CHAPTER 31 – WRIGHT’S OUTBURST

The whole family was in the sitting room and the room was quiet with everyone looking at Riona.

Wright was standing in front of Riona. He had his hands on his hips and he stared at her in anger.

Riley was sitting on a couch with her mum beside her. She had a bandage on her left arm and some

bruises on her face. This was a result of the fracture she suffered from her fight with Riona.

Riona was sitting down on one of the couches. She appeared not to be bothered with the state that her

family was in and she was pressing her phone.

“I am talking to you Rio, stop pressing that phone” Wright screamed.

He was so frustrated with Riona’s attitude. When did she become a tigress, going about fighting

whosoever she felt was standing in her way? He asked himself. He wondered where he had lost it. He

knew his daughter is a character but she was never this aggressive.

If he had not known Riley better, he could have sworn that she was at fault. But Riley is not one to go

about looking for trouble.

“Give that to me now” he ordered.

“What?” Riona asked.

Riona felt there was no way her dad would be asking her to hand over her phone to him. She could not

understand why everyone seem to turn blind eyes to the fact that Riley was the one that had started

the fight but they had instead dwelled on the fact that Riley sustained one or two injuries, which was

what she well deserved.

“Give me that phone now Riona, don’t let me repeat myself,” Wright said.

Riona murmured something as she handed the phone over to her father.

“And what are you saying?” he asked.

“She started the fight dad, she hit me first. Why is anyone not talking about that?” Riona asked.

“You pushed her first Riona, if you had not dragged her, she would not have considered retaliating,” he

said.

“She slapped me twice dad, was I supposed to just sit and let her go after hitting me twice?” she asked.

“So, what is wrong if you saw her standing where she was standing? This is her house too Rio, and the

earlier you stop pretending not to understand that Rio, the better it will be for every one of us” he said.

“What was she looking for in my mum’s room?” Riona retorted.

“And I just say that she has as much right as you to be there?” he said.

“No dad, she does not. What if she takes something from it?” Riona asked.

“You don’t refer to my daughter as a thief Riona” Maeve screamed.

Maeve has been sitting quietly all along, hoping that Wright would handle this issue well. But she will

not sit and do anything when Riona decided to refer to her daughter as a thief. owns © this.

“Please let me handle this, Maeve,” Wright said.

“Not this Wright, you’ve got to teach her some manners,” Maeve said.

“Of course she is your daughter. You know you actually don’t have to remind us of that right? We have

fully taken cognizance of that fact”. Riona said.

“Maeve I have got this, let me deal with it,” Wright said.

Maeve was furious. She wondered when all these were going to end. However, she kept quiet and

allowed Wright to deal with it.

“You would have to apologize, Riona,” Wright said.

“Apologize, for what dad?” Riona asked.

Riona wanted to know what she was required to apologize for. Was it for dealing with Riley the way she

deserved and thereby putting her in her place, was it for saying that Riley had intended to steal from

her mum, which as far as Riona was concerned was not far from the truth, or is it going to be for

carefully explaining to Maeve that they are aware that Riley was her daughter?

“For everything, Rio,” Wright said.

“But why dad? You always complain that I am not being considerate towards Maeve and her daughter,

Riley, and just when I decide to be nice, you are already asking me to apologize” Riona asked.

“And how do you call all of these been nice?” Wright asked.

Riona closed her eyes and inhaled for some seconds before speaking.

“First, I decided to teach Riley some manners on what happens to someone that decides to go around

slapping random folks, and you said I was the trouble maker. Then I explained to everyone here that a

person that is seen wandering in an area where he or she has no business is a likely suspect, and

Maeve here provoked and told me that I was placing some allegations her daughter and now I tried to

make Maeve understand that we are not fools and that we are well aware that Riley is her daughter,

birds of a feather…”

Riona was still speaking when Maeve angrily got up and shut her up.

“Shut up you little brat, how dare you try to trivialize all that you have done, and one more derogatory

word from you about my daughter and I, I will teach you a lesson that you will not forget in a hurry”.

Maeve shouted.

Riley grabbed her mother’s hands and made her sit back beside her.

Riona smiled mischievously and looked at her father.

“I don’t have any apology to make dad. Excuse me”. She said.

She walked out of the sitting room as her dad called her back.

“Come back right here Riona”. He called.

Riona however ignored his call and went straight for her room upstairs.

Wright turned to face Maeve.

“I only requested for one thing Maeve, that you just shut up and allow me to talk to her, my daughter”

he screamed.

Maeve was about to make a defense when Wright ran after Riona. Seeing that Wright had run out, she

held her daughter and sobbed.

………………………………………………..

“And what was all that about?” Wright screamed as he stormed into Riona’s room.

“It was obvious that she wanted to do the talking dad, so I allowed her to” Riona replied.

“I can’t have you disrespecting my wife Rio, don’t you ever talk about her in such a derogatory manner”

Wright shouted.

“Why is it only me that you see something wrong with dad, was I the one that started the fight?” she

asked.

Riona was starting to feel bad, she believed her dad was refusing to see things from her perspective.

She felt he was only focused on defending Maeve and her daughter while ignoring how she felt

completely.

“That’s not true Rio, you have to grow past this attitude,” Wright said.

“Admit it, dad, I am not the bad person here. I only try to mind my business and also try to protect what

is mine and stop others from stepping on it” she said.

“But that is not how it should be, Rio. That is not the right way to go about this. You need to understand

this honey” Wright said.

“Explain to me dad, I want to understand, make me,” Riona said.

“Rio, we are one family now, you should see them as such, and we just can’t keep fighting. We need to

love one another. Can you please do that for me?” Wright asked.

Wright was hoping that this was enough explanation for Riona.

“I have always had my reservations dad, you know exactly how I felt about bringing them into this

house,” Riona said.

Wright was unable to say anything. In fact, he does not know what to say to her. Why can’t she just

forget about all of these and allow peace to reign? He wondered if she would ever get over her hatred

for Maeve and by extension, Riley.

“Riona, we can’t keep going back and front on this. Please, dear, stop the fighting” Wright pleaded.

Riona got up from the chair where she was sitting and she went to stand in front of her dad.

Wright sincerely hoped that Riona would agree to listen to him. He held her hands in his and looked

into her eyes.

“I love you, dad,” she said.

“I love you too Rio, very much” Wright replied.

“We were wonderful together dad, yes we lose mum, but we still have ourselves,” she said.

Wright exhaled. He could not believe that she was going through this again. What does she want him

to tell her now? He is already married to Maeve, and they are one family now. Riona’s acceptance

would be good for her as he is not even going to consider divorce.

“Yes, dear. And even now we still have ourselves, just that we got bigger and you know, bigger should

be better” he said.

Riona removed her hands from his and she slowly walked to the bed and sat down.

Wright was confused, he does not know what her next action might be. All he wanted is what every

other father would want, for his baby girl to be happy and he was ready to ensure this, even though she

does not understand, accepts, or appreciate the things that he does to see to her happiness.

“Just one question dad,” Riona said.

“What is the question, honey?” Wright inquired.

“Why did you do it, dad, you know how I felt, why did you marry her?” she asked.

Wright’s jaw dropped at Riona’s question. He does not have any answer for her, and even if he does,

he was not sure if she would understand it.