Chapter 7

BIG BROTHER

The previous week had been quite interesting for Chioma. The events that unfolded in her school and her new friend. The only tick in her hair was her brother and his problem of sticking almost every girl in the village to himself like glue.

Last Friday Cynthia opted to bring her freshly fried "akụ" that she had bought from the market. The package was neatly wrapped in cocoyam leaves and tied with palm leaves called "omu". The "akụ" (winged termite) was garnished with fresh pepper and even though she couldn't get herself to take a bite, her classmates seemed to enjoy the gift.

She watched them eat the Termites that had turned brown out of the heat which was used to fry them, they also appeared quite oily. She didn't see food when she looked at the lifeless creatures, she saw insects and she just couldn't chew them. She also remembered one of her father's proverbs "akụ fechaa ọ dara awọ". The thought of that made her wonder if the people who sold it were hygienic as to wash the termite before frying. She also thought of the state of the ground the Termites fell on, whether it was muddy, dirty, bacteria infested.

Obi didn't like the gift as well but she did take a bite and contorted her face when she tried to swallow. She had admitted that it tasted good but the thought of chewing ant-like creatures made her uncomfortable.

Chioma knew from the onset that Cynthia's gift would have some baggage attached to it and it was only a matter of time before the baggage will be brought in the open. Chioma later got a piece of paper from Cynthia with the most complicated writing she had ever seen. The grammatical blunders she picked could cause an English teacher a heart attack. How Cynthia could speak well and write poorly was a miracle and how she had managed to scale through till now was an even bigger miracle.

It will do me happiness, if you see me as your gulfrend. The way I have been looking you is making my heart gbim gbim! His eyes is swat and his face dey like Jesus christ in my daddy room. I will do anything in this wod, if I be your acharaugo. After Chioma read the letter the second time she was sure that it must have been one of Cynthia's goons that wrote the letter.

Obi had laughed so hard when she read the letter and was so eager to know Obiefune's reaction. Obi felt a strong dislike towards her brother and she didn't blame her friend.

The poor attempt Obiefune made at fixing his mistake worsened his case. He tried removing particles of grass attached on Obiukwu's body, starting from her hair. Obi had ignored him at first while they walked home probably because she was there. But as soon as they got to her house, Chioma slipped into the house with an excuse of getting obi cold water to place her hands in. So that they two could get along.

She had barely lasted five minutes in the house before she heard Obi screaming. Her brother had been removing the grasses on her uniform against Obi's wishes and when she caught the shirt he was using to hit the particles off, a pin pricked her hand opening up one of the blisters. Obiefune felt really bad and for the first time Chioma saw her friend really angry. She had told Obiefune to stay away from her, she even promised to avoid him in school. She mentioned the first time she slammed into Obiefune and he ran off and did not apologize. Obi called Obiefune a wicked person and that he was only trying to annoy and pick on her on purpose.

Obiefune could not even speak at this point, Chioma knew her brother well and tolerating a harsh tone from any girl was like swallowing cow dung. At least that was he had always told her. "No girl should try me o!"

The sight was partly amusing because the great and mighty Obiefune had been speechless as a girl lashed out on him. Considering their age difference it was even more interesting to watch. Chioma had forgotten the bowl of cold water she was supposed to bring and she quickly attended to Obi, while instructing Obiefune to fetch the bowl she had prepared for Obi's hands.

Somehow Obiefune had gotten the wrong bowl of water and Obi had shrieked in pain the moment her hands entered the bowl. Her brother had brought the wrong bowl of water and he didn't even check before walking out on them. The water was the one the cook extracted from the boiled yam. The pain subsided before Obi left their house, but she didn't believe that Obiefune had made a mistake with the bowl of water he brought. She felt that he was being mischievous on purpose.

Chioma had been the one who truly understood that Obiefune must have made a mistake. Her brother was many things but he had a very fickle heart. Obiefune could not even kill cockroaches and the last time they discovered a small rat in their kitchen Obiefune made a house for it before their mother squashed the animal. "Before you know it, they'll become big and destroy my foodstuff for me"

Chioma fixed up her room, starting with her bed which was at the center of the room. She kept her teddies which used to be her companions at the center of the bed. Her wooden rack where she placed her shoes stood beside her bed, her reading table and chair that her parents had bought for her before they moved to village still stood adjacent to the door, her huge mirror attached to a mini drawer where she placed all her toiletries and undergarments. Her room had been in order because she barely spent time in there. She was almost at Obi's house at all times.

Her final mission was to get Obi the books she had promised and when she swept out the dirt from her room, she was ready to get her hands on her mother's collection. She snuck into her mother's room and picked two books from her mother's shelves lone eagle by Danielle Steel and irresistible by Karen Robards.

She had almost made it past the door before she heard a voice that made her drop the items.

"Does mummy know you read those books?" her brother Obiefune enquired with an impish smile

There was no point lying to him, he could always tell when she lied.

"Emm, it's for Obi, she gets bored at her house sometimes and I wanted to give her books"

She watched her brother’s facial expression change from a frown to a smile and she knew at that time that she was in for a treat she would loathe.

"I'll let you go with the books on one condition"

From the moment he spoke Chioma knew she wouldn't like the condition.

"Why don't you start with Karen Robard's collection first, she might get sad after reading that lone eagle. Give her the banning sister's trilogy ." He walked to the shelf and brought out two more books by Karen Robards and kept the book by Danielle steel.

Chioma was surprised that her brother even knew anything about those books. Her brother who always told her that romance was for ladies and that reading romance novels filled the heads of young ladies with fantasies.

“How do you know the ones she should read? " Chioma said eyeing her brother

"My friends used to read all those books, they've told me about them "he declared with a cough

Her brother's lie wasn't the main problem she was facing, the problem was how she was going to give Obi a plausible explanation.

"Those books are quite erotic, I don't think they're suitable for Obi. Especially if she has a boyfriend"

Chioma laughed so hard because she knew what her brother was trying to do.

"Why would you care? Or are you trying to find out if she does?"

"Be.. Because I'm the big brother here, I'm supposed to look after the two of you" he blurted out

"Of course you are, you showed Obi how good a big brother you were last week" Chioma replied rolling her eyes

"I have already told you that it was a mistake, is she still angry?" Chioma noticed Obiefunes face soften a bit and she fought a giggle. Her brother likes her friend. The smile died down immediately as she remembered how Obi reacted when they spoke about her brother. Her friend hates her brother.

"let's go jare"

Obi had been peeling cassava with her younger siblings in their house, before she heard Chioma's voice. She kept instructing Tobe on the right way to remove the cassava peels without taking the flesh off, but he still didn't get it. She had stopped her sisters countless times from eating the cassava peel that they saw their goat chewing. Sometimes Obi felt it was so much work keeping an eye on her siblings. Her blisters were not as painful as they used to be, but they did give a sting once in a while as she sliced the peels of the tubers of cassava they harvested from their farm. Her day was not going too well, little did she know that it was about to get worse.

She took her sisters by their hands before she went to get Chioma, she couldn't risk leaving them alone with Tobe and the goat. She knew what they were bound to do. She tightened the wrapper on her hips and wore her slippers before going to the verandah.

She was very happy to see Chioma but her smile died down when she saw him. Of all the days to visit her. Her sister saw a hen and in the bid to remove her hand tucked in Obi's she mistakenly dragged the wrapper Obi had used as a skirt. She was only in her underwear and when the wrapper left her waist. The little girls ran off and Obiefune turned his head away while Chioma rushed to her aid.

Anger turned into humiliation in a matter of minutes, having a bad day was an understatement for Obi.