LOST
Episode Four
Even with my prayers, everyone agreed that I should go and stay with my aunt.
She lived a bit far from our house. They asked me to stay with her until I turned eighteen because they felt my dad wouldn’t be able to take care of me.
They didn’t trust my stepmom enough to do it, and the only person they could all trust was my aunt.
After the burial, I followed Aunt Patricia home with her two children.
Their house was very small, but she really knew how to take care of her children.
Since we were on holiday and I didn’t go to school, it was the same for her children.
We had plenty of time to play and cook children’s food.
Aunt Patricia treated me like her own daughter and even bought me clothes to match her daughter, who was the same age as me.
It was funny how much we looked alike, and people often mistook me for her real daughter.
The only problem we had was food. There was no money to buy food, and since my dad got married, he refused to send money to us for food.
Aunt Patricia had a provision shop outside her house where her daughter and I helped her sell things.
That was the only way we could feed ourselves.
Aunt Patricia was a widow, but her children really understood her and never made her feel bad.
My stay there was really comfortable, and I never even thought about going back home.
Especially when I remembered what my dad did to me because of his new wife.
I heard he spoiled her like crazy, even giving her my mom’s car as a gift.
It was now hers, and she would flaunt it to everyone.
He would shower her with gifts and clothes, but he couldn’t even send anything to his own daughter.
But at least I was happy where I was. Aunt Patricia was always working so hard that we would all tell her to slow down.
We were worried that if she broke down, there would be no money to take her to the hospital.
And my dad wasn’t even picking up my calls anymore.
Aunt Patricia didn’t even listen to us.
Even when her daughter and I, who were both seventeen, took it upon ourselves to do everything, including uprooting cassava from the farm, peeling it, and processing it into fufu or garri.
She will still ask to assist us, that we were still kids.
I enjoyed doing it. I knew that if my mom were alive, she wouldn’t be happy that I was going to the farm.
I saw it as part of my training, and I was genuinely happy doing it.
Even when I got tired, I pretended not to be so that Aunt wouldn’t ask me to stop working. I just had fun working.
We would turn it into garri, and we would sip it on days when there was no food.
I actually gained weight, even though no one knew I wasn’t eating well.
I had peace of mind. Aunt Patricia never stopped bringing back gifts for her and Jennifer, and we would share them equally, sometimes even when there was only one.
Jennifer wasn’t even jealous when her mom got things for me.
One time, her mom bought two shoes for Jennifer and didn’t get anything for me.
But Jennifer gave me one of the shoes, and I was shocked.
Her mom was really happy and later revealed that it was a test.
I found a mother in Aunt Patricia, and her children became my siblings too.
Before then, I was comfortable being the only child and didn’t want any sibling because I wasn’t ready for sibling fights.
But seeing how Jennifer and her brother loved each other made me reconsider.
I would sit and think about the miscarriage mom had because of dad hītting her.
And how I would have had a sibling if she didn’t miscarry.
Jennifer caught me thinking and asked what was wrong.
I told her, and she said, “Is that why you’re thinking?
You’re my sister now, and I won’t give you any reason to feel lonely.”
I smiled at her. She really treated me like a sister, I really wished she was my real sister.
Aunt Patricia still overworked herself, and she became very sick.
We took her to the hospital, and she wasn’t able to move her body or talk.
We were scared because there was no money to pay the hospital bill.
We called dad, but as usual, he didn’t pick up. He disappointed me yet again.
I was very scared because I hated anything that would take a person to the hospital, as that was where I lost my mom.
We ran to people, even those who owed her, but they all said there was no money.
I had to walk with Jennifer to daddy’s house.
He wasn’t around, but I talked to my stepmother, and she said there was no money in the house.
Dad didn’t have any money either, according to her.
Even though I heard they celebrated his birthday without inviting anyone and spent a lot of money.
One of my mom’s friends told my aunt about it.
I didn’t want to keep begging, so we went back to the hospital. Just like mom, Aunt Patricia was gone.
It was so painful because she didn’t suffer from any ailment.
She was just stressed. Even the doctor couldn’t define anything that was wrong with her.
Her daughter Jennifer had to call her people to come and get her.
There was no money to conduct a proper burial, so they just bought a coffin and buried her without any ceremony.
Dad didn’t even come for the burial. The day I visited the house, he didn’t even call back.
He asked to sponsor the burial, but everyone declined.
After the burial, Jennifer’s uncle offered to take care of them.
He took them away, and Dad didn’t have a choice but to come and get me.
I regretted the day I followed him home.
Thessycute Ekene
