Chapter Eight

stood up, said a quick thank you to them and made for my room.  Surprisingly, I felt happy,  I finally have a home and a new family. I hummed my favorite song but my joy was cut short by what i saw in my room.

My bed was dripping wet, the bed had been torn and fragments of wet foam were spilling out of it, the rug was thickly soaked, the curtain was shredded and pulled off into a pile at the foot of the bed.

I looked left and noticed my books were no longer on the dressing table, I walked into the room trying to get a better picture but unfortunately I stepped on glass, I quickly looked up and realized the dressing mirror was no longer on the wall, a few feet away stood the wood the mirror was carved into making me realize what I just stepped on were glass crystals from the broken mirror.

I winced from the pain and moved in better, leaving trails of blood on the floor, I immediately regretted pulling off my flops in fear of getting it soaked in the rug.

As if on cue, my eye noticed a bucket on the bed, I quickly reached to put it down but found it filled up with water, I dragged it and looking into it brought hot stinging tears into my eyes, my books stared back at me, they looked badly swollen with water, I immediately pulled it out but it fell back with a Talum sound into the water.

Remembering my Ghana must go bag I left on the floor could have gotten wet too,  I turned to the left side of the bed to rescue it.

My bag was in shreds, my favourite Christmas gown; the one Folakemi called tattered, as in the one my mum bought for me last Christmas was dented with a big hole I was sure was unamendable, someone had used a scissors to make ugly designs on it.

The same person had used the same scissors to inscribe boldly the words "Watch your back" on the wall, the room looked like a World War had just taken place, nothing was left untouched, the room had been turned upside down.

I immediately Burst into confam tears  after letting out a soul wrenching scream which made everyone in the house excluding Folakemi rush into my room.

"What is going on here?" My uncle asked shaking my shoulders, I just looked at me and kept gushing out tears.

"Oya stop crying and answer me" he said.

I tried speaking but I just couldn't form words,  the more I tried speaking,  the more I found it hard to, I felt like there was a load on my chest so I just let the tears flow.

"It's okay" Folakemi's mother whispered into my ears as she pulled me into a brief hug before pulling away.

Aunty Bola stood just outside the door, a look of shock and surprise evident on her face.

"I left your room after our discussion to my room and I met the room like this." I said in between sobs,  I actually was beginning to have an head ache.

"It's okay ehn, don't worry it will be cleared up now" Mr Bolarin said looking around the room in confusion, his expression immediately formed into a frown as if suddenly realizing what happened.

"Folakemi!" he called.

"Folakemi!! Folakemi!!!" he yelled this time around.

"Yes daddy" she answered in a chirpy tone, walking out of my bathroom in calculated steps, she was actually holding one of my novels and a scissors.

To say I was shocked is an understatement, this devil wore a smirk on her face, shining her eyes like touch light.

"What exactly is going on here?, what is this witch doing in my bathroom?" I screamed in my mind.

I probably wasn't the only one shocked because everyone's face was morphed into different shocked expressions.

Mr. Bolarin's jaw were wide apart, I feared they might fall off, I would have laughed at the funny facial expressions they had on their faces if I myself wasn't so angry.

Mr.  Bolarin was the first person asides me to recover from the shock as he was the first person to speak.

"Folakemi, kílònśhèy níbí (what are you doing here)?"  he asked.

"Daddy what's going on here?" she asked him in reply visibly ignoring his question.

"Fola"

"Yes daddy"

"Do I look like am joking, kílònśhèy níbí tó tì bò tá yèn ( what are you doing  where you came out from)?" he asked raising his voice in anger.

"But dad, I have told you times without number to stop speaking that irking language to my hearing" she grumbled.

"That isn't what I asked you o Folakemi" he yelled wagging his fingers at her.

"Daddy, there's no need to yell at me" she said calmly bursting into tears, anybody seeing her now would have thought her dad had descended on her.

"I was just pressed so I decided to  quickly use Anjola's rest room" she continued sniffing and sending a quick glare at me before turning back to her dad with a pout.

"Bitch" I muttered silently in my head.

"oh I see" Her father replied.

"So Fola, your own rest room is not useable abi" her mother finally spoke, " I didn't even know scissors is needed in the rest room nowadays."

"Folakemi,  a times I just don't understand you o" she said letting her shoulders fall in frustration.

"We really don't need all this" Mr Bolarin said shaking his heads with his arms akimbo.

"As I am leaving this room now, I give you only five minutes to report yourself to my room" He informed Folakemi as he walked out of the room.

Almost out of the room, he turned and  faced me.

"You don't have to worry, we'll sort this out" he said scratching his heads.

"Bola"

"Yes sir"

"Arrange the room adjacent ours, and move Anjola there" he informed.

"We'll have to get you new dresses and replace the spoilt ones. Sorry about what happened."

