THE DISOBEDIENT GIRL - Story

THE DISOBEDIENT GIRL

  

One girl's misdemeanors make her mother teach her a lesson.

 Originally written November 2015

 

 

"Again?"

"Yes, Madam. It was bad."

"When did it happen?"

"I don't really know, but I was told it was after the lunch period."

"You said she was fighting because of what?"

"Because of another student's pen that she took."

A sigh. "My gosh... But why?"

"She told me she happened to have been discussing with a friend and then wanted to play a prank on her friend" the voice on the other line was saying. "She took a fellow classmate's pencil and ended up breaking it. The friend from whom she took the pen eventually discovered she was with it and went to ask for the pen. Long story short, one of the teachers had to separate them and bring them to my office as the other child was crying."

Another sigh heaved. "So, the girl is not coming back to school?"

"Well, I have warned her about this act of hers and I've told her if a repeat of this happens, she would have to leave school for the year and won't be able to write her exams until January. I've also asked her to write an apology letter to the student she fought with who will be sending an apology letter to her as well."

"The girl is full of trouble" Mama muttered to herself as she got out of the car. Shutting the door and locking it and walking to the house, she wondered to herself how she would be able to get up on time in the morning when she would sleep very late working online. The meeting at the bank was starting early and her boss would not like to listen to any story, regardless of how well rehearsed and presented it was. Also remembering her mother's birthday would be in a few weeks made her realize she needed more energy to prepare and less time to relax. So much stressed right now! She held her hand on the doorknob while quickly going through her phone for any missed calls from her friends, and at the same time being lost in thought. And to think the kids aren't giving me enough headache already...

She opened the door. The sun shining outside the window which faced far opposite the door from the dining room formed what looked like a bleak yellow fog as though it were morning. The house felt hot like the kitchen was on fire and nobody was aware. The familiar smell of candy wrappers and used nylon bags still lingered the way it did yesterday, only now the scent was stronger. Dropping her hand bag on the counter, plopping into the couch and staring at the ceiling, she felt tired and needed rest.

"Jason!" She called. "Jason!"

Following a moment of silence, the kitchen door opened with its usual annoying creaking. She could tell straight away from the unusual sound that something was wrong today. The whimpering was just like other times. As the source of the crying came closer to her, she sat up and turned around.

"Josh" She breathed. "What happened now?"

The young six-year-old boy wiped his tears with no hope of getting them to stop, as though they were playing games with him.

"Mummy, Emily finished all the food in the kitchen!"

"What?" Mama's face grimaced, surprised.

"She took all the sweets and the chips you left in the kitchen, and she did not even give me anything!"

Mama slapped her palm on her face with extreme frustration. "Lord have mercy! What in the world is wrong with this girl?" She asked aloud. "Can't I come home one evening and not hear something like this for once?"

The boy was still whining. "Sorry Mummy" he was saying.

"Why are you saying sorry?" Mama sighed and shook her head in disbelief. "Emily is the one I need to talk to. Where is she?"

"I think she is in the room."

"Please call her for me." Jason turned and ran up the stairs and entered him and his sister's room. Less than a minute later he came back running down the stairs. "Mummy, she's not upstairs."

Mama sighed again. She was feeling slight pain on the side of her head and needed to go to her room and sleep. "Alright, whenever your sister comes, tell her to see me in my room" she said as she got up and sluggishly headed towards the stairs.

"But what about the pie and the chips?" The young boy was still asking, drying one eye with his hand. She stopped to look at him with a fragile smile. "Don't worry, I'll get you one all for yourself - "

"Mummeee!!" The door suddenly burst open with a kid in a white shirt and blue skirt rushing in with both hands on forehead and a face sweating like it had been splashed with water. Both Mama and Jason were startled. "Mummy!! You're back!" The child was yelling profusely. "Mummy, my head hurts, they were beating me in school!"

"Emily!" Mama shouted her down. "Must you make noise when you're entering the house? And what do you mean by they were beating you? Weren't you fighting in school this afternoon?"

"Fighting?" Emily sounded surprised. "No I wasn't."

