Hi! Thank you so much for giving my book a chance, I promise you won't regret it. I hope you've got your seatbelts on cause it's gonna be one hell of a ride. There's gonna be a rollercoaster of emotions, you're gonna get mad, happy, sad, enraged, emotional, butterflies kind of feeling, joy, disappointment, whoo, a whole lot of emotions I can assure you.
I started Jolayemi in 2018 but of course laziness and writer's block didn't make it successful, it was mostly just laziness. I never thought I'd have the strength and spirit to complete the novel. So February 2020, I decided to start Jolayemi again from the scratch.
Started: February 18, 2020
Completed: November 4, 2020
Before you continue, there are some things I'd like to point out first:
1) This story is yet to be edited so you are going to see a lot of typos and errors, pardon me.
2) I am not against criticisms. I love criticisms, constructive criticisms, I wanna be better, so please don't hold back when you want to point out errors or how I can be better.
3) There's a thin line between constructive criticisms and just plain out being rude and mean. Please don't do that, I have feelings.
4) Please give out ship names, comment and like. If you have any questions, either reach out to me or comment. I read the comments. ALL the comments.
5) I value my readers so much, so if you wanna reach out to me, check my bio!
I was going to change schools. I knew it. Deep down I was aware and if was being honest, I embraced and welcomed the idea. The very walls of our home reminded me so deeply of him. Memories were itched everywhere I looked and I wiped a tear off wondering what went wrong. I could still hear his laugh echoing, bouncing off the walls. He'd been so bubbly and happy and contented, it still felt like a dream.
"Hey", Dare, my elder brother said, interrupting my thoughts.
I sat up on the bed.
"Hey", I replied.
He looked around, clearly uncomfortable and I tapped the space beside me. "Wanna sit?", I asked. He nodded and sat, making the bed dip a little.
"You okay?", I asked.
He gave a dimpled smile, not quite reaching his eyes, and avoided my gaze. I nodded, no words were needed. I hugged him suddenly, and he froze. A moment passed before he hugged me back, awkwardly. I laughed and punched him.
"Dork", I teased.
He rolled his eyes knowing clearly that I was calling him out on his OCD . Dare hated any form of human contact, and unless one met his satisfaction of cleanliness, which I doubt was possible, he liked staying five feet away.
"Jola!", Mum yelled.
I rolled my eyes and sighed in exasperaion. Dare smiled and I glared at him.
"Coming", I called back.
I sighed, standing up. "I better go answer the boss lady", I said.
He nodded and followed me out before closing the door behind him.
I gave a quick glance into my sister's room but she was not there. I hurried downstairs, towards Mum's voice where I heard her in the kitchen, shuffling around and giving instructions to my sister, Jecintha.
"So your maids are cooking in the kitchen while you are busy doing God-knows-what in your room ehn?", Mum snapped when she saw me.
Her thick Nigerian accent elicited her words. The story of how my parents met was as romantic as the Cinderella movie I loved watching as a kid. Dad had gone to Nigeria on a business trip, where he'd met her. She was a stubborn and very opinionated woman, and when they met, she hated him at first, thinking he was one of those rich playboys high on Daddy's money.
Her obduracy, beauty, and the fact that she didn't worship his looks and money intrigued him all the more. He extended his visit to woo her and became determined he wouldn't take no for an answer. Whenever Mum recounted the story, she'd say "He didn't allow me rest until I agreed to go on a date with him, and I hated him ehn."
Long story short, they fell in love, got married and relocated. Still, Mum brought her beliefs, and traditions with her. For instance, when we were children and had guests, she'd make us kneel or prostrate to greet them. When giving an elder something, never use your left hand, and she'd warn us not to eat food a stranger gives us.
And whenever one of us misbehaved, she didn't believe in grounding, she'd whip out her slippers or belt and gave us hot lashes across our backs, if those were out of reach, she'd either knock our heads or hit us with her hand. Still, after that, Dad who believed in grounding would ground us all the same.
He'd say: "when your Mum's done with you, you're grounded for a week, no electronics." But he never had the heart to punish us for long, and would give us back our electronics, accompanied by Mum's frown. In every way, they were perfect for each other.
I muttered a quick apology before slicing the onions she had put out for me to do. Jecintha, who I always called J, smiled at me and I knew we were both thinking the same thing. She made us do the house chores even though we could afford to employ someone do it. The only thing she would accept was for a maid to come work thrice weekly to clean the house. Even that took so much convincing from Dad.
Mum always emphasized that ladies should be the caretakers of the house and even at that, she made sure Dare was not slacking behind on house chores too. I can't count how many times J and I had made fun of her Nigerian mentality.
She would always tell us stories of her childhood, how hard she juggled her education with work and how hard she worked to reach where she was today and even though I adored and looked up to her for it, I still didn't like doing chores.
"Where's your hair net, Jola?", she asked.
"Shit", I cussed, and she eyed me.