"If you take more than five minutes to meet me in my room, I'll be sure to double your punishment" He said staring at Folakemi before walking out with his wife following suite leaving me and Aunty Bola staring at Folakemi.

"Which yeye punishment sef" Folakemi grumbled.

"You have not seen anything o,  this is just the beginning my dear" she blurted giving me a dirty look before hissing and going after her parents.

"Ajè ló mò yèn(that girl is a witch) " Aunty Bola suddenly remarked.

"I told you that girl is a brat, at least now you can see with your eyes"

"Just forget her sha, she's just bluffing, it's all an empty threat" she said.

The word empty threat kept echoing in my head,  empty threat she called it,  if she can do this to my room,  what more can't she do,  and she's saying she's making an empty threat.

The girl is a confam Demon, and as much as I wanted to believe aunty Bola, what I saw was enough to make me dread her.

*********

The loud banging on the door made me hurry out of the bathroom, I just settled into the new room which was a little bigger and comfortable than the previous one, I was actually tending to my bruised feet when I heard the loud bang of the door, I quickly hurried out to see what happened.

"So you didn't hear me knocking abi" Folakemi sassed.

"I even respected you enough to knock and your dumb self couldn't reply abi"

"I actually didn't hear you knocking because as you can see,  I just came out of the bathroom, I wouldn't have heard if not that you almost broke the door" I retorted.

"Oh so you can talk" she said flinching at my sudden outburst, which even surprised me.

She quickly comported herself wearing a frown.

"Daddy asked me to tell you sorry for what I did" She said folding her arms and leaning on the wall.

"But the sad truth is I am not in anyway sorry about what I did, in fact ehn I am satisfied and happy I finally showed you what I can do to you" she continued cocking her heads sideways, I silently prayed her glasses falls off and break.

"I am just here to make daddy believe I came to apologize and if you like, tell him I didn't apologize o, I have said sorry but my dear I don't mean it."

"Why do you hate me" I blurted moving to where she was, we were of the same height so it was easy for me to look her eye to eye.

This was the first time I was looking at her closely, the first time I saw her,  I couldn't really observe her face because her glasses were obstructing my view but now that it was on the bridge of her nose, I just stared straight at her.

I noticed we looked almost alike,  we both looked like my grandma, she was just a little lighter and chubby which I had a slightly darker skin tone to hers,  we had the same nose shape, the same eye colour, the same brow shape and the same rosy pink lips.

What differentiated us was the fact that she was  lighter than I was and a little chubby.

I got distracted from taking her face structure in by her sudden cough, I bet she was also looking me out and must have noticed the resemblance between us.

Anybody seeing us would classify us as sisters if not twins.

I immediately looked away as she pulled her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Why Do you hate me?" She mimicked me in a sarcastic tone.

"why won't I hate you when it seems you are here to take the spot light from me" she said shocking me.

" I have only been here for a week and I am already taking the spot light from her?, how come?, how is that possible? " I thought.

"But... "

"But what?" she asked standing straight.

"You want to make excuses right,  what do you even want to say?" she paused looking at me again.

"Before you came here, this house was at peace, daddy never shouts at me, now because you are here he seized my phone and grounded me for a week,  a good seven days and you expect me to not hate you?" she said wagging her fingers at me making me move backwards immediately, I wasn't expecting an outburst like this from her.

"You don't want me to hate you when my parents can't make a sentence without your name in between, you don't want me to hate you when they have decided you will be attending the same school I attend as from next week , so you can also steal the spot light there abi"

I was shocked at her words, they haven't even told me I was going to school, I was shocked and at the same time happy.

I broke into a grin forgetting Folakemi was still ranting in front of me.

"So you now find what am saying funny abi?"

"Please just shut up" I replied.

"what is it with you sef?, get a grip on yourself, I am not here to steal anything from you and mind you the world doesn't revolve around you for crying out loud,  the last time I checked it was the sun"

"The fact I didn't say anything all the time you were ranting doesn't mean am a fool or anything and I think I have had enough, I have only being  here seven days and you haven't even given me a breathing space, kilode na(what us it) " I said shocking her.

She was surprised at my outburst.

"I hate you,  I hate you with every fiber in me" she spat out with venom,  she looked so angry I was even seeing the veins on her neck as she talked.

"Watch your back or else"

"Or else what" I retorted.

She huffed and left the room with a loud bang again.

"Break it o" I hollered after her laughing hysterically.

"Nonsense,  she thinks she can make me scared" I hissed.

"She no know sey I be Ajekpako, I go just break her hands" I bragged.

I did a little dance in front of the mirror,  thank God she disclosed I was going to resume school next week , I was super happy.

"School here I come"

I screamed forgetting all about Folakemi, somebody cannot come and kill my joy.