Chapter One: FROM THE BEGINNING
[i]

Something in the atmosphere seemed different as I turned my head towards the bedside locker where my alarm clock stood in its doggy glory. It was a dog design that barks when the desired time strikes. It was yellow and it went well with color of my room, but there was no electronic bark. Something had stirred me from my deep thought and it seemed to have stopped. I looked around the room but there was nothing so I closed my eyes.

My room was a light green colored shade with the window-shades in dark green and pink butterflies, which my mum thought was a ridiculous pattern. I had fallen in love with it but I didn’t know it was supposed to end up on my windows. The sound came again and I opened my eyes slowly. I was going in out of sleep and it seemed that something in my head was trying to make me stay awake, I knew what it was.

Oh dear Jesus! Is that rain? I sat up with a start. I had been drifting off to sleep again when the flash of lightening ran across the sky outside my window. My slippers were not at the side of the bed where I had left them. I knew what had happened to them so I didn’t bother waiting to look for them. I adjusted my tee shirt and scrambled out of bed and waddled to the window. The opening of the window revealed my suspicion; it was raining. A little sound came from beside me and I looked down. It was Ginger.

“Maybe it is a good sign, Ginger.” The reply was a funny yelp. I looked down again at the Cain-Terrier and saw why I didn’t get my affirmative bark. Ginger had her tails between her legs and was dragging her back-end on the floor.

“Oops…hold on…”

I ran to the door and opened it and Ginger ran out in a flash. Her movement was so funny that I laughed as I went after her. As I stepped out into the landing I smelt a hint of something funny in the air. My nostrils twitched as I sniffed in the offending scent. I knew where it was coming from; my twin sister’s room. I wondered what horrid item she had dragged up to her room this time. Jakelyn or Jackie as she preferred to be called, always had a thing for collecting junk. She wanted to be the first American born Nigerian teen female to invent something awesome; she had said. I would call her inventions a pile of junk but she’d rather like them to be called mock-ups. She once built a mini helicopter that was the size of our kitchen counter out of an old car and bicycle parts. It was a big distraction out in the yard for weeks but mum finally had to sentence it back to the junk yard.  Jake however thought it was a great invention for a sixteen year old with no real friends. Jackie hated it whenever he said that but she knew he was right.

Jakelyn, Jake and I had everything that was physically identical as most triplets would have but that was it. We were different in everything else; Jake was crazy about basket ball and Jakelyn was a freak. I was the only decent one among us because I did everything a young seventeen year old should do. I went shopping for dresses, I liked cute boys, I hated laundry and I absolutely hated soccer and I liked being serious with my studies as long as I remain popular and above all, I carry my Christianity as a trophy everywhere I went. I was the perfect little Christian ever, well, so people say anyway, but I wasn’t always this proper.

Anyway, Jakelyn, Jake and I (Oh, I’m Jocelyn by the way) were always at logger heads at everything. Jake, as the only guy always claimed he should have the upper hand as he was our man. He came out of mum just after me, and Jakelyn came a few minutes after him. Mummy practically freaked out, well, so dad said anyway. Even everyone in the church thought it was a miracle; the scan had showed a single fetus. How a fetus could turn into three bundle of miracles, remained the best miracle to happen to the Alades.

Jake was a dashing young man. He looked older than a normal seventeen year old boy and from the day he got his first stretch of facial hair, he wouldn’t stop puffing out his chest. He was always to talk in the meeting at church and always wanted to have the final say. Jakelyn was tall, lanky and had this boyish gait about her. She never liked doing anything girly even as a child and she was always the one to do the Joseph. We looked so much alike except for my long flowing hair and her short boyish one. Oh yes, there was a mark behind my left ear, what I call my beauty spot.

“Hey, big sis!” Jake said as he came out of his room in his favorite basket ball tee and his afro-comb in his hair. I didn’t even pause to taunt him about his ridiculous habit of putting comb in his hair, but that retort had set me off. I saw red, I hated him calling me the big sister and he knew it.

I was just a few seconds older than him after all so how dare he call me old? He started pulling me before I could say anything. I wanted to yell for mum to come warn him for the umpteenth time that day, but all I could say was, “Jake!! Leave me be!”

A door opened and we both held our breath as we knew what would follow. Now I could smell the foul scent very strongly in spite of my clenched nostrils. The smell was like opening a can of expired pickles, yes, it was that bad. The culprit came into view, and as always she was a mess. She had her big goggles on. She had a t-shirt that she borrowed from daddy when he weighed 290 pounds on her.  She had red, puffy eyes and her hair was. Hhmmm….

“Peace y’all! What are you guys standing around for?” she asked. Jake walked towards her with his fingers still holding his nose; he peered over her shoulder to look into the open room. It looked like a male rugby team locker room after game day and smelt even worse.

