🇳 🇴 🇷 🇦

~CHAPTER TWO~

    I woke up as early as 5am to prepare myself and my siblings for school. I prepared breakfast for my siblings to eat that morning and  lunch to take to school for recess. My dad being the superintendent of a popular newspaper coporation, leaves for work as early as 5:30am. The duty I performed now is more cumbersome than before, all because I took up the duty of being a mother to my family, I had to get my junior ones ready for school and most especially prepare Ekina who was to be dropped at a daycare.
"Yuki and Oghosa get up! Get ready for school now!" I yelled at them as I entered their room.
"Ooh!" Osayuki said drowsily.
"Get up!" I said as I slapped Oghosa's butt who was yawning.
"I don't want to go to school, the Christmas holiday wasn't enough." Oghosa lamented as he stood up slothfully from his bed.
"You are just being lazy. The two of you must be ready before 6:30am." I said and left their room.

      ❇️          ❇️        ❇️

   I did all I had to do and was ready to go but, the boys had not come down. I stood at the base of the stairs   and shouted their names.
"What's going on?" I  said aloud to my self.  I carried my baby sister in my right arm,  I gazed up the stairs as if I was expecting  a prince charming, not in this case my brothers are not prince's and we were not from a royal family, comparing them with a Prince, there is a lot of disparity. A prince is courteous but my brother's are the opposite.
   Shortly after, Yuki raced down the stairs with Oghosa behind. Standing for a long time, waiting for two young boys made me agitated.
"You are ten minutes late." I told them.
"It's  not our fault."Oghosa  said.
"It's the nonsense tie I was trying to knot that made me late." Osayuki complained.
"I  am not ready to scold the both of you yet, your breakfasts are on the table. I will be waiting outside the house, your school bus will soon be here, so hurry!" I said as I walked out of the house with Ekina carried with my right hand and my school bag and her bag hanged on my left shoulder. I checked my wristwatch, it was 7:15am. I wondered how I was able to accomplish a lot in time.

️       ❇️              ❇️             ❇️

    It was a Friday evening.  I walked into the sitting room and saw my dad sitting on the recliner watching the nine o'clock news.
"Good evening dad."  I greeted.
"Where have you been?" he asked with his eyes glued to the TV.
"In the library, reading. Have you been around since?" I said as I  leaned on the couch.
"I came home an hour and thirty minutes ago," he said. "What  are you up to?"
"I  want to make coffee."
"Don't worry about that, I made enough coffee."
"Thank  you Dad."
"I  knew you will need it, that's why I made enough, as I made for myself."
I hugged him.  "I love you Dad."
"I love you too," he said as he kissed my cheek. "but  don't get addicted to coffee, it has a side effect." he warned.
"okay."
"Nora , you and I need to talk. Go and get your coffee first."
"Alright"  I quickly went to the kitchen and poured the coffee that  was kept in an insulated flask into a mug, I went to the sitting room and  sat next to my dad.
"How was school today?"  he asked me.
"Fine." I said as I blew on my steamy coffee.
"Are you sure?" he reduced the volume of the TV so we could have a good conversation.
"Yes." I said with a faux smile.
    School was not fine today, I knew that well, all because of Mr Dimeji, a Junior secondary school Basic Technology teacher in my school who told me to wash the school toilet for coming late.
"Your teacher called,"

Ha! He told him?  Could it be that Mr Dimeji told him? What a nosy man he is.

I thought.

"He said you normally come late to school and not only that, you also sleep in class. Is that true?"
"Yes  daddy, it just happened only twice and that is because I go to bed late." I said truthfully and not my lips nervously.
"Is that not because of the baby?"
"Some kind of."
"What do you mean by some kind of?"
"I  am sorry. Daddy please I don't want you to employ a nanny for her, she is still very young that is why I am making all this  sacrifices."
"It's affecting you and your studies, especially now that you're preparing for UTME and WASSCE "
"I  know. I am  taking a risk."
"No  dear, I know you are caring, but you shouldn't do it to your own detriment."
"Laho papa ( meaning pls daddy) " I said in my Edo native dialect. My dad laughed because of the way I said it.
"I know I am not good in Edo language but I am trying." I said and laughed at myself.
"You  are good my dear, just keep on speaking you will be perfect. So what are your thought concerning the nanny issue?"
"I  still remain adamant. My brothers are even against it."
"Let  me tell you, whatever happens you will have yourself to blame."
"Nothing  bad will happen daddy. Trust me daddy.  Definitely nothing. I am tired can I go now?"
"You  may. Sweet dreams, remember to say a prayer before going to bed." he said as he increased the volume of the TV.
"I love you dad."
"I love you too honey."