THE WELCOMES

      On the tenth day of May, my aunt was to return from the United States of America, just to spend a little break with us. On the eve to the D-Day, my mum went to the market, and bought some food 'things'. As she returned she allotted to me the duty to wash the bitter leaf till it becomes'sweet', my elder brother was given the portion to peel and pound the cooked cocoyam, my sister was given the duty to cut the cabbage, carrots and other condiments that make up food and fruits salad, my mother, the chief chef was busy cooking, and at the same time supervising our work. My mum yelled at us at random, to make us more agile and meticulous in our work. As we were carrying out our as 'fast and furious' as possible, we heard the noise of our dad's Toyota Prado jeep screeching to a stop, as he bade us to come, he opened the boot of the car and ordered us to bring down the fowls he had bought, I think there should be about thirteen in number.
      We stood there transfixed, as we watched our dad like robots. My dad thundered on top of his voice, still commanding us to on-load the fowls, we were surprised, because as a matter of fact we can't even touch a dead one not to talk of a live one, as we don't even eat meats!  My dad, with all qualms of seriousness still ordering us to bring down the fowls, instantaneously, we heard our mother shouting-Nedu!, Junior!, Chisom!!, Chioma!!, "ebe ka umuaka a no?!, Confused on what to do.  There were two evils before us, and we were to choose one, we had to choose the lesser evil, as we ran of to answer our mum, so we've outwitted the devil's call to carry an animal we've never carried all our lives.
       Oh! The work that evening was tedious as we slept late that night. The next day ushered us into the eleventh day  of May, my dad ordered me to wash his ' Toyota Sienna' car- This is the car we use once In a while, on important visits or invitations of our family, and now it is to be used to bring my aunt from the airport, well, ' it is part of ' the welcome'. I said to myself. After I had finished washing the car, my dad zoomed off, ahhh! I heaved a sigh of my. Before I could say 'Jack Robinson' my attention was called again by my mum at the kitchen, I pretended not to hear it, but further persistent calls, saw me responding to her.
After I had rendered some help mediocre enough to be compared to those which my siblings rendered, products were evident- Ranging from traditional dishes of pounded yam with oil bean(Egwusi) and bitter leaf soups, intercontinental dishes of jollof rice, salad and fried rice and appetizer/desserts of fruits salad, chinchin, fruits drinks and so on. Hmm! I heaved a sigh of relief, as I thought it was all over. Nedu!!!, My mum thundered again, it was only then I realized the verisimilitude in this saying this ' it is never over until it is over'. I went to answer my mum, guess what? She told me to get water and mop, and begin to mop the house from upstairs to downstairs, I was perplexed, because if I moped the house, that would be the fourth in just two days-well, ' it is part of the welcome'- I said, as I went about the moping.
      However, in less than three hours, we heard the horn of our dad's car consistently without stoppage or breakage, so I ran to open the gate, as there was a loud cheering in the house and hullabaloo coming from every angle of the house, our dogs- Bullet and Whisky , contributing their own quota of the cheer through their barks, as I opened the gate, what I saw  marvelled me, firstly, all the car's indicators were blinking, then the handle of the doors were decorated with ribbons and balloons, as if it was to be used for a wedding ceremony, the car moving in so slowly as the way the convoy the president motions. Alas, after it's parade it came to a halt, as I ran to open the back door where my aunt was balancing. I gave her a huge and passionate hug after which she pecked me at both cheeks, and I rushed to carry her luggages as my siblings went to greet her in turns. For me, this is one of the biggest 'kitchen sink' celebration that occurred this year, in our abode.
      The twelfth day of May, saw myself doing the most meagre chore in the house as my siblings were getting the dishes of the prior day clean. As a matter of fact, about twenty-four hours from then I would be preparing to go back to seminary as our mid- term break was over, hoping to receive ' the welcome' like that of my aunt. I got my school uniforms ironed, my foot wears cleaned and my bags arranged with ' goodies' bought for me by my mum, dad and aunt,I arranged my luggage to be in a state of infallibility and impeccability, getting myself prepared to be welcomed massively by the Jss3 and Ss3 students, who are at school preparing for their upcoming exams. By 8.47pm, that night I landed on my bed, already over throned by the god of Morpheus.
