what we didn't know. I pulled out each drawer, going through each and everything.Most were documents and I made sure to check each and everyone of them.'Oh my eyes!!! ' Ray screamed, coming into view with his eyes partially closed.'What the fuck man?''I just saw mum's you know...what. ' Ray muttered, with his eyes downcast.'Stop being dramatic. ' I snorted. ' Are you seriously ashamed to have seen mum's lingerie? ' I asked Ray, amusement in my voice.'He he you kn..' He was sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. A thing he usually did when he was ashamed of something.'You've seen her countless times in bikini, it's no big deal to see her undergarments. Also, everyone got those, including the new housekeeper down stairs. ,''Ew Bry, you didn't have to bring her into this. ' He scrunched up his face.'Well you get the point. Now shoo, We don't have time, go finish your search please. ' I waved my hands in the air.He muttered an okay before disappearing back into the closet.I was on the last drawer and all I could see was a notebook. A single notebook placed on the middle, with nothing else around it. Should I go through it? maybe I'll come across some important information. I thought.Why would a big drawer only have one single small notebook? That peaked my curiosity to say the least.Flipping the first page of the notebook, I was met with a number of addresses. Not so important, I thought.Just as I was about to put it back in the drawer, a single photo slipped as I was flipping the pages and fell off. I had to feed my curiosity, so I bent down and picked the upside down photo.Then carefully and slowly, I turned it.'The fuck!!' I was practically confused, stood dumfounded with the small picture in my hand. This was the same photo Ava was clutching in her apartment the day we went to help her move. The one she was all happy and smiley with her late mum.What was mum doing with this photo? Something was not right. Just then, Ray called my name, shock evident in his voice.Had he found something too? Making large strides into the walk in closet, I found Ray in the middle.One hand on his mouth and the other...Wait was that an hyp...'Bryson, do you know what this is ? Do you have any idea on what exactly this means? ' Ray's voice was calm, but the confusion was very much evident.'This is a fucking hyper realistic mask Bry, what is mum and dad doing with this mask?' Ray couldn't stop talking.He held it properly for me to take a look at it. He went on to try it on, wanting me to understand the seriousness of the matter.'Fucking hell! Ray that thing looks like a 100% human face. But it looks so familiar, could I have seen it somewhere before?. ' I was sure I had seen someone with a face like this. Then almost instantaneously, I finally connected the dots.'Oh no Ray, take it off. Oh my god Ray, this is not happening.' My knees gave out, my legs couldn't support my body weight. My hand one again found it's way over my mouth, in an attempt to cover the shock that threatened to cost me my steadiness.Ray took it off, sitting besides me.'What's wrong Bry? talk to me man, you are shaking pretty bad. 'I just handed him the picture using my shaking hands, wanting him to see for himself. And when he turned the picture and looked at it, he just hang his head. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.This was fucked up, totally messed up.'Ava has to see this Bry, she has to. 'Ray reached in his pockets to pick his phone. He dialled Ava's phone number and put her on loud speaker.'Hello' Ava answered.'Get out of that hospital now! ' Ray commanded.'But I just go..' I didn't wait for her to finish that sentence. This was fucking serious than that person she was going to visit.'Tell mum that it's an emergency, board the first cab you'll see and come straight to Nairobi park. Now Ava.' I instructed, a grim tone slipping.'What is ..' She was again cut off by Bryson. Her confused tone filtering through the waves to our side of the call.'Fucking do as we are asking, you will want to see this Ava. We'll explain everything once you get there. 'After hearing an okay from the other side. We rushed down stairs, the two items in our hands. We had to get to the park as soon as possible. We ignored the confused looks we got from Mr green the security guard as we went past the gate. His puzzled look on how we had gotten inside past his keen eye would have been hilarious had we not have been in a hurry.The betrayal I was feeling was inarguably unexplainable. I was sure as hell Ray was feeling the same way. One secret after another? this couldn't get anymore worse. What more were my so called parents hiding, what would be the next revelation, the Mafia? I chuckled darkly, buckling mine and Ray's safety belt. He was bkinded by rage and the need to get to Ava I doubted he was thinking about safety at all.Ray reversed his car in a state of urgency, nearly hitting a security light poll along the street. His tight grip on the steering wheel was saying it all, he was clearly losing it. His straight stare on the road didn't waver and so did my thoughts about our girl. For the sake of Ava and my brother, I had to at least try to remain sane.If I had known what was awaiting us in that bedroom, I'd never have skipped school. Did I regret going through my parents things? Oh yes but the results were pretty worth it.So many thoughts were running in my head, but one stood out. My mind kept on conjuring images on how Ava would react once she found out. Would she just stand and dismiss our claims? Or would she scream once she saw the items? One thing was for sure though, once she discovered what we had just uncovered, she would totally and utterly crushed.My brother muttered almost inaudibly, with his gaze fixed right ahead and his hands angrily controlling the steering wheel.'How will Ava survive this?'