Writing Contest: "Honesty is the best Policy" by ahbaz

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Father Diamond's sermon had just ended and I had to follow my friend Ntiense back home to get something. Her sister, dad and mom were already in their car waiting for us to stroll like “big girls” to the spot. An average person needed only two minutes to leave the chapel to the parking lot but Ntiense and I need more since we stopped at regular intervals to exchange pleasantries and tight hugs to the boys when no one was watching. The ride home was a very short one. On reaching the house, my friend rushed in to freshen up and come change as we had a teen's program to attend later that afternoon. All this she did while I sat at the foot of her bed listening to Usimeke's “Toju” on my headphone.

A few minutes later, Ntiense's parents walked out the front door, but before shutting it, her mom called out to us explaining that they were on their way to visit a woman who had just put to birth and that we should wait for them to be back before leaving. Ntiense replied, “yes, mommy” while I said, “yes, ma”. No sooner had we completed our statement than the MP3 began to blast loudly in the next room where Ntiense's last two siblings shared.

I stretch out on the bed, making myself so comfortable while still using my phone. In my stretch, I accidentally sent my optical pair of glasses sliding down the edge of the bed where it had laid. It landed on the tiled floor with a soft “tiiiiiiiiih” even before I reached out to save it. Luckily there were no cracks which meant no visit to the hospital until the next call day. In my haste, my eyes caught a figure passing by the door. Using my sideglance, I observed that the figure was Ntiense's younger sister, Mfon.

The 16-year-old walked past the room with a broom in her left hand and a dustpan in the right. Curious, I tiptoed to the room's door to watch her sneak into the store where bunches of bananas were kept. She began sweeping and paused in between to glance around for any hidden watchers. When she was done sweeping, she packed the dirt into a black nylon bag and started arranging the bunches of bananas placed at the side of the cube-shaped room. As she did so, she frantically turned each bunch around, looking for any ripe one. On seeing them she plucked them, ate and put the peel in the black nylon bag before moving on to the next bunch.

The door which connects to the backyard creaked open but since the MP3 player was on and booming, none of us noticed until we heard mum's voice in the parlour asking for Mfon. As a habit Mfon found herself answering even before she knew it was mum calling here. She stepped out of the store, tossed the bag containing the dirt and banana peel into the dustbin at the corner of the store and walked to the parlour. I could see all this because of the angle at which I was standing but her mom couldn't. After mum told Mfon what she had to say she then asked if she, Mfon was eating the ripe banana. In defence, Mfon quickly replied 'no' that she was just sweeping the store and she is not even hungry. Mom then said,

"Okay, I thought you were hungry. I wanted to give you money to get a snack before we start cooking" and she went to her room.

I could see the sadness in Mfon's eyes but she couldn't change back time. She then muttered, "I wish I was completely honest" In my mind, I said "Truly, honesty is the best policy".

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Lessons
I learnt from that day that I should always be completely honest regardless of the consequences as complete honesty makes way for people.

I also learned that I should treasure and take the best decisions every passing second because they cannot be reversed and so I don't go back to being full of regret.
@goodybest

I invite @edidiongeffiong, #joymm #malikusman1 to participate in this contest.