chapter 49

--Family is everything, but in this case, not everything.--

Tade's POV.

"Tade, Tade! Wake up!" I heard Lola screamed from her position in the doorway leading into my room.

Oh God, why did I forget to lock my bedroom door again?

"Wake up, wake up nau! I'll go and tell Mummy that you're hearing what I'm saying but you don't want to answer me." Lola voice resounded right by the top of my head this time, seems like she has finally moved away from the doorway.

Is this girl a witch? Go away! Can't she see that I'm still lying down under the blanket, which obviously means I'm still asleep even though I've been awake since like thirty minutes ago, doing nothing except texting my stupid friends.

But she doesn't have to know that I'm awake, now does she?

Worse, today is a Sunday and I don't even feel like going to church, why must mummy still send Lola to come into my room and wake me up by after seven.

Her tiny hands shook me by my waist but I ignored her and pretended to still be sleeping.

"Tade wake up, I'll go and tell Mummy o."

I bit my lips when a 'ding' sound came right from my phone, signaling the income of a text.

Lola go away nau. I want to reply texts!

A resigned sigh left my lips when Lola still stood by my bed, I made to pull my blanket off my head and pinch the hell out of Lola's cheeks for disturbing my very interesting text spree with her annoying voice alarm when I heard my room door closed loudly.

Ah, she has finally left, phew.

I pulled down the blanket off my head without thinking as I sat up and immediately started texting in a reply vigorously to what my best friend, Sewa texted, when my room door burst open again.

The accusing expression of my baby and only sister, Lola landed on me right from the doorway, her hands placed on her waist in an accusative stance.

Bursted!

"I knew you were awake, Tade!" Lola muttered, her small index finger pointing in my direction.

"Shut up." I mumbled at her without taking my eyes off my phone.

"But you know I told you Mummy was calling you."

"Tell her I'm still sleeping na." I spared her a glance, the 'ding' sound of a message coming in tore my gaze off Lola's sarcastic expression as I quickly clicked open and read the text.

~

Ray. Xx

I bit my lips to stop the goofy smile that was about to peak out, the fight against my teeth and my lips got won over by my lips which spread out into a wide smile despite the way I tried not to let it out.

~

Jø. Xx.

I managed to type in my reply after forcing my teeth tight against my lower lips to stop it from drawing wide into a smile when Lola chuckled loudly from the doorway.

"I'm telling you that mummy is calling you and you're there smiling at your phone."

I groaned low in my throat, what is wrong with this girl?

"Tell her I'm still sleeping nau," I persisted, a reply from Raymond came in at that very second.

~

Ray. Xx

"Please Lola, tell Mummy that I'm sleeping. I'm doing something really important on my phone." I pleaded with Lola who huffed as she turned around and left my room, not before slamming the door loudly behind her.

Urg, finally. What an annoying human pest.

~

Jø. Xx

I heard a muffled but clear "Mummy, Tade said I should tell you that she's sleeping, when she's not o. She was just pressing her phone and laughing stupid laugh."

Ah, this yeye little sister of mine has killed me!

I scrambled off my bed and ran into the bathroom adjoining my room to quickly splash water on my face and clean the sleep and small drool off my face.

"Tade! You're pressing your phone again, right? Come downstairs this instant!" I heard my mother's voice loud and clear from my current position in the bathroom.

Lord knows I can't shout that loud, from the sitting room downstairs, all the way into my bathroom upstairs. My mummy sure have a loud voice.

I slammed my room door shut and bounced down the stairs in my sleeping wears and my white rabbit ears flip flop, with my hair still in a protective net as I reached the last of the two rows of stairs before heading into the dining room, where two different voices were echoing from.

That of my mother and my baby sister, Lola.

My mother, a young woman of almost thirty-six years of age stood beside where Lola was sited on by the dining table with dry cornflakes before her in a bowl, a opened tin peak milk in my mother's left hand while her iPhone 11 was in her right hand as she quickly tapped away on it before tearing her eyes away from the screen of her phone to tend to a whining Lola.

She poured the whole full tin milk Into Lola's waiting bowl and helped her stir it a little before adding a little hot water to soften it and stirred it a little bit more, she opened the transparent plastic containing sugar and sprinkled a little on the cornflakes before pushing it towards a eager Lola after dropping her spoon back into her cereal.

"Good morning, Mummy!" I greeted her, I didn't bother waiting for reply as I made my way into the dining room after standing by the doorway and doing nothing but looking at the occupant of the dining room for a few minutes before deciding to venture inside and make my presence known.

She glanced up as her hands worked the cover of the sugar container shut but Lola dragged the sugar container from her light grip and quickly heaped a full spoon of sugar and poured in into her cereal before sealing the sugar container shut herself.

"You don't even know anything yet, kill yourself with sugar. When your August visitor finally shows up, you'll stop it yourself." I muttered to Lola as I took a seat beside her and pulled on her cheeks a little.

