Chapter Two : The Fifth And The Last Child

                                                            Antonia’s Admission
Nina
and her siblings were not properly taken care of because their mother was not
around. Their father was always at work and left them in the hands of his new
wife and their elderly cousins.
He
never really paid attention to their needs. Her eldest sister, Antonia was the
apple of their father’s eyes; as the first child and a girl, he loved her
beyond words and did things for her that he could not do for the others but
that changed with time. She got admission into another university after her
diploma and needed some amount of money for the registration. She informed her
dad, he agreed and gives her the money then this happened;
Stepmother: what did Antonia
tell you about admission?
Dad: she said she has gotten
admission in the east.
Stepmother: what
kind of admission is that? She has met some people that want to deceive her and
take her money. Honey, you know the restaurant needs renovation and we are running
out of customers.
Dad: oh that’s true and I’m
wasting my money on a fake admission. I better get it back. Antonia! (Shouting
her name)
 Antonia: Sir!
Dad: Where is the money I
gave to you?
Antonia: Daddy, I have
already paid for the form.
Dad: you what!! Who asked
you to pay?
Antonia: but you gave it to
me.
Dad:
(beating her) you better go and get my money from whoever you gave it to. Or
I’ll beat the living day light out of you.
Related image
When
she (Antonia) was younger, her dad always cherish her, gets her anything she
wants, takes her to school and sometimes takes her back home. And as the first
daughter, he wanted the best for her and didn’t want to see any boy around her
but everything changed because her stepmother was jealous and wanted him to
love and care for her own children.
After
her (Antonia) secondary school, she started making her hair beautifully and was becoming prettier.
She had envious and bad friends that just wanted to deceive her by introducing
her to men, taking her to clubs and keeping late nights. After all her dad comes
back late, since her gets to the restaurant after work and stays their till
midnight.
Stepmother: Antonia has
started having boyfriends
Dad: It’s not possible. Does
she want me to deal with her?
Stepmother: I heard one of
her useless friends just had an abortion.
Dad: my God! What are these
children turning into these days?
After some days, her dad was
driving and saw her walking home with her male colleague .he pulled over…
Dad: So it’s true? Before I
say Jack Robinson, I want to see you in this car.
He
took her home and started beating her and screaming at their elderly cousin to
get the clipper in his room and instructed him to start shaving her hair.
Antonia kept begging and crying as their elderly cousin they call Uncle shaved
her hair.
Dad: look at how
you dress and makeup like a masquerade. If you get pregnant in my house, I will
disown you! Useless girl, you are a disgrace.
Antonia: (crying) daddy
please I didn’t do anything please.
Dad: shave off all that
hair, let me know that thing that is making you feel like you should have a
boyfriend.
Antonia: (crying deeply)
Dad: shut up!!
Few
days later, Tonia got over everything that her siblings were all making fun of
her shaved skin cut, calling her “the cobra” from a nollywood movie “Rattle
snake” played by Segun Arinze.
Every
day was hell for Antonia and her siblings, especially her. Their step mom
always treats them like destitute to the extent that their father’s friends
never even knew they were his children. Their step mom made Antonia and her
brothers serve at the restaurant because she could not handle the sales girls
she hires, complaining about their attitudes. At the restaurant, when their
father gets drunk, he makes fun of them and calls them names. The second son,Kelvin
was still in school but he goes to the restaurant after school closing time and
stays there till sometimes 12.00 midnight,1.am, the latest is 2.am and he is
still expected to get up early the next day for school.

They were always indoors, except they are going to
school, church, restaurant for the boys and market for the girls. Their father
is very accommodating, generous and funny; he loved to accommodate his friend’s
children, his relation and wives’ relation. Sometimes they sleep in the same
room with the kids. The five children stayed in the same room while the other
two boys (yes, their step mum had another son afterwards) had their own room.
The five kids always stuck together no matter what. Sometimes, they call
themselves the Jackson five or famous five (Remember that soap opera?). Out of
the five, their dad really loved the first son, Nate and the second girl, Sarah
especially the second girl. He pampered her a lot; he doesn’t let her to do anything.
When she washes the dishes she makes sure she breaks them, she destroys almost
everything she lays her hands on because she wasn’t use to doing much and that
angered their step mum but somehow she could not make the love their father had
for her change like she did with the first daughter.
They (Famous five as they would call
themselves) never had textbooks , due to the time they go to bed at night,
wake up in the morning and do one or two errands, they go school late, and they
don’t get the time to do assignments nor read for test or exams. Coupled with
the absence of their mother, they were not doing well in school. It was
affecting their emotional, psychological, social and moral life. With
everything they were going through, they have some childhood friends that
really love them but their parents tried to keep them apart because no one
liked their children to be associated with kids from a broken home.



If you missed chapter one, click Here
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