THE WRONG CHOICE: Episode 4

Nkechi woke up one morning to notice that mother was still sleeping, it seemed strange because mama would have woken by 5:30am to prepare her food and get prepared for market. But it already 7:00am and she is still sleeping. Nkechi went to the kitchen to check if mama has prepared her food. She opened her food flask to inhale the nice aroma that always comes from the food her mother cooks but unfortunately some bad odour welcomed her, mucus has already dominated the surface of the waste. She quickly covered her nose with her hands to avoid the odour. “Oh! I forgot to wash the flask” she said as she went back to check mama in her room “mama, mama wake up” she touched her at her back, immediately she removed her hand, mama got temperature. She woke up but couldn’t sit up “Nkechi, my daughter, I am not well, I need to rest, take the money on that table to school” mama said in a coarse voice, “mama, I am not going to school, I can’t leave you like this” Nkechi cried, “I thought you told me that you are having test today, don’t worry,mama will be fine” mama petted her. Nkechi quickly got her some drugs and prepared for school.
Getting to her class, to her surprise no one was in the class, she sat on her desk putting her head on the desk thinking about her mother. Suddenly all her classmates rushed into the class singing
“Happy birthday to you (2x)
Happy birthday to you, Nkechi
Happy birthday to you”
Nkechi was flabbergasted by the actions of her classmates. “How did they know”, “Have I once told them” all sorts of thoughts started flowing through her brain. She smiled at them and thanked them for celebrating her although the smile was not from her real self but no one noticed. Emeka bought her a golden wrist watch. “I don’t like people living a fake life, always be proud of who you are” Emeka said facing Nkechi. “What do you mean by that” she answered. Emeka told her how the secret she was hiding was revealed to him. “Am sorry for that” she replied remorsefully, “bygone is bygone. I have some confessions to make” Emeka said, as he was about to open his mouth his heart started pounding, he lost courage. “What did you want to tell me?” Nkechi asked “hmmm..... Don’t worry I will tell you later” he said as he left her in suspense. Nkechi did her test quickly and went home to see her mother without waiting for Gift..

image source: google.com