HURDLES OF LIFE CHAPTER 5 (FINALE)
"Can I come in dear?" Mrs asked gently
"Yes mum".
She had always done this since he began living with them. She had thought it was the right thing to do, he had the right to his privacy. She treated him like a son, but still she doesn't forget that he was her nephew. Chuks respected the fact that she respected and loved him, so he reciprocated it, taking them as his parents likewise.
"How was your night dear?" She asked as she walked in to sit beside him.
"My night was fine ma, it was nice, but I had a dream".
"Really? Do you want to talk about it now or later after church?".
"I will tell you now".
***
It was 6:45am at the Okekes when Celina woke up, she checked the time on her wall clock and thought there was still more time to sleep, but she remembered that it was Sunday, so she decided to stay awake while she had the chance to or else she would oversleep until it was 9am and she didn't want to be a sleepy head in church, so she thought of what to do. She went to her bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face, then remembered what she wanted to tell Ngozi. Her face lit up a little knowing she would have to do something interesting to keep her awake else she would fall asleep in no time, so she made a way to Ngozi's room.
Celina knocked on Ngozi's door a couple of time before she heard a response.
"Who's there?" Ngozi called behind the door sounding so sleepy.
"It's Celina, I want to talk to you about something".
"Can't it wait till morning?".
"No! It's important, besides today is Sunday" Celina replied getting impatient after sensing that she probably had forgotten what day it was.
"Oh!" Ngozi said realizing "okay, I'm coming" she dragged herself out of the bed to open the door. The door opened wide for Celina to enter, as she watched her walk in, she wondered what she wanted to talk about.
With a curious face "what's up?" She walked up to her where she was sitting on her bed and knelt down resting the rest of her body on the bed.
"Talk, or else I will sleep off on you" Ngozi warned.
"Erm... it's, it is about Ebuka" she suddenly felt sweaty and nervous, she didn't know if she was doing the right thing by telling on her brother.
Ngozi noticed her nervousness and held her hands, "calm down, take a deep breath and tell me what it is".
Celina nooded and quickly did as she was told, then she opened her mouth to talk.
"Yesterday evening when I went to ask Ebuka if he was going to go out with us, I knocked on his door but didn't wait for response before I entered" Ngozi frowned at that, Celina saw her frown with her side eyes, but ignored and continued what she was saying "I called his name but he seemed buried in what he was doing on his phone, so he didn't hear me call, but when I walked up close, I saw him watching the naked body of some girls, some were half naked, then I shouted his name and that brought him back, but he thought I didn't see it so he hid his phone" Ngozi's eyes flung wide open in shock and surprise.
"What?!" She screamed and jumped up. Ngozi, even though she was a very reserved person she didn't tolerate insolence and misbehavior from anybody, especially not from her younger ones. In anger she stomped out of her room heading towards Ebukas'. Celina didn't know what to do, whether or not she should follow her, but after the sound of Ebuka's name the second time she hurried towards Ebuka's room.
"Ebuka!" She called racing to his room, "Ebuka!" She called again. Ebuka jolted up from his sleep, in panic from what was happening he ran to his door and opened it. Ebuka received a resounding slap on his face as he opened his door to Ngozi, she slapped him again.
"How dare you?!" She yelled.
In surprise "what did I do? Why are you hitting me?".
"Give me your phone!" She ordered.
Meanwhile, Ebuka had revisited the porn site and had been pleasuring himself to the fullest, he had fallen asleep without leaving the site. Oblivious to him that he had gotten into a mess and was wondering what he did, if giving her his phone would stop her from hitting him and solve the problem then so be it, he didn't hesitate to give Ngozi his phone and even unlocked it.
Immediately the phone came up, he realized that he was still on the porn site. Perplexed, he didn't know what to do, knowing Ngozi obviously saw it and was so angry, he went down on his knees and began to plead for mercy, knowing what she could do.
"Sis, please, I beg you, it was just this once, I promise I will never try it again, please forgive me" he said in tears.
Celina who was watching from the door took pity on her brother and joined him kneeling in front of Ngozi, she was also in tears, infact she had started crying after he received two slaps knowing that she had been the caused of it all, she never liked seeing him in pain. Ngozi had no option but to let go of her intial plan which was to beat him to plup, so she just went back to her room with a teary eyes, different things triggered her tears. Ngozi on a normal day won't cry for any petty thing especially something that involved anger, but this was different.
After Ngozi had left, Celina hugged Ebuka tight almost choking him "I'm sorry".
