Scarred For Life

Chapter 18

*
A huge argument had broken out in the Aminu household, and the imminent threat of impending bloodshed could be felt in the air.

Voices had been raised, words had been exchanged, war cries were chanted in the air, weapons were soon to be drawn and the call for blood reverberated off the walls with every passing second.

Let it be known that the war had begun when the most powerful person in the house was denied her right by a mere commoner who had forgotten his place in the hierarchy.

"Don't make me come after you," Amina said through clenched teeth, moving with the grace of a viper ready to strike its prey.

"I will die before I hand over this remote to you," Amir said, every fibre of his body calling for bloodshed.

"Don't be stupid, Amir," she whispered, shifting her feet ever so slightly. "There is no version of this were you will be victorious."

"And why is that?" he asked, feigning ignorance to the approaching storm.

"Because you are forgetting your place in this house," she hissed. If it were biologically possible at that point, her eyes would have been called snakelike as they narrowed to slits when the words escaped her lips.

"I don't even know why you're here," he said, stepping cautiously behind the sofa. "Have you ever heard of a woman who returned to her parent's house barely 48 hours after she left? As far as I'm concerned, you're no longer the queen of this house."

"Amir, don't be a hero," she said. "Hand over the remote and no one gets hurt. I've wasted enough of my time already talking to you."

"It's mine," he said defiantly, eyes ablaze with a cold fury.

"Well then," Amina sighed with a malicious glint in her eyes, "you asked for it."

Amir saw the attack only a split second before he could react. But his senses were heightened, and years of slugging it out on the basketball court had taught him how to evade an attack perfectly. He dived out of the way, and felt a tiny sense of pride when his sister's hands merely grazed his shoulder.

Amina knew him well however. As he leaned back away from her outstretched arms, her other arm shot out like a bullet and grasped the collar of his shirt. Not expecting the move, Amir stumbled and nearly toppled to the ground, but he regained his balance quickly as Amina hurried around the couch to catch him properly.

She was just a little bit too slow however.

By the time she reached where he had stood mere seconds ago, Amir had scampered over to the other couch, the remote still held tightly in his hands like
the key to heaven.

"Amir!" she growled ferociously, wounded by the fact that he was taunting her. The look in his eyes as he smirked shamelessly told her that he didn't fear her in the least.

A second dive by her was evaded carefully by him, this time with more flourish than the last. Amir twirled around the living room with the remote held high, cackling like a descendant of Maleficent.

The third time was unlucky however.

The moment Amina lunged at him, he ducked underneath her arms and turned around, her right elbow grazing his cheek. In the midst of his evasion however, he tripped over the edge of the carpet and fell flat on his face, while the remote flew towards the stairs.

Amina barely registered where the remote had gone to. She had stopped instead to laugh at her brother who was still lying on the floor, refusing to move an inch out of shame. Her pride now restored, she prodded him with her toe, causing him to flinch and mumble into the carpet.