TRUTH AND FICTION - CHAPTER FOUR

15-10-2013 3:50 pm

EGO

Eeeehn… Dinma stand in the middle…no no no… shift small to the left…ehen! Exactly. Oya Ego come and stand to the right of your sister while Ifunaya, Amaka and Ebube will sit on the sofa. Ike I want you flanking your parents on either side. The three of you will stand behind the sofa. Now everybody smile for the camera please.

They did this every year. Sometimes it was in July and at other times it was in October. Whenever the time was right for her dad they always came to Sky photo studio to have the family picture updated every year. They were all wearing tight stuffy English suits with plastic smiles on their faces as they painted the image of the perfectly happy upper-class family.

She had zoned out as some point as the photographer kept shuffling them around in different positions. When they finished, the driver Mubarak took them home with the exception of her father. No one asked where he was going; they would see him when he came home. He had called Ego out of the blues asking that they all meet at the studio at 3pm; no explanations were asked about his whereabouts for the last three weeks and none was given.

They went to the roof as soon as they got home. It was one aspect of the house they all absolutely loved. Every Sunday evening they would come up to the roof to talk about the week they just had, everything that was going on in their life and sometimes they talked about the future.

Did you guys notice how badly that photographer was oozing bad odour? Ifunaya asked, mischief twinkling in her eyes.

Hehehe… I did; the neckline of his shirt was green….not brown…green…I bet he has been wearing that shirt for the past 5 months! Ike replied.

Hahaha…did you notice how Dad was holding his breath every time the photographer opened his mouth to give an instruction… Amaka mentioned.

He looked pale at some point…I thought he was going to pass out from lack of air… Ebube replied.

Now that was some portrait! Hopefully he will be spotting a smile in one of the pictures…you know how much he likes perfection.

Ego, are you set for the boarding house tomorrow…feeling excited?Ike asked.

Nah… Adanne already told me all I need to know about that life… stand tall and don’t let no senior walk all over me.

She also told me to watch out for the carpet munchers…the rumours don’t lie… they are all over the hostels.

Hahahahaha…now that is every guy’s dream. Watching two girls go at it! Ike said…his eyes taking on a dreamy look as he painted the image in his head.

Hey! We have underage kids here…don’t go saying X-rated stuff like that. Ifunaya hit Ike mildly on the side of his head as she used one of her hands to cover Ebube’s ears.

I am not a baby joor! I am 12 going on 13. Very soon I will know all this stuff anyway so what is the harm?

When you are 17 years old young man, you can start listening…till then cover your ears.

Anyway Ego… carpet munchers or not, no one is going to mess with you unless you give them the aura that its’ okay to do so. Just stand tall, don’t cry in public, make few friends and stay focused.

Thanks sis.

I see Dad’s car at the junction! Dinma said.

Just like that pandemonium kicked in and the siblings scattered in a frenzy to make sure that the house was sparkling clean and nothing was out of place.

 Dinma, did you sweep the veranda and clean the furniture like I asked you to? Prisca asked.

I did mama but I better go check again.

They were all scurrying… Ike was checking the Car Park to make sure that the area was as clean as their dad always wanted it. It was the same routine whenever Lawrence came home. Prisca and the kids were always filled with tension. This time the tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife. He hadn’t been home since the incident with the police. No one had heard from him for three weeks, they hadn’t talked about him either. It was like the taboo topic that was always around yet never mentioned.

Soon after, Lawrence came in to find the sitting room empty. He always liked an audience when he made an entrance so he bellowed… Who is in this house!

I am in the kitchen ooo… Prisca shouted from across the kitchen where she was preparing to take Lawrence food up to his bedroom.

One by one the children all came downstairs; like always his focus went to Ego. The child he felt the most affinity with.

Nne come and give your father a hug. He smiled the face splitting smile that was at the fore when he conversed with Ego.

