ZARA

My phone had been switched off since the day at the cinema. Nepa refused to supply power, and my mother refused to buy fuel.

"It's expensive." She lamented. Two days gone and we were unable to charge our phones, the refrigerator had turned hot, the soup mom cooked had soured, so we resorted to eating rice, beans, macaroni.

Ije and I busied ourselves with games like ludo and chess. She beat me every singe time. On the second day, when Nepa refused to give us light, we were seated outside in the evening, playing chess. My mom has just returned from work and was having her bath.
"Ije, no. Not that pun."
She laughed, knowing that she played the right thing. I tittered. She was going to beat me again.

There was a knock on the gate. One jerked her head while she made her play. "Check who it is."

I complied. I rose from the floor and made my way over to the gate. Just as mum has thought us, for security purposes, I pulled at the small compartment and looked out. "Yes?"

There was a man standing there. He had grey hair and beards. But when he saw me, his lips stretched in a smile. "Zara."

I froze. My eyes widened and a scream escaped my lips. I shut the compartment and fell to the floor, terrified. I was shaking visibly.

"It could not be... no..."

I heard footsteps behind me. Ije ran up to me, her eyes wide. "What is it?"

I shook my head as I stared at her. "The gate..."

She nodded. "Eh hen..."

"Gate... check the gate."

The compartment pulled open his face came again. "Ije Oma, open the door!"

I screamed again.

Ijeoma sighed and glared at him. "You are scaring her. Kosi asked you never to come back."

She spoke to him so casually, as though it was normal to see our dead father standing before us, acting as though he had not been buried seven years ago.

"My contacts say that Kosi is out of the country."

Footsteps came from behind again. I looked up to see my mom running towards us. She was beside me immediately. "What happened to her? Is she injured?"

"Mommy, Daddy is outside! Daddy!"

She sighed. Her shoulders sagged. "What is he doing here?"

"What do you mean? He is dead! What is he even doing alive?" I asked. My eyes darted around, seeking an answer.

Ije would not look at me. My mother would not as well. So I was left to avert my gazes, seeking an answer.

"Open the gate, let's talk, Oge."

My mom stood up. To me, she said. "Up, inside."

"Mommy what's going on? What happened? Why is daddy here? And why does everyone see this as normal except me?"

"Zara -"

"Just tell me!" I cried. I was confused. I was in the dark.

"Never you raise your voice at me!" My mom snapped. I flinched. Tears welled up in my eyes. I rose and ran inside, the tears blurring my step. Everything went black suddenly and I found myself falling to the ground, my knees bruising. I screamed.

***

I was still crying when Ije led me inside, my eyes had cleared now, but my tears did not stop. Everything hurt now, including my entire body.

Once inside my room, I let go of Ije and went to my bed. Ije stood by the door.

"Zara stop crying. This is already hard on Mommy."

I stopped crying. I paused. I could not believe that she had said that. Hard on Mommy? What about me? I was left in the dark. I asked for answers and what I got was 'go inside.' Did I not have a right to know?

"Look. You're not making it easy for her, behaving like this."

I was furious then. I grabbed anything that I could and flung it her way, in anger, with full force, with the aim to cause her pain.

I sat up, to make sure it hit her. It had not. My phone, which I had thrown, had hit the wall and fallen to the side. Ije stood there looking at me, her brows raised. "Are you serious?"

"Get out, Ije. Get out before I beat you."

"This is why mom didn't tell you. You are so childish."

That did it. I stood up from the bed and attacked her, slapping her first and then pushing her out of my room. She tried to retaliate, but it seemed that my anger blinded me. I just wanted to hurt her.

"If I were the one, Ije, I would have told you what happened. I would have told you! But you kept this from me!"

She was panting now. She was on the floor, her breathing was ragged. She was crying too now. She was crying very hard. But I wanted to beat her even more.

"You don't know half of it, Zara. You don't know half of what is happening."

