Chapter 14
"No." I shook my head as I stared at the people inside, "They're my cousins."
"Enh? Your cousins?!" He exclaimed and put his hands on his head. "You have rich relations like this and you came to live here."
I didn't reply him but just stood in a distance and stared at my cousins that were inside the parlor. Standing and staring wouldn't solve anything. The question is, what are they doing here? After three years of separation from my father's relatives, it's today they decided to show up.
I stormed into the house and opened the net door. All eyes turned to me the moment I entered the house with the cake box on my hand. Junior junior followed up behind me.
"Miriam! Is that you?!" Davina shouted and stood up to hug me, but I shifted back and glared at her.
She furrowed her eyebrows, "It's me Davina. You don't remember me? Your cousin?"
Cousin my foot. I didn't have any family. My only family was Kaka.
"I can't remember having any cousin." I said and turned to look at the two red boxes, "Take your rubbish with you. This is the wrong house."
Davina took a step back and frowned at me. Kaka came out of the room and looked at us in confusion. She must have heard our conversation in the room.
I didn't bother saying anything and made my way to the kitchen. I kept the cake on top of the deep freezer and turned around to see Kaka walking into the kitchen.
Kaka brought out her pad from her purse bag and started writing on it. I leaned against the freezer and impatiently waited for her to finish. My mood for today was gone.
'You don't remember your cousins?' She wrote.
"Why are you calling them my cousins?" I frowned at her, "After what her mother and aunty Claire did. Why did you even allow them here!"
She frowned back at me and wrote on her pad furiously before handing it back to me.
'Was I the one that brought them here. Their mother sent a message when they were by the gate.'
"You even have aunty Vivian's number?!" I exclaimed, "What happened to 'the best way not to revenge on your enemies is by keeping off all contacts from them'?" I quoted Kaka's words, "And yet, all these while you were keeping aunty Vivian's number."
'Who said they were your enemies?' She wrote.
"Kaka you know what they did!" I cried out, "This is not fair! They can't just walk in and out of our lives anytime they want!"
Kaka sighed and wrote on her pad for a little while before handing it to me.
'We'll discuss this later. I don't have energy for all these yelling now. Right now just go and apologise to your cousins and attend to them.'
I shook my head and didn't say anything after reading it. She took the pad and wrote on it again.
'Later you'll explain to me why you bought a cake and didn't go to the market.'
"Oh no Kaka." I stood upright, "It's not like that. I can explain. And today is Kauna's birthday."
She looked a bit surprised and took her pad. I brought the cake closer to her while she wrote on her pad to answer me. I opened the cake box cover and dropped it aside. She looked at it and looked back at her pad.
'Tell her I said happy birthday. We'll also discuss the market issue later. I want to rest my head small. Don't forget to apologise and attend to your cousins.'
"But kaka-" I wanted to argue but she frowned at me, making sure I don't say another word.
I kept shut as she walked out of the kitchen. I turned around and hit my head against the fridge. Why did this have to happen when everything was going just fine.
I sighed and removed my head from the fridge and turned to look at the cake on top of the deep freezer. I lifted it up and placed it on top of the fridge so that Kauna won't see it before I show her myself.
I walked out of the kitchen and came into the parlor. All eyes looked at me except for Davina. She didn't even bother turning as she just focused sternly on her phone. I could tell she doesn't like me already. Well she is yet to see the worst.
So let me introduce to the only actual cousins I have. Also known as my enemies.
There was Davina. She was the first born. She was probably 14 years old as I had always remembered that she was a year younger than me. She was dark-skinned, really skinny, quite tall and flat chested. Yes I looked that way.
Daniella was the second born. My guess was that she was 11 years old. The difference between her and Davina was that she was younger, she had more weight and she wore pink medicated glasses.
David was the last born. He was 4 years old as I remembered that he turned 1 not long before my parents died. He had a lighter skin compared to Davina and Daniella.
They were all my father's second sister, aunty Vivian's children. I've not been given any update on if my father's first sister, aunty Claire was married or not. Which I don't care.
I didn't stand too long to look, glare rather, at them before I stormed to my room. I entered the room to see Kauna silently sitting on the bed. It looked like she was hiding in the room, not wanting to be involved in any social gathering with my cousins.
