past lives

Chapter 2: A Teen's Grief

Work was as stressful as usual and Eve felt really tired. She had lifted more than twenty crates of pepsi today and she was aching all over her body. As soon as it clocked 6:30pm she carried her bag pack,locked the store and walked out. Unknown to her,a vehicle stopped and a man sitting at the back of the vehicle rolled down the tinted glass and stared at her longingly. He had just returned from a business trip and was on his way home when he remembered that today Eve would be working at the convenience store. He knew all her work schedules,he knew that Sundays was her day of rest,Mondays,Tuesdays and Fridays she would go to school then come back and go to work at the convenience store. Thursdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays she goes to mama Nonso's resturant. Mama Nonso has been really good to her all these years and she really liked going to help her out,plus her salary increased and she now receives double of the initial amount. He knew every thing about her, he knew that if she were to ever figure out that someone had been helping her all these while,giving her scholarships,working as a part timer in a convenience store which is almost impossible to have in Nigeria.
It is really hard to get a part time work in Nigeria,most store owners wants workers who would stay around for a very long time so that they won't need to teach the new enployees what to do all the time. She is a student but she already has more than two jobs which her close friends saw as luck.

Joe had been too lost in thought to notice that Eve had walked away and was no longer in sight. His driver wanted to remind him but he was scared because he knew that his boss would always act strange around a Girl he has never been close to. Who was Eve to Joe?? Guess she would know very soon. Immediately Joe got back to his senses he noticed that Eve had really walked far,he signaled His driver to drive away.
Eve continued her routine for days,weeks,months and then just before her graduation she got a letter from her family telling her to come back home as her grand father had just passed away.
Although Eve didn't see herself anymore as part of the family she felt that she owed her granddad. Although he turned a blind eye to the way she was being treated and bullied in the family but he once stood up to Charity her Step-mum few years ago. Back then she had just lost her mum and her dad brought back another woman to be her mother barely a Month after her mum passed away. Most teenagers can barely handle grief,her mother's death had hit her so hard that she relied on drugs to sleep,she took alcohols,she would drink until she felt numb. She would skip waec and jamb lectures just to go out and have fun with friends she didn't even know. One day she came home drunk and almost pushed Charity from the stairs. She wanted charity gone,she didn't want charity to die. Her intentions were not bad but her drunken state got to the best of her. That was the first time she had made a mistake like that and she knew it. When she came to,her father almost sent her out of the house but her granddad interceded on her behalf and they let her stay. Eve didn't like to owe anyone,so for that favour alone,she packed a few of her clothes into her school bag and headed to her father's house.

Entering her father's big house,so many memories flashed all at once,Most of it were about her mother. As far as she could tell,the only person who had treated her sincerely and with love all her life was her late mother. A tear dropped from her eyes when she remembered hurtful words that she had said to her mother few days before her death. She could have understood her mum when her mum scolded her for doing all the wrong things. She should have spent more time with her instead of chatting with classmates that abandoned her when she became a Cinderella. Her dad never showed her love, he was never around for her birthdays,she only celebrated with her mum,he was never there for any of her kindergarten,primary or secondary school graduation. It was all her mum,that woman. The woman She didn't respect,the one she thought was bad because she never let her go out to meet strangers. Maybe she doesn't deserve her father's love,maybe she deserves every hardship that she is facing right now,maybe it's the karma from every bad thing she has said and did to that woman. These were all different thoughts that went on in her head.
Immediately she entered the house she saw everyone she didn't want to see. Her step mum charity was sitting on the Largest chair close to the kitchen door,her dad sat next to Charity while she held his hands in a comforting manner. Kelvin her first step sibling looked at her and sneered. He's only a year younger than her but he behaves like he's senior to her in every way. He just graduated from Babcock university,Eve doesn't know what he studied or how he studied,none of that matters to her. Grace her second step sibling was chatting on her phone and she didn't even raise her head to look at Eve. Rebecca her last step sibling looked at her and spoke."my dear sister,you must be feeling sad....the only parent who condones your bad behaviour is dead" after speaking she looked at Eve and sneered at her dirty looking bag. Coming to this house again,Eve was mentally prepared.