Change of Plans

I looked at my numerous boxes and bags and sighed contentedly, Finally. I was free. I was so giddy on the inside that I hopped on one foot to the other and squealed. i wish my best friend, Othniel Daniel was here to celebrate with me but he was in school and would not be able to escort me to the airport. "What is wrong with you? It's not like it's one popular country babe. It's just plain old Norway so kindly stop disturbing our ears" my elder sister who was struggling with my box sneered. Emma wasn't annoying in any way, I knew she was going to miss me.What was actually annoying her was that I was really happy to leave Nigeria while she was busy sulking over me. I was surely going to miss her of course, because she was my favorite sibling but then i sucked at hiding my excitement and so she was annoyed with me. Understanding her emotions, i ran to her side and gave her a bone squishing hug. "I'll miss you" I said slowly,sobering up immediately. Emma and     I were called the mischievous middles, because we always had one devious plan brewing in our minds waiting to be put into action and also because we were the middle children. We were always up to no good and might I add we loved doing what we did. We also looked alike but she had a much more mature body than I did due to our four years age difference. i wasn't flat like that though.I was a B-cup with wide hips and also a large behind. i was 5'6 inches tall as well. I used to have a flabby stomach but I worked out and now I have an extremely tiny waist. You could say i had an hour glass figure but my boobs weren't so big. they are just the right size and i like it that way because tiny boobs somehow lowers my self esteem and large boobs looked uncomfortable. My sister was about double of what i was but was a few inches shorter. My working out made my body so cool i got a part time job in a modelling firm in my first year at college but that was not what I really wanted. I was very smart,but i lost focus in my last year at high school,causing me not to study overseas like i wanted. I really wanted to go to Oslo university, Norway so i made sure I studied very hard and so i obtained a CGPA of 4.4. I applied for a scholarship in Norway and i got it. It wasn't even hard anyway. Education in Norway was for free but the university was so impressed with my CGPA they said i could come. I know it sound weird i didn't apply for top universities like Harvard,Oxford,Cambridge,Princeton or even Oxbridge but my heart was set on living in the country my late mother came from. I missed her terribly and i wanted to reconnect with her memories and see what it was like to grow up in Oslo. "Earth to you,baby sis" my sister chuckled in my ear. "What are you thinking of?" i sighed and turned to look at her cute worried face. "I'm thinking of my happiness Emma, I finally get to be happy" I said softly. She sent me a saccharine smile and dropped my box. "I'm jealous of you Apryl. You're free from the witch" "Tell me about it" We sat down there in a comfortable silence, satisfied with each other. 'Promise me we will live on FaceTime' Emma said after a while. "You bet we will" I could read Emma like a book, and I knew exactly how she was feeling. She didn't like expressing herself and she barely told anyone her secrets. She was so selfless,caring about other people than her. But I wasn't going to be selfish and let her worry about me so much. She wanted to cry ans so I hugged her,willing her silently to pour it all out. "I'll be back after two years, and besides you can come visit me when you're on holiday" I said soothingly,rubbing her back in tiny circles before the door opened,interrupting our embrace. It was our step mother,with one of her scowls on her face. the two of us immediately schooled our features to an unreadable one,because that was the only way anyone could ever cope with her. "Emmanuela leave us,I need to speak with Apryl" As distasteful as Grace was,the only thing i ever appreciated from her was the fact she called me with my middle name which I prefer because my late mum gave it to me. For a split moment Emma let her emotionless mask slip and she eyed me warily before exiting the room. Now it was just me and her,and despite the fact that all the windows in my room were open, I already felt suffocated. i stood up and shook off imaginary dust from my body before straightening and facing Grace. "Good evening" I greeted in a monotone. "What exactly is good about the evening?" she sneered Anything but you. When i didn't reply she continued. "Why didn't you wash the plates?" she asked,moving closer to me. "I wanted to finish packing my clothes before tomorrow. But as soon as i was done i was going to wash them" I replied firmly. She eyed me up and down and glanced at my packed boxes. "So because you are leaving the country you now want to neglect your chores  and leave us to do it alone while you are there bringing shame on the family name by expanding your Ashawo business?" it's not like we were poor to not have servants do all this irrelevant work but ever since this woman came into our lives she sacked all the househelps saying that no one can steal her husband from her,making my siblings and i do all the work. She often complained of the work whereas she wasn't even doing anything. She despised my siblings and I ,But it was I she hated the most. I refused to let out any emotions because that would only make her happy. "You don't deserve happiness you spoilt child and don't even think for a second you will be happy there. You hear me?" she spat and I nodded. "Are you suddenly deaf? Speak when I talk to you!" she said, raising her voice. "Yes' I said in the firmest voice I could muster. "What was that?" she said,feigning she did not hear my retort. