She saw her sister’s ghost raise up her knife,
she screamed, pushed Philip out of her and woke up with a start. She found
herself in her room, sweating profusely. “It was a dream, goodness, it felt so
real”. She felt wet and moist in her pants. “gosh, what sort of a dream was
that and why was Naya looking that angry?”.
Mrs Lanre ran in when she heard her daughter
scream. “What is it? Why did you scream?”
Maya: “I had a terrible dream, mum”.
Mrs Lanre: “Terrible dream? What was it about?”
Maya: “I dreamt that I was with one man and
then Naya appeared looking angry and holding a sharp knife, she was just about
stabbing me when I woke”.
Mrs Lanre: “Why would your sister torment you
in the dream? Is there something that you are not telling me?”
Maya: “what is that supposed to mean, mum?”
Mrs Lanre: “I don’t know o, I should be asking
you”.
Maya: “Mum, please, I am not in the mood for
this today. I just had a terrible dream and I am trying to think it through.
Don’t even start, please”.
She turned to the other side of the bed. The
maid knocked and opened the door.
Maid: “Excuse me big and small madam, someone
is asking after you in the sitting room”.
Mrs Lanre: “Who is the person?”.
Maid: “she said her name is Florence, late
aunty Naya’s friend”.
Mrs Lanre: “Ehn! What is that kidnapper doing
in my house? So, they are all coming here one after the other to mock me over
the death of my daughter?” she ran out past the maid who noticed with pain the
changes that had occurred in her madam after the death of her husband and
daughter.
Maya: “oh not again, mum. For how long will you
continue reacting this way to Naya’s friends?”she ran after her mother so as to
prevent her from creating a scene.
Mrs Lanre: “Yes, what are you doing here?” she
asked Florence who was wearing her crown and all.
Florence: “Good afternoon, ma. I actually came
here to condole with you over the death of my friend since I was too busy to
make it for the burial”.
Mrs Lanre: “Just shut up your mouth there,
which friend are you talking about? Who are you calling your friend? The same
friend you connived with your boyfriends to kidnap her sister? Anyway, your
sympathy has been registered, you can leave now”.
Maya: “Mum, please don’t react like this. I
told you that Florence was with me all through the period that I was running
around trying to see Naya’s body, she even went with me to the mortuary to
identify the corpse. I know she made a mistake once but we should not judge her
based on that, she is a good girl”.
Mrs Lanre: “You are in no place to tell me how
to judge. I don’t blame you, you don’t know how wicked the so called friends of
nowadays can be. Did you notice the crown and banner on her, what does that
mean if it is not a show off for us to see how good she is faring after all
that has happened to us? Please, let her leave my house, my spirit does not
agree with hers”.
Florence: “Fine, I will leave”, she got up and
made for the door. She was comfortable leaving because she had accomplished her
mission of showing off her newly acquired status to mother and daughter.
====
Philip was in class when Malik walked up to
him.
Malik: “Hey, Philip. One hardly sees you around
these days”.
Philip: “Malik, I am just keeping it low. I
haven’t really being myself since the day we visited Naya’s family house”.
Malik: “and why is that?” he quizzed, his eyes
searching Philip’s face.
Philip: “Maya of course, I mean Naya’s sister.
Don’t you see that they look exactly alike?”
Malik: “and so? Haven’t you seen identical
twins in your life before?”
Philip: “You don’t understand”. He shook his
head.
Malik: “Then make me do, that is why we are
friends”.
Philip: “You know that I was in love with Naya
and we had a good relationship even though we were never intimate, well, the
thing is, as soon as I set my eyes on Maya, the love I had for Naya that I had
been trying to kill after her death came flooding back but this time around for
Maya. In fact, I feel like she is Naya and I can’t help but love her and dream
about her every day and night”.
Malik stood up and touched his friend on the
forehead with the back of his palm. “I talk am, see as your temperature high,
na malaria dey worry you”.
Philip: “Guy, I serious jor, stop turning
serious matters into jokes. I am helplessly in love with that girl”.
Malik: “You are dreaming of Maya? How are you sure
that it is Maya you are dreaming about? The two girls look so much alike that
you cannot even tell one from the other. Probably you are even dreaming of
Naya”.
Philip: “eh ehehe, stop that rough play o. How
can I dream of someone who is dead? Abeg stop joke”.
Malik: “As if you never heard that ghosts exist
or as if we didn’t know that you dragged her body out of your room when you
discovered that she had died”.
Philip: “I feel like walking up to her and
telling her about my feeling, after all we were not intimate with her twin so
there is nothing bad there”.
Malik: “Walk up to her and do what? No try am
o, in fact, no think am. This time around, when she dies in your house, I will
not be there to save you. And this time around, nobody will believe that you
didn’t kill her, yeye dey smell”.
Philip: “in fact, you don’t have any good thing
to say to me, I am going home to rest my head, see you later”. He walked away,
leaving Malik dumbfounded.
====
Maya came back from the supermarket to see her
mother hurled up in the corner of her room crying, she was in a complete mess,
with her hair dishevelled and some of her items of interior decoration,
destroyed by her.
Maya: “Oh my God, mum. Look at you, you have
started destroying things again. For how long shall you continue like this?”
Maid: “small madam, she has been like this
since you left the house, she refused to eat and she has been breaking and
scattering the things in her room and crying”.
Maya: “Just get out, I didn’t ask for your
explanations. I have my eyes to see what is happening”.
The maid bowed courteously and left the room.
Maya: “Mum, please stop this. You are wrecking
me emotionally”.
Mrs Lanre: “Stop what? I feel so alone in the
world. Your father was my friend and companion, what am I doing on earth
without him?”
Maya: “He was my father too, mum!” she screamed
at the top of her voice.
Mrs Lanre: “Where is my Naya? I carried the two
of you together in my womb and went through excruciating pains to bring you
into the world. Where is she now?”
Maya: “Mum, why are you doing this to me? Every
day I wake up with the determination to be strong and alive for you but you
drag me to so much grieve that I would rather leave behind. You need to put the
past behind you, dad and Naya will never come back and that is the reality that
I have come to accept”.
Mrs Lanre: “If they will never come back then
death should come and carry me away too. What am I doing in the world without
my husband”.
Maya: “you also want to die and leave me all
alone in the world right? Fine, let’s see who goes first”, she turned around,
went back into her car and drove out of the compound. She was going to drown
herself, it was better to kill herself than go through the agony of losing a
loved one again, this time around, her mother who was the only person she had
left in the world.
Question: “Will she succeed in committing
suicide? Will Mrs Lanre ever forgive herself if something happens to her
daughter?
0 comments:
Post a Comment