Time is an important factor of our lives. It's lived with us through the past, present and will still accompany us into the future. You can't erase it neither can you go ahead of it... You can only remember past special events encoded in it.
I remember vividly back in the days, it was just me, my mum and my three siblings. We had the fun of our lives as children. We cracked lots of jokes and made silly pranks on one another. Sometimes we would fight and argue in the process but it was all part of what made it fun.
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I had a little brother and two elder sisters. Each time I disobeyed their order or acted in an arrogant manner, they would ensure my Mum hears of it upon arrival from work. You know what happens when your African Mum decides to reprimand you for doing something wrong, right? She uses a whip to strike you.
"How... How many times have I told you to respect your siblings?" She would furiously say while plunging the long flexible whip at my skinny body.
I would frantically slide my palms round my body as I tried to mitigate the effect of the painful strokes; meanwhile echoes of laughter would be heard across the room - it was that of my sisters.
When I noticed I was always being threatened by my sisters at the slightest provocation, I decided to break into their phones, unlock their Whatsapp and read through their chats. Guess what I was looking for?
The names of their boyfriends
It's quite funny how the tables turned around, I instantly became the boss and everything was done slowly at my own terms and at my pace. Trust me when I say the worst thing a Nigerian parent would want to hear is the fact that her teenage daughters were in a romantic relationship. My sisters knew this and I used this beautiful information to my defence. Yeah you could say whatever you want, but I guess It was my little way of surviving.
The first day I used this knowledge to my advantage was the day my eldest Sister, Ngozi, asked me to wash the dishes but I didn't have the strength to do it so I was like...
"I'll do it later I'm tired." I replied.
"You're very lazy, wash it now else I'm reporting to Mummy..." Blah blah blah... She went on and on with her ranting.
"I'll tell Mummy about your boyfriend, Chidi." I suddenly cut in.
She paused for a moment, kept mute while glaring at me in surprise. For the first time I saw fear in my sister's gaze. That moment I was like: "payback's a bitch."
She slowly walked away and continued with whatever she was doing without uttering a word, she knew she couldn't afford letting the word get to our Mum.
This was all about 11 years ago.
Recently we came together for a little family reunion. The house seemed to be gorged with the waves of silence as we all sat in the living room, each person with his /her mobile phone. My mum sensed the indifference and decided to break the long awkward silence.
"Why are you guys so quiet? Do you remember how I used to beat you guys back then?" My mum said with her face transitioning into a smile.
"Especially Emeka" one of my sisters added, spurring a loud outburst of laughter from everyone. We recalled those moments again, hilariously laughing at the mention of our childhood events which we all brought up one after the other. We laughed so hard tears streamed down our cheeks.
It was those little spankings, threats, and flaws, tinged with those childhood games that made life fun back then.
As I grow older, I value those moments greater now than I did then. Adulthood has taken away that sense of humour, each one of us is thinking on how to make life better and easier. No more games; no more bonding.
We're on a serious side of life now and all we do is reminisce on the good old days. Perhaps it's the memories that keep a smile on our faces, perhaps it's the bond that we once shared that's still keeping us together.
These memories and experiences made us the adults we are today. They are, and will forever be part of our existence.
This is an entry for indiaunited's weekly prompt here