Feelings

CHAPTER 6

Mom never told me what transpired between she and the neighborhood witches, but my instinct told me  that it was related to my dad.
“is he dead? I wondered
“does he have another family over there, or maybe he has quenched his thirst of getting a male child” my thoughts went all over the place.
For the next two months we pretended to be happy, although I knew we weren’t in anyway happy. For a year now dad’s dad haven’t contacted us to hear my voice, or anything like that, and that triggered my suspicion that he might have gotten another home.
I went to mom’s workshop to ask her what is going there, but on getting there she was making a serious phone call. All she did was to use her hand to tell signal me to come back later.
I wondered who the other caller was, but then I decided to trust her and leave; I went straight to the sitting room, switched on the TV, but immediately NEPA took light.
“NEPA and light self, can’t they even be kind for once” mom lamented as she climbed down the stairs.
“are you okay, mom”
“Yes dear, I am; why do you ask” she asked
“nothing mom, I just wanted to be sure” I told her.
Mom told me to come and sit down beside her; I wondered what it was that she wanted to tell me
“ I hope no one died, no it can’t be, else she won’t have been this happy” I thought
“what do you think about we leaving this neighborhood” she asked
I was so happy, so I agreed with her to change location; funny enough I have been wanting that ever since those witches started frustrating my life.
“then it is settled, pack up your things, we will be leaving next week” mom told me.
“So soon? I asked
Yes I wanted to live, but that didn’t change the fact that she was acting strange; it now felt as if we are running away from something different from the witches.
I know that my mind has been going negative for a while now, but then that doesn’t change the fact that something is off.
“Fast girl” she said
The next morning, and for the very first time since dad left, mom left the house, and with the car; while leaving she told me that she wanted to see some people before we left the city.
“out of the city? I asked her shocked
“where are we exactly moving to” I asked her.
“Enugu” she said
“then that is out of the state; but we don’t have relatives there”
“for how long are we staying there” I asked her.
for as long as we want, or don’t you like it” she asked
“I want to, ma” I told her.
“Good! See you when I come back , and be a good girl” she said
“I love you ma” I told her
“I love you too” she said and blew a kiss to me.
My mom left and I locked the door; I went into my room, took a look at my games, computer, and then room. Everywhere was looking amazing in my eyes, but the house was already almost empty.
It felt empty even when mama was around; maybe it is so because there is now lesser touch of love in there.
When I looked at mom all I saw was a woman killing boredom and the love I saw in her eyes towards me was the love a mother has for her child, but the attention and initial initial sparks weren’t their again. Sometimes we were strangers minding our different businesses, while the other times we were real family.
I packed my games, shoes, and stuffs I didn’t normally use in a big carton; while I packed, I played and listened to one direction boys music . I loved backstreet boys and westlife music too, but then one direction hit me differently at that time.
Funny how a 14 years old boy knows what sanity was.
I packed everything, except few of my stay at home outfits; I lay down on my bed and watched carton while I waited for mom to get back home. It was getting late, but she still wasn’t back home; I went down to the sitting room, opened one of the curtain and peeped out to see if she was coming.
Few minutes past 7pm and still nothing to show; I was scared at that point. Many thoughts started running through my mind. Thoughts of if something bad might have happened to her; one thing I never wanted to let even get into my mind was thoughts of if she had abandoned me like dad did to us.
I prayed it never happened, and I begged God to send her back to me, and In return I promised to be a good girl.
I checked the time and it was 9:30, but she still wasn’t back home; I picked up our house phone and dialed her number, and it wasn’t going through. I called Aunty Onyi to know if by chance my mom dropped by at her place, but she told me that she didn’t seen mom since after the day that mom causes a ruckus in front of our home.
Aunty Onyi happened to be the only person that I knew to call in time of emergency over and over again and she won’t get angry.
I was so scared to sleep alone in the house, and at the same time I couldn’t leave; that very time I prayed Aunty Onyi comes to visit, so that I could beg her to stay with me. I didn’t mind if she stayed 6 kilometers away from me; I just needed an adult close by.