"Stay away from those people." I told her, "They're trouble."
Next thing my door swung open and revealed an annoyed looking kaka. I knew she was annoyed that I wasn't giving our unwanted visitors company.
I groaned silently, "I'll go."
I dragged Kauna's hand and took her to follow me to the parlor. When we got there, we both stood at the corner of the parlor and made awkward stares at our cousins.
They seemed to have changed their sitting positions as Davina sat on the middle long couch alone while David and Daniella shared the single sofa that faced the entrance door. And Junior junior was sitting on the other long couch that faced the single sofa.
Kaka passed us and made her way to the room while everyone was quiet. Once kaka shut her room door behind her, junior junior stood up and came to stand beside Kauna and I.
"Miriam told me you were her cousins." He broke the silence as he talked to my cousins.
"So you even remember us." Davina scoffed while looking at her phone.
I shook my head. Junior junior always has a way of spoiling things.
"Why is the service so bad here?" Davina complained.
"This is not the kind of place you come and expect service- or light." I scowled. Even though everyone could clearly see there was no light at the moment.
"Mummy why?" Daniella whined to herself, finally talking. "She just abandoned us here and left."
"Your mother just dropped you here and left like that?!" Junior exclaimed and turned to me, "So their mother is not staying with them?"
I shrugged, "I don't know. Don't care."
"How can their mother just leave them in a town that they're killing children and just go away like that." He muttered and turned to them, "Come oh! Your mother wants to kill you people that's why she brought you here. This is a town where they are killing chil-"
I hit his head to cut him from scaring them more. No light and service was already scary enough for them.
I turned to see all of them curiously staring at us.
"Don't listen to him." I grimaced. "He never says anything reasonable."
Davina just rolled her eyes and turned back to her phone as the others calmed down.
"Why have you people been standing?" Daniella asked us, "You can sit down. It's your house."
"It's okay." I shook my head, not wanting to be near these bloody children. I turned to Kauna and junior junior, "you guys can sit."
"I'm okay standing here." Junior junior said while Kauna made her way to sit on the empty long couch that faced David and Daniella's seat.
"Her eyes." David talked, finally giving me the chance to hear his little voice, as he pointed to Kauna.
"One is blue right?" Daniella asked him. He nodded as he kept looking at Kauna's eyes, then Daniella said, "It's called heterochromia iridum."
"Is she speaking English?" Junior junior whispered to me.
"A girl in my class has the same eye problem." She added while I ignored him, "she said it is from the lack of pigment melanin in the iris and most of the time, it is hereditary."
"Thank you but we didn't ask for your opinion." Davina rolled her eyes again.
"This girl likes doing shakara." Junior junior whispered and sneered at her.
Daniella frowned and folded her arms at her sister before turning away in annoyance.
Nobody said anything and this was my opportunity to introduce everyone to everyone.
"So this is David, Daniella and Davina." I pointed to each of them and turned to point at Kauna and junior junior, "This is Kauna and junior junior."
"Junior?" Davina scoffed, "who calls their child junior at your big age?"
"Its junior junior." He corrected without responding to her question.
"Junior is a Latin name which means 'younger'. It is often used for the son when the son has the same name with his father." Daniella said, causing the rest of us to groan because nobody asked her to define it.
"And junior junior," She added, "is when the grandfather and father has the same name as the son and so the son has to bear junior junior. And that is why you are called junior junior."
"See just because you wear glasses doesn't mean you're smarter than all of us." Junior junior snapped, "Just sit down and don't talk unless you're told to do so. Four eyes."
Daniella kept shut and scowled at him while raising her glasses.
"Miriam can I ask you a question?" Davina asked, finally looking away from her phone.
"Yes?"
"Do you have any sane person in this area?" She scoffed.
"What are you trying to say?" Junior Junior sneered, "That none of us are normal? Or you're better than us?"
"You just answered the question." She rolled her eyes and turned to her phone.
"Kariya." Junior Junior muttered, calling her a bitch in Hausa, as we both eyed her.
