C2 Brat

Mother and I had just gotten back from the nearby supermall. Dad had already gone to his new office, and uncle David had gone to campus for his afternoon classes. Loluwalase was sitting in the living room surrounded by plushies, toy cars and red and blue balls. The distinct sound of baby-ish British voices were heard. I put it to Lase's favorite cartoon earlier but he didn't seem the least interested in it, but then he cried when I tried switching off the tv.

Little troublemaker.

"Ouu. Look at this one. " Mother gushed, pulling out a blue dress and holding it out in the air for us to see. It was a tiny strap baby blue dress that would reach just above my knee. There wasn't any special design on it actually,but it still looked pretty either way. I beamed at her and she smiled back, tossing it aside to the pile of 'Yes' outfits.

Mother thought it'd be a good idea we went cloth shopping after shopping for new food stocks for the house. Three dresses turned to seven dresses, two shorts, three jeans and six blouses. She even bought this alhaja style dresses for herself. She always loved those type of dresses, with the scarf, wedges and all.

"You can wear this blouse with that jeggings I bought for you December," She tossed an offshoulder white with black stripes top to the yes pile.

We spent the next thirty minutes rearranging my wardrobe. Taking out clothes I barely wore and putting them in a small bag for when next we'd go to the orphanage, or Aunty Kalifat would call my mother begging for new clothes for her fifteen year old daughter.

My heart swelled with happiness, with every smile and sound of laughter my mother would make. It felt so good to see her happy again. I was always the reason behind her distress and I made a promise to myself never to do so again.

No more bad girl Nifemi.

"Let's move to the kitchen. We need to wash those our pots and kettles again." Mother shut the door to my almost six feet tall wardrobe, and headed towards the exit. I put on my rubber slippers and followed behind her passing by my little brother,Lase. Lase was making sounds with his mouth as he rode his police car down one of the couches. Sofia the first was playing on the television , and it was an episode of her being chased by the sorcerer's raven and her brother's pet dog , while being a pink-or was it purple, cat.

Mom picked him up into her arms and placed a sloppy kiss on his cheek. Lase grinned at her, kissing her sloppily on the lips as he begun yapping about God knows what. Mother nodded her head and they both spoke in Lase's confusing language. She turned her head towards me and nodded once, indicating her follow behind her.

The house was built in a way that we had two living rooms. One downstairs, along with the kitchen, dining, guest room and laundry room, and a second one upstairs where three more bedrooms were. It was small and in a circular arrangement. A grey couch and two arm chairs, with pillows upon pillows that were usually always on the floor,all thanks to Lase and his restlessness. There was a flat screen tv there, just like there was one downstairs,and it was usually connected to one another. So normally, whatever was showing downstairs would be showing in the upstairs tv, and vice versa.

"Where are we going?" Lase whined as all three of us made our way down the flight of stairs. Mother's hands tightened on little Lase, because we all knew he would do something stupid if we didn't hold him well and try to jump down from her arms.

"To the kitchen, my love. We'll clean and then cook your favorite meal."

"Coco powps?" Lase's face brightened.

"No your other favorite meal."

"Fwied rice?"

Mother beamed. "Yes! Fried rice and plantain and chicken." My mouth watered just by thinking about it. My mother was an amazing cook. I'd honestly never get tired of her food. I'd probably take three more servings this afternoon.

"No. No chicken. Fwied rice and plantain!" Lase threw his arms in the air in excitement.

Oh yes. Loluwalase only ate turkey.

No eggs, no fish, no meat, no chicken, no pork. Just turkey. Anything else would to untouched and sometimes, thrown to the ground. We don't bother giving him anything else again. Loluwalase was very stubborn. It was hard to convince him to do or eat something if he didn't want to.

Imagine how he'd be like when he becomes a teen.

Chaos alert!

"Okay baby. No chicken." Mom chuckled. She placed him on one of the high spinny chairs patting his head twice. "Now sit here, okay?. Play with your toy car while mommy and Nifemi work."

"Okie." He smiled. I patted Lase's head and kissed both his cheeks before following my mother.

We brought out new pots and kettles from the many given to my parents on their wedding day they managed to keep safe for so long. We also brought out new glass cups as a few flat plates as well.

By four thirty in the evening we had finished everything. Sliced and diced, boiled and fried, and we were setting the table for lunch/dinner. Mother already served Lase's food earlier than the rest of us. He smelt the food and started demanding for a plate. He didn't stop crying until his favorite bowl was in front of him, filled with rice and golden brown plantain.

Brat.

"Davie!" Lase nearly knocked me over as he yelled at the top of his lungs and ran towards uncle david who had just walked into the house. Uncle david cheered as my little brother ran up to him and hugged his knees. He knelt down to reach his height and ruffled his hair.

Dad came back home soon after and we all gathered around the dining table and ate dinner together as a family. Lase had two more rounds just like myself and Uncle David. We talked about anything and everything, Dad announced me enrolling into a school nearby our estate.

Daily Light College.