Rejected At Birth
Episode Seven
Grandma signaled us with her hands, and I understood that she was asking where we were going.
I shook my head, not wanting to listen to her or anyone else at that time.
I held my sister’s hand tightly and we continued moving forward.
Grandma kept screaming for us to stop, saying we didn’t know where we were going.
I ignored her because I knew that if we stayed, Aunt Kate would continue to trouble us.
I wasn’t ready for that. We walked along the path she led us, and I can still remember that day vividly, as if it happened yesterday.
I never let go of my sister’s hand, not even for a second.
We walked until we reached a junction with four paths.
My sister signaled to me with her hands, asking where we were going.
I signaled back, indicating that we were searching for a better life, even though I didn’t know where to start.
My sister was exhausted and suggested we turn back and go home.
But I knew that if we went back, we would face hūmiliation and Aunt Kate would have won.
I told her no, that we weren’t going home.
I even offered to carry her until we found somewhere to stay, as night was approaching.
I became tired from carrying her on my back, and we spotted a shop where we decided to stay.
It was about an hour later when my sister Julian signaled that she was hungry.
I was hungry too, but I knew we didn’t have any money to buy food and no one would give us any for free.
Then I had an idea. I saw a restaurant along the road and asked my sister to wait for me while I went there to beg for food.
“Don’t leave this place for anywhere,” I said, assuring her with a sign that I would be back.
She nodded in agreement. I went to the woman’s shop, thinking about how I could communicate with her and ask for food for just one night.
When I arrived, I saw the owner, a woman in her late 50s, washing plates while her helper served food to customers.
I saw her through the curtain since the restaurant didn’t have a door.
When she saw me, she initially chased me away with her hands.
But I came back, and she started yelling, “Why are you bothering me?
What do you want?” I heard her, but I couldn’t speak.
“You can’t talk, eeh? Leave before I call people to kick you out.”
Furious, she was. I signaled to her with my hands that I could hear her but couldn’t speak or write.
She asked again, “What do you want?
If it’s food, I don’t have any to waste on street children.”
I didn’t let her finish. I put my hands in the bowl and started washing the plates, ignoring everything else she said. I just wanted my sister to eat.
I was her brother and needed to take care of her.
When the woman realized that I didn’t want to hear anything else, she let me wash the plates.
I washed every single one, even the ones the customers had just finished eating from.
I just had to impress her so she would give me plenty of food for me and my sister.
I knew I had wasted a lot of time, but I didn’t want to go back empty-handed.
After I finished washing, I sat down and waited for her to bring more plates.
Customers kept coming, it felt like the universe wanted me to wash plates that day.
I didn’t mind, I washed them with a smile because I was expecting food.
The woman asked, “Are you going to eat now?”
I nodded, and she said I had to wait until she finished serving all the customers and closed for the day.
Then she would pack the leftover food for me.
I knew my sister must have been scared and waiting for me, but leaving the shop would mean I didn’t want to eat.
So I had to wait for her to finish selling so I could take the food back all at once.
I just sat outside, waiting for more plates to wash and thinking about my sister.
Julian was always scared of everything, even cockrōaches.
I was always the one helping her kīłl them at home.
Little things scared her, and I wasn’t comfortable leaving her there.
I kept praying in my heart that the customers would stop coming so she would give me food.
I wasted another thirty minutes, and the customers didn’t stop coming.
I didn’t even know how to explain to the woman that my sister was waiting for me.
I got up from where I was sitting, wanting to explain things to her, even though I knew she wouldn’t understand.
But then I saw her coming towards me with a little bag.
She gave it to me and said, “Take the food and go, it’s getting late.”
I jumped up with excitement and ran back, crossing the road to where I had left my sister.
To my greatest surprise, she wasn’t there anymore.
I was shocked, I just stood still staring at where she sat with my mouth wide open.
Thessycute Ekene
