Unsealed Fate

Chapter 2: The Good News.

"You insolent child. You don't walk out on your senior." Was the last thing I heard Mum say before slamming the door behind me.

*****

I stood barefoot on the lawn outside the apartment, the weather was cold. It was always cold in December due to harmattan. I looked up at the sky, the clouds were so clear that I could only see blue.

When I tried to look down, I felt something warm on my chin. It was my tears.

Why the hell am I crying? Oh, she called me an insolent child. Why am I the only one always getting all the curses?

Teslim never gets any of those swear words from Mum. Even before she got married she was always seen as the impeccable one, unlike me.

She was always complaining about how slothful I was and about the fact that I paid too much attention to my academics than anything else in the world.

Yes, I gave my academics much attention just so I could graduate with good grades, and if I'm lucky I could secure a good job as soon as I graduate. I didn't want to end up like them (my Mum and my sister). They were always in the kitchen. They were a typical example of housewife material. I just wanted to be independent

Is it wrong to be different?

I was still staring subconsciously at the lawn when my phone buzzed, bringing me back to reality. I saw Kulthum, my best friend's name displayed on the screen. Without a second thought, I picked it up.

"Hello!"

"Hey, Keilah, what's up?"

"I've got great news for you Hanny...first I want you to hold your breath" I could tell she was excited from the way she was squeaking on the other end.

"Well, start spilling."

"Guess what baby girl."

"Nope, I can't guess shit. You know I suck at it" I heard her laughing on the other end.

" Where exactly are you right now?" She asked.

"I'm at home."

" I'm coming over, we are coming right now."

"Why, what happened?" I asked inquisitively.

"Nothing, I'm coming along with Salma."

"Just tell her already!" Someone yelled in the background. Sounded like Salma, my other friend.

"Anyways to save you the stress of guessing hard." She dramatically said and I rolled my eyes.

"Just drop the bomb already"

"We got the job!" The both of them screamed happily in the background, it was as if they planned it.

"We got the job?" I repeated as though I didn't hear them clearly.

"Yes baby, we did. The mailman just brought the newsletter to my house. We are coming over to celebrate it together." It was at this moment that I started screaming along with them. I put my hands up in the air and twirled around like a child, screaming: "Yes! Yes! We did it."

Before I could say anything else to them I accidentally hit the button and hung up on her. I wanted to confirm if the newsletter was for both of us or hers only.

Wait! What if it was kuthum alone that got the job? A scary thought hit me but soon I remembered that we both put down the same address because her residence was easier to locate. Maybe it was sent to my Email. I'll check to confirm the news as soon as I get inside.

For a moment I had put a brocade over the situation with Mum and my sister. I was happy again, and that was because I'd worked so hard to secure this job for myself. I sacrificed a lot of my time and energy going for interviews after interviews, both virtual and physical ones. I even went as far as attending the company's training for the new intake. That was how damn serious I was about this thing.