As an extreme introvert, I find it difficult to step out of my own room, most times you find me reading a book or talking to my self. My mom thinks I am possessed with some kind of imaginary evil spirit while my dad tries so hard to drag me out of my shell. I love my family, I hate school and everything about going out of my space. Life itself is strange the world wants you to fit into what it has labeled as normal, but I'd rather be called weird.
Saturday 7 pm, it was time for diner, my father was an advocate of family bonding, "a family that eats together stays together" those were his words, he said them so much sometimes I hear them in my head when I'm out of town. While my father thought dinner was all about family bonding my mom was indifferent, she was fierce and utmost strict, she would ask you a series of questions in rapid succession until the food starts to taste sour in your mouth I never really understood why she did that but thankfully, my dad rescued us from her unending torture. We were having pounded yam and ogbono soup for dinner, times like this, patience was a virtue. My dad usually took it upon himself to entertain us, but he had the driest jokes my mom must have endured in silence. How she survived all these years of endless dry jokes is a mystery. Hey! don't get me wrong here guys, I loved my dad, I loved the effort he puts in trying to make his family happy but his jokes were embarrassing, to say the least. Finally, the food arrived the aroma of freshly made ogbono soup with fresh herring fish filled the air It was scintillating, sometimes I wished I could cook like my mom but in reality, I hated cooking it just wasn't my thing this infuriated her most times, " Amaka! Amaka I hope another woman will not use food to collect your husband" those were her words it took me a while to get used to them besides who needs a husband anyway?. Food was served I was quick to dip my right hand into the bowl of soup, I felt the two huge lumps of fish as anticipated, A big grin appeared on my face. I briefly stared at my elder sister Ada, she stared back and gave me a wink done deal.
Earlier in the day, I had barged into Ada kissing her boyfriend Femi at the back of our small three-bedroom bungalow in the outskirts of Lagos away from all the hustling and bustling, the cracked voices of conductors screaming for passengers and the countless sounds of car horns. She quickly readjusted tried to play on my intelligence but I wasn't buying it. I saw the look on her face she knew I had finally gotten her after all these years of constant bullying. You see my elder sister was a constant threat and bully in the house she found ways to get on my nerves, but this time It was time for payback
I threatened to report her to mom, she pleaded with me vigorously and for the first time, I saw fear in her eyes It felt good to see my sister bow to my antics. Ada was a terror like my mom strict, intelligent, difficult to please I always found it hard to play on her intelligence however at the mention of my mom's name it triggers a certain kind of fear in her. I knew I had her where I wanted for sure, mindful of her clever antics I made sure I held my ground knowing soon enough she'd get her revenge but I cared less this was a moment in a lifetime. To shut my mouth, I made her an offer to always be on my side if I got into serious trouble she blatantly refused, 😒 we bargained till we came to a truce. Ada and I were like two sides of a coin. For both of us, it was more about mind games and a race to outdo each other, She had her way most times, nevertheless, I tasted victory periodically.
To avoid suspicion I quickly ate the first fish It felt like I was a drug dealer who just closed a mega drug deal, incredibly satisfying. I cut out a sizeable portion from the second fish, I was too happy to notice it had some tiny bones on them. When I swallowed, I felt one of the bones stuck in my throat I was warned about this bony fish but I ignored 😢 I tried to get it out severally nothing worked, I had never felt this uncomfortable in my life before. While everyone looked worried Ada seemed unperturbed I briefly stared at her and noticed she had a sheepish smile on her face I could tell she was enjoying the whole drama, obviously it wasn't her fault but I had planned to report her anyway 😑. I tried so many things to get the bone off my throat, I drank water, I swallowed my saliva, nothing seemed to work for over 20 mins It was a struggle for survival. Things became serious when I found it difficult to breathe everyone panicked I saw the look on my dad's face the poor man he was totally confused my mom had started her usual prayer, casting, and binding, it was total chaos.
After a while, My dad came up with a seemingly dumb idea he advised me to swallow a huge lump of the pounded yam to forcefully push the bone in, huh? my initial reaction, dad really? come on no jokes I looked at my mom she gave me a nod after a few seconds I realized I had only one option, I took his advice rolled up a huge lump and swallowed it..............................................
Comments
Post a Comment