I left home quite early with Mother, my Daddy's brother couldn't make it that day and she decided to go with me to my Uncle's house in Owerri and have him take me to school the next day,
So she left my brothers with a neighbour, I don't know her real name but we all call her Mama due to the fact that she's old and had wrinkled skin which at that time I found fascinating, the way she moves shakily and I guess you could say she was like a second Mother to myself and my siblings because sometimes when Mother hadn't returned home from work and night comes, my siblings and I would go to her house and stay till we hear a knock on the gate announcing Mother's presence
I remember hugging my brothers and saying goodbye enthusiastically, I was really over joyed to be going on a journey which solely was for me, I wondered if this was how Emily felt when she too embarked on this same Journey, speaking of Emily I couldn't wait to see her in school either, She had gone back to school a month ago to start a new session and I was coming to start my own session too
We boarded a bus going directly to Owerri, it wasn't as I imagined it would be, we stopped at a lot of check points, the driver had to bribe a couple of Police Men because his drivers license was deemed fake,
I threw up a couple of times too in the bus, I've had this ailment for as long as I could remember, the smell of cars, fumes and fuel make me nauseous and so I always travel with a disposable paper bag, or cellophane bags to throw up in.
By the time we arrived Owerri,i wasn't as eager or happy as I was when I left, but I didn't want to go back either.
My Uncle was already at the bus stop waiting for Mother and I, when we alighted he hugged me and said I look really small, and it's hard to imagine I'm already 9, he teased me about my haircut too and said it make me look like a cute boy,
That wasn't the first time I was told I look like a boy, in fact ever since I got my hair cut, I've been called a boy or mistaken as a boy times without number
Like the time Mother sent me on an errand on my way back I walked past an elderly woman whom I greeted and she responded with
"How do you do Son"
That day I went home and looked at my reflection in the mirror for the longest, and wished for the umpteenth time I hadn't cut my hair,
The only reason I cut my hair was because my sister Emily cut hers too after she got accepted into SFGC, and I too wanted that, so I agreed to cut my hair and also mother would not have to keep spending a lot of money for my hair up keep, see? I'm quite thoughtful
I instantly disliked him after that comment, we got into his car and he drove us to his house.
On getting to his house, his wife came out to receive us, also commenting on my boyish looks
Mother was quiet through out all these exchanges, smiling when she had to and nodding when she needed to but I wasn't concerned in the least or if I was I didn't act like it
My Uncle lives in a two storey building, first floor with his wife, son and their house help,
I remember I had actually spent one of my long vacations with them,
That was in my grade one, I was 5 at that time, but my eyes were so sharp, it took in any thing that happened, I felt a little bit nostalgic walking into their home again.
Four years ago, my Daddy agreed with my Mother to let me go Owerri for sometime, and stay with his brother whose wife had just put to bed a baby girl, and thus was how I left home for the first time in my life to go stay with a relative
one minute I was at home with my siblings, perfectly happy and the next minute I was in owerri at my Uncle's place, the change of environment must have gotten to me because I fell sick for 2 weeks, it got so bad my Uncle had to call my Daddy to arrange for a car to take me home, that I was home sick, so a date was fixed, few days before that day, I magically came back to life, healthy and strong and ready to explore my new environment
I was enrolled into a school for summer lessons, and so we fell into a daily routine
My Aunt who had her shop opposite their house would wake up in morning take her bath, have her breakfast which already the house help whose name is Edna had prepared for everyone,
check on her baby and leave some messages for Edna to give to her mother who also was in the house for the traditional Omugwo (A ritual for lactating mothers, where the mother or any woman related to the lactating mother already experienced in child care
would come to guide her into motherhood and teach her how to care for her baby, this also includes cooking for the lactating mother and making sure the blood accumulated in her stomach after childbirth would flush away and allow her stomach return to it's normal size)
and then she would leave for work, and my Uncle who is a lawyer leaves quite early and I don't always get to see him leave, just the sound of his car leaving the driveway tells me when he's gone.
