Torns

Episode 24

“Why are you ashamed of me? Why do you treat me as if… as if something is wrong with me?”
“Fumike, we…” her mother feigned a smile.

“You don’t like to be seen with me. You… you don’t want people to know that we are related, why?” she cut in, tears streamed down her face.

Jibike glanced at her husband. He cleared his throat.

“It is not… We just want to…”
“I am fair and slim, why do you punish me for mother nature’s crime?”
“That’s not… Punish you?” Ajibade frowned.
“I watched you treat Foluke and Folake like eggs for years. You treat me like a parasite. It’s not my fault that I look different. You make me feel like I shouldn’t have been born.”

“That’s enough!” nose flared, eyes red. Her words reignited his guilt.

She exhaled with shakes, dropped her head, slouched her shoulders, she headed to her safe haven- her bedroom.

Jibike watched her. They had never been able to come to terms with the fact that she was their daughter. At times, she wondered if God was punishing them for something they couldn’t even remember.

Folake hissed and returned to the sitting room.

She cared less.