5

The day outside was crisp and clear. Sunlight struggled to pour through Andra’s bedroom window but the light curtains obscured its efforts, giving the room a rather cozy glow even though it was daytime.

Andra lay in her bed, covered in a duvet. She lay curled up on her side as she rested.

Molly walked inside the room and saw Andra relaxed as she rested on the bed. She marveled at Andra’s current disposition.

Molly was in casual house wear while Andra was in a night dress, her hair covered with a sleeping bonnet.

“To be honest, Andra, I am surprised at your calmness after your father’s threat. You seem to have gotten over it.” Molly sat on the bed, ready to talk to her cousin even though the girl’s body language was impervious.

“Well, I finally got to realize that it is not important.” She replied drowsily without looking at Molly. She had slept for a while and was just having a rest. She didn’t feel like starting her day yet. All she wanted was more rest, hence her impermeable body language. “I’m resting. You might want to go away.”

Molly shook her head even though she had not gotten Andra’s attention yet. She wanted to talk about Duke’s threat because it had been bothering her.

“Won’t you at least consider a solution in case he happens to be serious?”

“Don’t worry about it, Molly.” Andra calmly replied, still maintaining her stance and not sparing Molly a glance. “He was just being paranoid and looking for a way to scare me. After all, he once threatened to send me to a psychiatric home. Yet he didn’t do it. In the same way, this is just a threat, his latest threat if you will. Trust me.”

“But I have a feeling that he might just be very serious about his threat this time.”

“Molly, your uncle cannot do that. Your daddy cannot do that.” She scoffed. “He loves me too much to do so.”

Molly refused to be convinced. Andra always downplayed a situation by calling Duke her uncle or dad. Most times when they were talking, she used either title. Molly could recall several times in the past when Andra was upset with her dad over something and stormed into her room only to say “Molly, your uncle is annoying me” or “Molly, your father is really annoying me.” They had grown up so close they use the terms interchangeably.

“Hmm. As I said, your father sounded very serious. Remember he slapped you for the first time.”

Andra managed to sit up on the bed, allowing the duvet to fall and rest around her lower body, revealing the top of the nightgown she was wearing which had the words ‘After party’ embroidered on it. She gave Molly her attention. “Look, I simply do not believe that I should be worried.” She said.

“You should be.” Molly refuted. “You should be at least slightly worried. Tell me the truth. Are you not a tiny bit worried?”

“I’m not,” Andra replied without thinking. “Maybe a tiny bit but I’m really not disturbed about it. And okay, let’s say I’m worried, what will be the solution? I mean, how will he get the man? Will he just walk up to a stranger and say ‘hey, marry my daughter’? Oh gosh.” Andra grinned, finding the idea preposterous. “Look, my sister, it is never going to happen.”

Molly considered her words. Andra was making a point but her instinct still told her to be worried.

“I see your point but, what if it happens?” Molly was not ready to rule out the possibility and this frustrated Andra, causing her to roll her eyes.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Andra chided.

“Well, you should get a solution in mind.”

“You seem very affected by dad’s threat.”

Molly didn’t bother denying it. She could feel it deep in the core of her being that Duke was serious. She still could not understand why Andra was taking things lightly. Andra should be the one worried, not her, but she just couldn’t help being worried.

“Andra, I’m just going with my haunch.”

“Your haunch is wrong,” Andra said dismissively and resumed her position on the bed.

“I am suggesting that you look into a solution as fast as possible. It is good to be prepared, just in case.”

Andra sat up and threw her hands up in annoyance. Why couldn’t Molly just relax and see things the way she was? How else would she make Molly understand that her dad was not serious?

She was his only child. He would not just toss her away to a man like that. He loved her too much to do that. She was his princess. He had made many threats in the past that he never carried out. There was no way that he was going to carry out his latest threat.

As far as she was concerned, when people are angry, they can say all sorts of things that they might regret later. Who knows, her father may even come and apologize to her for making such a preposterous threat to his only daughter.

“Fine, let me indulge you for a moment so I can have my rest.” She said to Molly. “If indeed daddy is serious about this, what are you suggesting as a solution?”

Andra saw Molly’s relief at being granted the attention. And Molly did not waste time laying out her proposed solution.

“Left for me, I am suggesting that you quickly find a man yourself so that your father won’t have to bring a stranger to marry you.”

Andra gasped at the suggestion. She bestowed a lingering look of disbelief at her cousin, unable to comprehend the words that had just left her mouth. She told herself that Molly could not be serious. She had to be joking.

“What did you just say?” She needed to hear it again to believe it.

 “You heard me, Andra. Think fast about getting a man to marry before daddy carries out his threat and does it for you.”

Andra continued to stare at Molly with disbelief, dumbfounded about the idea.