"I am the backbone of this family!" Ma Kesem said in a hoarse voice from the kitchen as she argued with Aisha. She was getting old, yet she never stopped picking arguments with Aisha or Fatima. Aisha felt that was how Ma Kesem expressed her love to her children.
Fatima avoided staying at home so she wouldn't get involved in an argument with Ma Kesem. Aisha was twenty-three, so she ought to keep Ma Kesem company at home since she was the eldest. She suggested Aisha should spend more time with Ma Kesem now that she was a graduate of college.
Today, Ma Kesem was actually flaring up because she was tired of having Aisha doing nothing at home all day.
Aisha stood by the door of the kitchen, wearing a white kimono under her black t-shirt and a tight pair of jeans that stopped right above her knees. She lashed at Ma Kesem whenever she said something mean as they argued.
"Lol, then I must be the asshole of the family then," Fatima said sarcastically as she was leaving the kitchen with a bowl of cereal.
Ma Kesem gave Fatima a stern look as she left the kitchen.
"You're an adult now, Aisha. You ought to be living off your own income and not mine, " Ma Kesem said.
Aisha tilted her head to the back. Her long curly hair bounced at the back of her head like a giant sponge that could absorb half the water in a pool. "But you have a job, Ma Kesem. You went to college, and we're living okay from your job. "
Ma Kesem dropped the dough she was massaging on the wooden tray and stared at Aisha. "I sent you to school so you can get a better job than mine so you can earn enough money to take care of yourself and this family." She smirked as she said.
Aisha kept mute as Ma Kesem had made a valid point. "Where will I get a job as a firm lawyer?" She asked herself.
"This isn't Nigeria, Aisha. They're jobs everywhere in this part of the world. Unemployment is a choice here, " Ma Kesem groaned.
"It is?" Fatima asked.
Aisha sighed. "Fine, I'll get a job. It's not like I'll get paid enough. "
"Your first job is a head-start before you get paid enough,"
"A head start as a white collar slave, huh!" Aisha said to herself before she left for her room. Though what she said sounded offensive to Ma Kesem but she didn't care. It's not like Ma Kesem was a civil servant or something.
After weeks of searching for a job, Aisha finally landed a job interview in a big housing company in the city. She had Fatima follow her to the company. Fatima gave her tips on what to say and how to comfort herself during the interview. She listened closely to everything Fatima said as she wasn't ready to mess this up. Aisha led the way while Fatima walked beside her as they both stepped inside the company's building.
Fatima was really amazed by the architectural design of the five-story building.
Aisha walked boldly to the receptionist and said she's here for an interview as the firm lawyer.
The receptionist was a young man. He looked at Aisha and Fatima and smiled at them like he already knew who they were. "Is this your friend?" He asked Aisha as pointed at Fatima.
Aisha looked at Fatima. "She's my sister, actually," She replied.
The receptionist squeezed his lips. He thought Aisha was Hadeza. His boss's daughter. "An interview with who, ma'am?" He asked sarcastically, wondering why Hadeza would come to seek a job in her mother's company.
Aisha looked confused. "The interview is by twelve, and I'm to meet a Mr. Stephen Queen on the fourth floor"
The receptionist chuckled and dialled Mr. Stephen's office line on the intercom, but the call was forwarded to the company's CEO, Mrs. Cathay Williams. "Sorry to disturb you, but your daughter is here. She said she is to see Mr. Stephen and unfortunately, he isn't in his office at the moment. " The receptionist gave Aisha a thumbs up.
"Tell her I'm already leaving for the meeting," Cathay said on the phone.
The receptionist kept the call on hold for a second and said in a low tone to Aisha. "Your mom said she's leaving for the meeting."
Aisha stopped drumming her fingers on the counter as she felt more confused.
"Her mom?" Fatima asked the receptionist.
"Yes, her mom," the receptionist responded.
Fatima gestured at the receptionist with a mean look on her face.
Aisha couldn't make up the situation that was going on, but she went along and said. "Tell my mom it's urgent," She said mildly.
The receptionist told Cathay on the intercom what Aisha said, and he stretched forward to Aisha. "She asked if you are pregnant."
"No!" Aisha said with disgust. She slammed her fist on the table, feeling frustrated.
"What floor is her office?"
"Don't you know?" The receptionist asked in an annoying voice.
"I said what floor is her goddamn office?" Aisha cried angrily, almost raising her voice.
The receptionist shaked in fear. "The second to the last floor," He answered sharply.
Aisha dashed to the spiral staircase. Before Fatima could blink twice, she was out of sight.
Fatima took a magazine from the counter and flipped through the pages as she looked for a chair to sit.
Aisha was exhausted when she finally reached the floor where Cathay's office was. She breathed hard as she tried to catch her breath. She stopped an employee who was passing by and asked for her mother's office.
The staff took Aisha to the door of Cathay's office before leaving her.