David came down from the chair and silently came to stand in front of me. I looked down at him and waited for what he has to say.
"Aunty. Please I want to piss." He said.
I looked up and scoffed. So it has come to this that I was the new house girl to take a small boy to toilet.
"Junior Junior take him." I said to him without looking his way.
"I think you're seeing the wrong person." Junior Junior responded and turned away.
"Abeg I'm even pressed myself." Davina threw her phone on the couch and stood up to carry her brother's hand.
She was about to pass me to go to my room side but I blocked her way. She looked at me with a questioning and annoyed expression.
"The toilet is not there." I said. "It's outside."
All of them followed Davina and I to the toilet outside except for Kauna who chose to stay back. Daniella was really curious about having a toilet outside while Junior junior came to see how Davina was going to react about the kind of toilet we had.
Once we got to the mini bungalow beside the house building, I opened one of the two doors that was nearest to us. Even though both doors had only pit toilet inside. The moment I opened the door, light entered the small dark area inside. I stood at the side and waited for my cousins to check it.
Daniella and Davina looked at each other before moving closer to the almost dark toilet. They peeped and saw only a hole in the middle and a buta at the side.
"What of the proper toilet." Davina asked the moment she came out, "where can I find it?"
I scoffed, "This is all we have."
"I'm not pissing here." She pulled a disgusted frown.
"Then piss on yourself." I said.
She didn't respond but just turned around in annoyance and walked back into the house. Spoilt bloody children.
David started walking into the toilet and Daniella stopped him.
"Are you sure you want to piss here?" She asked.
He nodded and she let him go in by himself. He walked into the toilet without even bothering to close the door.
"We'll close the door halfway so that you'll have some light." I said as I placed the door to be opened halfway.
As I was about to turn to leave, our dog Jumbo came barking and running to our side from outside the gate. While he came to my front, junior junior immediately came to hide behind me. I scoffed and bent to play with jumbo's head and stood up to shoo him away.
Jumbo ran away to the backyard, running weirder than usual. He was limping a little and it seemed like his legs were in pain. But I knew it wasn't his legs. It had something to do with his genitals.
"Why is the dog walking like that?" Daniella asked.
"He been sleeping with these hoes." Junior junior replied in a rap tone.
"You listen too much rap songs." I shook my head. Even though I knew he wasn't the kind to listen to one.
"What are hoes?" Daniella asked.
"Farm implements." I replied immediately, in order to avoid Junior Junior from going into details of something else.
"So your dog has been sleeping with farm implements?" She asked.
"Yes," Junior junior said sarcastically, "because they're hot."
"That dog is weird." She shook her head, actually believing junior junior.
"Daniella." David came out of the toilet with his trousers down, "I want to poo."
"I can't believe I have to do this again." She complained and turned to me, "please do you have tissue?"
"No. We use buta." I said.
*****
After Daniella was done helping David to use the toilet, they came into the parlor to meet the rest of us sitting there.
"Where can we wash our hands?" Daniella asked the moment she stepped into the parlor.
I stood up and took her to the door that was opposite my room. Once we entered, Daniella did a long stare at the tiny space I called my bathroom. It was just a small space with a floor and a tiny hole at the right end of floor. Other than that, we just had a tap on the wall with a bucket under it. No sink. No water closet.
"You should have a toilet here-" Davina appeared to have a look at the bathroom and was cut short when she just saw the little we had.
"The longer I stay here," She said, "it gets worse."
"Can you at least keep all these stupid words in your head," I glared at her, "and stop downgrading my house."
"Is that why you want to cry." She scoffed. I rolled my eyes and ignored her more annoying statement.
"So what if you want to pee before bathing," Daniella asked, "and you're already naked. How do you do it?"
"Then you pee on the floor." I said.
Daniella and Davina exchanged disgusted looks. But it didn't bother me.
"You also don't have a sink to brush." Daniella added.
"No." I shook my head, "we use a cup of water and brush and spit it out on the bath floor. Or you can use a chewing stick."
Davina looked at me with a horrified expression.
"You pee, brush and bath on the same floor?!' She gasped.
"Welcome to Mansur." I muttered.
She shook her head, "I can't do this anymore."
