A Loner's Journey Through Lemonade Making

Chapter 19| Home Bittersweet Home

Home was a little sane now. It wasn't much of a madhouse anymore, chiefly because the people who brought the madness weren't around.

The person who fueled the problems, Uncle Blessing's mum, was the first to leave, much to my gladness. Her son left soon afterwards, and this time I wasn't sure when or if he would return. Aunty Oma travelled to Abuja a day later. I wasn't sure why she took the trip, but I told myself she did it because she needed a break, a vacation. With the three of them gone, it was just Aunty Nelo and I.

Aunty Nelo was depressed, I'd say. She wasn't her bubbly self any longer. She didn't get dressed up to take pictures everyday anymore, neither did she film videos. She'd seemed really dedicated to YouTube and her followers but after Uncle Blessing's mum smashed her camera when it was delivered to the house, her fervour and zeal dissipated. That was actually why his mum left. Aunty Oma's tongue had lost its leash or whatever had been holding it down all along and lashed out on her. The woman had looked remorseful for only about a second before she began trying to defend herself, although I was beyond sure she knew she was wrong. The next day, she left.

That was two weeks ago. It was Friday, the day we went on our midterm break and I was currently in the library, making research on how many people had died from polio in Nigeria recently. On a normal day, I wouldn't sit in front of a computer and read about that, but I just had to. The thing was, I was taking part in the inter-school debate that was to hold at the end of the term. A school would come over and there would be two rounds of debate. RPSS had hosted debates for years and they always had big brands as sponsors. Money was part of the prize for the winning school and RPSS had won consecutively for as long as I'd been in the school.

I hadn't voluntarily signed up. In fact, the day Mr Obadina announced it was coming up on assembly, I decided within myself that no amount of pressure from anyone would make me participate; however, I hadn't been able to withstand the pressure. Mr Harris, my English teacher and even Mrs Iroha had come to brief us on it and get students to debate. He remembered me from that Monday and insisted I went for the tryouts. I did and somehow managed to land myself a spot on the junior debate team. I still couldn't decipher how I'd done that.

The topics for the senior category were 'Abortion should be banned' and 'Colleges and Universities should be free'. For the junior one, it was 'All people should be vegetarians' and 'People should be legally required to get vaccines'. To be honest, I was quite excited but also nervous.

I turned the computer off and returned to class. Almost everyone in my set was there, snacking on stuff as they devoted all their attention to the movie being projected. As I took my seat beside Muna, she informed me that it was 'The Sound of Music', and that it was ending soon. When it did, Ada turned the lights on and people broke out into different groups to play either card, board or computer games.

Ibidun was telling us all the Year 12s in relationships when someone yelled from the window. On turning, I saw Leilah resting on the window frames with Akosua and Dorcas beside her. Her hair was packed in a bun, like lots of girls. A lot of people-myself included-had taken their hair out since they would be away from school for a week.

"You guys, let's play truth or dare! What do you think?" she shrieked, looking very excited.

People chorused yes in agreement. Students pushed the furniture to the back, front and sides of the room and formed a circle in the centre. Hurriedly, I picked my jotter up on deciding to return to library but Ibidun stopped me by holding my arm. Her puppy dog eyes were too hard to resist. I sighed in defeat and sat inbetween she and Muna. Saf had been absent for the last three days and I was worried.

While Arinze gulped the rest of his fanta down so we could use the bottle, Leilah admired her reflection in her mirror as she applied lip gloss.

"I'm a spec." she praised herself as she patted her hair down.