Her bed wasn’t visible, she had piled a heap of clothes on it and most of them weren’t clean. Her chair had a dismantled plane on it with a soiled towel thrown over it. The table was a little bit in order, for a mad scientist having a bad day. Shoes were strewn all over the room; canvas, sneakers, and sandals and even used up socks. But her Bible laid solely on her bedside locker with a ruler sticking out of it.

“It is time we build you a shed outside,” Jake said as he walked into the room.

I moved closer to stand beside Jackie at the entrance as I couldn’t bring myself to go any further. Ginger pranced up to us and stared at Jakelyn from head to toes; she gave a whimper and rolled over. I laughed, She probably thought Jakelyn was a mess too.

“Thanks for the compliment, Ginger,” Jakelyn said as she bent down to rub Ginger’s belly with her smudged hand. The dog gave a yelp and jumped up before Jakelyn could make any more stain on her fur. This action sent Jakelyn off and she fell. Ginger snarled and ran off.

I stood there laughing and shaking my head. My sister was furious by the time she stood up, she pointed a finger at me and I shook my head. Jake emerged from Jakelyn's room holding something that looked like a towel in his hands.

“Jackie, is this mine?” He held the offending item up to Jakelyn’s face. Jakelyn snatched it out of his hands and backed away, towards the stairs.

“Was that…was that your Angels-rock towel…no way,” I said and stared at Jakelyn.

“I saw it in the garage. Ginger was…”

“Do not put it on Ginger, Jackie, that’s so wrong,” I rebuked.

“Oh, you are so dead, I will… ” Jake said. He loved his towel; no one went near his towel. He didn’t put the thing on with the other laundry for mum to do, he always washed the thing himself. I wondered why he hadn’t sensed that it was missing though.

Jakelyn made off before Jake could finish the sentence. The ragged bone of contention was flying in the air. I shook my head and gently closed Jakelyn’s door careful not to leave any scent on myself and walked back to my room. I lowered myself into the chair by my reading table and leaned back. 

I should call Sharon and cancel, I thought. The rain seemed like it was going to go on for hours so the night was ruined. Sharon and I had planned to go and see an animated chic-flick. Well, maybe it could wait. We wouldn’t want to be caught watching cartoons at seventeen. I was sure Jakelyn wouldn’t mind that though.

Jake would just use it as a way to preach the gospel to cute girls, that hypocrite and I smiled. I looked around the room, my table was a mess. It seemed Ginger had been on a rampage and I reminded myself not to let her into the room unattended.  She was a puppy not long ago and now had turned into a menace and was a cutie only when it soothed her.

I replaced my awkwardly placed scripture-quotes notepad and my hand knocked over a picture frame. I took it and studied it for a while before replacing it, it was the Alade family photo. Our childhood was exciting and full of memories. Some of which were ugly, some were sad but most were happy. The day dad died was a horrible memory that added to my withdrawal on a lot of things, some of which were singing in the choir and dancing.

Interesting read, shoefreak.

Indeed love can only overflow from us when we truly love and appreciate who and what we are.
Afterall it says - love your neighbour as yourself - an indicative that we have to first love ourselves.

Well done.

PrettySpicey: Interesting read, shoefreak.

Indeed love can only overflow from us when we truly love and appreciate who and what we are.
Afterall it says - love your neighbour as yourself - an indicative that we have to first love ourselves.

Well done.

Thank you dear.

Chapter Two: THE DAD MEMORY

Dad was from Osun state, Nigeria. His parents had left Nigeria when he was eight and he never returned until when he turned 24. He had fallen in love with his country at that time. He had stayed on for a few years working on his church-charity NGO. He had been rooted there for a long time till she met mum through an outreach Christian volunteering e-forum. After which his sojourn out of the country started again.

Dad took up a job as a choreographer for a popular Christian rock band. We had fun doing all the moves on the videos of this band, and we had a lot of memories of such wonderful time we spent with our awesome dad.

We were born to a Christian home where society was viewed as rocking and Jesus was our anchor. Everything we did was for the church and charity but we also maintained a societal acceptance level that was awesome. People were often shocked when we tell them we were Christians. We did everything in steps with our faith, but still lived a life of tolerance of others around us. Dad always taught us that the friendly we are towards other people, the easier it gets to bring more to His kingdom.

Dad’s death was a big shock but it was the kind that left reactions that were unexpected. Mummy didn’t cry, Jake didn’t come out of his room for days, Jakelyn turned to crashing things and I… well, I didn’t do anything. We were ten and we didn’t really understand what grief was. It was like a delayed action on my part though.

It was like it was erased from my mind. I never thought about it past the day of the funeral. It was too painful for me to think about so I just blocked it out; it was easier that way for me. But then, two years later, I built a wall length shelf full of my collectibles of that period; damaged dolls, torn story books, and stamps. So I guess my subconscious actually grieved without letting my mind know.

