Chapter 10

The next morning, mum called for me to her room . I wondered why she was calling for me. I had still not recovered from yesterday incident.

" Take a seat, now listen , looking at what happened yesterday, your system can't contain alcohol at all. The little I will tell you is that , in the near future, if you happen to go out with your friends and colleagues, don't allow yourself to be fooled or challenged into taking alcohol because you will end up regretting it. You will get intoxicated with even just a sip. And others will take advantage of you. You can either be raped, or something else. Have I made myself clear? ""

I sat down as surprised as I was and couldn't utter any other words than " okay thank you" because, she would hardly sit someone down to give such an advice.

She should have listened to me earlier when I said I couldn't take in . Now , I'm sick from the hangover yesternight .

For three days ,I had still not got back on my feet. But what could I have done about it, I still have to go about my duties despite being feeble. I gradually started recovering on my own.

Sooner than expected, issues upon issues started overlapping and bottling up. I had no idea mum had phoned my dad to turn whatever happening inside out. I cooked up stories for my dad to be convinced enough that I'm not being of any use in the house. This woman , I think she gets sick to see people happy without trouble. She's unpredictable,one moment, she is chatting with you like no other day, another, ....hmm .

Dad got fed up with the complaint for her. The mistake he made was not to listen to my point of view. He judge directly from what he heard.

He then called me later... and scolded me like never before. I take in scolding like water each day , this wasn't news to me at all.

" what the heck is wrong with you Debbie, why do you cause trouble each time , what do you want me to do with you.?"

He said all these and more ... but there was no way I could defend myself, it's pointless...I've never been given the chance to explain myself. I was made powerless.

I always haboured so much pain in me. Not knowing whom to entrust . My only friend was my diary .. I communicated my sadness and all my worries to my diary as if it was human who would give me solutions to my problem. Despite everything I did to help run the house as my family , she still had something to point out. she mostly left the house to God knows where and always came back after two weeks . Those periods , I was the mother of the house . Yet, she saw no use of me and wished that I'd left the house.

It's was a new year, a new beginning and a fresh start. But this new beginning was a beginning to a greater problem ahead. She wanted me to leave the house at any cost. I didn't know what to do because I was left with barely five months to write my final exams. They've tossed me around all the time and have delayed me in schooling for two years. Now the time has finally come to complete basic school and she wants me out of the house. That had always been her wish , but couldn't say it directly.

One morning , my biological mum phoned her and needed to talk to me. Whenever she calls , they would tell her either I've gone to school, or I've gone out to buy something. Which was never true. I would be right by her side but would never let me speak to her. But this time , she handed me the phone to speak to her. I was bottling a lot in me I wanted to speak up but that woman was with me .

I wanted to speak to her without anyone eavesdropping. But she insisted I make the call to her hearing.

The only thing I could say was "hello mum" . My mum knew something was bothering due to my silence.

There was nothing I could have said because it was on loud speaker .

Due to my total silence, my mum told me she would come to our place tomorrow to see what the problem is.

I them hanged up and gave the phone back to her.

Author's message to all readers:

Life is full of challenges , and every challenge you go through is a training ground for your success so never give up🙏 it might not be the end of the world for you.

kindly follow the story,read , give your review and share . thank you all.