PURPLE BUT NOT PURPLE

Sunflowers, Ixoras, Jasmines are all beautiful but not as but not as beautiful as the hibiscus to me. Just as those flowers are, So are my experiences but nothing as life wrecking as the most recent. Things started to go haywire, When Uncle Chinedu came to stay with us after he was relieved from his job for domestically abusing his colleague’s daughter. Papa felt it would be a splendid idea to have Uncle Nedu to come and stay with us after he was granted bail by the court due to non-substantial evidence on the plaintiff’s side. But Uncle Nedu continually denied it by claiming it was a set up for the refusal to be coerced into engaging in extra marital affair with his boss. Mama knew all hell would break loose and our lives would be set ablaze with chaos due to Uncle Nedu’s personality and didn’t want her children didn’t to be associated with him but she was a just a trophy wife and didn’t have a say. Maechi was sprawled on his bed like an overworked Fulani herdman with his long lean body slanted on the bed. I walked silently to his door and I wondered why he had chosen to open his door whilst indulging in the fatal and time stricken inhalation of m*******a. I missed the Maechi of old. “Papa is coming Onyemaechi” I said as I violently shook him awake. “Oma,help me clean this room, don’t just stand there, and oh please shut the door.” He spoke while taking rapid breaths after bolting to shove both clean and dirty clothes in the wardrobe. The wardrobe must have suffocated from the stench of those clothes. “He is not coming,I only said that so as to get you to stand up and clean this place up along with your life.” I said with a sneer playing on my lips. “Oh no, not you too Oma, save it and spare me the sermon. It’s getting really repetitive.”Maechi said in dismissal. We stared at each other in deafening silence for a while before Mama came in the room. A frown was visible on her aging face and she immediately inquired on why the room reeked of “Igbo”. “Onyemaechi, have you been inhaling this stench all this while?” “Mama I’ll clean up now, Just please don’t tell Papa”. She gave him a deadly stare that read both “I’m disappointed in you and I’m worried about you “. I left the room and stepped into the hallway and just walked through the door to the Balcony, I had always been Mesmerized by the view of my house, It had a colonial yet Modern grace to it and Papa never failed to remind us of our “Luxuries”. I gazed up to the sky, It had my favourite look...It was cloudy from the rain and it made the earth moist and my favourite part of it all was the raindrops on the leaves and in that very moment I stretched out my hand and I let the articulated drop slide on to my fingers, I adored the tranquillity and serenity of it all. I allowed my mind drift off into the wishful thinking of a better family, In as much as I wanted to think about what new rave would shroud my sickly boarding school, my mind wandered into the thought of how unbalanced our lives were. We conversed about how Iya Sura’s prices in her little Mart down the road were Sky rocketing and never about how Mama is a habitual punching bag for Papa or how the next general ‘Gbamila’s family meeting is going to play out and never about how Papa’s out of town meetings are just ploys to meet up with his mistresses. From outside looking in, Our family is the Epitome of perfection, No one knew of Maechi’s addiction and Papa made sure it stayed that way. Living in the most serene parts of the city of Yenagoa after moving from the overpopulated place called Lagos was a breath of fresh air. Papa moved us a some years ago after he opened the second branch of his church. I most times wondered if moving here was what made Papa a serial cheat and a sadist and maybe he just associated with the wrong crowd. The Bayelsa men were notorious cheats and extremely polygamous, No shades to them. Most times I still can’t help but think maybe he had always been like this and I just failed to realise it early. I quickly came to the conclusion that the Oluwagbamila family needed family therapy and counselling but who am I kidding this family Is broken beyond repair. “Omasirichi”.... A loud booming voice bellowed from downstairs snapping me out of my thoughts and tying my stomach into several different knots. “Yes papa” I answered as i sprinted into the house with wonder woman agility and ran down the spiral staircase. “Oh Nne go into the study, he’s waiting for you “ Mama said with fear doing cartwheel in her eyes. “Yes Papa...” I answered again as I gingerly stepped into the room. “You changed your course of study on your Jamb form...With whose permission,Ehn Oma? Papa said in such a furious voice that made my stomach churn in fear of the unknown. His face had a peculiar expression that was supposed to portray neck-wringing anger but passed off as uncomfortable constipation. “I...I...”I had rehearsed it in my head but it only came out as stutters. “You what?...form your word when speaking to me young lady”. “I was going to...tell you but you were so fixated on me studying Law but I want to study English and literary studies, I want to...to write Papa” I blurted out the remnants from what I had rehearsed, before I