I stared back at the picture and sighed, maybe I should write a memoir. My family had come a long way since I was eight and fatherless. Memoirs at seventeen seemed a bit like I was getting ahead of myself. But I remembered Jakelyn and me with our little blue diary. It was a gift from daddy when we turned nine. He wanted us to write all the little kisses we get. We wrote everything in that little book. We jotted down our first kisses, it was one boy that we both liked that mistook us for one person. We wrote about our fears and fantasies and our little fights and the promise to never let it come between us.  Jakelyn and I decided to put it in dad’s coffin. We thought it would remind him of us and we wouldn’t have to miss him that much or to wonder whether he was thinking of us.

I didn’t want to write it. I wanted each day to be documented in happy notes and cute symbols, hopefully. I didn’t want to keep a diary though. I lost the urge for it with dad gone but at the moment it felt like it was a good thing to do.

I adjusted the table lamp in a way that it would beam light onto my blue sketchpad. I wanted my emotions to flow into it. The PC would be too robotic and distant and devoid of heart. I wanted warmth. I wanted much more than a few written words so I decided that writing in colored pens was much more appealing. They were not where they were supposed to be, no thanks to Ginger again. I got up and went searching for them, found the little park behind the vanity chase amongst other things, one of which was my slippers. I picked up the small pack of pen and slipped the slippers on and went back to my seat.

I cracked my fingers and picked up the green pen. I paused and stared at the blank paper after I opened the sketchpad, all I saw was white then it all exploded in my head. Everything became chaotic in my head, they were all there but I needed order. It was coming in a wave that left me confused for a moment.

I decided to go ten years before. Then I hesitated again but the optimist in me encouraged me to do it. I dropped my green pen and looked up at the ceiling. I heard scratches and whimpers and knew it was Ginger trying to get in. I got up and opened the door. She gave me a queried look then jumped into bed and stretched out. I smiled and went back to the table and stared down as I stood with arms akimbo. My gaze went to do the photo frame again.

Jakelyn was smiling from ear to ear. She had a bandana on her head and a pretty shirt I had forced her to wear. Jake stood rigid in the middle grinning through his teeth. I had an arm around his neck as I blew a kiss at the camera. Dad and mum sat facing each other, it was as if they were lost in each other’s gaze.

Something inside me rose, I felt longing, I wanted that. I wanted a life filled with peace and love. I wanted an adult life that was fun and filled with happiness. I didn’t have to carry my unsure childhood or freaky teenage years to my adult life. I had the desire to shed it. I decided to take it all out and put it somewhere reachable. I wanted a place of memories where I could relieve it without feeling pain or guilt. I picked up my pen and wrote a few words and then…

I heard mummy scream and called Jakelyn. I suspected that she had eventually seen the mess in Jakelyn’s room. I went out of my room into the little room we keep dirty and unused clothing. Mummy was furious. She had dirty clothes over one shoulder and a smelly sneaker in the other hand.

“Good night mummy,” I said and hugged her. Mummy smiled and kissed me on the cheek. Jakelyn rolled her eyes and waved. Mummy snickered and went down the stairs. I went back into my room to resume writing. I had only written a sentence when my door opened.

“What are you doing?” Jakelyn asked as she walked into my room. She looked much more presentable and rested. She had taken her bath and worn her pajama. She looked like half of me. She went and lay on my bed. Ginger opened an eye and sighed but went back to sleep. Jakelyn placed her hands behind her head and closed her eyes.

“I smell mint. Why does your room always smell of mint?” She asked and sniffed, eyes still closed.

“I love mint, Jakie.”

“Yeah right. Yeah, just like I love to be a Ballet dancer. Sis, the last time you liked vanilla,” Jakelyn replied.

I shook my head and ignored her. She was right though. I always had too many things going. I needed to stick to one thing but maybe I liked both. Vanilla was playful and mint was peaceful. I heard snores. Jakelyn had slept off. I walked up to her and shook her.

“A prayer, if you may, your awesomeness,” I smiled at the tired brown eyes staring up at me. She held my hand and we said our prayers. After-which she turned on her side and yawned loudly. “Bless you, my precious,” I mouthed as I walked back to my seat. I always wondered where that horrible sound always came from in that small body of hers. I stared at her for a while. I loved my sister. I loved my brother. They were both everything to me and not just happy childhood memories. They were an important part of me.

“Is Jakelyn…?” Jake entered and stopped. He whispered good night and retraced his footsteps. Ginger by now was getting pissed with the interruptions of her beauty sleep. She hopped off the bed and walked out. I knew she would make for mummy’s room as it was the better sanctuary for a good night sleep.

I opened my bible and wrote down the first verse I saw, “you will have all you want to eat. then you will praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you,” Deut. 8:10 and that was a good place to start, the rain continued in earnest.

Chapter Three: PARK FULL OF COLORS

I grew up on a quiet street in a suburb town somewhere in Tennessee where everyone made it their duties to be in each other's business. The street was a very busy and fun street. It held a lot of happy memories for me. If I must say, growing up was made even easier on my street.

