Bomb To Death

Chapter Four

It was the Christmas period; everyone was preparing for Christmas, buying clothes, foodstuffs and decorating their houses. Everywhere in Port Harcourt-where Dj lived was booming with either a party or show or a carol. Dj and her family were preparing for Christmas too. Dj and Ella are going to the mall to get the stuffs they needed in the house.
"Ella, Ella, be fast, we still have to go meet mum upstairs," Dj said to Ella who was still dressing up.
"I'm coming Dj, don't you want me to look good?"
"Just be fast please"
"okay, I'm done" she came from her room and turns around in front of Dj "how do I look?" she turned back and winked at Dj. Dj kept silent and just moved beside Ella, while Ella was wondering what's up.
"Talk Dj, how do I look?"
Dj bent and whispered in her left ear "like a monkey that you always look like". Immediately she says that Ella hit her and ran off because she knew Dj was surely going to hit her in return.
"just don't let me catch you" Dj said and ran after her, she finally got a hold of her in her in Ella's room and hit her on the bum.
"Not fair Dj, that hurts"
"Life's not fair"
"I hate you"
"And so do I" Dj laughed, drew her sister closer and rubbed the spot where she had hit her "sorry, I was just joking". Ella nodded and kicked her leg.
"I know" she smiled "now it's fair".
Dj smiles and shook her head "race you to mum's room"
They raced each other up the stairs to meet their mum.
"Mom, we're ready to go, you said I should come for the money earlier"
"Ok, how much was I going to give you then?" her mum asked while she was counting money "Dj, would you rather celebrate your birthday this Christmas too?" Dj's birthday is December 25 and she would be clocking eighteen, Dj had been waiting for this special time, because she could finally get her driving license and her parents had promised her a car.
"Yes mum" she replied smiling.
"I was going to give you a hundred and fifty thousand naira before right?"
"Yes mum"
"So how much do you think you'd need for your birthday party?"
"I think two hundred thousand naira would be enough"
"Okay" her mum handed over the money to her "how are you getting your birthday supplies?"
"I'll order it online and get all of them except the cake two days to my birthday, I'll get the cake on my birthday" she said excited.
"Ok then, here's the list" she handed over the list of the stuffs she wanted her to buy. The list had clothes, foodstuffs, drinks, groceries, shoes, decorations and some other stuff.
"You know my dress and shoe size right?"
"Yes mum"
"Do you know your dads' too?"
"I've already booked my clothes and your dads with my friend Lara, you know her right?"
"Yes mum"
"So all you have to do is get the clothes and shoes from her, check if they are my size and your dad's. Then you pay her, then after that, you get your other stuffs, I mean the other things you need"
"Okay, thanks mum"
"You're welcome baby, the driver is waiting for you girls, get going"
They returned home after spending hours shopping, the driver and gateman helped them in getting the stuffs from the car into the house.
"Mum, mum" Ella called immediately she entered while she ran up the stairs with her clothes and shoes.
"mum, see my dress, and my shoe and my..." she kept showing her mum the stuffs she had gotten, telling her mum stories about what had happened, where they had gone and not gone.
"It's okay Ella, they're very pretty, take them to your room" she did as her mum had instructed her.
"very good of you Dj, seems you're getting all grown up and matured already, I like the stuffs you got" her mum said when she went through the stuffs her daughter got. They were better than she had expected, she didn't know that Dj had such a great sense of shopping.
"So how's everything, I mean have you booked all your stuffs?"
"I've booked them all mum, we went to a birthday prep mall so I booked everything I needed from them, they'll even provide a photographer for the event"
"Wow, that's good"
"How's the party going to be, do you have anything in mind, like where you want to use? Color codes and all that"
"I don't know yet mum, I'll tell you tomorrow, by then I should know what I want"
"Ok"
"Thanks mum" she hugged her mum.
"Hmm" Ella coughed when she walked into the room "mummy, you've been hugging Dj since o" she said pouting
Dj laughed "jealousy, jealousy"
"Don't mind Dj o, come for a hug Danny" her mother smiled and hugged Ella
"Okay, that's good, Dj I'll need you to move the foodstuffs to the store and sort out the groceries, and you can call Ahmed to help you carry the heavy ones"
"Okay mum, I'll go do that"

