Novels by Otega-Endowed

Sammy’s presence in the house made life a living hell for me.The incident of the spilling of the flour paved the way for a more carefree attitude and disposition, but more than that, it made my dad effortlessly take sides with Sammy who had now become his favorite son, while I was seen as the devil.Every misdeed that occurred in the house had everyone pointing accusing fingers at me automatically, and no one ever cared to listen to my side of the story.To my dad, Sammy was perfect and I was the kid who needed therapy and remedial actions. Sammy could never do wrong in his eyes and that bothered me greatly.It had been two months since he came to stay with us and I was the one doing the adapting when it should have been the other way round. One fateful Sunday morning, I woke up from the bed and knelt to pray just before I began my day as my mother had taught me.She always said that every individual had their peculiar beliefs and a deity in which they trusted and ours happened to b

I had a flashback of the first time I laid eyes on him. He had mischief in his eyes and an unrestful spirit which he only managed to conceal for the first day after his arrival.There was an extra room where he could stay but within twenty-four hours of living in it, he ran out, crying that he saw some ghosts which tormented him while he was in bed.After that night, my dad pleaded with me to let him share my room with me, but I knew that Sammy was up to something.Sharing my room with a total stranger was already hard enough, but he made it a lot harder, making the room a mess and extremely disorganized.“Sammy, I just finished cleaning. The floors are sparkling clean, the books are neatly arranged on the shelves and the closet is as organized as ever. I know you'd love to play and that's okay, just don't forget to put everything back in place when you're done,” I said, ensuring that I was nice as well as detailed enough with my sentences.“Hahaha! You like to act like the neatest an

“Wow! Dad! I never knew I had a sibling. Where has he been all these while? How did I never get to see him? Why did mom never tell me about him?” I asked my dad, a look of surprise written all over my face.As a kid, this was by far the most shocking revelation I'd had in my entire life; a sibling appearing from nowhere, one that I had no idea about their existence!My eyes lingered on the boy, scanning him properly from head to toe to see if he looked like any of us or possessed similar features with us but he looked totally different, making me even more confused than I was in the beginning.“Uhm… these questions are a whole lot, well… Sammy, meet Drew your big brother, and Drew, meet Sammy your little brother.”“Hi, Sammy,” I said, extending my hands for a handshake, following my father’s attempt at introducing us.Sammy was a cute little boy with a smattering of freckles across his nose. He had curly long brown hair that fell across his forehead like a mop. Boy was blessed with so

After my mom was declared dead, we had to leave the hospital for the house.I heard the doctor tell my dad that her body would be transferred to the mortuary, a place where dead people were kept.I have heard about people dying, but I didn't know what the true meaning of death was, nor how gruesome it felt until it came knocking at my family’s door with its cruel knuckles and snatched away my innocent mom.I walked slowly into her room, the weight of misery lying squarely on my shoulders. I looked through her closet and wondered whom all these now belonged to.All the beautiful dresses, shoes, bags, and jewelry that she had in heaps and piles.I held the door of the closet, screaming my lungs out in pain of what my life had now become.The once lively house where I played, running around and playing hide and seek with my mother now felt like an abyss. Our home was now a hollow shell and I lived in it, miserably.To everyone she died, but to me she only stopped breathing and being phy

“Mom, I'm holding your hands tightly and I'll never let go, can you promise me that you'll stay for me? Mom, you're my everything, my life, the best mom to ever exist in the world, I cannot imagine a life without you.”“My baby, Drew, I wish I could say that I would stay but it's not in my power to say that. I can feel myself losing it and darling, I wished life did not come at me this way,” she said, her eyes dripping with tears.“No Mom, don't speak like that. You need to exercise your faith in your healing,” I replied, caressing her hand which I held in mine.“Baby, when I had you at the hospital ten years ago, I looked forward to doing life with you till good old age. I foresaw a future where I'd always stand firmly by your side, cheering you on through every victory, but I guess the universe had alternative plans.”“Today, I lie on my sick bed like a potato, heavily bedridden and losing my life right before my eyes. I have fought hard since my diagnosis a year ago until this crit

“What? No way Drew! How is that girl moving so fast?” Nicole asked in disbelief. “I am as speechless as you are sis. What started as a casual hook-up is now gearing towards a committed relationship. I have no feelings for her! Doesn't she get the memo? I don't even love her,” I replied, lamenting. “It's you young folks who refer to something intimate as casual. In the actual sense, there's nothing casual about a genital meet-and-greet,” she added. “Argh… we’re at it again! Sis, you know I would never have done that on a normal day, it was just the timing and the effect of the alcohol that gave her that advantage over me, and now I regret it every day!” I replied, raking my fingers through my hair.“Fine. I'm sorry about that, but we must learn our lessons regardless of whether we like it or not. Not to worry, I'm standing firmly by your side, and when it gets tougher and I probably grow wearier, the worst I'll do is sit, but still by your side, I'm never leaving! “You're such a da