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and walk out on her. She disgusted me with her incessant blabbering but she could never hurt me. She wasn't my real mother anyway and I had gotten used to her nonsense. I wish she could get used to the fact that i was used to all her verbal abuse and no pain was new to me. But the dumb woman couldn't see that and kept pestering the life out of me. Besides, I finally gained my freedom and I knew she wasn't going to travel all the way from Nigeria to Norway to pester me but pay more attention to my siblings. I know that sounded unfeeling but trust me when I said i have had enough of her crap. "I said yes" I replied louder than the first time. Grace narrowed her eyes to slits and I could see the storm brewing in her eyes but never could I suspect that she was going to do the next thing. She slapped me hard across the face and i went crashing down to my side. Unfortunately,there was the corner of a wooden stool just where i fell and so I scraped my head there,leaving a gash on my temple before I finally fell completely to my side. Grace had never tried to injure my face and I was quite surprised she did today. It was like she was getting worse over the years and maybe one day,she will kill me. "Never raise your voice at me you useless b***h or you shall face much more serious consequences than this' she spoke in an eerily calm voice,and for once I considered the fact she may be running mad. I used the stool as a support to stand up but she old hag easily shifted it causing me to fall again. My emotionless mask was slipping and morphing into one of pain,but I couldn't let Grace see she got me so I turned my face towards the icy floor. Come on babe,you will not cry in front of Grace,my inner voice said,giving me small pep talk. Grace threw her head back and laughed at my pathetic state,obviously enjoying what she had done to me. Deciding I hated the sound of her laughter, I stood up immediately and slipped my emotionless mask on. Grace grew quiet when she saw I was on my two feet and I inwardly smirked. But my small victory was short lived as a single drop of some liquid rolled down the side of my face. My blood. She spilled my blood, I thought,gritting my teeth and clenching my fists. Suddenly, her eyes followed the blood going down the side of my face and she visibly panicked. "Go and clean that dirty thing from your face this instant and patch it up,your father cannot see you like that or else there will be trouble and me I don't want his wahala" "Okay" I replied in my firmest monotone before scurrying towards my attached bathroom. I could have laughed at the fearful look on her face if not for the gash at my temple. I made sure to lock the door of my bathroom twice because Grace had once tried to drown me and as it was, I wasn't taking any chances. It has happened before and it could surely happen again. Reaching from a top cabinet,I grabbed my first aid box which I spend more time with than with anybody else in my life. First aid boxes were rarely used in normal homes but for me it's supplies were always in my budget. I didn't look like the abused child,with scars and bruises all over my body. I just had a few unnoticeable scars on my body that were fast fading and I hoped to heaven the gash on my face was going to be gone in no time. Moreover, Grace didn't leave scars on me unless she was deeply furious because my father would flip. My father was a very busy man as he ran a lot of estates and a lot of hospitals as well. We were rich but preferred to live on a low because being a rich Nigerian meant we were prone to all sort of threats and danger. Unfortunately, Nigerians are really very nosy and it was really hard to live under the cover. Any spare time my father would get,he would come running back home to check on his kids and it really put him off to see anyone of us having difficulty or they weren't doing fine. Even though he was barely present,he made sure to check on us and have a relationship with us. My father didn't come from a rich family, so he made it his goal to bring a rich family out of him. He was so hardworking and the perfect role model and we all loved the old man. My parent's love story was so beautiful,and I secretly wished to have something like what they did have. They met when my dad was on a business trip to Norway and when they met,they bonded immediately. My mum, Alexandra Krístian came from a wealthy family of renowned doctors. Their name was like gold in Norway and sometimes I did wonder whether they actually liked him at first. It was no doubt they adored him later because of how close our families are presently. But as saucy and cheesy as their love story was,it sadly came to an end when my mother was diagnosed with blood cancer, few years after the birth of my baby brother Jason. My father was so broken over her, and he couldn't take care of us alone. Which brings our wicked step mom into play. I still believe my dad loves my late mum and only needed Grace as a motherly figure for us. the sooner she found out my dad was still in love with my mother,she became hostile towards us. Thank Lady luck I'm leaving anyway or prhaps by now I would be sleeping on cinders. i know I'm being melodramatic but I just can't help it. Speaking of cinders, I had work downstairs. SO I hurried up with my wound and raced downstairs.