Leaving just myself, Edna,my Aunt's mother and baby , and so I would take my bath, breakfast and be off to school,
It was a boring routine but I liked it, because I liked being left alone and my Aunt's Mother was never one to do that,
From the first day I came into that house she had been nothing but kind to me, sickly sweet, I don't know what she had hoped to achieve by being sweet to me, but I saw beyond her outward appearance, I saw her for who she really is, a liar, and a lazy old woman, her purpose of coming to my Uncle's house should have been to take care of Baby Amara but all she does is sleep, eat and send myself and Edna on errands, I couldn't tell my Uncle because it wasn't in my place, to do so, what could a 5 year old possibly know about all this, but they seem to forget that I am no ordinary girl, I know a lot of things nobody does like who killed Baby Amara,
and the answer is Me,
The day Baby Amara died, I shiver as I write this, was a normal day, she had been sick for a week and the sickness wasn't abating, that day I didn't go to school, it was a Saturday, the day set aside in every Nigerian Home as "Sanitation day"
I was done with my chores and so I went to the parlour to watch my favorite Cartoon "Duckula" a Duck who's also a Vampire,
On getting to the parlor I found my Aunt's Mother already in position and baby Amara was with her, but was as good as not being with anyone, because while my Aunt's Mother whom I have to call Lani now for the sake of my fingers typing "Aunt's Mother" so while Lani lay lazily on the couch, Baby Amara sat on the floor playing with something, I didn't pay her much attention I was more worried about Lani watching a wrestling match and feigning disgust at the wrestlers all because I wanted Duckula
I couldn't bear her noise and I wanted her to leave the parlor, so I told her about Baby Amara's condition and volunteered to switch off the fan, as if on cue, baby Amara began to cough,
Lani looked at me and continued watching her match, I repeated myself to her so as not to seem rude if I suddenly switched the fan off, because the Doctors said she had pneumonia and shouldn't be exposed to much air, and here was Lani enjoying the fan blowing not caring about Baby Amara,
Baby Amara was still coughing so I ran to her to check to life her off the cold floor, and behold in her mouth was particles of Cockroach
She was eating a cockroach she picked off the floor, I was so shocked I hurriedly rushed her to the kitchen, removed the remaining particles from her mouth and used water to rinse her off
while this was going on I imagine how long she must have sat there with Lani on the cold floor with the fan blowing while I was busy with house chores and if that was the only thing she had eaten
My hatred for Lani intensified, as I returned to the parlour I heard my Uncle's car pulling up outside and instantly Lani rushed and switched off the fan,
I rolled my eyes and sat down with baby Amara on my lap.
That evening, my Aunt came back and said something was wrong with baby Amara and so they took her to hospital, and didn't come back for a long time, at night I woke up to a lot of noise but was too scared to get off the bed, somehow my curiosity got the better of me and I did manage to look outside the window, there I saw my Uncle carrying a Box and some one helping him dig a hole in the ground and there he put the box into the ground
I didn't understand what was happening, I went back to bed thinking Lani was having a heated conversation with my Aunt and it was making them talk loudly and sniff,
The next morning, I couldn't see Baby Amara, and I didn't bother to ask, the cries of babies were never like lullaby to me, I hated it
Few days later, my Uncle took me back to my parents and I was greatly overjoyed, it was years later I gathered Baby Amara was dead and I remembered the tiny box and then I put two and two together, you see Lani killed Baby Amara, she neglected her and left her on the cold ground to feed on insects while she enjoyed the fan and watched TV. Yeah I know right! You really thought I killed her haha.
So you must know I wasn't exactly happy coming back to the place that haunted me in my dreams
As we settled in, Mother thought it would be a good idea to go to SFGC and register me, so that by tomorrow I would only go and get settled in, My Uncle tried to advise her against it but she said since we arrived Owerri early, that it would be better if she went today and tomorrow he can take me, also that she wants to use the opportunity to see Emily and know how she is doing
That night while everyone slept, I was with Mother, repacking my school materials
"Abebi" she called me when we were done
"Be a good girl, you're stubborn but in there you'll meet different kinds of people, always remember that not everyone is human"
I nodded "Yes Mummy"
"Emily is expecting you, and if you need anything, go to this woman" at this she handed me a card on it was written "Mrs Uwa - Topaz house "
"she's your guardian, and she has my contacts, if you need anything go to her she will call me"
I forgot to mention that my Mom now had a Sony Ericsson phone, which her sister in Germany sent to her.
I nodded again, she hugged me and said something weird
"Don't let anyone touch you inappropriately, if someone tries to, go to Mrs Uwa and complain "
I was really shocked and confused, like what even was Mother talking about, and why would a girl try to touch me inappropriately, I've never seen or heard of such thing in my entire life.
I nodded and laid down to sleep, the last thing I remember before drifting off was Mother holding my hands and praying for me.
By the time I woke up the next day, she was gone, my Uncle said she had to leave with the first bus, to get back to my brothers back at home,
At this the nostalgia returned again, I realized I was really alone but the one good thing was that my Aunt now had a baby Boy, a real beauty.
I was genuinely happy for her and I also noticed the house help they had now was different and when I inquired about Edna, my Aunt said she sent her away because she got pregnant for a mechanic and that she's not heard anything again from either her or her family
At 10:00 on October 14th 2005 I was on my way to become a full student of SFGC, a dream come true.