Ebuka released himself from her grip and hugged her warmly, he was happy she was his sister again "it's okay, I messed up and I know, even Chuks won't be happy about it" he said remembering his friend and imagined what he too would have done if he found out.
"I told her" Celina said retrieving from the hug.
Ebuka looked disappointed and angry, he wanted to yell at her for telling on him, 'or was it because he called her a little girl last night, shoving her off? He thought, she should have minded her business' he thought but quickly shook it off, 'what would have happened if Ngozi found out herself? Besides Celina was simply being a sister, she didn't want him to go down the wrong path'
so he hugged her again and smiled, that moment he realized he had the best family in the world, so he decided there that he would relate with his family better and never hide anything from them, especially Ngozi.
***
The Mbekes had prepared and were set for church, it was 7:30am. They got into the car and Mr Mbeke drove off, as usual Chuks took his spot at the back seat, directly behind the driver's seat. As the car drove, Chuks decided to ask the questions he had on his mind.
"Dad?".
"My boy!" Mr Mbeke replied as though Chuks had done something to impress him earlier, but that was his usual gesture. Mr and Mrs Mbeke never made him feel like he had lost his parents, while their children were already on their own, married and working, Chuks was there as their child.
"How did your friend die?" Chuks asked and Mr Mbeke suddenly applied the brakes causing Mrs Mbeke to stare at him. His question had caught them by surprise.
Mr Mbeke sighed, "he had cardiac arrest when he heard that his mother had died".
Chuks felt a tear drop on his cheek, he remembered the way his parents died, he had always missed them, he had a lot to discuss with his father, but thank God for his Uncle.
"How old was he?" He probed further and wiped off the tear.
"He was 25" Mr Mbeke answered and sighed in sadness.
"Was mummy your girl friend then?".
"Yes, infact, the day he died was supposed to be our wedding day and he was my best man" he explained.
Chuks sighed "can I meet my wife at my age too?".
"Of course you can" Mrs Mbeke answered turning to face him "but it isn't certain, some people meet their life partner later in life while some meet theirs early enough, we can't predict when yours will be, neither can you, but you'll definitely meet her" she explained with a smile.
"How did you both know you were made for each other?" He asked curiously.
"The day he told me he would always be by side no matter what, he said that with all sincerity, I could see it in his eyes" Mr Mbeke smiled being proud of himself, Mrs Mbeke continued "and nobody ever told me that, because I was an orphan. The night we first met was the night I ran away from the orphanage home, I just wanted to leave there and have a life".
Chuks nodded in satisfaction, he had gotten his answers and he knew that his uncle was convinced enough to have told her that, he never give his word without affirmation. Chuks looked down to his wrist watch and noticed the time was no longer on their side "let's go, we're running late".
"Okay my boy" Mr Mbeke said and brought the atmosphere back to life.
***
Ebuka was the last to come out of his room, because he was ashamed of himself and didn't know how to face Ngozi again, so he came out bowing his head.
"You look handsome than ever" Ngozi said with a big smile. After crying about what happened earlier, she thought she had failed on her part as a sister. Both their parents trusted her to take care of their needs mentally while they took care their financial needs, but she failed by not checking up on them and finding out what was going on in their lives. 'What could have triggered him to visit a porn site? Was it his friends in school influence? Is there a gorgeous teacher in his school who dresses almost half naked? Or was it on his own free will? Since when had he been having the urge?' She knew she would find out about it and more, she promised never to leave her younger siblings to their own world again.
Celina was surprised at her confession, but Ebuka was confused, 'does that mean she had forgiven him? Or is it a way of teasing him to blush so she could find another way to hit him?' But Ngozi simply went over to hug him.
"I guess, I wasn't a big sister enough, but I've learnt my lessons and I promise never to let any of you down again" she said and Ebuka's face lit up while he hugged her back, Celina went in for a hug too.
"I would be an obedient little brother too, and will always open up to you" he promised.
"Me too" Celina whispered in between sobs when she noticed her siblings were crying too.
"I love you both" Ngozi said releasing them from the hug and dabbing the tears from her face, she didn't want to ruin her make up.
"We love you too" they chorused.
There was a knock on the door and Celina offered to go for it while she wiped her face with her hand. She opened the door and it was AJ at the door, she opened the door wider so she could hug him and jumped on him "Uncle AJ!" She said happily.
Ngozi smiled watching from far while Ebuka ran to him, they were all happy to see him. He dropped Celina carefully and smiled at Ngozi "let's go to Church" he said stretching out his hand while Ngozi walked up to him to take his hand and they all got into AJ's car.
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