Chapter 26

After packing for Samantha, enough calming tea to last for an entire lifetime, Mama silver finally1 allowed her to leave for school on Sunday afternoon.

The Salvadorian internship interview is the following day and Samantha needed to prepare for it. The more she studied the questions Dr. Miller sent, the more she was sure she wasn't good enough for the position Dr. Miller envisioned for her.

Since failure was never an option for her, she studied harder. She wants to make her grandmother and Dr. Miller proud because they are the only ones who always believed in her ability to succeed.

The aroma that welcomed her when she opened the door with the key Abby left for her was heavenly. She made her way towards the kitchen to find Abby stirring something inside a saucepan.

"Hello..." Samantha greeted Abby who had her back turned to her.

"Hmmm... Smells great!"

"Oh hi..." Abby greeted back with her usual wide dimpled smile.

"You're just in time for lunch, come taste this for me." Abby brought out the spatula from inside the pan of sauce she was cooking and blew on it before extending it towards Samantha's mouth.

"Hmmn yumm... What is it" Samantha asked looking inside the pot to see the sauce that was bubbling away inside the pan

"It's Mozambique..."

"What!... There's a dish called Mozambique?" Samantha asked with surprise

"No silly..." Abby replied and laughed.

"The dish is from Mozambique, Piri Piri chicken. This sauce will go with the chicken over there..." She indicated towards the roasted chicken she already placed on the kitchen counter. "Hope you're hungry?"

"Grandma wouldn't let me live without a full stomach... But this looks and tasted too yummy for me to pass over. Please let me have just a piece of the nice chicken then I'll reserve the rest for dinner."

While they ate, the girls chatted about many topics, including Samantha's coming interview at the Salvadorian empire. When they were done they cleared the table, do the dishes and each went to their various rooms to study.

Later, the doorbell rang and Abby shouted, "I'll get it!" Before briskly walking towards the door. She opened the door and a beautiful fair-skinned lady nervously stood by the door with a worried look on her face.

Abby immediately knew this was Samantha's elder sister without being told. The woman before her doesn't exactly look like Samantha, but there is some obvious resemblance between them.

"Hi... My name is Dani, I'm Sam's sister... I don't know... Is she around?" Danielle asked softly.

"Yes she is, please come in... I'll go get her for you." Abby smiled and lead the way into the living room. She didn't want to believe that this soft-spoken woman was the one who refused to have anything to do with her sister. She doesn't strike her like that kind of person

She walked to Samantha's room and gently knocked on the door before pushing it open to peeped inside. Samantha who was looking through her laptop looked up

"Hey what's up?... Do you need me for anything?"

"Not really... Your sister is here to see you"

"Huh!? Who? My sister?" Samantha asked stupendously. She couldn't believe who Abby said was looking for her. Why would her sister come to look for her out of the blues after twenty years? How did she even know where to find her?

"Just tell her I'm not home," Samantha, said and went back to what she was doing.

"Well I'm sorry, I already told her you're home"

"Okay, tell her I don't want to see her then"

"Sam!... Your sibling is family and..."

"No!... My grandma is the only family I have..." She said firmly with conviction before adding "besides its twenty years too late for us to have anything left to talk about." She added sadly, looking down dejectedly at her computer.

Abby sighed and sat on the bed beside Samantha's chair.

"I might not be the best person to advise you in this kind of situation since I've never been in your shoes... But I'm the best person to tell you how it feels when you're in a ditch kinda place and your family was there to rally around you.

That feeling of knowing you don't have to go through bad days alone... That you have a family to hold your hands and tell you it's gonna be okay is just great...

Talking to your sister now will help you understand her own side and you would know if the relationship between you two is worth fighting for or if it is more healthy for you to totally sever ties with her... It is only then that your heart would be free from lingering hurt and negative energy.

Danielle was not supposed to be nervous about talking to her kid sister but she was. She wouldn't have gotten the courage to see Samantha if their grandmother had not urged her on.

She has been worried for years about the relationship between them. It was a heavy burden that her heart carried around every day and it breaks her heart whenever she remembered she was not cool with her kid sister.

What would people say when she tells them, she couldn't do anything to bridge the gap between herself and her sister because she lacks the courage?

Like she explained to their grandmother... Samantha was not an easy person to approach if she was not cool with you. There's something about her, about her countenance that would make anybody think twice about taking that step.

She made attempts in the past to text and call but gave up when she realized Samantha had blocked her everywhere. She knew Samantha was once a sweet little girl and couldn't understand why she suddenly changed to being hostile.

Danielle remembered asking their mother why Samantha couldn't live with them and she replied, that grandma was in the best position to take care of her.

Hearing Samantha talked the way she does the previous day made her realized that issues don't resolve themselves unless somebody actually takes the step to do so. The gap between her and Samantha would continue to get wider if she didn't do anything to ease the discomfort between herself and her kid sister.

Samantha came out and just stood right in the living room looking at her sister. She really surprised herself for being calm. Grandma's herb tea is working wonders.

She has read countless novels and listened to endless songs about the pain of a broken heart, and those descriptions feel a lot like what she was currently experiencing with her sister.

Sam I... Danielle attempted to break the silence when she was interrupted

"No, wait!..." Samantha said, slightly raising her hand for Danielle to hold up on what she was about saying

"I'm twenty years old now, I don't know if you're aware of that fact. And for as long as I can remember, this is the first time I'm actually talking or should I say having a civil conversation with any member of my family.

I have four people in my family and none of them like me. My own parents and two elder siblings?..." She asked with disbelief in her voice

"Sometimes I wonder to myself... What kind of person can't get along with her own parents and siblings?... And the only answer that came to mind was 'unlovable!' There must be something about me that made you all hate me so much!"

"No Sam! We don't hate you! We..."

"Then why!?..." At least she knew what her parents' reason was that they never wanted her. What were her two elder siblings' reasons?

She was angry, hurt, and sad at the same time. She wanted to scream to get it all out of her system but something was holding her back, telling her to be calm. Mama silver's herb tea really had its effect.

"Why now!? Why!? Twenty years of my life and I'm just having a conversation with my sister! It hurts! It hurts so bad that my heart feels like it has been stomped on..."

Danielle immediately stood up from where she was sitting and held unto Samantha's two hands.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!... I thought I had a good reason but listening to you... I realized I had no excuse. I'm the worst big sister ever. Can you ever forgive me? Please find it in your heart to forgive me..."

"The two sisters were emotional as they poured out their hearts in a mess of sobs.

"I've been so unhappy and upset about the way things were between us, Sam. So please no more animosity from now on. No more! I'm your elder sister and I genuinely love you! No more hatred towards each other from now on..."