We were not rich but we never lacked all the toys we wanted and always had enough food to eat, "The Lord provides for his own," my dad always said. We lived in an apartment building that had a beauty shop and a pet store in it. I so wanted to have a cat back then but Jackie was allergic.

Dad always teased her about her getting all her 'oyinbo' traits from mummy. He said the only allergy he ever had was a wet mouth anytime he saw raspberry pancakes. Yeah, my dad was a very funny adult. Mummy would call him a 'dream made in sniffles.' Oh, how he loved that tease.

My favorite part of the neighborhood was the park. It was always a fun destination where I always had the best attention due to my knack for inventing games to play. It was where I met Ronald Lavine Pierce


I paused from my writing to enjoy a moment in my head. Now, Roman was a memory that required a pause. He hated coming to the park at first. He would sit on a log and talk to himself. He was my first boyfriend, well, our first boyfriend. He was a lanky little boy that Jake had no liking for. They were always fighting over stuff and territories. I continued writing. 

Most mothers knew me for the games I played with their children whom often were not my friends. To the mothers, I was just trying to be a cool kid but I was only trying to impress Roman. Each time we went to the park, I always wondered which game Roman would find amusing enough to join in. Jackie on the other hand would be creating silly looking crafts she hoped to flaunt in his face.

My games were always after funny things like a diamond -pedestal, ring of fury, save the panda, horse short gallop and so on. My favorite was the horse short gallop. We would lay flat on the grass and push our bottoms up with only our feet and palms on the ground and we would gallop. I always won as I had the longest legs, and I did get Roman's attention eventually.

The park was a rendezvous for all fun lovers in the neighborhood and a gossip meeting zone for mums and an adventure planning meet-up for dads that often came. I lost my best friend to the park but it was the time Roman paid attention to me.

I realized that we attended the same school. Lola Smith was the name of my best friend and she happened to be friends wit Roman too. She was the only none mixed Nigerian there in the neighborhood and her parents were dentists.

On that fateful day, Lola had fallen off one of the ramps and had hit her head on a plank. Roman was sitting close by and had gotten to her before us. We tried to lift her but the three of us couldn't, she had felt so heavy. We later heard that she had died instantly. 

I had shaken her so hard that I thought her neck would break. The park became a no-go zone for a lot of families after that incident. Dad started to take us swimming instead. Jake had a phobia for water and he would only stay at the edge, swinging his legs in the water as he tried to mask his fear. 

He hated swimming and dad didn’t push; he was of the belief that Jake would outgrow his fear of water but Jake didn’t. He still sweats when we visit any beach or if we had to use the bridge. He despised flying over an ocean and he definitely wouldn’t go anywhere near fishing during his boys scout outings. Jake and Lola were in the same music class. They both had a flair for trombone and piano the guy carried his flute around for months.

I found solace in my friends and they are the best ones anyone could have. To me, in all our uniqueness, my tree friends were gifts from God and I treated them as same.


I dropped the pen and said a silent prayer for my friends and started blankly at the wall.

"Sometimes one's enemy can become one's friend," That was Reth, one of my friends. There was always a deep being living inside the girl Sharon would say. Reth always had something s deep as tht to say very often, to Sharon's detriment. I smiled and kept on writing.

Sharon, Reth, Imani and Chris were also my friends. They lived on my street and we also attended the same school. Theye were not there when Lola's accident had happened but we told them. Sharon thought we should hold a flower party for Lola. We collected flowers from each garden and planted them somewhere in the park. Before then we were not very close, in fact I had a dislike for Sharon and her vanity but like Reth would say, one's enemy may become one's friend. We remained the same way from then, and till now.

#following. Please come and update. BTW, Wonderful story. Waiting for more.

Come n update plz

Wow!! Just wow! You're doing great shoefreak. Nice style of writing too.

Thanks dear. I just try. Seems this kind is needed once in a while.

UniqueGem: Wow!! Just wow! You're doing great shoefreak. Nice style of writing too.

Aipete2: Come n update plz

On the way. Thanks for reading.

Anugod: #following. Please come and update. BTW, Wonderful story. Waiting for more.

I appreciate you. Thanks for reading. Only doing my bit to extend my bit in shedding some light on a better transition into adulthood.

Chapter Four: The Diva Amongst Us

Sharon was like me on very many levels. It often left me wondering how we had both started as snubs. I concluded that it was because we had so many things in common so much so that we saw each other as rivals. In actual fact, we were indeed rivals. Sharon was always in the habit of making sure she did something to steal my shine. It was funny but to an eight year old who used to be the Miss's favorite till the freckled blonde came along, she needed to be locked up in her locker. Well, Jakelyn actually helped me with that because I couldn't do it. I always chickened out wondering what Jesus would say if I did it.