"The principal called me not long ago," Mama answered, "and she told me you got into a fight with a friend during lunch because you broke your friend's pen." Mama's voice answered with a bit of anger in her tongue. "What have I told about fighting in school, eh? You're even lucky the principal warned you for the last time because if it happens again, you won't go back to school until next year. So why are you lying to me?"

"Mummy I'm sorry" Emily pleaded, folding her hands. "Please don't be angry with me, it was Mary's fault, she started beating me and she made me beat her back even when I told her to stop."

"And did you have to beat her back?" Mama scolded. "Did you? Look, the next time I hear something bad about you from the principal, I will lock you in your room and you won't come out for the rest of the year." Jason's small eyes opened wide as though he had suddenly heard some big news.

"The whole year?" The boy asked.

"Mummy now" Emily begged with droplets of tears.

"Have I done anything? I said next time."

"But you said next time you'll ground me."

Mama was more perplexed than when she came in. "Look, don't disturb me, okay? I need to go and have some rest." She then proceeded to climb up the stairs to her room when the girl suddenly called out to her, "Mummy, what about that watch you said you were going to buy for me? The one that looks like Mary's own, and you can slap it on your wrist?"

Another heavy sigh. "You know what? You’ll get the watch when you start behaving yourself."

"What? But Mummy..."

"No!!"

Emily groaned and whined. "Oh it's not fair! You never give me anything I want! Mary's parents give her everything she wants and as well as all my friends in school."

Mama stopped and looked at her daughter in the eye. "Emily, be very careful. If you keep behaving like this, I will stop buying you things, and you will start going to bed without supper, and you will force me to give you some strokes on your butt with my stick!" Mama started climbing up.

Then Emily burst into a fit of frustration and yelled, "Oh, I wish Daddy was still here! He always gave me everything I wanted and he never said no to me! I wish he was still here!" Emily ran upstairs and stormed into her room, shutting the door with a loud bang! Jason started sobbing as though someone had hit him in the face and he went back into the kitchen. Mama just stood there in front of her room facing the direction of her children's room, seemingly planning to go there and teach her daughter a very big lesson. After some seconds, she went into her room and shut the door.

The sun dropped down slowly. The crickets chirped in the grass, singing the song of the night. Mama set the bowls down and poured the spaghetti into each bowl, reserving a few for herself in a plate. She brought the bowls to the dining table and set them down there. "Emily! Jason!" She called. "Children! Supper is ready!"

There was a little rumble of noise upstairs, before the footsteps started rushing towards the dining table. Eyes sparkled at the sight of the food and tongues watered at the very point of smelling the delicacy. "What are you two still waiting for?" Mama said. "Get your forks and come over here." Emily and Jason rushed to grab their forks and sit at the table with Mama. They could not wait to eat the spaghetti and both quickly dived into the meal without allowing Mama to say the prayers. Few minutes after they started eating, Emily was done and had cleared out her bowl. Mama had also finished and went and took her plate to the kitchen to wash it up. Jason had only a few strands of spaghetti left and seemed to be struggling with them. Noticing his sluggishness at finishing what was left, Emily raised her fork and looked at Jason.

"Can I have some? You look like you can't finish everything."

"Nah, I can finish everything."

"Are you sure? The spaghetti was so good that I finished it so quick."

"I can finish it. I don't want to finish it right now so it will be nice."

Emily sneered. "You probably won't finish it before we go to bed. Here, let me help you." Emily took a few strands and almost swallowed them, but Jason stopped her immediately with a frown on his face. "No" he said firmly. "I can finish it by myself, and I don't need your help."

"But you're wasting time in finishing the food!" The girl complained. "Let me just help you with this one - "

"No no no! Leave me alone!" Jason dragged his bowl away from his sister and held it near him with his face turned red. Emily got angry and said, "Let me just take one now", and tried to take the bowl away from her brother. But Jason didn't let her. "Leave me alone!" He cried. "Mummy!"

Mama came in and saw what was going on. "What! Emily, Jason! What are you doing? You are going to break the bowl! Stop!" The children were still struggling with the bowl and would not let it go when suddenly it flew out of their hands and then they were staring at it in the hands of their mother who was holding it upside down, the content of which had been spilled all over the table and on the floor in a messy form.

