Flaws Of An African Girl (COMPLETED/UNEDITED)

CHAPTER 8

“What?” I wake up with a jolt. I am sweating profusely and my heart is beating very fast.

“Harida, wake up. Are you okay?” Someone says.

I turn to find my elder brother looking at me with worry etched all over his face.

“You were screaming in your sleep. I have been trying to wake you up since but you didn’t wake.” Nonso says.

“What are you…?” I try to talk but my breath gets labored and I can’t breathe anymore.

I try to suck oxygen into my lungs but something seems to be blocking it from getting in. My head gets foggy and the room seems to be upside down.

“Harida, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” Nonso starts panicking. He starts touching my face, trying to find out what is wrong.

“M-med-dicine” I struggle out.

“What?” He asks.

“My drugs” I squeak out.

“Your drugs?” He asks for confirmation.

I nod my head.

“Where is it?” he asks. His eyes are showing so much concern that I have never for once seen throughout the years.

I raise my hand weakly and point to the bag hanging in front of wardrobe. He rushes to the bag and starts looking for the drugs. When he sees it, he rushes back to the bed and give me the drugs.

I take them from him with shaky hands and waste no time to put two of it into my mouth.

After few minutes, my hands stop shaking and my breathing goes back to normal. I close my eyes for a moment to calm down. When I open them, I come face-to-face with Nonso’s worried eyes looking at me.

“Anti-depressants. You still use them?” He asks in a soft voice, holding the bottle in his hands.

“I need them” I answer.

He looks down with guilt all over his face.
“I am sorry for everything I ever did to you; for every hurtful thing I said to you. I am really sorry and I hope you can forgive me.” He is still looking down but I can see tears dripping from his face.

“It’s okay” I say.

“I can’t even look you in the eye. I am just so stupid. You are my baby sister; I am supposed to be the one protecting you, not the one hurting you. I am so sorry and I regret everything I did. Please, forgive me. I know that I do not deserve your forgiveness but please just consider me.” He sobs, resting his head on my lap.

I raise his head up with my hand but he still refuses to look at me. I tilt his chin till his eyes meet mine.

“Hey, look at me, I forgive you. You are my big brother and I love you no matter what” I tell him.

He smiles a very sad smile, “I promise you from now onwards I will protect you with everything I have left in me. I won’t let anything happen to you as long as I live. If I have to die to prove it to you, I will.”

“No one is going to die. We are going to live to go through this together then we are going to achieve our dreams.” I tell him.
He nods.

“So what are you doing here? Why aren’t you in school?” I ask.

“Well, Students were rioting about the increment of school fees so they burnt the health care clinics. The school has been closed down till further notice so I won’t be going back till they call us back”

“That’s nice” I tell him.

“Yes, I get to be with my baby sis for a while” He says, smiling.