Aisha read the name inscripted on the door. 'CATHAY V. WILLIAMS and under her name was written boldly, CEO. She stretched to push open the door, but Cathay pulled it open from inside. She breathed out, relieved that she had finally met the CEO of the company.
Cathay came out from her office holding a large file under her right arm while her handbag was slipping off from her other hand. "Help me with this, honey," She said to Aisha panickly as she gave her her handbag.
Aisha quickly took the bag from her mother and walked behind her.
Cathay walked fast on her feet as she began talking. "Hadeza, I'm late for my meeting and I have to make it there before my clients arrive" She said to Aisha as she had mistaken her for Hadeza, not caring about Aisha's look or Aisha's big hair and the big glasses she wore. She walked in an awkward gait as her heels weren't fitted properly in her feet.
As Aisha walked behind Cathay, she slowly realized Cathay was her real mother, and she must have mistaken her for her twin sister, Hadeza. "Mom, listen to me," Aisha said forcefully.
Cathay walked to the elevator as she was too much in a hurry to listen to Aisha. She took her bag from Aisha and made it to enter the elevator.
"Mom, I'm not who you think -" Aisha cried like a little girl, but Cathay cut her off.
"Hadeza, I'm late! Love you, " Cathay shouted. She tried not to sound rude. She entered the elevator and adjusted her skirt without looking at Aisha.
Aisha couldn't believe she was staring at her mother. She never thought she would be a white woman. She made eye contact with her before the elevator doors closed. She touched the region of her skin around her eyes. She finally knew where she got her blue eyes from. She made a u-turn and groaned. "She is so hyper!" She decided to go back downstairs and meet Fatima and tell her what had just happened.
Meanwhile, Cathay reached the first floor. She walked hurriedly to the entrance door, only to see Hadeza standing inside by the entrance door. Hadeza approached her and greeted her. She gave her handbag to Hadeza and bent to adjust her heels. "How did you get here so fast?" She stood up and collected her handbag from Hadeza and said. "I don't remember you entering the elevator with me,"
Hadeza looked left and right, wondering what her mother was talking about. "What are you talking about, mom?" She asked with a smile.
Cathay looked at Hadeza with a dead facial expression as she was asked that question. She noticed Hadeza was wearing a different dress from Aisha, whom she had just met upstairs. She also noticed Hadeza's hair was short while Aisha's hair was long, and she wasn't wearing any glasses.
Fatima spotted Hadeza standing with Cathay from the place she sat. She saw how confused Cathay looked. She guessed Aisha must have met her upstairs, and the girl standing with Cathay was Aisha's twin sister. This is going to be an unexpected reunion. She thought.
Cathay stroked her blonde hair and panted. "You're just coming in, right?" She asked.
"Yes," Hadeza answered slowly.
"You didn't meet me upstairs some minutes ago,"
"Yes!" Hadeza looked at her mother."What's going on?" She asked.
"Wow!" Cathay exclaimed unbelievably and pointed upwards. "I just met your doppelganger upstairs, right now."
Hadeza's eyes widened. "My look alike," She said questionably.
"Yes, yes. Just go and meet her. Use the elevator. " Cathay tapped her forehead as she said. "She was trying to talk to me, but I didn't listen," She whined.
Hadeza ran to the elevator.
"Run, before she leaves," Cathay shouted at Hadeza.
Hadeza pondered what her mother revealed to her as she stood alone inside the elevator. What if she had a twin?
Aisha was on the fifth floor, pressing the elevator button on the wall as she waited for it to open. She was annoyed that her real mother couldn't tell her apart from her other daughter. She lowered her head in disdain and entered the elevator as the doors opened. She didn't see Hadeza standing inside staring at her as she was looking at the floor. She leaned her back on the wall inside the elevator and breathed out with her cheeks bloated. She stretched to press the elevator button on the wall for it to take her to the second floor, but Hadeza softly slapped her hand and pressed the button, going to the first. She groaned and raised her head up only to see a replica of herself standing just beside her in the elevator. She raised her brows and gasped.
"Jesus Christ!"
"Hey!" Hadeza said in a friendly tone.
"Hi!" Aisha replied, still looking surprised.
"You're me,"
Aisha corked her left brow. "And I'm-you," She said softly.
"Wow!" The sisters said at the same time.
Hadeza placed her hand on her chest. "I'm just as surprised as you are. Believe me," She said. She had an English accent, but it wasn't as strong as that of her mother's.
The elevator came to a halt, and the music that was playing inside the elevator stopped.
Hadeza and Aisha stared at each other as they both realized they were trapped inside the elevator.
"There's only one explanation to this," Hadeza said like a math professor. "How old are you?" She asked.
"I just turned twenty-three last month," Aisha answered.
Hadeza looked astonished. She cleared her throat and exclaimed, "So did I?"
