Stuck at home 🇳🇬

Lockdown

I looked at my phone once again and re-read the newsletter in PDF format while inwardly crying.

There was a total lockdown in the entire country because of the pandemic and schools were closing down, including universities like the one I attended.

It was not like it was the first day I was receiving the newsletter. It was just that I couldn't embrace the reality of it all that I kept reading it over and over again since the day I received it.

Home was the last place I really wanted to go right now.

"Girlie o. You no go pack?", I looked up to see my roommate peering down at me with an amused expression. I had no words for her right now.

"Ah... Are we beefing?", she sat close to me this time.

I realized I had glared at her.

"Titi it's not you. It's this nonsense Corona break. Why would they allow this virus to enter this country na? Why do we have to suffer for their foolish mistakes?"

She laughed so hard that I got annoyed. She had a thing for picking up on my disgust and making a joke out of it.

"Oh, so that's why you have been looking at your phone. I even almost thought your boyfriend caused you heartbreak. I had to remind myself that you are still a single-pringle. I didn't even know it was this thing. Abeg if you don't like it, leave it for us that like it. No be say you over-sabi book well well sef, you just like school."

I rolled my eyes. Titi had done it again.

I got to packing my things. They had arranged for Eric, my older brother, to pick me up in the next two days and I had to prepare for it. I was already dreading the ride home.

★

I opened the front door to the familiar view of the sitting room of the house. Further ahead was the dining room where my father was eating from his dishes set on a tray with a bowl of water beside him for washing his hands. I sighed inwardly, my father had an awkward relationship with my siblings and I and he was hardly present at home — or in our lives. It looked like the lockdown tied him to the house.

I greeted him but he didn't seem to take notice of me or acknowledge my greeting.

Eric walked in behind me and closed the door.

While I was holding a big box and a mini one, he was holding a duffel bag - all that made up my luggage.

We proceeded upstairs and passed my father without exchanging a word. In front of my room, I fished out my room keys from my pocket and opened the door.

The keys had been with me but I had to put them in my pocket for easy access.

The room was dusty since no one had been inside for weeks. I frowned, remembering that my welcome-back from uni for the lockdown period was going to be room clean up.

Eric left as soon as he dropped my duffel bag on my bed. I put my boxes in a corner of the room and left.

I wanted to eat now, I was really starving. I moved to the kitchen where my mother was cleaning the counter.

My mother was plump with beautiful brown skin, people said I was a spitting image of her as I got her plump body, well-toned skin, jet black hair and bulgy eyes but that was where similarities ended.

In terms of our personalities, my mom was bubbly and always had something to say while I was a rather quiet kind. It was not like I was shy or didn't have something to say, I just didn't like saying them because I always thought they were unnecessary. My mother said that I acted a lot like my father. That I didn't agree with for a variety of reasons.

It seemed like she had just finished cooking. I guessed it was different from what my father was eating.

"Good afternoon mumsi.", I greeted and she looked at me and smiled.

"You're back? How was the ride home?"

"It was fine."

She had been the first person to acknowledge my presence in the house so far.

"Where is Nathaniel?"

My mother hissed and I knew the next thing to follow was a string of complaints.

"Don't even remind me of that lazy boy. All he does in my house is eat and sleep. So useless in the house."

Just then Nathaniel - my junior brother - walked in.

Speak of the devil.

"Grace, you're back?"

No, I'm still in school ode.

Mumsi answered instead.

"Which one is 'Grace you're back?'", she mimicked his recently broken voice, "Now listen to me, go and dish your food and wash plates after everybody has finished eating if you know you don't want trouble. How will you and your brother be lazy at the same time? You want to kill me? Thank God Grace is back sef."

My mother ended her chiding with one of her famous hisses and stormed out of the kitchen for effect.

My brother on the other hand grumbled and went to dish his food from the pot.

I shook my head. Nothing had changed.

★

Welcome to this new story and thank you for picking out this story among others. This one is a short story so I plan on just finishing it up in a small handful of chapters with lesser words. Watch out for it and keep reading, it gets both interesting and intense.

This first chapter actually aims at letting you know all the members of the family. I think this story is very relatable but anyways, I hope you enjoy it.

Do make sure you vote, comment and check out my other book. You can as well share.

Muaaah! 😁❤️