On seeing the mess created by him and his sister, Jason hung his head and burst into tears. "No!" He cried. "My spaghetti!"

Emily stared blankly at her mother and at her brother at the same time, looking dazed as though she was not the one dragging the plate around a few seconds earlier. Her mother's look at her made her drop her eyes in fear; a side of the bowl was cracked and broken. "Mummy, please, don't punish me, it was Jason's fault, he didn't want to give me out of his food, and I was not forcing him - "

"That’s not true!” Jason yelled quickly.

"That's enough!" Mama snapped. "You two go to your room and think about what you just did. Now." She took the broken plate into the kitchen while the kids mourned over the loss of the battle over the few strands of spaghetti.

"See what you did to my spaghetti!" Jason sobbed.

"It's your fault, you should have just let me take out of it - "

"No!!"

"What are you two still doing here??" Mama stood at the kitchen door with a broom in her hand. Emily and Jason did not hesitate anymore, and hence left the table and went upstairs in tears.

After cleaning up the mess, Mama sat on the couch and switched on the TV. She wiped her face with a handkerchief and sighed, lost in thought. Just then her phone woke up and she saw the number. "Katie" She said to herself.

"Hello Kate?" She picked. The two spoke for a while. 

"I have to admit, you're enjoying yourself not having young children to deal with now" Mama said jokingly, chuckling.

"Well," said Katie on the other line, "I'm jealous you have kids to deal with and I don't have at all... Although Daniel and I parted ways, the court still gave him rights over our twins, so I'm just a lonely lady wishing life could be better if I hadn't thought of breaking up so soon."

"So you couldn't own the twins?"

"Nope. Daniel had it all sorted out. He always gives the children more than they could ask for, anyway, unlike me who's always thinking about their future and well being." Kate laughed sarcastically. "What can I do? He literally spoils the kids while I struggle to ensure they are doing well and not getting in anyone's way."

"Yeah... like John." Mama sighed.

"Come on now" Kate laughed. "You're not seriously going to bore yourself with these continuous thoughts of your husband all the time, are you?"

"Maybe not" Mama replied, chuckling. "I'm just realizing how easy it was for him when he was around to bond with the kids because he didn't say no to any of their demands... He loved them so intensely I thought it was a trait I couldn't get... How he suddenly ended after the accident continues to break me in pieces, though. Whenever I think of the children, I remember him and what he did, and it just hurts to see that and the fact that my daughter knows he is not around and she's missing the things she enjoyed so much, and I look like the reason why she's suffering so bad."

Kate comforted her. "It's alright dear. The past has come, and it has gone. Your husband's end on the road is not the end of the road for you, you know? Remember it was because your daughter faked illness that he went out disordered in mind and ended up where he is now? Besides this, you have to show your children that they can live without their father - most especially Emily. She is only being a thorn in the flesh for you as she keeps reminding you of the good times you had with John and uses her misdemeanors as excuse for this... If I were you, I wouldn't let that get into my head, but I'd make her realize what she is doing and let her be sorry for it. Until you stop scolding her and start teaching her a lesson, she may never stop being who she is and will only worsen as she grows up. That's just what I think."

They spoke for about an hour and a half. Then Mama went to check on the kids and later went to her room to pray and stay up late preparing for the next day. 

The alarm went off at six o'clock. Within an hour Mama was dressed and seated at the kitchen, having her bowl of cereals and milk. Few minutes after the alarm rang the second time, Emily came climbing down the stairs, holding her toothbrush and toothpaste in her hand. "Good morning Mummy" She greeted as she passed by Mama and ran into the kitchen. "Morning dear" Mama answered, a mouthful of corn flakes barely down her throat while she spoke.

"Mummy," Emily called, "Why does it smell like cookies here?"

"Cookies? Are you sure? It might be from outside."

"Oh" Emily came running out of the kitchen. "It's true, Mrs. Johnson said she'd be baking chocolate cookies for her grandson's birthday this weekend. I think it smells good."

"You think?" Mama chuckled with a small smirk on her face.