She came forward as requested and that’s when she noticed the smell of whiskey on his Louis Vuitton shirt, the red lipstick just below his chin and how blood shot his eyes really were. Lawrence had been with one of his mistresses. He always came home looking like this when he spent more than two nights with his women; inebriated, angry and violent. As they hugged, conflicted feelings of love and something akin to hate filled her. What kind of man disappears from his family for three weeks and comes home drunk! The anger and violence he always reserved for her mum. Yet, there was a part of Ego that detested herself for still loving him.

Let me go upstairs and change Nne… we will talk more about this boarding school decision of yours when I have had my dinner.

When they were sure the coast was clear, Amaka released a huge sigh of relief. As long as he keeps ignoring the rest of us I think I will be forever happy!

I second that sis… common guys who wants to binge watch all the Harry Potter movies again… Ebube asked.

They all headed up to his room and soon they were engulfed in the world of magic and make believe.

Thirty minutes into the movie, they heard a loud scream coming from their father’s room and they rushed out to see what was happening.

The door is locked! Ike shouted… he tried to kick it down but it was a solid steel door that would not give way and they knew it.

The scream of pain coming from inside the room was that of their mother. They kept hitting on the door willing it to give way by some supernatural force but it didn’t. Ego turned around and without putting on any footwear ran out of the house to the streets. She cried as she ran, fear pumping adrenaline through her veins. She ignored passersby who were staring at her like a mad woman; she didn’t care. When she got to Aunty Bea’s house she pounded hard on the gate until someone opened up.

Aunty Bea! Aunty Bea! She shouted. Bea came out in a rush; she was preparing to lay down for the night when she heard Ego screaming her name loud enough to wake the neighbours. Worry filled her eyes when she saw the state that Ego was in.

He is going to kill her Aunty! He wants to kill my mother!

What is going on Ego? Who wants to kill your mother?

My dad! You have to come with me Aunty Bea. You know he always listens to you… please you have to come with me Aunty Bea!

Okay dear, let’s go.

By the time they got back to the house it was eerily quiet. They ran upstairs to find Ike standing like a bag of salt frozen to a spot, his eyes staring unblinkingly at the floor. The kids were gathered all round their mother trying to lift her unto the bed. There was blood everywhere on the floor and Prisca wasn’t making a sound.

Amaka quick! Run downstairs and tell Mubarak to get the car ready, I am taking your mother to the hospital; she has lost consciousness.

Ike! Will you snap out of it and come carry your mother downstairs to the car!

Ego had stopped listening by this time. White hot anger filled her and all the pent up emotions so had been bottling towards her father finally came to the surface.

In a flash of rage she went down to the living room where she knew he would be stewing and pretending to be watching Channels TV.

You! She screamed as she tapped him to make sure she had his attention.

What is wrong with you! You disappear for three weeks without a notice! Nobody knew if you were dead or alive! You drag the family name which you always ask us to protect through the mud in a semi-public scandal. You blatantly cheat on my mother and drink like a fish when things aren’t going your way! Why don’t you stay with your harlots when you drink huh! Why come home to us with all your anger and take out your frustrations on us! We don’t deserve this! My mother has been nothing but faithful and patient and all you ever do is maltreat and beat her! You are an animal! You are not my father! This is why I have to go to the boarding house! So I can get away from you!

She was on a roll now and Lawrence looked on in shock as Ego went to grab the portraits off the wall and one by one she smashed them on the floor.

Is this what you want? Huh! Your perfect family which everyone thinks we are! When she threw the last image on the floor… she watched as the edges of the frame made contact with the hard marble floor and cracked into tiny little pieces.

This is what we really are…a broken home with more issues than Dr. Phil can handle… Her energy sapped, she walked to the door and before she went out turned to her dad and said;

Don’t come home if you cannot be a father to us or a decent husband to my mum… we do just fine without you anyways.

She walked out and made her way to the hospital…hoping her mother would pull through as she always did.