Melancholy...

Chapter 6

Wiping the sweat of my forehead with my index finger,I lowered my brass basin as I sat on the floor under the wooden shed.My legs were getting weak and was failing me and the raising headache did not make things any better.Since morning,I had been walking around shouting "yess pure water,pure water" to attract buyers.Selling on the streets for more than two years now,I had learnt the hard way that the louder you shouted,the better and the faster you walked,the better. Fidgeting with the frayed ends of my nylon skirt,I thought back to how life had dealt with me in the past few years.

I had the perfect life with the perfect family.I was like the Queen B of the school and people would do literally everything just so I would call them my friend.I had it all. From the nicest pencil case,to the trendiest shoes,lunch bag,sharpener,you name it.Well,that was how it was,until my parents started fighting.That bastard started getting angry at the smallest things,and I mean the smallest things.He could get angry just because we had not banged the door loud enough when we closed it and I am not even exaggerating.That is exactly how things were.

It went from hushed arguments to arguing loudly to breaking the finest china and so many other abusive things. Little Mia,who was just a few weeks old at that time cried so much that her temperature was always so high as my parents wouldnt stop with their loud arguments.What had happened to the family that everyone wished to have ?What had happened to those times when we played games like "ludu","ampe" and so on?What had happened to those days where we went to the nicest places during holidays and I got to take pictures to make my friends jealous ? What of the little glances and smiles my parents shared when they thought I wasnt watching?What happened to those too?We didnt even eat fufu in the same bowl anymore.WHAT WAS WRONG WITH US AS A FAMILY?

Damn!

I was so confused and depressed about everything that I didnt want to go home after school because I knew what was awaiting me.The bastard came home late,in fact,very late.And when my mother asked where he had been,he would start shouting on top of his voice,using abusive language and on days that he came home drunk,he would break things and hit my mother,throw things at us and leave slamming the door just like that.And that would probably be the last time we heard from him in that day or the whole week.Sometimes,it will be us leaving the house to seek refuge at my grandma's because he would hurt us so badly if we dared to stay.

Exactly two days after Mia's outdooring, divorce papers were signed and he got his lawyer to defend him to take almost everything they owned together,including the boutique where my mother sold designer clothes.He drove us out of 'his' and we moved in with my grandma.Grandma died some two months later and my mother's own sisters,who were pretty much jealous of her marriage,sacked us out of the house like chicks with brooms and insults.Having no option,we rented the house we are currently staying in now with the little money we had.What the bastard did to our old house is still unknown to me,but I guess he put it up for rent.

Accepting the fact that I had moved from a 'palace' to a 'cottage' was the most difficult thing for me at that time.I quite remember how I used to sit down crossed-legged and watch my mother toil and toil.
"It was her fault anyway.Why did she have to disurb him when he was the one working so we could live in luxury" I thought bitterly.I insisted on attending the same school I was in and living the same life,as I needed to protect my image.
Ladies and Gentlemen,those were the thoughts of spoiled thirteen year old 'dbee'.I got everything I wanted.No questions,no arguments,no fights.I want it,I get it. PERIOD.

So it went on like that and like that for a few months.My mother worked several odd jobs to pay our fees and cater for Mia,who was not schooling at that time.It was until I turned fourteen later that year that I realised that I was being selfish. I started helping my mom and Crystal joined me as we were both sacked from school for not being able to pay our fees. After some time, my mom was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and things began to get harder. But we gathered enough money to take my sister to school again and buy medications for my mom.Her condition could be corrected with a surgery, but we didn't have enough money so we stuck to the medications.

Life, I must admit, has really been a roller coaster for me. Sometimes I sleep and just want to never wake up again,because I feel like I don't have enough energy left to live. But Hearts of Oak told us to "never say die until the bones are broken", right?

With God by my side,I believe that  this will all be something of the past. I do serve a living God.

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WORDS WHICH MAY BE UNFAMILIAR TO SOME OF YOU.
•Pure Water: This is a term in Ghana which refers to water bagged in sachets.
•Ludo: This is a board game played by less than 4 people where they race their tokens(of different colours) from start to finish according to the roll of a die.
•Ampe: A Ghanaian game played by two or more people,in which hands and legs move simultaneously. The pattern of the legs determines the winner.
•Dbee(Dadaba):This is a jargon amongst Ghanaians(especially the youth)which is used on persons who come from rich homes and whose parents provide everything for them without difficulties.

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Arianna.