Jason soon came down, mumbling words to himself. He hugged his mother and said good morning. Then he went to ask his sister for the toothpaste. Mama soon finished her cereal and took her plate to the kitchen. Her phone rang; her boss asked her in for work in less than an hour. A few minutes later, she climbed down the stairs and headed for the door. By now, the children were at the table, each eating from a bowl of corn flakes. They both ate quietly as though they were still brawling for two nights, although Emily kept commenting on how her corn flakes became soft after being in the milk for more than a minute.

"Emily," Mama called, and the girl looked up. "I'm going to work now. You be responsible and take care of your brother, and don't let too many friends in the house at once." She opened the door while speaking. "And also don't go near the kitchen for anything except if it's important, cause I've kept something there."

"Oh, okay." The girl suddenly lightened up on hearing something was in the kitchen. "Wait Mummy, what is in the kitchen? And can I have some?" She asked, smacking her lips.

"Yeah" Jason said. "Me too."

"No" Mama replied. "Not now. I want to reserve some of it for this afternoon and tomorrow morning when you go to school. If you take all of them now, you won't have anything to eat in school, and you don't want that to happen, do you?"

"Nope" the young girl smiled sharply. "Don't worry, I won't touch it, and I won't let Jason take it either. Promise."

"Hmm..." Mama smiled back. "I hope you keep your promise. Alright." She opened the door ajar and stepped outside. "I'll see you both by two."

"Bye Mummy!" Emily called. "Goodbye Mummy!" Jason waved his hand to her. The door soon closed, and few minutes after, the sound of the car starting and driving out of the compound was heard.

The children started talking about the TV show they watched the previous night and the popcorn Uncle Michael had brought for them when he came around to say hello. "I hope uncle comes again next week and brings more popcorn" Jason said, swallowing his food. “He should also come with a bag of cookies; then we will enjoy ourselves and never get tired."

"I hope he comes with a house of cookies instead, I won't be satisfied with just a bag of them" Emily laughed, finishing the last of her bowl of corn flakes.

"Come on Emily, you can't possibly finish a house of cookies!" Jason said. "I can't even finish the bag of cookies on my own! I won't be able to eat anything again, and Mummy will be angry with me."

"Whatever" Emily laughed again. She took her bowl to the kitchen and dropped it in the sink. Then when she turned to the cupboard and saw the thing that Mama had asked her not to take until the next day, she gasped.

"Emily, what's taking you so long in the kitchen?" Jason called. He went into the kitchen. "Are you okay?" He stopped and held his breath. The girl was bent over inside an opened cupboard, and the sound that came from there was crunchy as well as satisfying. "What are you eating? Is it the thing Mummy said we shouldn't eat until she comes back?"

No answer. "Mmm..." came a reply instead. "This is great..."

Jason leaned over and saw what she was eating. "Cookies!" He gasped. "Emily, you're eating cookies!"

"Yeah" she replied as she came out, holding a plate of five crisp looking chocolate cookies stacked up on each other in one hand, and in another hand, a cookie already bitten in half with the other half disappearing in between her lips. The young boy gasped again.

"Mummy said we shouldn't eat that!" He yelled.

"I'm hungry" she claimed, eating the other half of the bitten one.

"But you just ate corn flakes!"

"So? I'm still hungry."

"You could just take more!"

"I want to eat the cookie!"

"How many were there?"

"I saw seven. I just took two."

 "What! I'll tell Mummy."

"Don't tell Mummy! Don't you dare."

"Then stop eating!"

"Okay okay okay, this is my last one" She took another cookie and proceeded to eat it. "Can I also have one?" Jason suddenly asked.

"Wait" Emily answered. "I'm coming. But go and check if Ada has come yet."

"Oh okay" The boy ran for the door. "Who is Ada?"

"A friend of mine. Just hurry up and check."

The car pulled up into the compound as the sun titled towards the west at two o' clock in the heat of the afternoon. Mama came out with her hand bag and headed for the door. Entering into the house, she heard Jason crying in the kitchen again. Asking him why he was crying, she learned that Emily had disobeyed her and had finished all the cookies without leaving anything left in the plate. Mama became angry on hearing this and in the evening refused Emily her dinner, asking her to go to her room without food. When Emily refused and became stubborn, Mama promised to deal with her as she went upstairs as well, then allowed Jason to eat the remaining of the food belonging to his sister.

