TWENTY ONE--THE MONSTER IS BACK

Cameron returned home at exactly 6:45pm that evening. To my surprise, he embraced mom tightly, until she yelled that he was hurting her belly. They both laughed as he apologized, and for some reason, I loathed that moment. I just hoped in my mind that he'd not hit mom again and she'd deliver the baby safely. "Look at you!" He said laughing. "Ain't you just a strong woman, carrying a whole human in your tummy! Or are they two? When are you due, babe?" He asked. I wondered what kind of husband he was. He didn't even know how many months his wife had been pregnant. The pregnancy he put there."I'm 32 weeks gone, Cameron" she said going back to the kitchen and Cameron walking towards his room. I walked past him towards the main door, and he pulled me back. "Your daddy is back, little big thing" he said. "Are you behaving at school?" He asked. He actually did bend down to my height to look at me closely."Get your hands off me!" I yelled and stormed out of the house. He turned back and s

Last Updated : 2022-06-01

TWENTY TWO--HAPPINESS

I was sleepy but I tried to keep myself awake. I checked the time on the wall of the hospital, it was about half past 3am. Or was it 2am? I didn't see because my eyes were already blurry. Mom had been inside the ward for an hour or so. Jack was fully awake, watching over me. God too. Lol. He noticed that I was sleepy and offered to take me home but I told him not to mind, that I was fine. He asked if I was hungry but I said no, even though my stomach was rumbling. I just wanted to sleep but I wanted to see the baby first. I wanted to be sure mom was okay, including the baby, and I could tell from Jack's confused expression that he as well as I needed to know what transpired between mom and Cameron, how she got to the foot of the tree, how her phone's screen broke, and the streak of blood from her leg? For now, she had to be fine first. They had fought again, obviously. Only God knew what they fought over, this time. But deep down, I was glad that the baby in mom's stomach was not aff

Last Updated : 2022-06-08

TWENTY THREE--THE HOMECOMING AND DRAMA

As soon as mom alighted from her vehicle, she started up the hallway stairs with one of the luggages. I carried the other. Cameron was not anywhere around but as we both climbed up with our luggage and one baby strapped to her chest, and the other in a baby carrier which she pushed as we walked, we heard a phone ring, and Cameron answered the call. He was inside the house after all. And we could hear his footsteps approaching us in the hallway. He must have heard a car drive into the parking lot. Mom went over to click the switch in the hallway and the lights came on. He needed to see how much of a beauty she was, even after having three babies(me and the twins)-- three beautiful girls. Then, with her shoulder bent backwards, and her chin raised, mom walked farther into the house towards my room. He stopped mom halfway by standing on the way."Hey" he said, smacking his lips. It was obvious that he liked what he saw, but he also looked shocked and confused."Hey too" mom said and pa

Last Updated : 2022-06-08

TWENTY FOUR--BACK TO SCHOOL

The next day, I woke up earlier than anyone in the house, mostly because it was my birthday but also because I was returning to school. I had my bath without any help, cleaned up and dressed up. I sat at my desk and took out Joe's white pouch, the one he left in my room on the last day I saw him. I kissed it, smelt it and after staring at it for a while, returned it to its rightful place. Then I thought of what i can do to set my mood well for the day. I wanted to be in a good mood. I decided to send a message to someone faraway hoping for a reply . Remember that superstition I believed in? Yeah, that.I designed a kite and affixed a message at the top. It was a letter to Joe. This is how it read:"I hope you're doing great up there, buddy. I am returning to school today after weeks of mourning your death. I want to be strong, I want to make mom happy, she's been worried about me. I want to live for both of us, and I promise you, Joe that I'll avenge your death. I don't know how to d

Last Updated : 2022-06-11

TWENTY FIVE --AN ANSWER

Joe didn't appear to me in human form like I envisaged; he answered my questions in a dream. I woke up with mixed feelings because Joe's response elicited both joy, surprise, anxiety and fear in me. Besides that, my second dream that night was totally bad. It was not new to me, yet it was still scary. It was the dream about mom's baby dying. That would be like the third or maybe fourth time I would see mom in my dream, with a baby in her arms but she looked sad and tears streamed down her face as she stared at it because the baby in her arms was no longer breathing.I was not the type that dreamed. In fact these dreams would be my first ever since I was born. They were spectacular dreams, and I was not as confused as I thought I'd be, because the two dreams were interwoven. In my last letter to Joe, I had asked him what the significance of his white pouch was-the small bag he left in my room before he passed away. It had taken him a while to reply me. Probably he was trying to decide

Last Updated : 2022-06-22

TWENTY SIX--DISOBEYING ALL RULES

The next day at school, during the training at lunch break as usual, Uncle Robinson read the rules to us like he always did before going into the lesson:Be punctual to training (It's either you eat your lunch earlier or eat it after the training). Coming late to training lessons attracts punishmentTraining lasts for two hours everyday. 30 minutes during lunch break, and one hour, thirty minutes after closing hour between the hours of 1:30pm-3:00pm. On no account should you leave the school premises except the training lessons are over for the dayWhen you're asked a question, you're mandated to respond as soon as you can.Do not eat during the training hoursThese were the rules for the time being. I decided to break all of them, and so when Uncle Robinson asked me a question, I acted like I didn't hear him. I also brought some of my leftover food to the hall and ate so openly. My other competitors warned me but I was hell-bent on getting disqualified. Uncle Robinson and the other t