Anyway, my similarities with Sharon was far more than the ones I shared with my twin sister. Unlike my sister who was a few inches over me, Sharon and I were of the same height and carried ourselves the same way. It had started as a competition but it had stuck. We always wanted to know who had the best regal pose. We also had the same features and we somehow spoke the same way, like we had something stuck in our throats. We wore our hair the same way, people often wondered who was copying who. But she was a real drama queen while I was just a Christian girl who wanted to make a statement.

I relaxed again and smiled. I felt a yawn coming but I fought it. Jakelyn shifted and sneezed. The snoring had since returned but it wasn't as loud as it started out. I had this strong craving for ice-cream but I knew mum would freak out if she caught me eating in the middle of the night. I glanced at the clock and it indicated that the time was nine. I wondered what Sharon was doing right then. She’d probably be painting her nails or sulking about the weather. I shook off my longing to sneak into the kitchen and resumed my writing. I decided that I'd give it one more hour then I would turn in for the night.

So, Sharon was a genius in the kitchen. I had seen people cooking a storm on TV but when she is a teen, it becomes something very interesting. The girl loved cooking like Mary loved sitting at the feet of the Lord. She would make cookies and cornbreads for our class parties and every little pastries she could whisk up. By the time we were in eighth grade, she had won Junior Top Chef three times in a row. She had always wanted to be an international chef. She wanted to travel the world and learn about different cuisines. But like almost every other parent in the world, Sharon's parents had other plans for her and they always made sure she got the picture. To them , she was going to be an aeronautical engineer and cooking was just a hobby.

“Why can’t you be like Jakelyn or Jocelyn?” they would say. Unknown to them however, my mum would rather we become doctors across borders doing charitable works for the Lord instead of a fashionista and a geek. Anytime her mum taunted her with these kind of talks, Sharon would roll her eyes in disagreement.

One of the things I liked about her was that she would never talk back at her parents, no matter the harness of their tones. Sharon was a social butterfly, it became a part of her to keep a smile on her face even when she was angry or sad. I eventually coped it from her and that she would taunt me about. So, the nickname Sharon-copy stuck with me for a while too.

Sharon organized bake sales and neighborhood lunch parties. It wasn't always very easy especially when I had sunday school classes to attend but she would follow me there just so she could hurry me up to leave early. Her mum was the president of the school PTA and always gave her support in all these charitable events.

"It’s good to keep up your public appearances,” she would say. Her daughter didn’t really understood what she meant but if that was what would make her give her support, then she was up for it and so where we.

Sharon’s dad on the other hand, was always absent from home. He was a construction engineer but he loved his daughter very much. Sometimes it felt like he was just a visiting uncle but we all grew to not seeing him around. Sharon was the only child they both had so things went a little bit on her side most of the time. Her dad spoilt her silly all to my dad’s disapproval but we kept our Alade noses out of their business.

How mum was able to stick to it for a long time remained a mystery knowing her for whom she was. My guess was that she knew better than to interfere in Mrs. De-Boit’s business. When they meet at the park, they would smile at each other and gossip and that would be that. Things went well until a certain Sunday that almost made me loose my friend. It was the day my mum saw something she shouldn't have seen.

Oh please bring it on...

Oboy, see suspense. Biko don't keep a sister hungering for more.
#expecting.

very wonderful...reminds me of glowingscenes...more christain novels should be welcome...

Chapter Five: The Evil In Inkling

It was a sunday morning and we were preparing for church. I already had my cute, flared chiffon knee-length dress with cap sleeves on. I was trying to add a few touches of make up to my face when I heard mum yell out for me.

"I'm almost done, mum. Just a few minutes," I replied as I tried to decide on the shade of lip gloss to use.

"Sharon is here!" Mum answered and I wondered why that was a huge announcement. When did Sharon ever wait to be given permission to come bursting into my room. I was about to yell for her to come upstairs when Jackie dashed in.

"Get up! Something's wrong with Sharon," Jackie said wit a look on her face that I didn't like. Now that got me a bit flustered, Jackie never took anything seriously. And to see the seriousness on her face now, I knew something was really not right.

"Dear Jesus, what's it this time?" I asked as I hurriedly got up and rushed out of the room. Jackie was behind me and even Ginger darted down the stairs in front of us.

"I saw her trying to sneak into the house," Mum said as I got into the sitting room. I looked at the person sitting on the sofa and my heart skipped. Sharon looked like she had been hit by a power-bike.

I paused and my mind went back to that day. She had bruises on her arms, face and knees. Her hair was ruffled and her short dress had stains. I remembered thinking that she had been molested. Knowing Sharon, I wanted to get her out of there without mum interfering until Sharon wanted her to. I resumed writing.

