Her Other Shadow

Tammy glanced at herself in her cosmetic mirror for the fourth time. Then she adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses. It was more than obvious she was nervous about starting a new school. A completely new school. In a completely new town! And even though Alvin, her elder brother, who was accompanying her to school that day, had told her to "not worry" , she still couldn't bring herself to do so. Tamara Richard was a seventeen year old senior high school student. She was tall - almost too tall for her age -, ebony-skinned and pretty. She had dark almond-shaped eyes with a small birthmark above her left eyebrow. Her hair, a perfect shade of brown, was beautifully braided in the popular "all back" style. Her uniforms - a pink shirt and a gray blazer on a gray and white checkered thigh length pleated skirt - were neatly ironed. She screamed perfection indeed! Anyway, as perfect as that might sound, Tammy was not at all interested in herself that Monday morning. What was fascinating or interesting about moving to a new school three times in one year? That was no perfect life! Neither was the fact that, as a result, she had no friends to call her own perfect. All she cared was : she was resuming the session as a senior student in this new school, waiting until her mum decides when they'd relocate to another town. And to another school. She sighed at the mere thought of it. "Hey Tammy, I can't keep sitting here with you all day. I don't want you to miss the first day fun. It's not only your first day here, but also ninety-nine others. So you've got to make the best out of it", Alvin, Tammy's brother said softly. Tammy just nodded and looked at herself in the mirror again before taking a deep breath. "Yeah, like you care". Tammy had wanted to say that, but she couldn't seem to form the words. "Thanks Alvin. And thanks for riding with me", she said instead. Then she stepped out of the car and the driver sped off almost immediately. × × × Barely three weeks ago, Tammy's mother, Geneva, had announced that they were all going to relocate. Not that the news had come as a shock to Tammy, in fact, the was phlegmatic about it. The only problem was that they were relocating to their hometown, Nnewi. They had grown up in Lagos - Tammy and Alvin. And Tammy was sure she was born in Anambra, even though she didn't seem to recall any memories of her childhood. And so, they had started packing and repacking. For some reasons, Tammy had seemed to be the only one packing 'extra'. She had later learnt that since they were to move over to their old family house, they had most of their belongings there. They, of course, except for Tammy, who wasn't even sure if she had a room there. The day they all landed Anambra state, Tammy had felt that familiar sense of detachment. Although she did not know why, she did not bother dwelling on it. But when they had finally moved into their apartment, she'd wittingly decided to ponder afresh on her childhood. The house was a big one, and it looked old. It was probably built some twenty-something years ago, Tammy had thought. "Nineteen years ago", Alvin would always remind her. Theirs was a big house with two floors. Everything around the house seemed neat, except for the house itself. Mom had contacted some people to 'take care' of that, she had heard. But why did the people not 'take care' of the house? They had to do a thorough one-week cleaning, making sure all dust, dirt, cobweb, anthill, broken furniture, etcetera, were taken care of. Tammy hated that week. The next week was mainly for preparing for the new school. Dad had taken her to the school, gotten the prospectus, and she was just in time to sit for the entrance exam. Everything happened within the twinkling of an eye. The results were out and she was officially admitted into Sparkles Academy. Mom got her uniforms and every other 'school stuff' ready. Alvin got her a new iPhone. And she got herself a big fat diary. Chuckles! She had had just three days to the resumption of school by then to the resumption of school, when she stumbled on an old photograph in the study room. It was really old, considering the dust particles on it. An aged man stood with an equally aged woman. A somewhat younger version of her dad stood in between them with a cheerful smile and bright eyes. Tammy laughed at the photograph. Then she curiously checked out the other photographs. One caught her attention. Her dad, probably in his early twenties stood with his right arm around the shoulder of a young woman, who didn't seem to be a younger version of her mom. Probably dad's old flame, Tammy had laughed. But she studied the photo carefully. The lady was beautiful, no doubt, and she wore a smile that made Tammy smile too. She looked happy. He looked carefree. Tammy decided to keep the picture. More like, steal it. She would use it to taunt her dad, until he decides to get her the limited-edition sneakers he'd promised her. Ha! ha! And so, everything seemed to be going on perfectly, until just a day to her resumption, she discovered that her mother had micromanaged all her social media. How her mother did that every time she got a new phone was 😣 And it was frustrating! How could she do that?, Tammy had yelled then. And no one in the house seemed to be questioning her mom. That was so unfair! She was no longer a kid!! She was going to leave the house!!! Blah blah blah Tammy had screamed all of that, but only managed to stop when her voice ceased. And when her dad had told her that it was for her own good. There and then, she was resolved that, staying with them would be hell. She soon started praying for them and leave town. Or maybe for her phone to get faulty...