SCARRED

Chapter 12

SUNDAY - STOLEN CANDIES

"Get up Anna!!" The loud voice of her sister had her snapping her eyes open. She groaned as she stood up from her bed, her head banging with every move she made. The way it felt like her head was being smashed was enough for her to confirm, the previous night was a long night and as much as she wanted to regret staying up so late, she couldn't. Chatting with Henry could never be a regret for her.
"Anna!!" Her sister yelled as she banged on the door.
"Get up or we'd be late for church." She begrudgingly got up from her bed wondering why she had to go to church. She slowly walked up to her door before swinging it open so her sister would know she was awake.
"Grumpy much." Kemi muttered on seeing her face before walking away. She rolled her eyes before slamming the door shut. She was so tempted to go back to bed but she knew better than that. Going back to bed would just mean she was getting in trouble with her parents. She grabbed her towel from an idle chair before heading out to the bathroom. Entering the very warm bathroom, she quickly stripped and entered under the shower. The water ran down her skin and she let out a sigh only to suck it back in in seconds.
"Anna!! Are you bathing with cold water?" Her mother's fist banged on the door as she questioned the girl in the bathroom. Anna could feel her eyes widen at her mother's question. She was bathing with cold water.
"Ma leave her alone, we have to get ready for church you can lecture her later." Kemi came right in time to save her sister.

She finished with her bath, peeped to make sure her mum wasn't lurking in the corridors before she dashed into the room. Before the incident, she would always dress up for church in so much colour, ready to make every boy trip and every girl jealous. After the incident though it was like all the colour in her life had drained. It took her up until three years after before she decided to let colours back into her life. She found herself in front of her dressing mirror, staring straight at herself wondering if a little powder on her face would do her any harm. She grabbed a hold of the duster but released it, deciding against using it. She picked her bag and out she went to the living room where her family were waiting on her so they could have breakfast. She sat on the table and watched as her mum served the bread and egg. Her eyes were trained on her mother but her mind managed to drift to a certain boy who was 6ft tall or maybe more. She fought the smile that threatened to play on her lips to avoid any suspicion. She sincerely couldn't wait to see him and she wondered what was going to be of the two of them. She imagined the both of them going on strolls hand in hand, or even the both of them trying to cook a meal and it ending up in disasters. She let out a sigh at how relaxing those thoughts felt to her.
Her day dreaming was suddenly cut short by her nose itching and although she tried to fight it, she couldn't help but let out a sneeze into her palms.
"Ewww." Her sister exclaimed and she understood where she was coming from, even she was disgusted with herself. The thought of disgust was soon put aside when her mother let out a mocking hiss. She looked up to the woman who was already staring hard at her.
"You have a cold don't you?" Her mother enquired of her but didn't even wait for a nod or a shake of the head before she continued. "That serves you right, next time you won't keep bathing with cold water. You know how your body easily reacts negatively to cold water yet when I talk, you act like I'm dumb." Her mum scolded her with an eye roll before getting up from the table.

🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏

She stepped into the church and suddenly she felt like a weight had been dropped on her. The congregation was half full with men women and children, all dancing. She looked up at the choir, she always wanted to be in the choir. When she was little, everyone would fawn over her voice and how great it was but then, it all happened and her throat closed up. She closed her eyes and walked further into the church to her seat. Her steps faltered as she saw a certain braided head peeking up from the top of her chair. Yes, Anna's name wasn't written on the chair, but everyone knew that it was were Anna loved to seat and no one questioned it. A scowl formed on her face as she approached the person there. She knew who it was that was why she was so upset. If it was someone else, she would have taken it lightly, even let it go but it was her.
She went in front of her seat to see the child sitting comfortable on her chair, a lollipop hanging out from her mouth as she stared at the choir, not even paying Anna any mind. Abebi. A first glance at Abebi, one would see a beautiful and adorable eight years old but to Anna she was a witch who was out to get her. Glaring daggers at the girl, Anna could not help but wish that she had the courage to talk. Deciding to let it go, she let out a breath. She wasn't going to let the child work her up. She placed her bible on the next chair beside the girl and she stood in front of it. It was awkward for her, because she would just stand there, and watch them sing and dance and still not do anything. Her mother had complained about how it was wrong that the girl would stand there like a statue and do nothing when she could very well dance to the tune she was hearing. But her mother's words always fell on deaf ears.