The night was cold. Wind blew and whistled heavily. The wind blew with such temper as that of a tornado and had things flying around with accompanying particles of dust. It was windy for several minutes until it stopped abruptly and everywhere became calm. Then dark clouds formed in the night sky and the temperature dropped. The raining that followed was heavy and went on for two hours and some minutes after midnight. Lightning flashed and thunder roared. Several minutes later, the storm began winding down, with the rain slowing and reaching a halt until only the thunder could be heard in the distance.

A few hours more, and the sun started coming up. But it was a cloudy and drizzly morning. Mama went to the kids' room to get them ready for school. "Wake up! It's almost time for school!" Upon waking up, they both burst into reluctant coughs and sniffles. "My goodness, you guys have cold."

"I've been coughing since" Emily said.

"My throat feels sore" Jason complained.

Giving them warm water to drink, Mama said, "Looks like you two will have to stay at home today. I can't let you go to school and get sicker, and I have to rush to work cause I'm very late. You guys take care of yourselves and stay at home. Don't go out... And also don't eat anything cold or hard, especially from the freezer, or else you'll hurt yourselves." Mama was mindful of saying what specifically was in the freezer.

After Mama left, Emily wandered around aimlessly in the house, thinking of what she would do to entertain herself. Her stomach rumbled, so she went to the fridge to look at what she could eat. Then she remembered that Mama had said nobody should open the freezer.

When she opened it and saw what was inside, she looked left and right and ensured Jason wasn't spying on her.

In the evening, Mama prepared rice and stew for dinner and called the kids downstairs. Jason ran down to eat as fast as he could, but Emily came walking down like she was dragging a large wrecking ball. She complained of a headache. Mama checked her body temperature and said, "What happened? Your body is hot! We'll need to take you to the hospital, my friend Doc will take care of you."

"No no Mummy" Emily said, "I'm fine. I'm not hungry." She just went back upstairs yawning.

Later in the night, Emily could hear footsteps entering her room. A deep breathe out from an intruder made her jump up. "Aah!" She yelled. Just then she realized she was unable to speak because her breath was hanging and she wasn't breathing. Frightened, she tapped her brother to wake him up, but Jason only turned around and snored off. Emily struggled to breathe in, but it wasn't working. 

"Help!" She tried to say, but couldn't say. Just at that moment Mama opened the door and came in. "Emily?" She called.

Mama and Jason waited patiently in front of the ward door. Mama was pacing up and down with her eyes closed and mumbling to herself. Jason kept his eyes on his shoes, yawning. The door opened and the doctor came out, throwing his stethoscope round his neck. "Doc," said Mama in fear, "is she okay? Can she breathe?"

"Well she is doing fine now" Doc affirmed. "Her asthma might have been very bad, and the whole situation would have been worse as she's been running temperature already, had she not been rushed here in time. Have an idea of what happened to her?"

"I don't know, I don't know. Any hope that she recovers?"

"I believe so. Don't worry, she will return back to full health in no time."

"Can we see her?" Jason asked with a shy eye.

"Why not?" Doc smiled as he left the door ajar for them. "She's awake. You can see her."

Mama and Jason entered the room and saw Emily on the bed, dressed in a patient's clothes and lying down with her back supported by a big pillow. The window, covered by blindfolds and hovering above the bed, partly illuminated the room with the light of the morning sun shining outside. When Emily saw her family, the dimples on her face deepened with happiness. Mama sat down next to her while Jason stood on the other side.

"How are you now?" Mama asked.

Emily forged a smile. "I'm still feeling headache a little" she replied.

Mama smiled back. "You were so sick I had to rush you here immediately I came to your room. We couldn't sleep until after midnight cause we were so worried." Emily's smiled dropped and she looked down. "Sorry for making you sleep late" she said. A moment of silence followed.

Mama then asked, "Did you eat the ice cream I kept in the freezer yesterday, as well as the meat?"

The girl looked up in fear. "Mummy, I'm so sorry, I was hungry and I wanted to know what you put in the freezer... I'm so sorry for eating them."

