Chapter 10 CARELESSNESS

ONUTA

The other thing I hate apart from my Nigerian name, is being trapped.

How could I have been so careless

Nobody knows anything about my smoking. I've always been sure to keep it a secret and smoking so early in the morning. Damn!, what was I thinking.

I was so high, so fucking high.

I'm sitting on the dining table facing my grandmother as she pats my great brother on his back, the only responsible one out of the two of us. She gives him a warm smile.

Since everything will seem confusing, let me give a little break down of this fucked up family.

My Father is still in the US, a big business tycoon and a fucking fraudster, he's the reason where stuck here in Nigeria. Adam and I were forced to be in Nigeria two years ago when my Dad was involved in a big scandal that got him arrested. He's a white man married to an Indian lady , my mother, who died immediately I was born. That's why my Father hates me so much.

Why am I bearing this annoying Nigerian name?, yeah, my Mother is mixed, she's half Nigerian, half Indian, the Nigerian blood is my grandmother and she's the one responsible for giving me my name, I don't know why Adam gets to keep his English name.

I'm turning my spaghetti, which has already coagulated, round my plate, no where interested in eating it.

"I think you should go and drop your plate in the kitchen at this point", Adams voice shoots into my thoughts. I look up to see his questioning eyes staring at me.

"Mind your fucking business _"

"Onu!!", my grandmother scolds, giving me a stern look. She wipes her wrinkled hand on a napkin beside her, her left index finger decorated with a large purple ring, the color of her clothe . "He's older than you", she drops the napkin back on the table then calls for the maid to come pick the plate, she draws her attention back to me.

"You didn't ask why I called you here today?",

"Is that a question or...",

She sighs and places her hands on the table, " I understand you're angry dear but there's nothing I can do about the situation now. Your father is trying his best to give you a good life"

" A good life", I huff, " yeah right"

" ONUTA! ", Adam shoots me a glare and I shoot him one back.

Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike my brother, not one bit, it's his goody-two-shoes attitude that irritates me.

" So I was pulled out of my hostel to hear this?, I'm going back grandma", I try to stand up but she signals for me to sit back down. I comply.

" That's not the reason I called for you dear. Your father will be coming back soon, he says I should tell you"

" What the fuck", " he could have called , this is 2021 not 1807"

" You know your relationship is not too good with your father, he didn't want to disturb your school work.."

" He still found a way to do that", I mutter then resume turning the spaghetti on my plate.

Adam shakes his head and takes his plate to the kitchen, returning to help my grandmother to her feet. She turns back to give me a little wave then continues towards the stairs with Adam's help, my back is still leaning on the dining chair.

I pull out my phone and notice the group chat blowing with chats and decide to check what the fuss was all about .

Me: "What's happening?"

Sophie: "Mirabel's having a party at her house"

Me: so.?...

Tolu: Glory's invited, yayyyy. The guys are so happy

Mariam: Tolu!!

Tolu: sorry, I forgot Onuta was the one typing.

I drop my phone on the table and place my head in my palm, watching Adam make his way down the stair case.

"Sup" , he says rounding the corner of the staircase.

"You really enjoy staying in this house", I say, looking up at him, he shrugs and opens the fridge, bringing out a can of soft drink and closing it.

"Well, someone's got to help grandma", the can hisses as he pulls the top off, he places the lid on his lips and takes a sip.

"We have Aunt Jema", I refer to one of the helps who usually attends to my grandmother

"She needs family,.. Onuta",

Yeah, 'goody-two-shoes much', I stand up and push my chair back in place then grab my plate and make my way to the kitchen.

You don't know how difficult it is to live with a righteous person.

"Dad is actually planning on_"

"I don't need to hear anything about him Adam", I cut him off, scrapping my spaghetti into the bin.

" He means well" he continues

" I don't give a _Million_Fucks", I answer nonchalantly then drop my plate in the sink, making my way to the sitting room. I stopped worrying about what my father did or said a long time ago. Now what's on my mind is how to stop that fucking girl from telling on me.

At first, I had asked myself, what's the use, she can tell, I don't care. But then, if she tells on me, my grandmother will be informed as well as my brother, and as much as I love being a nuisance, I don't want to see disappointment on both their faces.

I started smoking since I was in middle school which is a pretty young age for someone to start smoking but blame it on bad influence, or whatever. I almost did drugs before I left .

Most of the time , I use it to calm my nerves , like that morning when I eagerly needed the smoke and the new girl badged in on me . I had heard that my Dad was coming to Nigeria. That mother fucker that hated me with all the blood in his veins was coming back to ruin my life and I had to cool down my nerves before coming to meet Grandma and acting out. So yeah, my sources already told me before grandmother did.

I think I acted pretty well tonight.

Back to the girl, I promised to take her French classes, shit, now I have to keep to the promise.

Adam falls on the sitting room chair and takes the remote, scrolling through Netflix while i pick the car keys on the dining.

"I'm going back to the hostel_"

"This late?", he turns his head back to face me

"Yeah, tell grandmother I said goodnight"

"Who's going to pick the car?, he shouts after me.

" Just tell Mustafa to come pick it up".

I bounce the key up and down in my hands and make my way towards the car parked in the garage.