Just do it √

Three

         I had just broken the seventh plate in two weeks. 'Not again!' I heard mom say as she made her way to the kitchen, she had to be angry, I would be if I were in her shoes even though they clearly wouldn't fit me. Her toes are just too massive they scare me.

'What is wrong with you?' She said, her voice sounding tired.
'I'm sorry. The plates are too slippery, why don't you get steel ones?' I said and made that puppy eyes I had noticed always melted her. She breathed out loudly.

'That was the fifth one.'
'The seventh actually. I threw the pieces of the others across the fence so you wouldn't find out.'
'You did... People live there you know'.
'Oops'. We both laughed.

'That reminds me. We need to talk about school '.
'Okay'.
'Ayo. Due to the nature of my job I won't be able to monitor you and aid in your studies so I've decided to enrol you in a boarding school'.

'Boarding school?! And the name is Aramide not Ayo, only Alade calls me that, besides I told you to just call me Amanda'. Again she smiled.
'Okay Amanda. I do not want you to be out of my sight but what can I do? Sometimes I might get home very late and leave very early, I might not be able to give you full attention that's why I'm sending you to a place where you'll be properly taken care of'. 

'Okay mom'. She grinned from ear to ear and hugged me. She was a medical doctor so I could understand. She had managed to see herself through school after she left Alade's house. I was scared, many stories were told about the boarding house, stories like; miss koikoi , sugar baby etc but I trusted her. If it was bad, mom wouldn't let me go there.

         The city we lived in was very peaceful and beautiful unlike Lagos which was like a jungle. Mom called it the people's paradise. She said it had its ghetto areas and she had lived there before. I didn't ask how she got to this place or how she saw herself through school, I didn't want to open up old wounds.

I now wore sleeveless, trouser and shirts instead of my usual Mary-amaka gowns. Mom said I had developed muscles within the years so she prevented me from doing any serious chores. I started adding weight.

I didn't have any friends so I never left the house except when going to buy stuffs with mom or when going to church.

She got back from work one day with a lady quite older than her and a girl of about my age.  Their resemblance made their blood relationship obvious but unlike her mother,the girl was plump. I couldn't help but imagine myself being that way after a year if mom continued pampering me the way she was doing now.

Mother and daughter were darkness personified with shiny white teeth. I greeted the lady.

'My dear. Bawo ni?' She asked in Yoruba.
'A dupe'. I replied with a smile.
'Your mother has told me a lot about you, I was curious so I came to see you. Where is that girl? Abike come and say hello to Amanda'. Her daughter came forward sluggishly.
'Hello. Nice meeting you'. She said. Her mom gave her that unimpressed look.
'You girls carry on'. The lady said and went to sit with my mom.

'Can we go to your room?' Abike asked and I obliged. Immediately we got to my room she landed on the bed and heaved a sigh of relief. I was scared she might have broken something.

'Are you OK?' I had to ask.
'Yeah. Mom won't let me speak freely if she's around, you know how they can be'.
'I can relate'. I said and we both laughed.
'I owe you. Because of you I got to leave that boring house'. She said.
'Oh don't mention. I finally have someone to talk to aside mom'. I assured her.
'When did you arrive town?'
'20days ago'.
'You've been counting?'
'Sort of, subconsciously'.
'Mom said you'll be joining our school, true?' She asked.