With that, she ran to the parlor and Daniella followed behind her and said, "Davina what are you doing?"
"I'm calling mummy." She replied.
I just shook my head and went to the parlor. Davina stopped halfway and looked at Kauna weirdly before running to carry her phone on the couch.
She tried calling but there was no answer. She called again but the service was acting up. After two times of trying with poor service, the phone rang and her mother picked up.
"Mummy! Please come and pick us up!" She shouted on the phone. "I'm in hell! I'm in a house where there's no light! No service for me to chat on my phone. The kaka or whatever you call it is now dumb-"
"What?!" Junior Junior and I said at the same time. How dare she disrespect kaka like that.
"There's now a girl that lives here and she's with one eye different from the other and it's now disgusting me and and-" she paused when her mother said something on the phone. There was little silence for a short while as she listened to her mother on the phone.
"But mummy! There's no normal person here!" She talked again, "They even have pit toilet! What am I doing with pit toilet for God sake! That's how I will now go and fall inside."
Her mother said something while she listened in silence again, breathing in anger this time. Junior junior and I exchanged disgusted glances.
"Mummy why are you laughing." She whined, "this is not a joking matter-"
Davina groaned as she listened to her mother talk on the phone. She kept shaking her head before she groaned again and removed her phone from her ear and pressed it on speaker. She walked up in front of me and brought out the phone to me.
"My mother wants to talk to you." She said.
I looked at her up and down before hissing. After blabbing shit, she expects me to talk to her bloody mother who was the reason I was right here in kaduna today.
Davina didn't waste time to take the phone back to her ear and said, "Mummy she doesn't want to talk to you."
She remained silent as aunty Vivian talked on the phone. After a little while, she brought it down and hung up.
"She's greeting you." Davina rolled her eyes.
"How many times will you roll your eyes before we're satisfied." Junior Junior complained.
She rolled her eyes again and sat down on the couch. She started grumbling some things to herself as she started typing on her phone.
"I'm going to the room." I touched junior junior's shoulders before walking away. I can't stand these people anymore.
"I want water." David said.
"Lets go to the kitchen." Daniella said and stood up, "Miriam do you mind us going there?"
"Do whatever you want." I said while getting closer to my room door.
They nodded and found their way to the kitchen. I entered my room door and before I shut it, something hit my head.
"Don't touch the cake!" I shouted through the door and shut it.
I turned around and before I knew it, there was a crash sound coming from the kitchen. I froze on my spot and stopped walking. Tell me it's not what I am thinking.
I quickly turned around and ran into the kitchen. Once I entered, I saw David holding the fridge door open and the cake was NOT on top of the fridge. He looked up at me in surprise. Daniella on the other hand stood in front of the fridge, staring in shock.
I shut my eyes in frustration and slowly walked to check behind the opened fridge door. Once I peeped above the fridge door, I only came to see one thing.
The cake was gone. Scattered face down on the floor. How did I forget to put the box cover back on the cake box.
I squeezed the top of the fridge door and slowly fall to the ground in silence. I touched my chest not believing this was real. But it was actually happening.
I just stared into space, not turning to look at the messed up cake that I spent my whole afternoon waiting for. The cake that I spent the market money on. The cake that would make a difference in Kauna's life. And that cake was gone. Just like that.
"Aunty I'm sorry." David said as he came to stand in front of me. He even had the courage to stand there.
Daniella grabbed his hands and quickly dragged him out of the kitchen. Thank God she knew they were dead. Those bloody children.
I quickly stood up and stormed to the parlor. David was sitting on Daniella's laps on the same single sofa and they both look scared when I appeared. Davina just looked at us in confusion.
I walked closer to David and Daniella, and David started whimpering when I stood in front of them.
"Aunty is angry with me." He whimpered to Daniella.
I slowly bent down to come face to face with him.
"Look here. Don't call me aunty" I clasped my hands together in front of his scared face. "I'm not your aunty. And will never be."
His whimper was about to increase to a cry. But I shut him.
"And don't even think about crying." I said, "The person meant to be crying is me not you!"
"Can't you let him rest." Davina groaned and sat up, "What's the big deal there. It's just a cake."
