𝑬𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝑻𝒐 𝒀𝑯𝑾𝑯

𝑿𝑿𝑰𝑰𝑰

The sky appeared dark and gloomy above, birds were retreating for a warm place to find cover meanwhile I was putting on my socks getting ready for a sad day of school. I turned to look through my window where I would've seen Kenneth sitting on the rail probably thinking about something but he wasn't there. And I felt like I had lost a really important person which didn't make sense to me.

I didn't know him for long. It was just teenage hormones or maybe the lack of attention I wasn't receiving made me want a distraction. The words Kenneth said from the first day we met came to mind. You don't remember me? I suddenly fought with my memory in order to recollect knowing him but nothing came up.

Why was I so moody about him anyways? I should be focusing on the dark cloud around my house, and not the literal one. I did my best to be there for Lael so she wouldn't risk having negative thoughts. My sister was the version of what my heart yearned to be underneath all my pretense—a naive girl who wanted everything to be right with the world. That just wasn't our story. My family was doomed to end like this, father was not a good father.

He was a man whom I had to walk on eggshells with because I didn't know when his mind was clear or not. He was a man who beat his wife. He was a man who brought heartbreak to us. He even got a woman pregnant, although we never got to see the woman or get to the matter after taking a break from this all.

Mom and dad are divorced.

I should be rejoicing but I felt so lost. In the end… I guess. I thought God would make our family whole again. What is your plan for us, I thought. Your plan for me.

“Hurry up! I'm going to be late for my meeting.” Mrs Adebayo shouted at Ewatomi who struggled to get her school bag on her shoulders. “Is your umbrella with you?”

Ewatomi shook her head. “Go get it. Fast fast, we're behind, plus traffic Tomi.”

I never get to see the man whom Kenneth disliked the most. In fact I was so focused on myself that I never got to know his own problems too.

Downstairs mom was just about closing our lunch box. Lael sat on the couch staring at where the family photo used to hang. The empty spot left a pit in my stomach. “Ready to go?” Mom asked.

I wasn't. Far from it. “Yes mom.”

“No.” Lael said.

“Ify—”

“It's not fair! It's not fair mom! You guys never think about how we would feel. We're just children. I wish I never came into this world,” Lael threw her school bag to the corner. “Dad was going to come around. He was. Why couldn't I have had a happy family? We don't deserve this. I hate this life!” She yelled before stomping away, crying.

Mom too had tears in her eyes. “I don't know what to do,” her words came out in her whisper. She felt so defeated.

I wanted to be away from the house so I told mom that I would pick a bus to school. Lael would eventually come around to the idea. I wondered if Ike knows about this recent development and promised myself to call him when I could.