"Wait, you're a Gemini, too?"
"Yeah."
"Isn't that strange?" Aisha asked softly.
Hadeza nodded. "Very strange. Do you know the best part about this?" She asked.
"You and I could be best friends."
Aisha rolled her eyes and smiled brightly, and brought herself close to Hadeza. "Best friends? We could be sisters, " She suggested.
"Or better yet, twins!" Hadeza said excitedly.
Hadeza walked and stood close to Aisha, grabbing her cheeks. She stretched it playfully like they were gum balls. She noticed Aisha had blue eyes like her mother. "You took mom's eyes. I'm jealous, and you look prettier than I am, " She said genuinely.
Aisha blushed shyly "Thanks"
Hadeza reached and drew Aisha's hair to see if it was real. She looked astonished when Aisha cried as she pulled it.
"Hey!" Aisha cried in pain.
"This is real?" Hadeza asked.
"Yeah."
"Were you surprised that your biological mom is white?
"I'm just surprised that my mom is a billionaire,"
"What are you doing here, anyway?" Hadeza asked as she leaned on the wall.
"I came to get a job, but instead, I got reunited with my family," Aisha replied. She pushed her CV inside her bag, but Hadeza removed it from her bag again.
Hadeza flipped through the pages of the CV.
She was impressed by what she saw. "You are a lawyer! Mom will be so proud. "
Aisha wondered why her Hadeza said that.
"You studied interior designing at the University of Massachusetts, but you went on to be a lawyer. Why?" Hadeza asked, feeling quite concerned.
Aisha mopped and said "My mom said I won't get a good job as an interior designer so I went to law school when I was nineteen and well, the rest is history" She folded her arms and leaned her back on the wall. "So what's your field of study?"
"Oh yeah!" Hadeza said."I guess we're very much alike. I studied aerodynamic engineering in Harvard. I wanted to be a pilot so bad, but -" She puffed out air from her mouth.
"But what?"
"I'm scared of heights,"
Aisha gazed at Hadeza. She wasn't scared of heights; she was only scared of dying alone. "So what do you do now?"
Hadeza brought out a police badge from her back pocket and flashed it in Aisha's face. She stared at the floor and then looked directly into Aisha's eyes. "To be honest. It's not something I'm proud of. Mom said I can't live off her hard earned money, which she toiled the ground for many years. She stopped giving me allowances when I turned eighteen. "
Aisha coughed. "Why were you worried about that?" She asked rhetorically. "Don't you have all the money in the world. Or almost all the money?
"Eh! Aisha?" Hadeza raised her index finger. "Mom has all the money in the world. I am poor. P-O-O-R. Can you imagine? I had to take care of myself when I was in Harvard. Can you imagine? I even had to get a job as a waitress so I could pay some of my bills. She said I'm not getting my inheritance until she's cold in the grave" She took her time to complain to Aisha because it felt she was talking to herself, and for years now, she never felt comfortable opening up to someone like she did with Aisha.
Aisha giggled as her case was nearly the same as her sister. "I guess we're in the same shoes then," She laughed.
"Funny thing is mom is in her forties. She still has a long life ahead of her, " Hadeza murmured with a sullen face.
Aisha nodded as she thought about how young her mother was. She remembered Ma Kesem was in her fifty's, and she still worked and did things like a woman in her prime.
Hadeza and Aisha talked for over thirty minutes inside the elevator without getting tired. They exchanged numbers and took pictures together. They weren't concerned about the fact that they were trapped in the elevator until the music inside the elevator began playing again, and the elevator began to move once. Aisha and Hadeza realized they had spent almost fifteen minutes inside the elevator discussing their lives. When the elevator got down and the doors came open, they saw Fatima standing outside right in front of the elevator.
Aisha came out first from the elevator and introduced Fatima to Hadeza "Hadeza, I want you to meet my younger sister, Fatima" She said as she held Fatima close to herself "Fatima, this is my twin sister, Hadeza". She whispered in Fatima's ear, "Be nice."
Hadeza exchanged handshake with Fatima.
"It's nice to see you," She said.
"It's nice to be seen," Fatima replied with a huge smile on her face.
Two halves of the same idiot. Fatima thought to herself as she stared at Hadeza and Aisha.
Aisha knew she was being sarcastic.
Hadeza looked at her watch and gasped.
"Oh gosh. I'm late for work, "
"You're a cop?" Aisha said.
"Yes, and I am late for work. I was to follow mom to her meeting. " She took a deep breath and sighed out. She ran to the entrance door to leave. She stopped and turned around. "Aisha!" Aisha and Fatima looked at her. She did the phone gesture with her fingers at Aisha to call her.
"Sure, we should grab a drink sometime," Aisha cried.
Hadeza laughed. "I don't drink,"
"Ok, coffee?"
"Chocolate!"
"Sure, chocolate coffee," Aisha said happily.