Haribo

Milo runs down the corridor with his little legs. He steps in front of his own room, thinking of hiding behind the large blue curtain. But that's where Daddy found him last time.

He knows he's not supposed to, but he really needs a place to hide. As Daddy counts to six, he opens the door to the forbidden room and crawls underneath her bed. Sister won't know he was there for just a minute.

'Ready or not, here I come,' Daddy shouts.

He can hear Daddy's heavy footsteps walking around. His heart beats really fast. His insides feel like they're tickling him, and he lets out a giggle. Daddy will never find him here.

He turns his head to the left and sees an opened packet of Haribo sweets. The red one is his favourite. They make his tongue feel funny. He picks it up and finds one cherry all alone inside. He grins and pops it into his mouth. It's cold and hard. The sparkles on the cherry leave a sour taste on his tongue. He squirms in delight, letting out a high-pitched squeal.

He sees something else in the dark. He slithers towards it, no longer afraid of the dark. Mummy says he's a big boy now. He clutches the box, bringing it close to his chest.

Suddenly, something grabs his legs. He jumps and screams. It pulls him from underneath the bed and shouts 'Rawrrr!' For a moment, he feels sad and wants to cry. But then he sees Daddy's round, smiley face and he relaxes. That was scary. As he's being lifted up, the box falls out of his hands. And just like that, he's in Daddy's arms. Daddy pinches his cheek softly.

'You know you're not supposed to be in here,' Daddy says and laughs. 'What are you eating? Open your mouth.'

Milo opens his mouth wide and shuts it quickly before Daddy can take it away from him. 'I took the last sweet,' he says and points at the bed. Daddy frowns and puts Milo down. The box that fell from his little hands is lying open on the floor. Something lies on the floor next to it. Milo can see something shiny. He moves to touch it when Daddy scoops him up and blows a kiss on his cheek. 'Lunchtime! Let's choose a film to watch whilst we eat!' Daddy cheers. He cheers along with him and is whisked away to eat a grilled cheese sandwich. Daddy gives him two because he's such a good boy.

His little eyes flutter open. The room is dark. Though he's not scared, his tummy feels a bit uneasy about not being able to see properly. He relaxes when he pulls Panda close to his chest. He should still be asleep. He's not used to waking up in the dark. A small line of light appears in his room. It's coming from outside his slightly opened door. He can hear loud voices. He hears Mummy's high-pitched voice, then Daddy's heavy one, then Sister's low one. What are they doing?

He takes Panda with him as he climbs out of bed and moves to the door. It's a little bit open but he can't see, even when he shuts one eye and looks with the other, so he sits with his back against the wall.

'Why are you doing this?' Mummy asks.

'Don't you know that this is dangerous?' asks Daddy.

They sound sad. Sister doesn't say anything.

'Are you in trouble?'

'Let us help you,' Mummy pleads.

'You can't. He wants it back in a few days.

'How did you even get into this...mess?'

Sister doesn't talk for a long time. Then she starts.

'I was...I am...seeing this guy called Jay. I don't want to anymore though. But, yeah, I didn't know he was involved in this. I just thought he was a regular guy with a regular job who owns a nice car and...lives alone.'

'You were at his house by yourself?'

'Let her finish,' Daddy says.

'So, you have now become an ashawo?' she raises her voice. Now she's angry.

Daddy interrupts again. 'There's no use screaming at her for that. She's already done it.'

Mummy sighs. 'Well continue, sha.'

Sister stays quiet for a little bit and then she continues with a small voice. 'I honestly didn't know he sold. I told you yesterday that I was going to Tolani's, but I went to his instead.

'Did you sleep with him?' Daddy asks.

'Of course she did now,' Mummy replies.

'I want to hear it from my daughter.'

'Yes,' Sister says softly. 'He needed to pick something up from his friend's house. I followed him. He told me to stay in the car and listen to music. I did. Then there was this loud noise. It came from his friend's house. He came back to the car. There was a red stain on his jacket. Didn't say a word, just drove.' Sister sniffed. Was she crying?

'We went to this dark empty space behind some warehouse. He burned his jacket, dropped me off and gave me his gun to hide. I told him I couldn't. He threatened me and told me he would hurt Milo if I didn't take the gun. That's why I have it.'

A door opens and closes. It's quiet. All he can hear is sniffling. Holding Panda's hand tight, he opens the door and shuffles to Sister, who sits in the living room with her hands in her face. He taps her thigh and she flinches. Her eyes are red, and her face is puffy. She tries to smile at him and lifts him up and sits him down on her lap.

'I'm sorry I woke you up Milo-Milo.' She rocks him back and forth.

'Why are you crying?'

'Because I did something bad,' she whispers.

'When I cry, Daddy puts on cartoons for me.'

Sister turns them toward the TV, and they watch cartoons until the lights go off.

He wakes up in his own bed and climbs down. He opens his door and shuffles past Sister's room. His stomach feels horrible. He opens her door. She's not there. He steps inside. It's not completely empty, but some things are missing. The clothes that are usually on the floor are gone. The books next to her bed are gone. Her favourite shoes are gone. Her bed is clean.

A hand touches his head. He looks up at Daddy. He smiles down at him. 'Did you sleep well?'

Milo doesn't answer. He hears something in the corridor. Sister? He runs to the front door and looks up at the locks. He doesn't know how to open this door. No one taught him how. He turns around and looks at Daddy. 'Where's Sister?'

Daddy bends down in front of him. 'She's going to Aunty Bumi's house.'

'Where?'

'Nigeria.'

'Why?'

'She's going to visit your aunty for a while.'

'When is she coming back?'

'In a few months, okay?'

Milo nods. 'Is it because Sister did something bad?'

'No, Milo. She just needs...a break. Let's be good here so she can rest well at Auntie's house, okay?'

Milo bites his lip and nods.

'We'll miss her but she will be back soon, okay?.'

Milo nods again.

Daddy puts on a cartoon for him. He imagines sitting on Sister's lap, just like he did last night. Milo isn't the type to throw fits, so he doesn't. But right now, it's okay to cry just a little bit, right?