"Sorry", I inhaled sharply.
She muttered under her breath how spoiled we all were, and how in Nigeria we wouldn't dare cuss in front of her as I rushed to where the nets were hanged and took one. She insisted we use the it and not leave our hair open in the kitchen.
I struggled to put on the net as it was not big enough to cover my long and full curls. I almost cussed again, but one look at her made me decide against it. My hair was still proving stubborn, not wanting to be confined and frankly, my hands were starting to throb. I mumbled a curse, no one should have heard it, cause it was like a whisper. But Mum's hard and slitted eyes told me she did.
I finally gave it one last push and it stayed. I avoided her eyes as I hurried back to my work. I glared at J's giggling face.
"What? That was hilarious", she defended.
I groaned. "I'm going to cut off this hair. I'll go bald. Anything to stop this", I whispered. She rolled her eyes
"Yeah, right", she said.
Threatening to cut off my hair was something I did regularly, but not once did I act on it. Despite being stressful, I loved my hair. I loved the way the curls framed my round face, and the fact that it's helped me in my most embarrassing moments. Like that one time I asked Keith White out in middle school, and he pointed at me before bursting out laughing, followed by the rest of my classmates, I'd hidden my face in my hair, pretty much for the rest of the school year.
"I wish I had your hair", Jecintha sighed, and I smiled.
J had stunt hair growth and over the years, she'd rocked it in different styles. One of my favorite was the Bantu knots she wore in high school. Now, she rocked a low cut, and she'd dyed it blonde. When she walked through the door, Mum's eyes almost popped out her sockets and Dad had to remind her J was basically an adult and would soon go off to college.
I hung around the kitchen, doing small chores here and there when Mum told me to go call the boys for dinner while she set the table. I nodded, and walked to where I knew Dad was. He spent most of the time in his 'hangout room' where Dare had claimed it was boys zone only, to which Dad jokingly agreed to.
"Come in", he said.
I entered and smiled at him. He was on his recliner, watching the match on the TV.
"Daddy", I said.
I crushed him with my big body.
"Oomph", he said as I hugged him. He laughed and patted my back.
"Guess someone missed me", he teased.
I did, I really did. He had gone out of the country on a business trip for a few days and had just returned that day. I looked up at his big brown eyes, seeing the wrinkles as he laughed. I remembered a year ago when it happened. There was no joy on his face, his wrinkles absent.
Not now.
I shook my head to clear the thoughts. "I missed you", I said.
"I missed you too, princess", he said.
Dad was my favourite parent. While Mum was strict, and disciplined, he was lenient and patient with us. I had to say, they were perfect in each and every way. When one was in excess, the other checked it.
He glanced at my hair and winked.
"Guess dinner's ready then", he said.
I rolled my eyes and he laughed.
"C'mon take it easy on Mum. You know she loves you", he said. I smiled, thinking of how he gets me. One thing I loved about him was the fact that we didn't need words to understand each other. We knew what the other was thinking with just one look.
He stood up. "Let's go before she scold us", he said. He held my hand as we left the room. Mum was in the dining room setting the table with J and when she saw his hands tangled with mine, she frowned. "You spoil her", she said.
Dad smiled and hugged her. He whispered something in her ear that made her smile. I avoided their exchange and wondered if I'll get to have a love like that. I looked down at my body and shook my head. Absolutely not.
Sighing, I went to get Dare. I knocked and poked my head in his room like he did mine, an hour ago. "Mum's calling you down for dinner", I said.
He looked up from his MacBook and nodded. I took that as a cue and left. I stopped to remove the hair net I had on before meeting up with the rest of my family. J glanced at me when I sat beside her and winked.
Mum cleared her throat and we joined our hands as she prayed. Dinner was silent, and the tension was so thick, even a knife wouldnt cut it. Dare picked at his food, sadness evident on his face. Dare was always serious, he took after Mum with that, but it hurt seeing how unhappy he was.
J, the happy one tried to hide her feelings with a smile but I could see right through her. She ate slowly, her gaze distant, showing she was thinking about something. I, on the other hand wanted to cry, but I knew if I did, they'd also cry so I sniffed, willing myself not to ruin dinner. Dad looked anxious, even Mum's gaze darted around the table. Something was up.
Finally, Dad cleared his throat and I looked up. "Your mother and I have something to tell you guys", he started.
He was nervous, it was obvious. I shifted in my seat, having an idea of what he wanted to say. He looked at me, right in the eye.
"We talked about it and we think it would be a good idea if you changed schools", he said.
I knew it. Deep down, in my bones, I knew it was going to happen. I had no problem with changing schools. In fact I'd welcomed the idea. The only doubt I had was if the new school be different from the old one? Will they treat me differently?
J and Dare glanced at me. The change of schools would affect only me, seeing as they'd graduated already.
"That's not all", Mum said, bringing me out of my reverie. What else could it be? I glanced at my siblings. They shrugged.
"We are moving."