"So you ate up to half of that bucket of ice cream and all of the meat?"

"Yes Mummy, I'm sorry."

Mummy sighed. "What exactly happened last night?"

"I had a bad dream that someone wanted to hurt me." Emily responded. "The person was entering the room and I didn't know what to do. Then I woke up and found out the door was still shut. It was when I thought everything was okay that I saw I couldn't breathe."

"That's all?"

Emily nodded.

Mama sighed again. "Do you feel happy now for all the things you did when you were home? Does any of what you did make you smile?"

"No" Emily replied.

"You know, I could have decided not to enter your room at that very moment." Jason yawned and leaned on a nearby desk. "If I hadn't gone in, I wouldn't know you were gasping for air and that would have been that. None of that would have happened if you had just listened to me and not eaten so much. Didn't you ever think you could get seriously hurt just because you wanted to enjoy yourself?"

"No" Emily whined.

Then after a second of silence, "Did you see the paper?"

"Paper? In the food?"

"Yes."

"You were the one who put that paper in the cookies and in the meat?"

"Yes, and even in the ice cream."

Emily's eyes widened in shock as she flashbacked to the day she saw the cookie plate and noticed the piece of paper at the bottom of the stack of cookies after she had finished them all. "But why did you put them there?" She asked, wiping her tears from her stained cheeks.

"I wanted to remind you that you were responsible for the things you did" Mama answered. "I was sure that you would still eat the food I asked you not to eat in the end, so I left a note in each of them, reminding you that you would be held responsible for your actions, and not someone else for you. However, I didn't plan for you to end up here, and I didn't want to stop you from making your choice. I wrote the notes in them as a warning."

Jason looked surprised. He mumbled to himself while he stared wierdly at the ceiling.

"I'm so sorry" Emily apologized again. "I'll never disobey you again, promise. Once I leave this place, I'll be a good child and I'll do the right thing." More tears struggled to come out of her eyes.

"Hmm..." Mama sat up. "Can I believe you will keep your promise this time?"

"Yes Mummy, I will. I mean it!" The almost crying girl assured. Jason was also almost crying. 

Wow, Mama thought to herself, For the first time, Emily is being honest. She stroked her daughter's forehead and asked, "You know everything is possible with God, right?"

"Yes Mummy."

"Then let's ask Him to help you get better so you can go back home." Emily nodded and folded her hands together to pray. Mama asked, and Jason got down on his knees next to the bed and folded his hands, closing his eyes tight and pressing them close to his hands. Mama then began praying, with tears in her eyes, and the children responded with "Amen" by the time she was done.

The alarm went off again. Mama quickly put it off and flung herself back in bed. A day off for myself, she thought absent minded. She rolled left and right on her bed, though, still thinking of how she would prepare breakfast for the kids before they would go to school.

Mama soon came downstairs, an hour afterwards, to be greeted by a couple of children in their school uniforms seated at the table with three bowls of corn flakes already on the table and waiting to be used. "Good morning Mummy" said the children in smiles beaming on their faces. "We've been waiting for you for come and eat. Your food's ready!"

"Wow" Mama expressed in surprise as she hugged her kids. "You did this all for me? Did you wake up early today?"

"Yeah" Emily exclaimed. "Jason and I helped you prepare the food so you can be early to work."

"Wow, I'm so amazed, although I'm not going to work today cause it's my day off." Mama laughed. "But thanks so much for doing this! You children make me so proud."

The children laughed happily.

In the afternoon, Mama drove into the compound after coming from the the super store. She just got off the phone when the door opened and Emily came running in. "Mummee!!" She called. "Hi Mum! Guess what?"

"What happened dear?"

"Mary and I are friends again! We just got back after she came back from her grandma's house. We haven't seen each other since last month."

"Wow" Mama smiled. "I did not think you hadn't made up with her for such a long time. Isn't she the same girl you had a fight with before?"

"Yeah she is, but she left to see her grandma afterwards" Emily replied. "She said she got back yesterday and wanted to tell me sorry for what she did to me, but I apologized to her first since I started fighting with her first. Now we're friends again, and Mary even wants to come for a sleepover this weekend!" Emily's dimples deepened as she smiled widely. "Can she come?"

