Dedicated to celestina31617 my one and only stupid sister.

The door creaked open slowly and Lisha looked up from her dressing chair. Her eyes met with Nikki who smiled faintly and scratched her neck as she walked in. Since she had demeaned Lisha, they hadn't talked, though Nikki had tried talking to her sister the previous day but Lisha had left home early in the day to where God Knows only to be back later in the night.

"Ehn, come and help me with this zip," Lisha started as she stood up and walked over to Nikki whose face was a picture of astonishment, she hadn't expected her to talk to her but rather send her out of her room.

"Do it na," she stamped her foot on the ground and that brought Nikki out of her thoughts.

After zipping the cloth, Lisha walked back to her dressing table while Nikki followed behind.

"Um, Lisha, I didn't mean what I said that day, it was…"

Lisha cut in, "It's okay." A smile crawled up her face and Nikki's face creased into a wide smile.

"So, wait…" she sized her sister up before continuing, "Lisha, don't tell me you're going like this?"

Lisha nodded in return before picking a hair pin.

"God, Lisha, how can you go in a pinafore? Of all clothes in your wardrobe you decided to go with a pinafore," her eyes turned to Lisha's head, "Wait, is that not Miracle's hairpin?"

A smile shadowed Lisha's face before she talked, "Yeah, it is." She then turned to the mirror to check out herself, she was dressed in a white pinafore and blue polka dot check with her hair packed in a bun.

"Lisha, you can't go to your fake in-laws dressed in this, you're not different from a secondary school girl, let's change your cloth," she pleaded with a convincing smile as she took a hold of her hand.

Immediately they took a step to the wardrobe, the door opened and Gran walked in.

"Lisha, that handsome CEO is downstairs, is there something going on?"

Lisha shook her head as she released her hand from Nikki's grip, quickly she picked up her black metallic quilted crossbody bag.

"Lisha, you have to change," Nikki shouted but Lisha turned to her with a smile before running out of the room. While descending the stairs, she sighted Jimi playing with Miracle, they were talking and laughing and that left her wondering what they were discussing till she got down.

They didn't notice her until she cleared her throat. Miracle got down from Jimi's laps and walked back to the chaise lounge before he turned to Lisha.

"Hey," he greeted while taking in her look.

"Hi, are we going or not?"

"We are," he replied as he got to his feet, he opened his mouth to comment on her dressing but Nikki's voice cut him short.

"Hi," she waved at him with a beatific smile, and he smiled in return before she turned to Lisha.

"Let's go," Lisha said quickly knowing Nikki wanted to talk about her cloth, she headed towards the door before Jimi could respond, so he had no other choice than to follow her.

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"Don't tell me you came home with a secondary school student?" Jimi's Mom shouted as she walked into the living room with her eyes being on Jimi and Lisha who were just walking into the house.

"Soil, what do you take me for?" Jimi queried.

Lisha turned to him in surprise, "Is your Mom's name Soil, like loamy soil, clay soil or Sandy soil," she whispered into his ears, and he shook his head before whispering back.

"It's just a nickname," they got to his Mom who was now seated on a couch.

"Soil, this is Felicia," he introduced and Lisha smiled before kneeling down to greet her.

"Ẹ kasan ma, ṣe daada lẹ wa, ṣe gbogbo e nlo deede? ( Good afternoon ma, hope you are good and hope everything is going well)," Lisha grinned and Soil returned the smile while scrutinizing her. To her, she was a beautiful lady who had a petite figure, but, why on earth was she in a pinafore that made her look like a student.

"Afternoon my dear," She responded with a smile before Lisha got on her feet and sat by Jimi.

A perfectly built man walked into the living room, instantly, Lisha recognized him to be Jimi's dad 'cause Jimi was a replica of him, he sat by Soil who did the introduction.

"Wow, you're a designer right?" he commented as Lisha smiled at him.

" Beeni sir (Yes sir)." Jimi turned to her in surprise wondering why she was speaking Yoruba.

"It's a great pleasure meeting the best designer in Nigeria," he joked and everyone erupted into laughter, the laughter died down when Kemi walked in with Mark and another introduction was done before the maids called their attention for lunch.

The choice of Fried rice, coleslaw and roasted chicken was more than nice, amidst lunch, they engaged in different discussions till the end of the meal. After lunch, while Jimi's Dad had a discussion with Mark, Soil took the pleasure of taking Lisha around the house.

"You know, you're a very cute and beautiful lady," Soil said as she opened the door to her music room, it was her favourite place in the house.

Gladness washed over Lisha's face as she blushed, it was rare for her to hear such compliment.