That's for ruining my text roll, I would have given you more, but mum's here so it's your lucky day.

I thought within myself when Lola only rolled her eyes disbelievingly as she continued to eat her cereal.

When the visitor comes, we'll seen then.

"Tade, why didn't you answer me when I sent your sister up to your room?" My mother who had managed to tear her eyes from her phone again demanded from her relaxed stance as she leaned against the freezer, her big, black bonnet looking like a celestial cap.

"I was sleeping."

"She's lying o, she wasn't sleeping. She was busy pr..." Lola who had her mouth filled with cereal started to say but I stopped her by squeezing her lips shut before flicking her forehead with my thumb and index finger and muttering a quiet 'shut up' under my breath as I released her lips.

She swallowed the content in her mouth and faced my mother who fortunately missed the whole scene that took place just now between Lola and I as her eyes were glued to her phone again."

"Mummy!" Lola called out loudly, that snapped my mother's eyes off her phone. She glanced at me who had a blank expression on at the moment, then to Lola who had a bewildered expression on her face courtesy of why my mother wasn't reprimanding me at the moment.

Like she should, right?

Welp, lucky me. My mum is not your typical Nigerian mum, my mum is way better and cooler than that.

My mum went to the Oxford university in California to study medicine for four years, now she works in a very big teaching hospital and collects a huge amount of salary.

Now, who wouldn't be proud of that?

"I knew you weren't sleeping, you were pressing your phone. A phone which is slowly becoming an obsession to you."

I opened my mouth to argue but the look she shot me made me close my mouth shut, like the day when my father caught me on a phone call talking to a boy and giggling like a fool months ago, I was rendered speechless by the nasty look he shot me that day before raising his hand and demanded for the phone silently.

I had thankfully thought fast and clicked the 'end' button which ended the call immediately.

That's a story for another day...

"Just, don't do it again, and try to press your phone less." She said as she walked towards the rows of transparent cupboards which has small fire lights entwined into all of them and pulled out a opened carton of cornflakes and a peak tin milk before pushing the door of the cupboard shut.

She placed them on the table before me and used the tin opener which she used to open Lola's milk and was still on the table to pierce my tin of milk and pushed it towards me. I stood up and picked out a transparent bowl and spoon before sitting back down on the chair.

"Eat quickly and go take your bath. We'll be leaving for church soon. Also, you dad is meeting us after church, for a trip to the beach" She informed me before turning towards Lola. "Go upstairs and take your bath, Lola. Wear your white set of jeans and your white Adidas shoes."

"The new set of jeans?"

Lola asked right after she squealed in excitement on hearing about the upcoming trip to the beach this afternoon, as she pushed up from her chair while I was busy pouring the amount of cornflakes I was satisfied with before taking more than one sip from the tin milk and emptying the remaining content into it then sprinkling a little iced water which I got from the freezer myself.

I don't like soggy cornflakes and hot water makes them soggy, only God knows how Lola manage to eat her cereal, I thought as I sprinkled a little sugar over it before stirring it a little and scooping the floating milk over the cereal with my cold spoon and into my mouth.

"Yes, the new one. Let's go." Mum replied Lola without pausing her walk  up the stairs, Lola ran up the stairs and disappeared behind the second row of stairs along with my mum.

I ate my cereal slowly as I contemplated running up the stairs to get my phone and run back down again but thought against it immediately, mummy wouldn't hear of it as she would keep on pointing out that it's bad to eat and stay on the phone.

As if she herself doesn't do it sometimes.

Not that I have the mind to point it out to her, I'll just keep on thinking it in my mind.

I sighted Lola's used cereal bowl on the table and rolled my eyes, of course she'll still end up leaving me to clean up after her, even though she can't help her big sister lie to her mum.

That's one for later, Lola's matter is waiting for her inside cooler, I'm just waiting till she grows up, then I'll show her pepper.

After all, she's only nine years old and in her last year in the primary school, such a smart kid who obviously took after her big and awesome sister which is me.

I groaned softly as the thought of Lola finally graduating from primary school and joining me in my secondary school crossed my mind.

Well, at least by then I'll be in my last and final year before graduating out of there.

Phew.

I am Tade Josephine Olarewaju, an S.S.2 Arts student and I'm almost 16!

Well, not really almost, more like in months... but still!

I can't even wait, school's resuming tomorrow and I'm surely going to rock the hell out of this coming semester.

"Tade! Are you not done eating? Lola is already dressed up and you've not even taken your bath." My mother's non surprisingly loud voice echoed right from her room upstairs.

"Coming." I mumbled to myself, certain she couldn't hear me all the way upstairs, so that she won't say I didn't answer her again.

I dragged myself out of my seat and carried my plate along with Lola's before dumping into the sink as I slowly made my way upstairs.

Lana Del Ray - Summertime sadness played in my mind with my rabbit ears flip flop making 'tap tap' sound after each step as I took the stairs two at a time, my sweaty fingers gripping the cold banister all the way.