Grace ran into the busy road, her sister pursuing hotly behind her. She ducked as a leather slipper flew over her head barely missing her. What had she done to deserve such a hot-tempered person as her sister? she asked herself. The road was filled with people moving up and down, some dressed formally with leather office bags hurrying past, while others with casual clothes strolled as if heading to nowhere. On both sides of the road were grocery stores lined up vertically, four boys stood in front of the first store Grace ran past, playing with pebbles and dancing to the latest afro pop music by Davido. They turned and looked at her as she ran past. Among them was Temi, the boy Grace smiled at every Sunday in church. She winced and quickly covered the sides of her face with her hands, but her sister's yell behind her didn't do her any good.
“I know you stole my money, Grace, and I'll get you! Thief!” Tolu yelled as she ran, panting helplessly. She was the oldest, plump and heavy. Her ragged breathing could be heard from a distance as she wheezed her way through the crowded road in an attempt to catch up with the skinny girl flying like the wind ahead of her. Soon, she couldn't pursue anymore; she stopped and lowered herself to the ground slowly, struggling painfully to catch her breath.
Grace stopped at a distance and began to laugh.
“You can't catch me!” She yelled. “You can't even run!” There was a smirk laced on her face. Then she brought out the money from her pocket and began to count it. “This is what you're looking for right?” She asked, raising it for her sister to see, onlookers stood by looking at the two girls, wondering what the fuss was about, while others simply shrugged and walked past.
“Can you see it Tolu?” Grace yelled again and continued counting the money and laughing. “I'm going to buy me some fried beef!” She added, wriggling with excitement. But Tolu didn't see; she was now sprawled on the floor, wheezing with her eyes bulging out of their sockets. Grace paused and observed her sister, the rays of the sunlight blinding her.
“Tolu!” She yelled and ran towards her, some of the money fell as she ran. She picked up her sister's head from the ground the moment she got there, the back of her head was hot because of the heat from the coal tar. “Oh my God Tolu! Your inhaler! Your inhaler!” Grace cried. “It's at home, oh my God!” She looked towards the direction they came; home was far; she looked around her, “Help me!” She yelled at the passersby. Slowly, people moved towards them.
“Help me please!” She cried.
“What happened?” A man asked, hurriedly kneeling beside the struggling girl. At this point, the veins on her forehead were showing, and her eyes were rolled back in their sockets.
“Please help me!” Grace cried, “she has asthma!”
“Where is her inhaler?” The man asked.
“It's at home!”
“What? You need to go _”
“Grace!” Someone yelled from the crowd which had formed a little distance from them. Grace recognized the voice and her head bobbed up; it was Temi, her church crush. She saw him struggling through the crowd.
“What happened?” He asked the moment he found his way through, his eyes were wide with shock as he stared down at the girl twisting and holding her chest on the floor. “Where is her inhaler? Oh my God!”
“It's at home, Temi, run! Run! and get it from mummy! Run!” Grace yelled, almost screaming her lungs out.
Temi turned on his heels and flew through the crowd like a kite. Time was of the essence, any delay and Tolu could die, he thought, and increased his pace.
“Stay with me Tolu, please stay with me,” Grace cried, cradling her sister. The coal tar was almost searing her knees, but she didn't care; her sister needed to stay alive. So she stretched out her legs and sat on the floor pulling up her sister's weight on herself and resting the girl's head on her shoulder. “Stay awake Tolu!” She said tapping the girl's cheek gently. Tolu’s eyes, which had begun to close, popped open and slowly began to close again. Tears trickled down the sides of Grace's face. Tolu opened her mouth and tried to speak. “Don't speak please,” Grace said, “just keep your eyes open and look at me.” Tolu’s face shrunk with pain, the heaviness in her chest was excruciating. Grace sniffed and tried to hold back the tears stinging her eyes but they came pouring nonetheless.
“Let's find a cool shade for her,” the man kneeling beside her said. “It's too hot out here”.
Grace nodded, “okay,” she said. The man heaved as he picked up the heavy girl and walked slowly to the pavement of a grocery store by the road. The owner of the store brought out a mat and laid it on the verandah for him. All this while, Grace kept running to and fro, checking the road and wondering where Temi could be.
“We may need to take her to the hospital!” The store owner yelled. “We can't wait for the inhaler forever, she is losing consciousness.”
“Okay,” Grace responded. At that point, she was clueless as to what to do.
“But she needs her inhaler at least, to assist her till she gets to the hospital.” the first man said. “The hospital is about an hour plus away.”
Grace covered her face and began to cry again, “oh Temi, Temi,” she cried.
“We can't wait anymore, we can't.” The store owner said and ran out to call a cab. The hospital was far away from the outskirts of the city where they lived, how was her sister going to survive without her inhaler until they got there, Grace thought. Temi was taking so much time, she didn't know if she was to keep waiting for him or go with the men to the hospital. Just then, the store owner came running and announcing he had found a cab; Grace kept staring at the road and fidgeting uneasily. The two men picked up the almost unconscious girl, and as they were about to put her in the cab, Grace heard Temi yell her name from a distance. She turned sharply to see him running towards her and bolted towards him. A few inches away from him, she reached out, grabbed the inhaler from his outstretched hand, and ran back. Soon, she was at the back of the car, holding up her sister's head as she pressed the inhaler into her mouth.
“Breathe,” she panted. “Breathe please.”
The car engine raved and soon, they were speeding down the highway with the driver honking severally for people to leave the road. Grace glanced back briefly to look at Temi as her sister slowly began to regain consciousness; he was seated on the floor, his head bent, and there were people around him, fanning him and pouring water on his head. She hoped he was okay. Silently, she bowed her head and prayed that her sister would be okay too.
