Replica: Crazy Versus Smart (Nigerian Story)

Chapter 14: The Past

"Grace!" Susanne panicked out of words and thoughts. Her sweaty hand grabbed her head as she leaned into a tree trunk. Some ants climbing it stung her neck, and she jolted away from it in an instant. Scratching her neck and legs. Yanking from the spot, her head twirled in circles.

"Grace! Where are you?" she screamed desperately and repeatedly. Despite the terror of standing amidst such a thick wall of trees, Susanne found it hard to believe Grace would die such a lonesome death. It scared her to the point of breaking down. Her nose watered faster than her eyes. More painful tears clouded Susanne's eyes, her mind pestered by the second.

Susanne sniffed. Wiped off her scrunched face and cursed beneath a frightened breath. "Gosh! I can't believe that all my efforts have gone to waste! How can you leave me behind in this phase of my life? Uh?"

From behind, Grace approached her. Her eyes were bloodshot and her face was puffy. Hearing the approaching scrunch of dried leaves, Suzanne froze in place. "You don't have to worry yourself so much about me, Susanne." Her raspy voice uttered.

Gently, Susanne turned her back in a blink. A sigh of relief heaved out of her while she hurried to Grace in a firm hug. Dearest sis!" Susanne wrapped her arms around Grace, who was just numb. She didn't react to the unexpected cuddle. Susanne bent over her shoulder and gently pulled out of the embrace. "You didn't commit suicide? What a relief!"

"I didn't have the nerve to do such."

"No matter what happens to you, I would support you." Susanne's calming voice gave solace. Somehow, she listened. "No harm shall fall before you as long as I am alive! Can you stop thinking about your past and move on? Please, if not for my sake, then for your sake."

Grace's eyes finally blinked. Her honey-brown pupil fluttered towards Susanne. "Do you love me that much?" She pulled from Susanne's grip. Her slim eyebrows contorted while reading the flushed expression in her sister's eyes. "We didn't grow up together. We don't know each other, so please stop being protective of me. It's been twenty-three tears now. I grew up with no one to call a father, or a mother, let alone a sister. I've been as good as dead since the day I took my first breath. In the orphanage, I watched other children being adopted yet, no one came for me. I spent hungry days and hungry nights. No one cared about me, even at the orphanage. You showed up overnight and you expect me to regard you as what? A guardian angel? You have no responsibility for saving my life, so please, let me be. And can you stop calling me sister? It's creepy."

"Grace." Susan nodded, her eyes filled with tears and her mind loaded with guilt. "I know you've suffered a lot over the years. I have zero idea of what you've been through, but our mum has been through hell as well."

Grace shut her eyes, picturing how her mother would be now. The hanging tears pooled down as she held on to her shaky breaths. "Hell? What does that even mean? For 23 years, she never looked for me. She must think that I'm dead now." One brow raised beneath her sore eyes as she gasped. "So I have a mother?"

There was an inexplicable pause, and an ache in her heart caused by Grace's words.

"I always thought that I didn't have a mother. I can't believe she abandoned me. In my early years at Josephine's catholic Orphanage, when I asked the sisters about how I came there, they informed me that someone had left me naked at the gates of the orphanage. Whether it was during the day or night. Whether it was hot, cold, or snowy. She abandoned me naked. Who in their right mind would do that to their newborn child? Now, I finally understand what it feels like to be relinquished. All this while, I believed I was cursed because no one ever loved or accepted me. All I received was hate and more hate. After all, I was left to die. It's evident, our parents chose you over me. Our parents chose you over me, showing that you were cherished while I was abandoned. What parent choose between their kids?"

"Don't say that, Grace. I love you. I genuinely love you, as I love myself. Mum kept you a secret. I don't know why. That photograph I left on the table for you last night was something I saw in an old album 3 months ago, and I started an investigation. There is a dark story to us, Grace." Susanne muttered in a soothing tone.

"Mum has been fighting with a strange heart disease since her birth. Our parents fed from hand to mouth after they had us. 2 months and you were still admitted to the hospital. Our parents could barely feed us, let alone feed us. As a baby, you cried all day and night because of the pain. That resulted in infiltrating you with a sleeping injection. In desperation, Dad took you to the orphanage at Port Harcourt. With the hope that an affluent family will adopt you and give you a life with living. We are originally Yoruba from Isolo, Lagos State."

"All my life, I've been an orphan, so just let me be, please!" she veered around and walked out on Susanne.

"Grace!" Susanne yelled, watching her sister run to only God knows where. Her breath shortened as she whispered. "No matter the condition I'm faced with, I'll find a way to save you."

A week later, the sisters visited the orphanage at Port Harcourt. Grace checked on the kids while Susanne strolled into an office. Watching the shelves of books, she couldn't help but imagine what they were. Records of the children they've registered so far and some holy books she probably never came across. Susanne wasn't a religious person, but the shelves invited her. As she sprayed her fingers across the books, her finger pinched out one particular book. It was an album. Susanne settled on a comfy chair, slipping through its pages.

"Grace, my dear. Glad to have you here again." An elderly woman dressed in stepped in a plain, dusty rose-colored church suit. Her youthful gaze and smile reveal her esteemed vulnerability. Despite her age and grey full hair, her chubbiness was one to wish for. "I didn't recognize you just now. You look so pretty today! I bet you've met a rich guy to settle down with. Or... Are you married?" The lady questioned, walking to her table and arranging the books scattered on it. The hanging rosary on her neck fitted her well. She also had another twist around her wrist. "I bet not." She replied with just a glimpse of Susanne, who concealed her joyful expression with a hidden smile. She gazed at her as if it was the first time of seen a Catholic Nun. Yet, she wondered how close she was to discussing such matters with Grace.

"I just can't wait for your wedding," she muttered and recited a prayer before taking her seat. You look perplexed. Is everything alright?"

"I'm sorry, Sister. I'm not Grace." Susanne explained to herself. "You can call me Susanne Balogun. I'm Grace's twin sister."

"Oh, God!" Her right hand rested on her bosom as if attacked. "Where's Grace?"

"She's somewhere around, ma. I guess she missed the kids even more. We visited together. You have a lovely office, by the way." Susanne confessed with her unsettled, curious eyes. Her phone suddenly vibrated. She scrolled through and her face flushed as if being whacked hard against the face.

"Ah! Thanks so much, Susannah."

"It's Susanne."

"Oh, pardon me, my dear. There must have been something in her expression." She continued laughing. "You are so identical. I can't tell the difference. I'm Sr. Beatrice Okafor, the director I this orphanage. Anyway, it's nice to have you." She paused with a genuine smile. "Would you like something to eat or drink?"

"No, not at all." Susanne closed the album in front of her. She stood up and walked to the lady's table.

The expression shifted from a dead smile to a frown. Her forehead held wrinkles and the lining of her rumpled, chocolate skin became visible. "But it's your first time here. I hope you both will stay for the evening mass at 5:30," Sister Beatrice persuaded.

"No. On the contrary. I'd like to leave right now." Calm, Susanne scribbled some words into a sheet of paper and handed it to Sister Beatrice. "Please, hand this to Grace. I know she would be here in no time."

***

Author's Note

Hello beautiful readers. I trust your week started with a friendly note. If not, keep calm and read on. Anyway, I will bring to your notice that you've read 20,000+ words so far. Who is your favorite character so far and why? I know nothing excites me more than taking a character's life. Don't worry, I won't kill any character in this novel. Not if there's a need. Anyway, thanks so much for the support so far, and stay tuned for a more yummy update.