“Take off your clothes,” I say.
“What are you up to?”
“Shh. For once, do as you’re told.”
I watch her yank off her tank top. At forty-five, she still wears those, and she looks spectacular in them. Her pants follows shortly after. I walk over to the tub to check the water. Satisfied with the result, I stick my head out the bathroom door and beckoned to her.
“It’s time.”
The car’s interior is cool and quiet. I sit on the passenger’s side staring out the window, thinking about nothing in particular. The gentle hum of the air conditioner tries and fails to break the silence. Outside, the streets of Awka is hot. The scorching sun beats down on every living thing. People shuffle past each other, sometimes mumbling greetings without really looking up, their brows furrowed, their armpits wet from the heat. It’s April and the first rain is yet to touch the soil. I continue to stare.
The woman on the driver’s seat keeps glancing at me. She had tried to make conversation earlier but stopped when I kept nodding. It’s what I do when I’m too nervous. Not that I know what to say to her anyway. I’m only eleven and for the first time in my life, I’m leaving home.
When Mama told me that I would be going to Onitsha to live with her twin, I didn’t know how to feel. I had never met Aunt Eunice. I only spoke to her on the phone a few times. The physical version of her looks nothing like what I expected. I had imagined a big body to go with the big voice and high pitched laughter. But the person sitting beside me is tall and slim. Mama is short and plump. The look nothing like twins.
We make it into Housing Estate around noon. The houses have different colours unlike the ones I’ve seen in movies. The compound is large and the ground interlocked. She glances at me again before opening the car door. I sit transfixed on my seat. I still won’t look at her. She walks over and opens the door for me.
“Come,” she says. “We’re home.”
I look up and into the face that looks like mine. People will later wonder if she is my mother. Something in her eyes makes me trust her. I place my right hand into hers. She smiles and helps me out of the car and into the house.
This is where the story begins.
I’m in the shower. It’s nothing like the one we have back home. This one is different and has many buttons for cold, warm and hot. I shrug and press the one for warm. I’ve been using it for more than a year now but it still feels strange. I’m halfway done when I hear the door open. Aunt Eunice pokes in her head, the beginning of a warm smile forming on her face. Her lips froze as she sees my naked body. Nature has been good to me the past year. She recovers quickly.
“Dinner is ready.”
I nod once. She swallows and leaves.
Things start to change after that day. The first is my name. I never liked Ruby in the beginning. I want to remind her that my birth name is Nnenne, but she says it’s only a game. Nnenne – her mother’s mother. I was named after my grandmother because according to everyone, I am her reincarnate. I look just like her. The only difference is the skin colour. While hers was chocolate brown, mine is yellow like my father’s. So Ruby becomes the game name. I don’t remember every single event, but I also begin to wake up in her bed every morning, naked. I understand none of it but I know that I like it very much. Maybe because she’s gentle. At home, Mama hugged me too tightly all the time. I disliked it. Aunt Eunice is different. She always asks what I like.
My hair is short. I’ve been wearing it like this since I turned twenty, since Mama found out. The ground is wet. The June rain is becoming heavy. I stand, staring at the ground. Little grasses have grown round the stone. I squat on one knee and touch the engravings before dropping the flower. Your Aunt Eunice had to die, Mama had told me. It’s the only way to keep the secret.
This story was inspired by the image above. I wrote it using using it as a prompt.
Tell me your thoughts.
