CHAPTER TWENTY
#NEXT MORNING
**MARIANNA**
Brianna didn’t come home yesterday and mom and I were so worried. We tried calling her number but it seemed like her phone was switched off. We were hoping that nothing bad had happened to her and went to bed late last night.
I took my bath and got dressed in my school uniform before combing my hair. I quickly went down to the kitchen and prepared a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs and bread. I placed the food on a tray alongside a bottle of water then proceeded to mom’s room. I knocked on her bedroom door and I heard a gentle ‘come in’ before opening the door.
“Good morning mom.” I greeted and she smiled at me warmly.
“Morning sweetie. How was your night?”
“It was great. I prepared breakfast.” I said and dropped the tray on the bed.
“Thanks darling. Your sister is not home yet?” She asked.
“No, she hasn’t come back yet. I tried her number again but it was still saying switched off. I just hope nothing bad has happened to her or else I won’t be able to deal with it.” I said sadly.
“Now, don’t let us have bad thoughts. Maybe she got caught up with something at work and couldn’t come home last night.” She said.
“Ok mom, I’ll try to think positively.” I sighed and she placed the tray on her lap before digging in.
“Hmm, this is delicious. Who taught you how to make scrambled eggs like this?” She moaned in delight and I cracked up.
“Mom, why are you acting as if this is the first time you’re eating a meal prepared by me huh? Besides, I learned from the best so why won’t I know how to make a delicious meal?” I said rhetorically and she smiled.
“I’ll be going downstairs to eat mom. Call me when you’re done so I can pack up your plates.” I stated and she nodded. I walked out of her room and went to the kitchen to eat my own breakfast. After I was done eating, I put the plate and cup I used in the sink before going upstairs and getting mom’s plates.
I wore my socks and shoes and flung my backpack over my shoulders.
“Mom! I’m going to school now. Make sure you use your drugs at the appropriate time!!” I yelled.
“Ok baby, have a nice day at school!” She yelled back and I ran out of the house. I ran all the way to my best friend’s house which was not that far from my house.
I knocked when I got there and Mrs. Hathaway opened the door. She smiled on seeing that it was me at the door.
“Good morning my child, how’re you doing?” She asked with a smile on her face.
“I’m fine mom, good morning.” I responded to her greetings.
“How are your sister and mother also doing?” She asked again.
“They are also doing well. Is Vanessa done getting ready for school?” I answered her greeting before asking and she laughed.
“You know it’s not possible for her to be done by now. When I went to her room, she told me to give her five more minutes. I’m going back to her room now with a bucket of hot water to wake her up.” She stated feigning seriousness and we both shared a laugh.
“Don’t do that mom. I’ll go wake her up.” I said and went to her room. I met her sprawled out all over the bed and snoring loudly. Her hair was also in disarray and I shook my head at her as if I was a mother disappointed at her daughter.
I moved closer to her bed and spanked her really hard. She woke up immediately and looked around frantically, trying to find the person that spanked her. Her eyes finally settled on me and she frowned immediately.
“Why did you do that?!” She shouted.
“I did that because we were running late for school and you were still in bed.” I said with an eye-roll.
“Oh please, we can’t be that late. What’s the time?” She said and I checked my wristwatch.
“It is already 7:30 and you’re still here exchanging words with me that is already ready for school when you know that the first bell rings by 8:00 and school is still a thirty minutes walk from here!” I shouted and she jumped out of bed and ran to her bathroom. I watched in amusement as she ran out of the bathroom five minutes later and quickly put on her school uniform and combed her hair.
“Did you even take your bath at all?” I asked chuckling.
“Of course I did.” She replied defiantly.
“If you say so.” I sang and went downstairs skippingly with Vanessa behind me. She was grumbling something about not wanting to go to school and cursing the innocent man that invented school.
We got downstairs and went to the dinning room. We saw two bowls of cereal on the dinning table with Mrs. Hathaway already eating from another bowl of cereal. Vanessa sat down on one of the chairs and immediately began eating while I just stood there. Mrs. Hathaway looked at me and raised one of her brows when she saw me standing.
“Why are you standing there Marianna, the other bowl of cereal is yours so sit down and eat up.” She said.
“No mom, I just finished eating before coming here so I’m afraid I won’t be able to eat anything again.” I replied.
“Nonsense! There’s not always too much of food to eat. Sit down and eat up the cereal.” She ordered and I sighed in defeat. There’s no way I’m escaping from eating a second breakfast this morning.
“If she’s not gonna eat it mom, I’ll gladly eat it for her.” Vanessa offered and her mom turned to her with a deadly glare that made Vanessa concentrate on her food immediately. I burst into a quiet laughter right at that moment and Vanessa seemed to have heard it because she also glared at me.
I hurriedly ate up the cereal and stood up. Vanessa also finished eating and got up from her chair. She took the bowls we used to the kitchen and came back a few minutes later.
“You ready to go to school?” She asked.
“Yes, I’m ready.” I replied.
“Okay, let’s get going.” She said and we went towards the door, ready to walk out of the house when Mrs. Hathaway stopped us.
“Wait kids, let me drop you guys off.” She stated.
“Mom, have you forgotten that your workplace is not in the same direction as our school?” Vanessa asked.
“No, I haven’t. I got permission to come late to work today so I want to drop you guys off.” She explained.
“Ok mom, that will even make us have some time to spare before they ring the first bell.” Vanessa said.Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.
“Alright, let’s get going then.” Mrs. Hathaway said and we all walked out of the house towards the driveway. Thank God she offered to drop us off or else we would have been really late to school.
TBC