"Sharon, what happened? What happened?" I asked as I pulled her up. I tried to lead her towards the stairs but my mum stopped us. She asked if Sharon's mum knew if she was there. Sharon couldn't get the words out as she was just trying to choke back her tears. I knew mummy was just trying to be an adult but sometimes an adult isn't what a teenage needs.

"Mummy, please. Let her just take her upstairs first," I heard Jackie say and I nodded. Mummy said she was going to call Sharon's mum and Sharon grabbed her arm then. She was almost hysterical.

"Please, she wouldn't understand. Please Mrs. Alade. Please don't call my mum," Sharon pleaded with tears flowing down her face.

"I can't just let you stay here looking like this. Someone has to know what happened," mum insisted. I wanted to tell her to stop and let me talk to Sharon first. Because truth be told, she was beginning to act like a nosy neighbor.

"Mum, can I please talk to you?" it was Jake. He pulled mum towards the kitchen and gestured for us to leave. I grabbed Sharon's arm and we headed up the stairs. Jackie took position at the edge of the stairs to stop mum from coming upstairs.

"Now tell me what happened," I said as Sharon settled into a chair. I handed her a tissue and she wiped her face. She stared at me for a while and then sighed. I could sense that she was trying to convince herself to talk to me. In situations like that she always thought I was too 'Jesus Blinded' to see actual reasons. I wanted to convince her that I understood but Jesus wouldn't be such a bad way to go, even for her.

"Talk to me, Sharon. The bible says..."

"Oh please, no! Don't do that. Not now, please not now," Sharon said as she stood up. She started pacing the room and muttering to herself. Jackie came into the room and whispered that Jake had convince mum to hold out from calling Sharon's mum. But she had insisted that they had to go to church. I could stay but Jake and Jackie couldn't and that was okay by me, Jesus does understand. I nodded and Jackie patted Sharon on the shoulder as she left.

"I'm so sorry but I didn't want your mum to see me like this. And why did you cut down that tree?" Sharon asked and I smiled. It was her usual way into my room, that tree. For someone that wore dresses a lot, I always wondered. I guess there was a tomboy hidden in her somewhere.

"I'm sorry. Sharon, you need to stop and let me help. That's why you are here right," I said and pulled Sharon down to sit on the bed beside me. She sighed and nodded, and then she told me what the problem was.

I changed my pen into red. Nathaniel Inkbury was the pool guy of the Du-Boits. He was 19 and was in college. The boy was a stud and knew it. He also knew everything that was to know about religion and hip hop. We all loved to listen to him talk and he was very funny. Something about him didn't sit right with me but I loved the fact that he could put hip-hop and Jesus in the same sentence and still make sense. But I minded my interaction with him because sometimes he got too physical.
Well, he had tried to molest Sharon.

My initial response was to swear but since it was wrong, I just hit the bed instead. I was furious and wished I could punch him in the face.

"I knew it!! I knew there was something wrong wit that guy. He tried to touch you, that's just wrong..."

Mum burst in and told me to leave the room to meet the others.

"But mum..."

"Jocelyn Alade... do not argue with me. Go and join the others and go to church. I will handle this," Mum said and the stern look on her face stopped me from arguing. I hugged Sharon and grabbed my bible. I trusted my mum but did I trust her opinion on Mrs. Du-Boit and her parenting skills, no.

"Yes, mummy. Sharon, I will see you as soon as we are done. Please relax. He is with you and He understands," I said and walked out.

"Sharon, I heard what you said. Now tell me the details..." I heard mummy said as I closed the door.

She did take care of it and Mrs. Du-Boit almost lost her daughter to child services. Nathaniel was arrested and Sharon didn't go to school for two weeks. Oh and I wasn't allowed to go to the Du-Boit house unless there was an adult around. Sharon learned her lesson and she did get to hold on longer to her virginity. I yawned and dropped my pen. That was enough for the day. I decided to continue the next day. I picked up the book and took it with me to bed. The rain was making soothing noises and I knew it was going to be a good night sleep, thank God.

Am so loving this....quick up abeg

Am so loving this....quick updates abeg

Chapter Six: The Continental Diva

I woke the following morning to the drone of the weed hacker. My initial thought was whether or not Jake was trying to find favor wit mum or Jackie was up to another disastrous invention. What wasn't cool was the disruption of my beauty sleep, I made a mental note to discuss it with them later. I yawned and turn on my side.

It seemed like a good weather and I knew My friends would soon call me. I closed my eyes and recited the Lord's prayer. This always happened anytime I was at a loss to what to pray about. Jakelyn never got this and she was always on my case about it, but she wasn't me and I would rather sing praises than if I don't have a purposeful prayer.

I looked over at my door as I saw it opened. My sight didn't catch anyone so I knew it was Ginger. An excited yelp confirmed my suspicion and a wetness on the sole of my feet did too. I smiled and stretched.