"Of course, why not?" Mama accepted. "I even met her mother at the super store today and she told me her family had gone to visit her parents, like you said." Emily flew into her mother's arms and embraced her tight. "Speaking of talking, I also got a call from your principal not long ago."

"Really? Did the principal say something about me?"

"Yes she did." Mama sat down on the couch when Jason came running into the house from his neighbor who was chasing after him. "You won't catch me!" The boy laughed to the other kid. "I will!" The other boy shouted to him, laughing too. Jason made silly faces and stuck his tongue out chanting, "Nananana na na!!" Then shut the door behind him and let out another cry of laughter.

"Hi Mummy!" He ran to his mum and hugged her.

"Jason is too playful" Emily remarked, giggling. "Was the principal angry with me, Mum?"

 

"Nope, she was not. In fact, she was very glad to tell me you've been doing well in school. She said you're being disciplined, hardworking and helpful now." Mama smiled at her daughter. "Now that's the kind of news I've been expecting to hear about you."

Emily smiled again. "Thanks Mummy" she said. "I'm still trying my best." Then she went to look for Jason, who was at the kitchen looking for bananas in the fridge. "Josh," she called, "I have something good for you. Want it?"

The young boy ran to his sister, clapping his hands together in excitement and his white teeth exposed in the light. "Yes yes yes! What is it? What is it?"

Up to this point, Emily still had her school bag at her back and had not removed it. She took her bag off and set it down on the floor, searching for the thing she had gotten for her brother. Jason tried peeping in but his sister blocked his view. "No," she smiled, "just wait for it." Jason watched her eventually bring out a plastic red bag with some similar designs on it as well as a small nylon bag stuffed with something that smelled immediately of a familiar aroma. On taking one look at the red bag with the designs, the boy covered his gaping mouth in shock.

"Popcorn??"

"Yup. And it's the one with the delicious taste, like the one Uncle Michael brought when he came." She handed it to him. "Here's pie too" She gave him the white nylon bag. "Veggie pie!"

Jason held his breath. "Is it all for me?" He asked.

"Yeah. I already have my own." Mama looked at the two of them with calm happiness.

"Thank you Emily!!" Jason jumped up and down in excitement and hugged his sister again. He was about tearing the bag open when his mother suddenly spoke. "Em Josh, do you have any homework to do?"

"No..." Jason dragged the word, looking away from his mum to the kitchen.

"Hmm?"

Jason sighed. "Okay okay, yes I have homework. But can I have the popcorn first and then go and do it?"

Mama chuckled while beckoning Emily to bring her a cup of cold water. "You know the answer to that." She replied. Jason groaned. He could hear his friends outside making noise and knew immediately what they were up to. "Can I at least go and play with my friends?" He pleaded.

Mama was drinking from the cup. "Alright" she agreed, "but just know that you're not escaping your assignment this time and you'll do it before you can have your snack. And I'll make sure your sister doesn't give you until that happens."

Emily giggled while Jason groaned again in frustration. "Okay, I'll do it when I come back." The boy dashed to the door and flung it open. "John, wait! I'm coming!" He disappeared leaving the door hanging open.

"Jason! You didn't - " Mama was calling but cut herself short. Emily laughed and said, "Don't worry Mummy, I'll close it."

When the family had dinner in the evening, Mama accidentally announced she had a surprise for Emily. After the kids were done eating, they nagged their mother to show them the surprise. "Okay okay" Mama exclaimed softly. "Jason, please bring my bag from my room. I kept something there." Jason went and soon returned with his mother's bag and handed it to her. Emily kept her eyes fixated on the bag, not wanting to miss the moment it came out.

Mama brought out a phone-sized box containing a wristwatch that looked as though it was made into one piece - the parts were not curled but straight stretched, and it was pink in color.

"What!" Emily exclaimed in shock.

"Well?" Mama asked.

"The pink watch... the one that you can slap on your hand... you were able to - "

"I just thought you needed to be rewarded for how disciplined and hardworking you've bceome" Mama beamed.

