[source](https://pixabay.com/photos/remote-control-tv-television-remote-205828/)
The day was cold. My parents had traveled for an uncle's wedding, leaving us three kids, just boys. Mum made sure to leave enough food at home to last us till they are back with strict instructions:
“Do not fight.”
But as kid,s we were, that was the very first rule we broke.
Exactly at 3 p.m., Chuka, my elder brother and self-appointed “man of the house,” stepped in and announced to us that he would be watching the Chelsea match.
My sister Ada, groaned but did not complain or voice it out loud. She waited till he was out of the room, then she whispered
“I wonder ow you all just enjoy grown men chasing a ball.” Then she went on to insist her Nollywood movie was more important than whatever football Chuka had intentions of watching.
I, being the youngest, didn’t have much say, so I just waited to see whose shouting would win. I got up and gave a fake laugh before heading for the fridge to grab a bottle of cold water.
A few minutes later, I got back the same time Chuka appeared from the room and reached for the remote on the center table where the remote was earlier, without looking, but his hand came up empty. The remote was gone. At first, Chuka thought it was a joke. He lifted the throw pillows and the center rug after asking Ada who had taken the remote. But Ada swore she didn’t know about it. Even she helped Chuka check under the table, and I even peeped behind the curtains. Nothing.
“I will ask you guys again for the last time, who took it?” Chuka’s voice growled with the same authority as a military commander.
Ada and I didn’t answer. But already, Chuka was suspecting Ada.
“Ada, I clearly know it's you!” he pressed. “Its you! You did it so that you can watch that nonsense film where people are always crying with no moral lesson.”
“Please o, don’t accuse me. We all know you’re the one who likes to sleep with the remote under your pillow like it’s your girlfriend.”
Ada's words added fuel to the fire. Before I knew what was happening, both of them were standing chest to chest, spitting words and saliva into each other's faces. I gave up my search and took my bottle of water, and sat on the sofa sipping on it like it was a costly drink. Truly, I was enjoying the drama/fight.
Like a charmed soul, Chuka turned to me. “Or Junior, is it you?”
My eyes widened. “Me? I didn’t even touch it. I entered to go drink water o! If I saw it, let thunder fire—”
“Don’t swear!” Ada shouts, cutting in. “You always do that even if you are at fault.”
That one pained me. “Ah! So because I'm the youngest, you guys will blame me for everything,” I cried. I got up immediately and continued searching the house for the remote. Not because I had a hand I its loss but because I wanted to prove I didn’t take it.
I searched the kitchen, bathroom, and even outside. Chuka even opened the wardrobe like the remote could be hanging clothes inside.
Ada shouted, “What if it's Bingo!”
We all turned and looked at Bingo, our brown dog, who looked up, confused, like he was about to ask,
“Do I watch TV?”
Still, we searched his kennel and didn’t find it.
By now, the football match had started, and Chuka was shooting bullets, swearing. “Nobody is eating until I find this remote.”
“See oppression o! So you're okay with starving us because of football?”
I didn’t complain, although hunger was already biting my tummy.
Then Ada opened the freezer and screamed. “Come and see the remote o!”
We all rushed, and there it was. The TV remote we have all been searching for is on top of a bag of pure water inside the fridge, already freezing.
Chuka pointed at Ada. “You!”
Ada gasped, “Me? Why would I put remote in fridge?”
Then both of them turned to me. “Junior!” they chorused.
I smiled, still holding my cold water. “I must have forgotten it when I went to get my water.”