"Good morning to you too, Ginger," I cooed as the dog yelped and jumped on the bed. I got up and lifted myself off the bed. I could hear Jake's voice coming from the passageway. Jakelyn was the one that was making all the racket. I removed my book of memoir from under the pillow and looked around to find a worthy hiding place. I knew my sister would stick her pretty nose into it and I didn't want it just yet. As I deliberated on where to put it, my mind went to one of our friends. I went over to close the door and sat down on the bed, I picked up my green pen.

Rethabile, Reth for short, compared to Sharon was a serious fashionista. She was a dark, tall girl with a dimple in one cheek. She was also a twin like me but with a twin brother. Her twin brother had a speech impediment and Reth always called it 'his signature slurr'. Their parents were from the Mafikeng royal family in South Africa. As rich as her family was, Reth was very down-to-earth and easy going. Her older brother was Martin. He was the cutest boy I’ve ever seen, no, that we have ever seen.

Someone yelled and I stopped writing to listen. It was my mum and she was asking Jake to get off the phone. I smiled to myself and resumed writing. It seemed no one cared whether I was up or not and that was good enough for me.

We all had a huge crush on Martin; it was something his sister could not understand. She was always had a funny face on anytime we giggled and gossiped about him. She said he was a bully but we knew that was, because Reth didn't like it when we talked about him when we were supposed to be talking about other things. Anyway Reth had traveled to a lot of countries. She’d been to seven African countries, four European and three Asian countries.

I paused again, the slippers on my feet was one of the many aftermath of Reth's travels. We knew she would always bring something for us anytime she traveled. I had a sun-shade from Canada.

She adored kids. She was overjoyed when she got a job to teach a group of seven year olds at the community centre. Reth loved shopping. She could buy a whole mall if given the chance and it was not like she used all of the stuff she bought. She would give most of it away. She’d take her friends shopping to lighten their moods.

When we were younger, she started off with broochs, bangles, caps and toys. Reth’s mum had a boutique hotel and a high-end spa at the celebrity part of town. Their family house had a zoo. They had dogs, fishes, reptiles and at one point they had a baby lion and young cheetah but they were taken back to South Africa when they grew older.

Reth and Sharon always were in competition as to who could do the best imitation of me. They would argue non-stop about nothing. The referee was always my third friend, Imani.

"Jocelyn!! Girl, get yourself out of that room!"
Someone finally had my time, I sighed and dropped my pen inside the book.

"I'm up, mum! Will be right down!" I answered as I opened my underwear drawer and placed it there. Ginger walked up to the door and I followed her out of the room.

Chapter Seven: Iman, The Great

I made breakfast and mum had nagged me about not talking to Jackie enough about her inventions.

"Can't you involve your sister more. Do you know what she's doing right now?" mum asked as I turned the bacon to the side. Something in me wanted to tell mum that she should ave gotten used to Jackie and her lifestyle, but I sensed that there was something else there so I kept quiet.

"She wouldn't want Jackie to take her shine, mum," Jake said as he walked in and poured himself a glass of lemonade. I frowned at him and faced mum.

"Mum, Jackie loves what she is doing. I'm sure she knows what she is doing," I replied and turned back to the pan. Jake made to talk but I pointed a skewer at him and he smiled and kept quiet.

"That's not good enough for me. Take her out somewhere today. You should both go and get your a pedicure or something," Mum said and I started to argue but stopped. She has a look on her face that froze the words that were about to come out of my mouth. I nodded and mum shook her head and walked out into the yard.

We had a peaceful enough breakfast. Jackie had saved us from the long, boring narratives of her invention. Mum had quietly ignored us as we bickered over a better name Saul should have gotten. We finished with a prayer and Jackie resumed her dishes duty. I walked up to my room and picked up my phone. I had gotten a text message from Imani. Yes, Imani, the great, I pulled out the drawer and decided to write about her too.

Imani was the odd one out of my friends. She was a Muslim and was something of a junior activist. She wanted the world to completely go green by the year 2015. She was always the top of the class. She was assertive and would not hold back when she believes in something. This, most times, was to her detriment and often we get punished with her too.

Imani's mum worked at a local supermarket as the head cashier. Her dad had walked out on them when Imani was five years old. Imani had to get a job at the bookshop next to the school during the holidays. She believed it wasn't fair to leave her mother to do all the hard work. She had a younger brother we called Bubbles. He was a very round and playful boy with curly hair.

I heard a nudge on the door and I knew it was Ginger but I didn't want to let her in just yet. In a few seconds, she left. I could see her going down the stairs with her nose up and tail rigid, who says dogs don't throw tantrums. I went back to my writing.

Jakelyn liked Imani best out of my friends. She never really had friends but she took to Imani from the day I introduced her to all of them. She always thought keeping friends was a waste of time. Well, until she meet Dawid, a Portuguese with funny ears and that would be another story for another page.

