The snow

  I turned my head and faced the leafless trees that used to blow healthy leaves during the rainy season. The trees were bare and looked like crazy clowns. Their branches looked unhealthy and starving like those kids of the early nineteenth century suffering from kwashiorkor.

Oh! And speaking of clowns,I would love to attend this year's evening party held downtown. The party was always full of celebration and fun. I could even get the chance to meet my friends from school.

A smile escaped from my lips and a hearty chuckle followed. I limped playfully in the snow. My boot was almost invisible. 

Well, last night was soooo cold because we experienced a rather busty snow storm. My mind was occupied with how this Xmas would be like.

Busty! That's what Iyvonne calls it.

Mom always yelled at her,saying that it was bad language for a Christian home like ours. Iyvonne always protested that it was just an exclamation.

“And I don't want that exclamation in my house young lady!” I mimicked my mom and giggled at my tiny voice. My family is fun to be in.

“Who are you talking to?”

I turned around and saw Janny, my neighbor and my friend too. I smiled rather awkwardly.

“I didn't see you!”

“That's because you were immersed in whatever you were doing.”

 She really stressed the ‘doing’ to emphasize on what she meant.

“When did you get here?” I asked.

She put her two hands into her yellow fluffy coat.

“I just got here. I saw you through my window when you came out and wanted to join you, but I had to do my bed and brush before anything else. You know my mom.” She replied and smiled.

Of course I knew her mom. Who doesn't know Janny's mom. A school teacher and a no nonsense woman at that. You can never survive in her home if you are the lazy type. She is also a devoted Christian. That's what brought her close to my mom.

They forged some kind of relationship that I haven't come to understand just yet. Relationships that come to existence only on Sundays and other service days. 

I once questioned my mom about it and she asked me if I expected her to always sleep in her house. She said that everyone has a wonderful daily problem of their own that needs daily solutions. She also said that too much of your presence in a friend's house will make her look down on you. Somewhere from the book of proverbs written by Solomon.

I wondered whether the 'her’ she meant was Janny or her mom or rather general. Cause I remembered an occasion that happened during last holiday.I had come to Janny's house to do an assignment together but she totally snubbed me and told me to come back later. Two minutes later she was off with other kids in our neighborhood to play.

It really pained me seriously. I didn't tell my mom. 

How would I have told her when she had taught me not to always frequent a friend's house and I disobeyed her.

I gently lay on the bed and became my own pastor. I tried to convince myself to forgive her. That's what God does when we  go wrong right.

I finally forgave her but I dared not go to her house ever again. I would forgive her now and in the next seconds to come I would be angered by her behavior and vow to quit the friendship. But the next few seconds I would forgive her again.

This went on for about two days when she came by to visit me. She apologized for her behavior and I accepted her apologies. But, I never went to her house again. 

And I think she understood because she never asked me why.

She was kind of a friend.

She was now the one that always sought after me both at home and in school. I was now the boss but I was careful not to hurt her feelings just the way she did to me. A true Christian wouldn't pay back evil for evil.

I learnt it from my dad.

Back to present,

 I reached out and  removed strands of hairs  blown to her face by the winds.

“Thanks.” She said and I nodded.

I bent down,scooped the snow with my hands and threw it up. We smiled in delight as the snow flakes fell upon us. 

“Your hair looks beautifu,so darkl.” 

She complimented and touched my hair. I smiled.

 She always wished that her blonde hair was darker. 

“ Your hair is beautiful too.” I said and she smiled awkwardly.

I dragged her with me and we playfully ran further into the street.

We rowed in the snow with our boots and laughed at our stupidity.

In no time, I saw Josh running towards our direction. He stumbled on something and fell, got up and raced towards us screaming my name happily.

He's always stumbling on things.

I stood in wonder mopping at him,my brow furrowed. I knew well enough that Josh never liked being out in the snow. Whatever kicked him out into the snowy street was worth the happiness in his voice.

He held his knee, breathing hard when he got to where I stood.

“Grandpa and the rest of the family have arrived, Zica.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked, trying to understand what he said.

“Grandpa, Iyvonne, Pete and aunt Carolyn came home together to surprise us.”

‘Ahhhhhhhhh!’ I screamed and ran back home. 

Josh was just behind me and Janny was at equals with me.

“You mean what you said Josh,I will murder you if this is a prank.” I yelled as I ran.

“No pranks, you will see them.” He yelled back.

“I think he's serious.” Janny yelled behind me.