09:59am, she checked the time on her phone and kept it back in the back pocket of her trouser as she carefully carried the wrapped gift towards her parents room. Their family had this ritual, every holiday they gave each other the best gifts possible and the person who could give the ultimate best to her parents gets to choose the food cooked on New years day. It was not much of a reward, it could not even be called a reward but Eghosa, Efosa and her cherished the ritual and made it a very serious competition amongst themselves. They secretly gave out the gifts o their parents and on boxing day they got to know who would choose.

The door opposite hers opened as she stepped out of her room with the bundles happily held in her arms. After she had gotten in contact with the eatery, she stayed in her room to organise the gifts and not just for her parents alone. She had gotten special things for everyone and as much as she hated Asike, she had to squeeze something out of the things bought for him. It was Christmas ritual to share even to enemies. But as she saw him step out of the room with the side smile that made his dimple bug out, she started to regret the show of love. She would probably keep the present to herself.

"Mind if I join you?" Asike closed the door behind him but not before she got a glimpse of Supo and Omoruyi playing wrestling. Sometimes those old men acted like little kids and she feared for Osemudiamen because she was stuck in the same house as they were until Supo, being the oldest old man remembers to pack out of his fathers house at his age.

"Yes I do," she made sure she sounded mean, she needed to sound mean enough for him to leave her, probably cower out of fear and never prank her or at least never disturb her again but that did not seem to work. Why would it? Asike had always had a knack for disturbance, particularly her disturbance.

"Sweet, I like when you do mind, its easier to make you frustrated," she kept her face straight her aim to not look at his face and give him the pleasure of seeing her facial reaction. He'd think he had succeeded in his plan to frustrate her.

"You don't frustrate me Asike, you annoy me,"

"Whats the difference Menmen,"

"The difference is that if i'm handed a gun to shoot between a demon and you I would throw the gun down and use my bare hands to strangle you," she said the truth, she could kill him with her hands and not care if she was caught and sent to jail. But this Christmas she said would not want to soil her hands. They walked passed the first room on that floor which she had allocated to Osaze and his wife, her parents room was at the left end of the hallway.

"I'd like to feel your hands on me," he gave a moan as he said that, without turning to see his face she already felt extremely disgusted. She remembered Secondary School and how he was able to manipulate their fellow female school mate, whether their juniors, seniors or their set. She never bothered to find out how and why but now she suspected it could be his ability to talk dirty or they were just naturally blind and stupid.

"I'd stab you if I can, but that be murder,"

"But I want to be murdered by you babe," she turned, against her will to face him as they approached the door to her parents room, her face stern and serious,

"Don't you ever call me babe." There was a brief silence as she fumbled with the handle of the door, her hands were too heavy and she could not let go of the gifts.

"Do you need a hand baby?" she knew his plan was to stir the annoyance but she planned to ignore.

"I won't hurt you if you say please, you know," she did not turn to look at him but she could imagine his pleased expression at her plight. She would not ask the devil for help, never. Her hands said otherwise, she needed to put the gifts down before they fell and the fragile gift broke.

"Please Asike I need assistance."

"I'm a Prince Charming, I'll always come to your rescue baby," she wanted to puke as he opened the door for her. The room was well arranged with the master bed at the far end of the big room, there was a table with a mirror and a designed stool attached to it with different products of makeup scattered on it, by the left side of the room was the blue painted wardrobe where she had to keep the gifts. She strolled towards it and carefully placed the items on the floor to enable her hands be free to open and arrange the wardrobe. She would not ask Asike for help again, never.

"Why are there lots of Mary Kay here?" He was by the 'makeup table', eyes on the various things on it.

"Stay away from there," he ignored her and picked up a silver shinning lip gloss, there was awe in his eyes as he stared at it, "Drop it Asike"

Instead, he opened the lid and applied it to his lips pouting in the process. "This is how you girls tempt us abi, with shine shine lipstick?"

"Ode," she walked away from the wardrobe area, unable to bear the stupidity and this disrespect of the boy towards her mothers things, "Nobody tempts anybody, you people just like to disturb every girl." Ebose snatched the lip gloss from him and set it properly on the table, she needed to get rid of him or he would touch everything in the room and her parents, especially her mother would not like it.

"Sure, but the buttocks tempts me sha,"

"Get out Asike," they were face to face with each other and while the boy smiled, the girl scowled.

"I'm here to help babe, let me in, just let me in," he scrunched his face in an act she couldn't quite understand. He was a disgusting being and she would not want anything to do with him. In frustration, she walked away towards the wardrobe and opened it, she had kept some rose flower petals to spread all over her parents bed. She would be the ultimate gifter this year.

"What's inside this wrapper?" Asike was already beside her again and this time he pried open the Christmas wrapper to have a look at it. She hastily hit his hand to stop him from opening it more than he already had.