Jake had a crush on Imani too. He was always fascinated by her. He’d argue with anyone but to him, Imani knew best. If she says jump, my brother would ask how high. We always teased him with it. I loved hanging out with my friends and when she was not busy with hammering and chiseling, Jakelyn would join in and make Sharon go crazy. Jake would stay at a corner and act like he was not interested in whatever we were doing or saying. His friends were the only one who could tear him away from his vantage stand on the stairs by the kitchen.

I heard my phone ringing. Sharon was at the other end. She was furious and asked what I was doing. I told her I was writing a memoir. She laughed and told me to tell the truth. She wanted to know if I had smuggled a guy into my room. I called her a silly toad, that she needed Jesus and we laughed. She promised to come over the next day to see it and she told me that Reth would arrive the next day from India. We both said our goodbyes and I hung up. Who would travel to India for summer? Reth, of course. Those countries excited her. She’d have stories and pictures to share when she comes back.

I closed my book and returned it into its hiding place. It was time to get ready for the day and I knew I shouldn't break my promise to my mum. I was going to take Jackie shopping for shoes, I knew it was going to be a very long day.

oyestephen: very wonderful...reminds me of glowingscenes...more christain novels should be welcome...

Thank you for reading.

@davgwen: thanks dear.

hmmmm i love this story. pls keep it up

^^ thanks you for reading.

Chapter Eight: The TeddySister Club

"Shift," Jackie said as she got into bed beside me. Like I had predicted the day had ended up being the longest day I have had that week. I had gotten myself a very nice jumpsuit with frills in front. Jackie had tried it on but had thought it was too 'floosy' for her liking. She got a teeshirt with little buttons in front, it was cute but I would have loved for her to get a dress.

"What's with book in your hand," Jackie said as I picked out a pen. I shook my head and got out of bed. Ginger poked her head in but remained at the door. She was probably wondering how long it would take Jackie to leave our sanctuary. I was tired but I wanted to write a few things before I sleep.

"You are taking up Ginger's space," I told Jackie who had already positioned herself on the bed. I always marveled at how easy it was for her to drift off to sleep. Whenever my sister was sleepy, she could sleep anywhere and anytime. I envied her, bless her soul, I wished I could sleep at will like that.

I sat at my table and put my head on my palms trying to gather my thoughts. I wrote a few minor things in my pad on my school and my mum's family but sleep got to me real fast.

My school was like any other school in that part of town. It had decent hallways and lockers and classrooms. We in the senior high always made it a habit to leave a mark behind of our existence in the school. It wasn't strange to find walls covered with words and symbols. Out of all the teachers in my school my favorite person was our Guidance Counselor. Miss Salanota was a weird picky little woman with pointy ears. She had the perfect accent of a Scot and the attitude of a Texas midwife. She attend our church and had encouraged me to start the TeddySister Club.

I dropped my pen and reclined my chair. I smiled when I remembered the chat I had had with Miss Salanota on the day I had been caught fighting with a student.

This particular girl had made it a duty to bully young girls. She would call them names and intimidate them. The day of the fight had found me walking to see the nurse when I had found the girl trying to rip open a girl's top. And the reason? Because she had the same one on. I was really furious and had given her a piece of my mind.

She had left the girl and had come at me which was actually a bad move. I was a Christian but aside this, I was a teen with an attitude. The mistake she had made was to come at me with the insult on my religion. I did let her have it and if not for Miss Salanota, it would ave turned into a fist fight. I resumed my writing when I heard the silent humming of the washing machine, mum and her night chores.

The TeddySister Club was for us Senior girls to pick one of those in the Junior classes as a younger sister. It was like the Big Brother thing but ours went beyond going to sports arcade and teaching pick up lines. My TeddySister was Lauren Hurts. Lauren was a ten year old who acted like she was eighteen. When I met her, she had a heavily made face and was chewing gum. The words of her mouth would have sent my mum to go wash her mouth off with detergent. Words my eardrums would have immediately rejected had it been possible.

A big yawn escaped from my throat before I could hold it back, this woke the sleeping Jakelyn. She asked for the time as she got up and I told her it was a quarter after ten.  My shoulders hurt and I got up to stretch myself. Jakelyn peered into my sketchpad then she shook her head and said good night. She went off to her room, leaving the door open.

I was so tired that I didn't even close the sketch pad before getting into bed. Ginger peered into the room again. She scanned the whole place then she came in and jumped into bed with me. That dog was as human as a diva queen.

I laid down with my back flat out, could smell Jakelyn’s scent on the pillow. She was a lady whenever it suited her too. She loved lavender but she would never admit to it. I closed my eyes and opened the door for sleep to creep in. It did just a few minutes later and I surrender myself into the hands of the angels.

Thanks for reading! I will update this story on Tuesday henceforth as I have other stories to update too.

Thanks.

OMG!!! I totally forgot about this. Okay... im sorry. I will update as soon as I can... the one for this week coming up... not really my genre, but i'll like to start teen novellas. I apologize.

Nice story