Joe is non-chantingly writing a song on his bed in his room. His room was painted pink, a color boys hated but Joe cherished. The room was neat and things were arranged orderly, he had wallpapers of singers and basketball players that he loved.The sweet scent of his perfume and air-freshener filled the air in his little abode of peace as he usually called it.
'I love the way you love
Come gimme some of your good loving
My heart beats whenever....'
He was still writing the song when he heard his parents arguing.
"Why did you give me this kind of food?" he heard his father question his mum.
"It's your favorite, I thought you like it" she replies in a pleading manner
"How can I possibly like it? It has no taste no flavor, have you lost your sense of cooking too?"
"Nne" she called him in Igbo language "please don't be like this to me, I put all..."
"Oh, don't you ever dare talk back at me" he shouted, "Since when did you have the guts to do so?"
Joe came out of his room and watched his father abuse his mum, with words and soon he had started hitting her. Joe didn't get why a once loving man had become so sour, all he does now is shout or beat his mum. Whenever he decided to come home, he showed up late in the night and was always drunk. Joe had been watching his parents like this for quite a while without knowing what to do or who to talk to about it, he had hoped his mum would leave him and he was going to follow her, he hated seeing her like that, when he couldn't take it anymore he stormed to the room where they were.
"Father stop hitting her" he said and tried to grab him away from where his mum was. His father didn't stop and was about to give his mum another slap but Joe's grip held him back.
"leave her alone, days passing by I've watched you do this to her without doing anything, I've been so stupid thinking you'd change, but obviously you're still going to be the same man, I won't have you abuse my mum like that, you'd have to deal with me first"
His father laughed, "my son talks back at me now" he said and looked at his wife.
"I'm sorry" Joe's mum pleaded "he's just a kid, please leave him alone" she pleaded again when she saw he was going to hit Joe.
"Joe, don't talk to your father like that, apologize now" Joe was reluctant and didn't apologize which fueled his father's anger.
"You see what I'm saying? You're not even a good mother, he's spoilt, you raise my child to talk back at me and hate me" he said because Joe didn't apologize. He looked at Joe as if he was going to swallow him "both of you are useless, like mother like son" he hissed and left the living room.
"Better" Joe muttered under his voice then goes to meet his mother and hugs her "mum, why do you let him do this to you? Why don't you let us leave?"
"Joe, I'm fine, I'm going to be fine, and I'm married to him, what would people say?"
"mum" he hugged her tighter "please don't be like that, it doesn't matter what they say, all that matters is that you're going to be okay, you're all I've got mum, please let us leave him"
He tried talking his mum to leaving his dad, but she won't hear of it, giving him different excuses or the other, Joe suggested she filed a case against him but she didn't want that either.
Joe remembered when the family was still so happy and together, he just didn't get what was eating his dad up, he never appreciated whatever his mum or he for him anymore. He was sick of seeing his mum so tired and worn out every time and he just couldn't help but feel like something is wrong with her, he guessed it was the lack of care and love from her once loving husband that made her the way she was. He was so surprised that he stood up for his mum today; he hadn't thought he'd be able to do so.

"Alice, who cooked this food" Mr Johnson asked his wife with his mouth full of rice "it's so delicious"
"It's Daniella"
"Wow!" he took some water "you mean little Daniella can cook?"
"Yes, there's something I wanted to tell you"
"What's that?"
"You know Dj is clocking eighteen on Christmas day"
"Yes"
"I want us to throw her a party, since it's her eighteenth birthday, and also get her driving license"
"Okay, that's no problem and don't forget the gift we planned for her, how's the arrangement going?"
"Well, it's going well; it'll be here around four in the evening on her birthday"
"That's good; I'll give you a check tomorrow, that's ok right?"
"Yes it's ok"