"Easy, I'm just curious, but that sweat shirt is ugly," the statement he made brought back a memory of school.

It had been the birthday of her crush in SS1. She was always quick to crush and easy to be crushed, yet she still always crush on the fine and intelligent boys in school. As a crusher, she had gotten something for her crushee who happened to be a friend to Asike. The logic should have been that she would beg him to link her up with his friend but in their case that would be suicide because Asike always bad mouthed her to them, she had never seen it but she was sure.

That day in class, she admired the black coral bracelet she had gotten with half of her saved money. It had to be fine, she knew how much Amos, her crush, liked bracelets.

"That had to be the ugliest thing I've ever seen," it was Asike who had taken the seat beside her, his face scrunched his face in disgust as he looked at the gift.

"Well no one asked for your opinion, Amos would like it."

"We'll see," he had smirked and gotten out of her presence. Break period arrived and she went to the science class, Amos class. She had handed the gift to him with happiness but right at her front, Amos snapped the bead and broke it.

"Its ugly girl," he and his friends laughed at her as she walked away miserable, angry and stupid. She had gone in search of Asike and found him in the cafeteria. Without thinking she slapped him and walked out, not a care in the world what he would do. She was sure he had told Amos to do what he did because he was a devil.

"It's not for you, let it be."

"Oh, so there's something for me?" This time there was a wide smile on his face and she could not tell if he was genuinely happy or just being Asike. She looked away and tried to arrange the gifts into the wardrobe, she had gotten her father a sweatshirt and her mother something very fragile. But the card was missing which meant it was in her room.

"Ugggh," she walked away from Asike headed to the door.

"I can help you o," she assumed he knew she had forgotten something.

"I'd rather suffocate with pure water nylon than let you stay alone in my room," she turned to him and said.

"Its sachet water,"

"Now you are studying English instead of a Visual Art?"

"How do you know i'm studying Visual Art, have you been stalking me?" She wanted to gag herself, he had made mention of his intention to study visual art in secondary school because of how well he wanted to draw naked women and he also got punished because he had made that statement during one of their life skill conferences when an important society individual asked the outgoing set of students to say what they wanted to study and why.

"You said it yourself and I wonder who would want to stalk someone like you."

"Only you Menmen, only you," she headed to her room without responding, if she was not quick to arrange her gifts, her parents with the rest of their swimming crew would be back and would meet her. She rushed back to the room and found Asike with the sweatshirt over his head in her parents bathroom. All hell would let loose, she would make sure of it.

"Take it off this instant," She dropped the card on the nearest furniture and walked angrily to the bathroom. He shook his head and admired himself.

"I said take it off this instant,"

"Make me," he smirked at her and winked in an attempt to dare her, "I wonder how your Dad would collect this ugly thing," that made her very very annoyed, she moved closer to him. She would have to take it off him whether he wanted it or not. He on the other hand did not plan to take off the sweater and struggled to push it down as she gained the upper hand as the sweatshirt reached his neck, they were locked in a mini battle of 'Who gets the sweater'.

"Why are you always this stupid?" She half-yelled as she struggled to take the sweater off his now covered face.

"Yiuruffmelikethat," he made muffled noises as he struggled back to keep the sweater on his head. They dragged the sweater, with Ebose getting the upper hand until Asike's right hand slipped out and hit the mirror with full force. She stopped, her anger died. To Ebose, it felt like the whole world had stopped as she looked at her Parents cracked bathroom mirror. She tried to calculate what had gone wrong and remembered it was...

"ASIKE!" The boy with his head out of the sweater turned to her startled that she had yelled his name while he was still at her front.

"Calm down na, I am still before you," he groaned slightly as he replied her and she noticed his hand had a bleeding bruise, she did not care, she had to think of what to tell her parents especially her mother. Christmas would end with her head off her body if she did not think of what to do.

"Why are you a DEMON?"

"I was born this way babe," he smirked at her and tried to stop the bleeding wound, "Won't you help me or is the mirror more important?" She would have punched him if she did not have a better matter to attend to. He believed the mirror was less important than him? He knew nothing.

"The mirror, right now can buy your whole life," She noticed his face had gone from smirky to full of pain and he did not reply but rather walked out of the room and where she did not care. She walked out of the bathroom and paced back and forth, she had to come up with an idea that would save her from eternal death by her Mothers hand and an idea struck her, it was stupid but it was the best. She would tell her Mother that her Christmas gift was a mirror for her bathroom. Another of her allowance to spend but it would be alright.

She could still have a perfect Christmas after all.

°°°

Chapter 4 of the lovely Christmas of Ebose with a touch of Asike.

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Lots of Love,
Emmanuella.