"Ese ma (Thank you ma)," She smiled before entering the music room, her eyes scanned the big room, and she marvelled at its size and the numerous instruments in the room, well, it wasn't that much of a surprise, they stayed in Banana Island and were well-to-do.

"So, do you take after your Mom or Dad?" Soil queried as she sat on a stool beside the guitar, she pulled out another stool for Lisha.

The question made Lisha pained, but she decided to brush it off before sitting by Soil.

"Well, my Mom died when she gave birth to me so, I don't really know much about her but my paternal Grandma told me I look like her," She replied while hoping Soil wouldn't ask of her Dad.

"I'm so sorry about that."

Lisha smiled in return before turning to the guitar.

"So, can you play it?"

Soil took a glance at the guitar before replying, "Yeah, I play every instrument in this room."

Lisha's eyes almost popped out of its socket as she gasped before looking at all the musical instruments in the room, she felt a flicker of admiration before turning back to Soil.

"Wow, that's really nice, you're more than gifted," she adjusted her sitting position before continuing, "But how did you learn all this, tell me the secret nau, ehn, just tell me, E de jo nau (Please ma nau)," she winked at her and Soil laughed.

"You're something else, anyway, I started learning them in the orphanage."

Lisha's brows creased as she turned to her in confusion.

"Orphanage?"

She nodded in accordance before talking, "Yeah, actually, I grew up in the orphanage but that's a story for another day," she gave a dismissive wave of her palm and Lisha nodded.

"But why didn't you pursue a career in music?" She asked and Soil smiled.

"It's just something I love, anyway, I'm the choir mistress at our church."

"Oh okay, e ehn , lest I forget, why is Soil your nickname? Like do you like eating Loamy soil or you like using clay soil to mould, abi you're into agriculture or something?" Lisha asked curiously and Soil erupted into laughter.

"Why are you laughing na? Just tell me joor, so, I'm just curious because when I was younger I had a friend that loved eating sand and now I'm thinking of calling her right now to let her know I met another person like her so which one did you like eating because Feranmi that time ehn , omo yen le je odindin ile alamo kan( that child can eat a whole mud house), she liked clay ehn.. I'm surprised she hasn't turned to a mud house or pot by now though I always tell her she shouldn't be surprised when she gives birth to a Calabash."

Soil erupted into a fitful of laughter, seconds passed, and she kept on laughing merrily which left Lisha wondering if she was still normal.

After calming down, she talked, "Li baby…"

Lisha smiled at the new nickname and Soil returned the smile before continuing, "Well, you see, before I got married to that dodo(plantain) down there, my maiden name was Soile and back then when we were still in school , people called each other by their surnames so our class captain then was Igbo, one Kenechukwu  guy like that.."

Lisha bursted into laughter.

Soil chuckled before continuing " Well, he always had trouble pronouncing my name, he called me Soil the first time he pronounced my name from the register and the name stuck so much that everyone soon forgot my name and it has been like that."

Lisha erupted into laughter all over again and since her laugh was so infectious considering the fact that she kept beating her laps while closing her eyes making her funnier, Soil joined in the laughter too. They were still laughing when Jimi bursted in, cutting their fun.

"Gym, do you want to break the door ni ?" Lisha shouted.

Jimi smiled before replying, "I'm sorry, Smallie."

Soil was surprised that Jimi could be tamed like this, she was even more surprised that he could say sorry considering the fact he always found it hard to say sorry but the way it rolled off his tongue without any stress shocked her.

"So, you guys were here all along, and we've been searching for you." Jimi said with amusement laced in his tone.

"Actually Gym, the kidnappers just released us and threw us in through the window." Lisha said while eyeing him and Soil chortled.

"You're something else. Soil aren't you going to the orphanage today or have you forgotten that today is the first day of the month?" Jimi questioned as he strode in.

"My baby boy, you see Li baby here got me so occupied that I almost forgot about it," she replied.

"Soil, so, Lisha is your new baby now ehn, I'm hurt." he squeezed his face and placed his palm on his chest feigning hurt.

"Let's get going then" Soil stood up while Lisha replied, "Ok Mama".

"My baby boy close the door after you o." Lisha mocked before sticking out her tongue.

Thanks for reading.

I actually had fun writing this chapter due to the fact that my Mom's nickname is also Soil, most people do wonder why I call her Soil but her own story is different from Jimi's Mom, and yeah, I also saved my Dad's number as Dodo, though he insisted on me changing it because the actual meaning in English is stupid but I didn't change it sha😂😂😂

Remember to click on that orange star and comment your thoughts 💖💖