“I hate it here. PEOPLE are looking at me badly and am feeling uncomfortable.” That was my young sister speaking to me over the phone. The girl was on half term. The poor thing told me she had just dropped a little in her academics and mum was making a big big fuss. That She was being threatened, warned and disrespected. She said I should tell my dad that she is not afraid of him, mum or ANBODY! The hell?
“You don’t fear dad?”
“Nope!”
“But you know how harsh he is and strict when it comes to academics!”
“I really don’t care! I work hard and that’s what matters!”
“But mum says you are just loitering around and not reading”
“What’s the purpose of half term, guys?”
Did she just refer to dad, mum and me as guys? Guys? Me, guys?
“But you got a C in Chem? That’s terrible.” (Guys, I actually got a worse grade in chem. Family tingz)
“Yeah, but I had corrections! It is a strong C”
“If you are getting that grade in 1st term, what will happen in form 4 3rd term?”
“You GUYS (again!!!) don’t understand. You are putting too much pressure on me. If I don’t pass my final, that’s not the end of life!”
There! She said it! The girl is not worried about failing. Well, I like her spirit. (Dammit, if my dad hears this, am disowned.)
The girl totally flopped and has no apologies. She has really changed. The hips have curved out; the chest is slowly but surely rising. I checked out her posterior over December holidays and boy, it’s forming something worth turning necks. She is suddenly outspoken, extremely assertive and has suddenly acquired a “don’t care attitude”. The girl now has a phone, friends and new clothes. She has a password and we can’t access it freely. But didn’t Kamau tell me he can crack passwords, flash them or something? Surely, he must have a solution to these password things. I need to know which friends she chats with, what they talk about, what she now adores, what she hates… it is not wrong to know stuff about my own little sister, is it? And God am praying that no stupid clumsy boy is sniffing at her.
My old man must be fidgeting. He must be boiling with anger. The old geezer is obsessed with academic success and I get it. We were once there. We know how hard he gets. What do you expect from a deputy principal anyway? The words Gill is telling me are a Deja vu. That was me few years ago.
I hear she woke up at 8 and left for school without telling anyone goodbye. Anyone here being my mum and dad.