4 Caught Sneaking

Ria and Layla managed to get home that night before their mother arrived. Their father was just about going outside to watch the stars like he always did at nights. It was his way of calming down. He would lay on the grass, the gentle nights breeze blowing. The night was so beautiful and he derived joy from watching. His troubles always seemed to fade whenever he went to his usual spot at nights to watch the stars. Ria and Layla knew that their father would be outside at his usual spot so they tried as much as possible to sneak in on him. But the old man had seen his years of youthfulness, he thought there was no one that could sneak past him. He believed that he got that ability from being rebellious when he was as young as his daughters were. “Ria? Layla? Is that you?” The young ladies paused their steps as he called out. Then they concluded he wasn’t sure of their presence. They decided to make quick steps further. “Layla! Ria! Both of you come here, now!” He commanded. He had his head rest on his palms as he lay on the grass. It seemed like he was enjoying the weather. Ria and Layla knew they were in trouble. They sluggishly walked towards him, deliberately slowing their time to get to him. They planned to walk slowly till he forgot their presence. They knew he loved watching the stars, they knew he loved the cool breeze at night. They were going to take advantage of that. Just as they were about turning back to the house, he cleared his throat. “I’m waiting…” Both sisters had given up on trying to sneak out of his sight, they realized there was no hope for them. They walked up to him. It was as if where he lay down was different from everywhere else, it seemed like the wind had centered around him. “Where are you young ladies coming from. Layla start first.” He said. All this time he didn’t look at any of them, his eyes were still fixed on the bright stars that spread across the nights sky. Layla stared at Ria, she was out of words. What lie was she going to tell her father. They had disobeyed him even though he had warned them countless times never to go out in the night. They both knew how mad he would be if he discovered they were gone, they were lucky enough to have met him at his place of employment. Layla had already acknowledged herself as a terrible liar, she was so terrible at it that people could easily tell when she was speaking the truth and when she was trying to tell a lie. She didn’t know how easy it was for people to know but she believed in herself that she was so terrible at lying. It was as if their father had noticed and that was why he chose to hear from her first, because he knew she would be forced to speak the truth. “What should I tell him?” Layla whispered to her sisters hearing, “I suck at telling lies, help..” Even Ria was tensed. The fact that their father had caught them outside was enough to shake off her resolve. She had planned a million lies to tell him, and they were enough to be shared with Layla but at the moment she couldn’t think of anything. “Don’t waste my time princess… your mother would soon be back.” He said calmly, still not looking at them. “You know how your mother is, she can be very dramatic and over react. You don’t want her to meet you here.” This even made them more tensed. Ria was sure she could feel droplets of sweat on her face. It wasn’t from her exhaustion after markets chase, she was just scared of her mother meeting them outside. How was this going to help matters, Layla struggled to find something to say. She stressed her mind, hoping to find a word. “We umm.., we went to see mom.” She finally came up with a lie that even Ria was shocked to hear. That was just going overboard. It was too far from the truth and the presence of their mom could easily prove it wrong. “You fat ass liar.” Ria whispered, “are you saving us or are you putting our ass in more fire?” “I’m sorry… I couldn’t think of anything else.” Layla said, she was so scared that she couldn’t think of anything else to say instead of lying with her mothers case. “You went to see your mother? And you couldn’t give me a notice before that?” He asked. “What if something had happened to you on your way? “We’re truly sorry father… We just wanted to help out with the struggles” Layla said. “What about you Ria, what’s your side of the story?” He heard Layla’s pleads but he wanted to know what his eldest daughter had to say. Layla hoped that what Ria was about to say would match the lie she had told. “We found an opportunity to help a fruit vendor and he paid for the services. Layla purchased some loafs.” Ria stared at Layla the whole time. They were both nervous and cautious about what each other had to say. Their father was a very attentive person and he could keep words in his head. “So first of all, you went to help your mom, but ended up helping a stranger who paid you some money?” He asked, “did I hear right?” “Yes-“ Layla and Ria said. They felt a bit relieved that they had managed to skip the part where they had to run away from an angry mob. Mr. Raymond thought there was something fishy but from their claims, both of them seemed to be saying the same thing. He could only trust in his daughters and relax his mind, knowing that they were safe and both were beside him. “I know you want to help, I know you want to have fun like other teenagers but I promise… things would be better for us.” He promised, as streams of tears flowed down his cheeks. “Things would be fine.” Ria and Layla went on their knees and hugged their father. “We’re sorry for disobeying your instructions, father.”