"Yess!!" Emily cried out in joy as she hugged her mother tightly and was handed the pink watch. "I always wanted this watch!" Emily exclaimed. "I can't wait to show Mary, she's going to be so happy I have one like hers now! Thank you so much Mummy!" She embraced her mother three times.

Jason looked pained. "When will I get something good too?" He moaned.

"Well, maybe when you do your homework on time and be a good boy" Mama replied as she finished the last of her rice in her bowl. "And be hardworking. People don't get rewarded for what they didn't work for, you know?" She stood up. "And before I forget, that's not all the surprise I have." She went to the counter and came back with a book enclosed in a white nylon bag. She handed it to Emily and said, "You need this."

Emily brought out the book. The words The Holy Bible in gold letters against a blue background stared back at her. As her mouth gaped open, she announced she couldn't believe what she was looking at. "My own Bible Mummy? My very own?"

"Yes, for you and your brother. I know that you want to be closer to God, so I decided giving this to you from your uncle would be the most important thing that would ever happen to you. I am glad you have started to do well, and I want you to keep going in that way. What's more is that it has been written so that children can read it and understand, so reading the Bible will be easy for you."

Emily flipped the Book open and scanned through a few pages. Mama was right, she thought. The words are easy to understand. "Thank you so much Mum" she said as she turned to her mother with more wide dimples. "I promise to read the Bible all the time and to never be tired of it. Promise."

"I know you will. Know what, let me set a challenge for you: every night, starting from tonight, you read a chapter of the Bible of your choice and write down what you learned. Every week you'll come and show me what you've done. Alright?"

"Okay!" Emily accepted. "I'll read a chapter every night, and maybe one day I'll read a chapter in the morning too."

"I love your spirit." Mama hugged her daughter.

Suddenly Jason dropped his spoon in his bowl sharply as though something had startled him. "Emily isn't going to read it" the boy joked. "She doesn't like reading her books, so how will she now read the Bible? She'll just sleep off." The young boy giggled amorously.

"Jason" Mama laughed happily. Emily took one look at her mother and then at her brother, and then said, "Josh, Why did you say that? It's not funny."

Jason smirked at his sister. Then he stuck his tongue out at her and held his hands in the air. "Nananana na na!!" He teased. Emily frowned at his face making and clutched her fists. "I'm coming for you!" She yelled. "Come here!" The boy started running up the stairs in excited fear over his sister chasing him. They both dashed into their bedroom where Jason leaped on his bed. "Okay okay okay!" He screamed. "You've already gotten me! Don't tickle me! I'm laughing already!"

Then Emily raised a fist in an attempt to throw it down. Jason shut his eyes and screamed. "Mummeee!!" Just when it seemed like he had been hit, he opened his eyes and saw his sister standing in front of the door, almost falling down from intense laughing, and at that moment Mama entered and looked at the kids, frowning.

"Mummy, Emily wanted to beat me!" Jason was almost driven to tears.

"Eh?" Mama turned to Emily. "Emily..."

Emily smiled at her mother and then burst into another fit of laughter. Just when Mama thought she had been surprised enough, Jason opened his mouth and began laughing too. Mama was stunned, so stunned she couldn't say anything. She just looked at her children laughing their hearts out as though they would never laugh again.

Then suddenly, she started laughing too. The kids were shocked when they heard their mother laughing that they stopped and watched her. "Good one kids!" She exhaled. "You make your mama so proud."

Then the laughing continued.

It took me pretty long to rewrite this story. Like, three weeks? I hope you didn't get bored.

What did you think of this story? Could there be anything that was missed? How else could it have ended? Let me know in the comments.

Thank you for reading :-)

Characters

Emily, an arrogant, selfish 11-year-old girl who loves having things her own way

Mama, Emily's mother, works at a bank, a woman of discipline and human kindness

Jason, or Joshua, Mama's 6-year-old son and Emily's younger brother, always crying and playing about

Doc, a medical doctor at a nearby teaching hospital, apparently a friend of Mama's

Kate, Mama's friend, recently divorced, a mother of twins

 

Written by Oluwatobi Chinedum Ayeni 

Photo by Lisa Fotios