‘I don’t know why you children of nowadays are very lazy towards studying. In my days, I read from morning till night, I burnt the midnight candle and used the sun as my lamp in the day.’ I teased my baby-sister.
‘Hmmmm, who is this one trying to deceive, you are using Daddy’s lines to come and worry me, abeg, abeg, you that almost had an F last semester.’
‘Shhhhh.’
‘Ehe, because the lecturer do you Pharaoh let my people go, Daddy hasn’t seen your result abi.’
‘Weaver-bird, he has, if you like keep sharping your mouth.’
‘Heeeh, so you are now tired of the topic, come and help me and read.’
I laughed and laughed to my fill, ‘I should help you and read, sister, answer your papa name.’
‘But we dey answer the same papa name na, oooooohm, I just wish I can burn these textbooks and drink the ashes.’
‘Hahahahahahahaha, you are really crazy, spoilt baby-sister, continue your reading and leave me out of it.’
We heard a knock at the gate, I jumped out of the girls’ room to get it. I knew who it might be. My elder sister, Atoo, was already there.
‘Yes, who are you looking for?’
I rushed in, ‘She is…she is looking for me. Sandra welcome.’ I opened the gate and ushered Sandra in, my sister had walked away, she had no time for anything in this world, still, I took Sandra to the kitchen for her to greet my sister properly after introducing her as my friend. She did and we headed for the boys’ room. My baby-sister, Behkeh, peeped through her ajar door and waved ‘hi’ to Sandra, showing too much burnt front teeth.
Well, Sandra was my girlfriend, maybe, maybe not. I have not concluded if she accepted me or not, somehow, she wanted to see me, she forsook the one lecture she had that day for me, it was my own lecture-free day. Girls were too difficult to be construed, in fact, I thought they just used me and dumped me about nine times before I met Sandra. I will buy lunch for them, do their assignments, even pamper them, I tried yet I got dumped. DUMPED! Sandra seemed cool but I should warn us, a woman’s heart is desperately wicked. Mean creatures, charming you with their eyes while wrecking your life. My brothers had left home for the day so we bounced in, I had tidied the room massively. Sandra sat down gently with one part of her buttocks like girls are wont to on their first visit to their boyfriends’ houses. She flashed her eyes around and smiled widely at me. The room was rich, four guys occupied it and she didn’t know. I have not really told her about my family. She thought it was solely my room, seeing how she admired it, seemed like I might lie to her. She was still sitting carefully like that when I sent Behkeh to go and buy juice and Short-bread biscuits. That was what she cared for. I also promised to make fried noodles for her and she laughed widely towards it.
‘So you can make fried indomie.’
‘Yes, I am a hero in the kitchen.’
‘Really? And you ain’t a chef yet, how can you be wasting talent.’
My eyes widened, she must not win. ‘Ehem, you see? That is..... https://egbechopublishers..com/2020/08/morning-devotion-part-2-with-adinma.html


From your very own celebrities story plug-

PART 3

I rubbed my head and entered the toilet. I sat on the bowl, starring at the neat white tiles, merely starring at them, thinking nothing. I was dazed. Throughout the week, I grew thin; I walked about like a hanging chicken. My parents were going to kill me and after killing me, they will disown my corpse. The depression affected my work force abysmally that I hissed all night. I couldn’t share such a thing with Sandra, women’s problems were always more than ours. She might reason my matter like a small girl. I rolled my eyes, how old was I anyway?
The course registration was to end on Monday and it was that same Monday that My G. transferred 60 thousand naira into my account and helped me through everything. You see that? Friends, good friends and you get such when you stay honest. I had to pass the night in his off-campus room in school and went home the next day, happy.
‘Our landlord came yesterday.’ Behkeh passed the talk to me.
‘Ok.’ I replied and continued with my phone. She had no idea what I had just conquered and there and then I knew we were going to conquer whatever it was. I thought my faith was strong till the first Port Harcourt COVID 19 lockdown in April after the Lagos State COVID 19 lockdown. My mother could not go to school to harvest neither vegetables nor waterleaves, her farm had just picked up again with the rain after the harmattan. my father’s salary stood sure, thank God, he was a civil servant, the rest of us were joblessly-idle. Ask how will that go for a family of eight and Nigerians were finding it funny that our president pronounced COVID 19 as covik one nine. And the money that got burnt and all the drama associated with the virus, boring corrupt nation, I just made videos, depending on My G. for data subscriptions. Everyone held unto their homes like I and Sandra held unto our conversations. By the end of April, the Governor of Rivers State had opened and closed us twice and in May after a short lockdown and reopening; people began to call him Governor Open and Close. He had just unlocked us on May 20 because may 24 will be his wife’s birthday. Nasty leaders. Markets, schools, churches and all gatherings remained closed. We were all home, a week after, my mother could go to the school farm and harvest her produce to help feed her children. A more economical ripple was..... https://egbechopublishers..com/2020/08/morning-devotion-part-3.html


From your very own celebrities story plug-

PART 4

Mr. Eyi, my father’s friend looked more panicked than my mother. She seemed used to my father’s ailment, we seemed used to it but seeing my dear father reduced to the ground like that heightened the fear in me. My mother had ordered for him to be laid on the ground, away from the bus for air to reach him. She ran through the things she packed, looking for something.
‘It was in the cupboard, it was in the cupboard. Where did I pack….’
We began to help her bring down things while my big brother and Mr. Eyi held unto my father. My sisters had already began to cry. I joined them, I couldn’t help it. Few cars passed without stopping, that was when I realised that it is either family or you have nothing. My close-knit family ran through that evening trying to save my father, drawing God’s mercy.
‘James, James can you hear me? James open your mouth please, please.’
My mother begged my father who was becoming still, Glory be to God that I had a bottle of water in my hand. I just wanted to be sipping it like a sad big boy on a trip, it became the only water available that evening. My mother managed to squeeze the tiny drug into my father’s mouth and poured a small amount of water into his mouth, his head was resting on Solomon’s body by that time. Everyone lifted their hands to heaven when he swallowed. It took us almost an hour before we continued the journey, his head rested on my brother’s shoulder like what girls loved to do. Even in that state, my father refused to sit inside the bus, he said he must sit at the front seat as the head of the family. We remained astonished and refused to entertain any village visitor that night. My mother would answer them politely, ‘It is getting very late, tomorrow.’ We unpacked our belongings as peacefully as possible, there was no reason to start any joke. Later, Mr. Eyi slept in the visitors’ room with Solomon, I presumed they needed a talk.
Life in the village was very natural and limitless. Everywhere was open to air and nature and my father seemed better in each passing day, mostly due to the fresh air are and fresh food. We had avocado pear, oranges and coconut. The orange trees were at the fruition stage so we focused on the avocado and coconut, fruits that my relatives enjoyed on our absence. My father was liberal yet very stern, his life was more like a Barack Obama’s speech’s sentence, “I will take no options off the tape and I mean what I say.” Through the years, he had laboured with my mother to accomplish all they had, raising children with almost nothing is as hard as the elephant tusk, his head was bowing slowly. He had refused going to the hospital, he would always comment that he wanted us to feed before any other option and feeding was really squashy among us. With my mother cooking healthy vegetables for him, anything to keep her husband strong. I continued with my work at home, even more focused and the good thing about villages was ..... https://egbechopublishers..com/2020/08/morning-devotion-part-4.html