could wallow and bask in the sheer joy of expressing myself to my father, I heard the deafening thud and felt a thick metallic and rusty build up in my mouth and then I finally felt the sting rush up to my right cheek. Only then did I realise that Papa slapped me. I had already zoned out and stared hard at the history of theology hardcover book on Papa’s shelf and wonder if he truly believes in a supernatural being like he preaches to his congregation. I let my thoughts dance around like a bonfire. I wonder if the slapped had me fall into a concussion and made my brain loopy. “...I had envisioned you as the next female SAN(Senior Advocate of Nigeria)but 'NO' you have decided you want to become an underachieving school teacher by choosing to go behind my back and fill in English and who cares studies...Why have all my children decided to bring me disgrace. I fathered 4 failures”. He lamented as he slumped on his swivel chair and my mind like an ocean wave drifted back to the reality of my predicament. I knew a lot worse was coming as my punishment but I just didn’t know when. With a wave of his hand he dismissed me, Luckily my limbs did not fail me and I quickly left the room going up the staircase with slow precision maybe some part of me was waiting for him to call me back and dish out my punishment for betraying him but nothing came. After what seemed like the longest walk of shame and humiliation I finally got to my room. I contemplated If I should lay down on my bed and call it a night or go out to my balcony and sit on my hammock, I needed to process my thoughts so I went with the latter and went out on to the balcony and stared out the city’s cinematic view of rusted roofing sheets and jumbled up electrical cables, it was somewhat peaceful. I wanted to cry but for some odd reason my mind couldn’t give my tear gland a reason to rain apparently insulting and downgrading my life long passion wasn’t enough reason. After what seemed like a rage war with my thoughts and emotions, I heard the creaking sound of my door opening and a sad faced Mama walked in with a bowl of what I assumed to be hot water and a towel and sat gingerly at my side like she was afraid to cause me a bruise and I sat up without saying a word and she also comprehended my silence and just pressed the steaming towel gently against my busted lip and swollen cheeks with glassy eyes that held unshed tears. Soon after Mama left my room, Maechi walked into my room and for the first time in a long while,He was sober and wasn’t high on any illicit drug or alcohol. Maechi, my very own brother was sober,as he came closer and enveloped me in hug that spelt out I-am-here-for-you in neon lights. I noticed he was not only sober but smelt like lavender and peppermint aftershave and also Nivea body lotion for men. He was clean, drug free and most importantly the old Maechi again. “Kedu Omasirichi, Are you alright? Mama told me what happened “ he said after he had untangled from the hug. “I am fine “.I replied in a tone that specified that I’m not ready to talk about it. “What happened to you? You look revamped” I said trying in an attempt to push back my anxiety and troubles and gave a tight smile even with the sting that spread through out my cheek like a ripple on a river. “Obiora has been arrested” he said while gingerly sitting on my bed like a person who was unfortunate to have books on the buttocks. “Why,when,where?” I asked all too quickly. “The police went to his house off campus this morning and and charged him with drug pushing for a syndicate “He replied with a longing and far away look in his eyes that denoted angst and self realisation. Obiora has been Maechi’s best friend right from first day in Elementary school. They’ve been best friends for a long time. Obiora Andrews had what we refer to as tantalising features that made both genders envious. He was a good 6'1ft, and he was also bi-racial. His mom with her British heritage and his dad with his Nigerian roots. Dark hair, Caramel skin,Oval face,Doe eyes and an amazing dentition that he could easily advertise Dental products. I sometimes wonder why God decided to bless a man with such exquisite feminine features and I had mine. I still can't believe 'Obiora the great' had been detained. I tried to imagine him flushing down drugs in a bid to hid them and being cuffed. "I'm sorry Oma" Maechi said startling me out of my thoughts. "For what exactly? you're the one whose best friend is in jail not me" "I'm sorry for the drugs, for Papa, this family and not being here for you" he say without a pause and I was left stunned and I was even more stunned after he left my room without waiting for a response to his apology.I crashed on the bed, trying to erase all my fears of uncertainty but soon turned into what felt like a few minutes of sleep but turned out to be hours of sleep with troubled dreams. I woke up to see a heavy downpour and immediately rushed to my window to shut it but instead of going back to bed I stand by the window and watched the beautiful weather as the rain thick droplets fell from the thick dark clouds and then I heard a loud bang at my door "OMA,open this door before I break it" Papa bellowed. It was exactly 1:12am in the morning.