"How would I know if you don't tell me, huh?" I stood above her. "How?"

"Apparently, dad's Family said mom is cursed. So they wanted to get rid of her and her children. They all agreed to feign daddy's death. Just so they would cut all ties from us. That's what happening."

I was still pissed. "Was that so hard, Ije? Was it so hard to say? Was it?!"

She was quiet. I was quiet too. Then I turned around, walked into my room and shut the door. My phone was on the floor, broken. Ignored it, walked over to my bed and closed my eyes.

I was not sure of how long I lay in bed, staring at the wall. But Ije came into my room soon enough. She didn't knock. She didn't say anything, but I knew it was her. I knew my Sister's smell.

"Zee."  She called.

I didn't move.

"I know you're awake and angry and hurt. "

I scoffed.

"I didn't want to tell you because mom asked that I didn't. And also because I was jealous."

Jealous? What would make her jealous? I turned. But I was still lying down. "Why?"

She sighed. "The last time dad came here, you were in school. He said a lot of things. He said mom was cursed. He said he was not even sure he was my dad. That at the period when she was pregnant with me.." she laughed. It was humorless. "He didn't remember them doing anything and he was certain I wasn't his."

I shook my head, my lips parted. I could not believe what I was hearing. "Oh my God... Ije."

She nodded. "He said Kosi was useless but he could manage you. If he were to claim any of us. Because apparently, you kind of look like him."

I scoffed. "I can't...wow. What a father we have."

She nodded. "What a father. To fake his own death for us alone... that's huge."

"He just left." She sighed.

I shrugged. "It's for the best."

I scooted and patted  the bed. Ije smiled and did as I asked. She laid beside me. "He is running for some elections at the state level. I don't know what. He has a new Family now. And people would dig up his past. He just wants to make sure mom won't say anything."

A politician would suit him. He would lie his way to the people he was to lead.

"Mom said she would say nothing. She just wanted him to leave. He won't come back." She turned to me.

I wrapped my arms around my sister and hugged her. We didn't need him in our lives. We were alright without him. We had been for seven years.

Ije hugged me back. "I'm sorry."

We stayed like that for a few seconds. Then she sat up. "We need to check up on Mommy."

I shook my head. "She's just say get out."

She laughed. "Even though. Let us just tell her we are here? You know?"

I agreed. We rose and went to our Mom's room. Ije opened the door a little, then she peeked inside. She turned to me and beckoned.

"She's lying down. Let's just go inside and hug her."

I scrunched my nose. "That would be awkward."

She gave me a pointed look. She sighed. "Look, I know that mom acts tough most times. But seriously, all we need to do is be there for her. She's just like us. She is hurt by all this. The thing is she doesn't want to look weak. All of this has weighed on her very badly. Mom feels lonely. And it's wrong that she does because we are here for her."

I cast my gaze down, feeling embarrassed. I had been angry at my mother, that it clouded my thoughts. She had to bury her husband, find out it was a lie, had been accused of being a witch and a cheat, and all this time, she had not given up on us. Her children. Ije was right. We needed to tell her and show her that we were here for her. Whether she tried to act strong or not.

I gave Ije a nod, and it was enough for her to open the door. When we walked in, mom was curled at one side of her bed. Her shoulders were shaking. She was crying.

I had never known that she could cry. She must have sensed our presence. She sat up immediately. "What are you both doing here?" Her voice was cold again. She was sniffling. She tried to dry her tears with the back of her hands. "Go to your rooms. I need to rest."

But Ije would have none of that. She walked over and sat beside my mom. I stood behind Ije, too scared. I felt that she would send us away. I think mom preferred when we all drowned in our pain alone. It was awkward having to share them. Having to seat with her and cry. But in that moment, it was what I felt like doing.

I sat at her other side.

"Mom." I said. "We are here for you, always."

Through her tears, she cried. We both hugged her, and rested our head on her shoulders. She placed her hands over our heads and nodded."My girls."