Fib and the Axe of Fury

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FOUR

W

hy won’t you listen to me?” My mother asked for the umpteenth time as she paced across our living room. She looked like a disco ball in red and black lipstick, graying hair, and a striped, rainbow gown. Her eyes burned with anger. The sight made me cringe as her gaze landed on me.

“I warned you,” she said, clenching her fists. “You used to listen to me.”

I used to listen until I saw the strange creature, I wanted to shout in her face, but it’d only earn me a slap, so I decided against it. Besides, telling her what I'd seen might make her agitated. She had always made sure that my younger sister Feranmi and I wore our glasses after the accident. Her obsession with it got worse after the night in our former house.

My eyes began to water. I swallowed hard to keep the tears away. Crying wouldn’t bring them back, I told myself, like I always did whenever I remembered hearing Feranmi’s screaming.

“It’s for your own good.”

“No,” I finally said. “There was no reason for wearing my glasses all these years. I’ve obeyed your instructions, but when I saw-”

“Saw what?”

“Uh… nothing. It’s the way you reacted yesterday.”

“I reacted the way any mother would,” she said, dragging the centre table to sit on it. “I’m the one paying the bills, so you shall do as I say.”

I chuckled as I rested my back against the sofa. My mother’s actions never came as a surprise. Using her position to blackmail me into doing her bidding was one of the few manipulative tactics she used. When I was younger, it usually riled me up and made me feel like an ungrateful brat. Sometimes I wondered if she had treated my father the same way. Did she manipulate him into doing the things she wanted? But when I tried to remember an argument between the two, I always ended up with a headache. My memory was rusty, only tidbits were left of the last time I ever saw him.

“I don’t want to relocate,” she continued.

“Okay,” I swallowed. “I’ll just go to my room and be the good child.”

“Fibikemi—”

I stood up, my eyes darting between her and the stairs. “No arguments.”

“You don’t leave unless I ask you to!” The vein running across my mother’s forehead bulged. I jumped from the anger in her voice and bloodshot eyes. “Don’t take one step.”

My gaze clouded. Should I leave? I wanted to defy her orders, but the thought of being punished or receiving hot slaps chilled the blood in my veins. Instead, I froze, as my eyes fell from her face to the floor. Based on her heavy breathing, I could tell she was angry. But why? What could she be hiding?

My thoughts turned dark and my stomach grew tight. She must be hiding something, a voice in my head whispered. “I’m sorry, Mother,” I said.

“You are getting worse... Fibikemi, you don’t want to listen to me anymore.”

Her gaze burned into mine like a hunting leopard’s—just as mine could. Some people would see the fierceness in our eyes and assume my mother and I were alike. That comparison bothered me. Unlike me, who rarely thought things through, my mother planned ahead; Father and Feranmi’s death had changed her.

“I just wish he was here,” I whispered, referring to my father. “I—”

“He’s gone—”

“It doesn’t matter, Mother!” I clenched my fists, now turning to face her. We were like twins, although she had a little extra flesh due to aging. We still stood at the same height, like two angry gnomes. “He would have understood me better. Dad never punished me! I’m sure he’s happy he’s far away from you, now.”

The words emerged before I could process them. The scowl on her face dropped, and something within her eyes seemed broken, like a hidden pain. As much as my mother usually punished me whenever I did something wrong, I felt cornered after speaking out of anger. She breathed slowly. What if my words have no consequences? But, it was all a lie.

Her palm crashed against my cheek, causing my head to swing from the force of the slap. As I fell to the ground, my glasses remained on my face.

My hands slid across the cold floor as I pushed myself off the ground. Every time my mother pushed, punished or slapped me, I boiled deep inside. But this time, it was a mixture of hate and anger.

“I hate you,” I cried, spittle flying out of my mouth. “If it wasn’t for your stupid seizure dad would’ve been here! I hate that I have to live with you.”

Tears spilled from my eyes like a river. I felt the muscles in my chin quiver like a small child’s. Even with tears blurring my eyes, I could still see my mother standing there like a statue for a brief moment, before she started lurching towards me. I ran outside and through the gate. My mother’s footsteps echoed behind me as she followed. A strange wind pushed me to the ground, and I turned to see that my mother was standing over me.

The air tensed, as if something was holding the calm breeze in place, and then the ground shook beneath me. As my heart palpitated, I scanned the street, hoping it wasn’t an earthquake. Natural disasters weren’t common in Nigeria, but it wasn't impossible.

“Mother?” I pushed myself off the ground, sniffling. “What’s happening?”

As my eyes found my mother's, a blue light sparked from inside her eyes. She raised her arms high in the air and started to approach. It was difficult to recognize her, so I stumbled backwards.

“I am your mother and you shall do as I command!”

“Mother?” I called, hoping she would snap out of whatever seemed to possess her. “M—”

I didn’t finish saying the word. I just ran.