blurring the line

Family moment

FAMILY MOMENT

PRINCESS

Gush!!! I don't know, my parents can preach.my parents aren't typically "churchy" people, but tonight was exception; we had a night devotion, which was surprising , including my brothers. Like…I can't remember when we last did that. We sang and prayed together. After the prayers, we thought it was over, but not until Malvern tried to leave, my dad called him back to sit down. My mom brought out a daily manner devotional book, which we used to read when we were kids.

Mum, what's that?" I asked, surprised.

"Sweetie, what do you see?"

It's our daily manners book," she replied. "We used to read this to you guys when you were kids."

what's the name of the one for kids?"Honey" She asked dad

Daily Milk?" I asked, remembering.

Yes, that's right," she said.

There was a space of time, and I thought to myself

And Mum can't believe you still have that with you , I didn't know i said that aloud

"Yeah, I do," she said.

"But it's been a long time since we've done this

Shushu. It's because you guys are not around, and it doesn't mean we don't have it or pray with it in my bedroom, we've kept it all these years, but we haven't used it in a while. Since we're all together tonight, let's read it."

I was about to protest, citing my early departure for school the next day.

But Mum, you know I'll be going to school and it's going to be so stressful, so I need to go to bed early to wake up early."

"I and your father know about your leaving for school tomorrow,

..." (she looked at my brother Malvern, who dozed off). "Hehehe, my friend!" she said. "Wake that guy up; he needs this in his life."

"Mummy, please can we do this next time? I'm so sleepy," Malvern complain

"No, no... so what you're saying is that you don't pray?" "I thought I trained you guys better than this... is it because we're not close to watch you? What life do you live abroad if not the life of Christ Jesus?"

Here we go...

this is how the preaching started, from correction to shouting, preaching,emphasizing good manners.We still opened the daily manner book, read everything... the Bible verses and how bad manners corrupt good manners...

My pain is that my parents have to tell me not to talk with boys or sleep with them... "Me, nkee sleep with boys... like seriously!!" "Are they not observing my character all this while... that I don't do boyfriends and how can I...?" "Well, I'm called a tomboy... I'm the boyfriend already... hmm. No boy in my secondary school dares touch my no-go area... Dey one collect... well, the last time a guy touched me was my incident in Masters University."

The devotion lasted about two hours. Finally, we went to our separate rooms. Before I could reach my door, my mom reminded me to pack everything, including the keys to my new house.

"Don't forget your sponge, toiletries, and brush," she said.

I assured her that I had packed everything. My dad chimed in, "And you'll be flying out tomorrow at noon, so make sure you're not forgetting anything."

"Mum, can't I just go in my sports car instead of the jet?"

"Never," my father answered and left for his room, and my mom followed suit.

I entered my room and lay on my bed, thinking, "Can't I just live a normal life without drawing attention to myself as a rich kid?"

********************

DESIRE

Later, I went downstairs to the kitchen to get some milk from the fridge, as I often do when I have ulcer pain. I don't know how I developed it when I eat almost every minute of the day…well, I am the only child of my parents, and my parents are so protective... We are not so rich, but my parents can afford everything I need in life... we are just okay with our life... my parents are business couples... My mom has a supermarket, and my dad imports and exports farm produce…

My dad was in the parlor, looking lost in thought.

"Dad, are you okay?" I asked.

He snapped out of his reverie. "Oh, Desire, how are you?"

"I'm fine, but are you okay?" I asked, noticing that something was wrong.

"Everything's fine," he said. "I was just thinking about something." what are you doing down here?"

I raised the yoghurt container up to show him. "Came to take my milk; I forgot to drink it earlier."

"Okay, is your stomach still disturbing you?" I nodded.

"So, you'd better take Digestid, okay." "Alright, Dad...

Then I asked about my mom, and he said she was in her bedroom. I sensed that something was bothering him because he can't leave his for a second

"Dad, you're not okay, are you?" I asked.

"It's nothing, son," he replied. "Just some business issues. I lost some goods at sea, and it was going to be a big deal."

I offered my condolences, but he waved them off, saying it wasn't my fault.

and also concentrate." "same thing you paid, and it really pushed me to go to night class... sometimes deceiving myself... when cold wants to finish me... sometimes I meet bad people on my way... But in a lodge, everything is personal…

I interrupted him, saying, "Dad, since this happened, can I just stay in the hostel? You can use the money for something else."

Remember, if u insist that I should stay in lodge, you still pay the hundreds of thousands of naira for the hostel... so let me just manage... until you get money for a lodge."

We chatted more, from story to advice."

"And what are you men doing here by this time of the night?" my mom asked, climbing down the steps. "Nothing, just men chatting," my dad replied. "Hahaha, my dad laughed."

"This time... please, you guys should leave anything you're discussing and go to bed, it's past midnight, stand up, Uche,remember, you're going to school tomorrow by twelve... you need to wake up early and prepare yourself..."

"Honey, you know about his traveling... ehh... and you kept him awake..."

"My dear, I was just advising him."

We climbed the steps together. "Good night, Mum... good night, Dad." I entered my room and prayed for my family's well-being.