Chapter Eight: Let The Cat Out Of The bag

Jiele, Lorella and Norella were all seated in the couch with Aunt Irene, Jiele's mom sitting in a special chair opposite the three of them.

"Ok kids, shall we begin?" Auntie Irene asked. "Yes auntie Irene" the twins replied in unison. "Yes mom" Jiele replied.

"It all started a very long time ago, even before any of the three of you were born, when I and my siblings  transferred to a private school, I meant that I and my brothers...." "Mom?" Aunty Irene got interrupted by her daughter. "Are you sure that is the very beginning?" She asked as she started to regret why she interrupted her mother's speech or story or memory lane. Her mom was giving her that evil look which  silently says ' You go collect later this night' ( a Nigerian slang made by parents and elders which means one will be punished later for a disrespectful act).

"Okay dear" she replied her daughter smiling falsely, " It is actually a very long story, we might be sitting here the whole day", Aunty Irene said sadly."that was how your father met his first love Cecilia. After he graduated senior high School and I was in senior high School one and our younger boy that was in high School junior two. Our father, your grandfather died just few days to my west African examination council (Waec) and that made everything even harder because your father was also preparing for his university entrance examination and we also have to prepare for my father's burial. Yeah my younger brother was also preparing for his junior west African examination council and all of a sudden our mum fell ill she was diagnosed with high blood pressure and so after she kicked the bucket too. Things became very tough and we became very helpless and confused, we do not even have any relatives in the city and do not remember our way back to our village because we were quite young when we came to the city. We sold our family house and our Fathers car but it still was not enough to solve our financial issues. I have my younger brother decided to drop out of school, since the fees for the upcoming examinations was very expensive and we could not afford it. We decided to start hustling to support our elder brother so that he will be able to go to university and one day help us in return when he makes it in life. It was during that time that my younger brother got hit by a car which lead to his early death, he was just a twelve year old child when he died. My parents had him few years after we moved to the city. That was when I lost all hope, life became very miserable for me because I became the only one two phones from my older brother. Then he decided to drop out to but I told him it was an unwise decision to make, because he cannot, not now, what about everything that has happened in the last few years just for him. That was when Cecilia came into the picture again, I decided to make things a bit easier for us. One day, I guess you Cecilia a surprise visit. My older brother and her were still dating, but he was not telling her anything, he was not telling her what was going on, he was not telling her what we were going through, that we needed help, that we were in need of some financial assistance. When I confronted him about it, he told me that he did not wanted to bother her with his family issues since they were not yet I understood where he was coming from, but still she should have told her at least for my sake. She called me back a week later and told me to meet her at a fancy restaurant. "Hi Irene" she said to me."I have thought about what you told me though I confronted your brother, he told me it was nothing, that I have my own life to live and he did not want to bother me because we were both orphans and he is a man. He said he is not supposed to ask me for financial assistance and that it would be a shame to him and manhood if he did. He also said he is supposed to be the one giving me financial assistance" Cecilia explained to me. "That was what he told me to"I told her,"she is just too stubborn" I added. "So what is your plan?" I asked Cecilia.

"I was thinking, just thinking, how about I said in abroad to complete his studies"she said and winked at me. I was shocked when she said that and kind of jealous. I had many questions going through my mind at that very moment. She has not finished talking, I needed to hear her out first before jumping into unnecessary conclusions."how about he starts all over again, I mean I want to sponsor him to study in the US". She revealed her plans to me. "Okay", that was the only word I was able to say to her. And a month later, her words came to pass, brother was in the US, but about two months after she found out she was pregnant, she was carrying his child", Aunty Irene said disappointedly and sighed heavily. "2 years later, my older brother called me and informed me that he has fallen in love with someone else, with a white woman which happens to be your mother. At first I was very disappointed at him because Cecilia had done a lot for him, for us, and for our family. In fact, she made him who he became. He was supposed to be grateful and not to betray her like this, who does that these days", Jiele's mother said sadly. "I was not sure on how to inform her about the evil my other brother had done since she already has his child. I think your mum just found out about it that day that day that you and your father, Norella". "Wow", Jiele, Norella and Lorella said in unison. "Dad did not tell me this part of the story of having a child outside wedlock", Norella said angrily. "What gender is the child?" Jiele, Lorella and Norella asked in unison curiously.

Auntie Irene glanced at her big wall clock in her living room "it is already past twelve PM, why don't we prepare lunch and eat first before continuing the story. Aunt Irene said and smiled tiredly.