I entered a three seater bus,white and yellow in colour, it really looked like a new one, that's if it's not. It manifested it's newness in it's swiftness and smoothness of motion. It finally came to a halt at an erected  space bearing a placard, on it written "seminary bus stop". I exited from the bus, looked at myself again of the seminary, navy- blueish in colour.
       I shuddered as I saw the avenue leading from the main gate beautified with red and white ribbons magnified with reddish balloons having a resemblance as to the colour of the valentine's day, characterized by red and white having an underlying expression of love. I moved through the avenue seeming yo be counting my steps as I walked, still baffled at the paradise- like environs.
Before I knew it, I saw three seniors in Ss3 coming towards me, all putting on an angelic smile, I think I could fathom the tall guy, who's slim and fair in complexion Tobe the guy popularly called 'Melchy', then his two friends, the chubby one, I think he's been called Zi...Dela and the third, I think his features are ambiguous as I don't think his name is "Chinedu'. All came, as they gave me a warm hug, bade me welcome as they carried my luggages, leading me to the school cafeteria, where ' the welcome' ceremony for the students was taking place as they returned from their mid-  term break. As I entered the cafeteria, it was beautifully decorated, it was arranged in such a way that a table is surrounded with four seats as if having a get-together, as the order was a cocktail celebration. I was directed to a seat by a senior In the final year, I think he is usually called 'Ema...co' by his colleagues. He signaled me to come as he gave a small plate to go ahead to take what I wanted in little quantities as done in a ' cocktail'. As I was about to take some chops, there was a rough tap on my leg, which brought me out of ' world of forms' to the world of reality- It was my mum, as she was sorry to have interrupted my delusions of grandeur. " Are you not going back to school today?" She asked as I jumped out of my bed, and dashed into the bathroom, bathing as slow as ever still ruminating over the sweet ' mid- summer night's dream' wanting to evolve back into it.
      Having wasted a lot of time at home, thinking of how my school would receive us back from our mid- term break, contemplating how superb it would be, like that of my aunt? Or like of mine?
Coincidentally, I found myself in thesame bus I had entered in my dream- quite convinced that this wasn't a deja Vu, it's pace was as smooth as that of my dream's. I got to the bus stop of my school at about 4:42pm, hoping to see the decorations I had seen in my dream, but nothing. I hurried to the avenue of the main gate, nothing, everywhere was ' dry', still piercing forward through my vision to see if I  could catch a glimpse of any decorated space, but couldn't find any. I had a flash back to my dream to remember the route the seniors took as we went to the cafeteria... It was only then I recalled that my school had no cafeteria. Still trying to fathom something positive about the situation, I felt a tap at my back, " A very warm welcome to you"- said the deputy senior prefect. " Well you arrived late, as you are expected to be in school before 4'o clock, he further said as he penned down my name in his book, it was only then I came out of ideality to face reality- remembering the heavy punishments late- comers do undergo, I shrugged as I continued to move towards the dormitory, as I came closer, I saw the students already gathered for the roll call by 4pm, still pouring some blames on myself for allowing myself to be engulfed by the world of fantasy, I heard my name on the assembling space as I rushed to the spot, only to be ordered by the first auxiliary to knell down stairs that I can  walloped, but before then he bade me ' a welcome' back. ' Why sir?', I asked d in a fearful thrill. " You left your article of clothing outside before you left for your break", he thundered, I knelt down like a lamb to be sacrificed as I saw six strokes of the cane taking their rest on my buttocks- Finally, I was totally out of ideality to face reality, as I await other punishments for my late home- coming signaling me ' a welcome'.