Here's the link to part1 and part2
The burglar was caught by the neighbourhood security guard while trying to escape. She was glad when she heard the news, he should be locked away forever.
Tola was coming home today after two weeks in the hospital. She was thankful to God that her sister was alright. While the gun was aimed at Dami, perhaps it was due to her mother's push or maybe the burglar tripped but the gun went off in the opposite direction and hit Tola, who had left the hideout. She was extremely glad everyone was alright, she regretted not listening to her mother. Her mother got Tola settled in her room.
"Do you need me to get you anything"
"Am good, mom".
Dami watches the duo, she felt responsible for her sister's condition.
"Am sorry"
They both looked at her at the same time.
"Am sorry, I should have stayed put like you said mom, maybe if I had Tola wouldn't have been shot"
" It's alright. Tola getting shot was not your fault, you weren't the one with the gun"
"But.."
"Honey, if you blame yourself, then Tola is also to be blamed, after all, she came out of that closet on her own putting herself in harm's way"
"Nothing will be achieved in blaming yourself. We are all together and still breathing, that is all that matters"
Temi saw the guarded look in her daughter's eyes, "what is what was going on in her mind", she wondered. A question has been nagging on her mind for a while now, she might as well ask.
" Do you hate me?"
Dami's eyes were trained on her mother, how do you answer this kind of question? "Do I hate her?" she asked herself. Then she remember, how she felt neglected, abandoned and unloved. She remembered her mother always pampering her sister, how only Tola had all her attention, and how it felt like she was an unwanted child.
"Not really" she replied
Temi's eyes were happy, then deflated when she understood her daughter's word. Not hate but not love, her heart was shattering. I shouldn't conclude, she thought. I need to get her to talk to me.
"Honey, can I ask why you feel this way towards me?"
Dami wanted nothing more than to storm out of the room and leave her mother hanging but she was tired of this heavy burden. She wanted to let go of the ache in her heart. So she poured out her mind, telling her mother what she was feeling, how she cared about only her precious little Tola. She tried to reign in her anger as she spoke. Temi was surprised by things her daughter has abhorred all these years. She burst into tears. Tola was also crying, realising how neglected her sister felt. After speaking, Dami was breathing heavily, she looked at her mother and sister crying, her tears were threatening but she held them back.
"Am so sorry, I made you feel neglected all these years"
"Yeah, am sure you are"
"I guess I was so wrapped up with your sister's sickle cell disease that I didn't realise what I was doing. Your sister was always in and out of the hospital, I was so scared of losing her that I unconsciously directed all my attention toward her. Why didn't you say something?"
"I had Dad. He tried making up for it so much that though I felt it, I was not completely affected by it. Then when he died, I begin to realise you care more about Tola than me."
Temi kept on crying as her daughter spoke. Her husband warned her she was neglecting the girl but she thought that Dami was a strong and healthy child unlike Tola, who was always breaking down due to her sickle cell crisis. She felt like Tola needed her more. In trying to save a child, she lost another. Didn't she read in a book recently about how mothers should learn how to communicate and listen to their children. Lack of communication between them had driven her family apart.
"Dami" Tola called out crying, "am sorry"
"It was not your fault sis, there was nothing you could do. I know you need mom more but I just wished that she looked at me too."
"Baby, forgive me" Temi hugged her as if her life depended on it.
"Give me another chance, let's start afresh. Let's us begin a new page together" Temi pleaded
Dami stared at her mother, her words humming in her ears. A fresh beginning, she huffed, it sound tempting but it is too late for that. As she opened her mouth to reject the offer, a scripture came to her mind "Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you" (Colossians 3: 13). She claims to love God, she said she is a Christian but was she being one now. If she earned forgiveness from God, surely she also should forgive others.
"I forgive you mom, and yes, we can start afresh," she said
"Thank you, baby, thank you so much. I promise you I won't let you down again" she refused to release Dami from her hands, she was so happy.
"Thank you" her sister mouthed to her.
She smiled. Strangely, she felt so light, like something was ripped out of her, a heavy burden unloaded from her back. Was this how forgiveness feels, she wondered. "Thank you father for giving me the strength to forgive" she prayed silently. She watched as Tola came to hug her. The three ladies cried and laughed.
Dami smiled as she felt love oozing into her from the hug and for the first time ever, she felt happy to be at home. This is my home now, she thought, no longer my mother's house.
THE END