"Don't even dare put your mouth inside our business." I told her slowly.
"Or else what?" She stood up and came behind me.
I stood up right and turned around to come face to face with her.
"You'll leave this house." I demanded, "Whether you like it or not."
"Make me." She took a step closer to me, giving only a tiny space in between us.
"You're trying me." I whispered.
"Haven't I been trying you since I stepped into this house?" She smiled, "Since you don't know how to treat your cousins right."
"Tell that to your bloody mother." I said, "The one who decided to kill her brother."
"Don't even try to disrespect my mother one more time." She frowned.
"Well I'm just saying the truth." I scoffed, "or you're scared that you'll be just like her? Killing your own brother for money."
She scoffed, "Says the one who has blood in her hands."
She didn't just call me a murder.
I could give her all the insult in this world but not today. I could lose my temper but today was too early. I just frowned at her statement and gave her a long hard stare. She didn't flinch but just smiled and stared back.
"Get out." I said lastly and turned around.
"What now? You're scared that I'm telling the truth." She said as I started walking away.
I ignored her while I kept walking. And she followed up behind me opening her dirty mouth.
"Who even wants to live around a miserable and bastard child like you." She blurted, "No wonder your sister died because of you."
I stopped walking and stood without looking back at Davina. I slowly shut my eyes and before I knew it, I turned around and slapped her. Daniella gasped while Junior junior stood up immediately.
"Don't ever disrespect who I am or my mistake again." I spat out to Davina. "You're not any better. Imbecile."
She held her hands to her left cheek and looked at me in surprise. Yes I slapped you, if that's what you're surprised about.
Junior junior came to stand directly beside Davina and I with a shocked expression on his face.
"Miriam calm down. Please you two shouldn't fight." He said and puts his hands on both of our shoulders, "But if you two should fight, I'm supporting Miriam."
I shrugged his hands off my shoulder and glared at Davina one last time before turning around.
I made my way for the room and before I could get the chance to leave the parlour, a hand grabbed my arm from behind. I turned around, only to receive a slap as well. I held my cheeks as I stared at Davina furiously standing in front of me.
I didn't even waste time and immediately yanked her hair. That fake synthetic weave-on of hers. Since it was fight she was looking for, I was giving her what she asked for
She started pulling her hair back when I yanked it and then she used her knee to kick my stomach. I yelped and held my stomach in pain. I glared at her as she tried putting her hair in place. This was just the start.
I moved forward and slapped her head and she caught my hands immediately after. And this was how the fight started.
David started crying and his cry turned into a loud scream. Daniella squeezed him and told him to stop but he continued wailing. None of us bothered about his cry as I fought Davina on my spot, slapping and kicking her as she kept trying to punch me.
Junior junior on the other hand kept trying to act like he was trying to stop us but he wasn't. He was just following us from the side and muttering some words.
"Miriam beat her well." He said while pretending to be punching the air.
"Mummy!!!" David screamed as he wailed, calling out to his mother like she was there.
I heard Kaka's room door open and kaka stepped out. I could tell that she was surprised by what was happening. But that didn't stop us from fighting and David from crying. We were all disrespecting Kaka's presence and she must be annoyed about it.
Kauna on the other hand was silently watching every one of us. She stood up and tried making her way to Daniella's seat so that she will stay farther away from Davina and I.
I pushed Davina forward as we fought, causing her to move the centre table from its position and almost hitting Kauna. Junior junior apologised to her and tried putting it back while we still fought.
David was still wailing and calling his mother, making the place more noisy. I could tell kaka was looking for a way to tell every one of us to keep quiet. But I didn't bother because I wanted to finish with this idiot called Davina.
Even if kaka tried to stop the chaos, she couldn't because she was mute and there was nothing she could do about it. And that was what I thought for a moment until,
"Will you people just shut up!" She shouted.
Everybody froze. Davina and I stopped fighting. Junior junior stopped jumping up and down. And David's cry died down to a whimper.
We all turned to look at kaka to be sure we just heard right.
"Enh?" Junior junior exclaimed.
"Kaka," I said in surprise, "did you just... talk?"
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END OF CHAPTER 14
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