"What do you mean?" Asike stared intently at her and acted like he had absolutely no knowledge of everything he had caused. He wore, on his face an angry-amused expression which riled up Ebose more than she was and get her very angry for being the sole cause of the ruin of her Christmas.

How can someone be this evil even on the birth day of Jesus?

"Why do you have to be a bad egg to my good things?"

"I'm sure you don't have a bad egg in your good thing," his eyes went to her abdomen and went back up again to her eyes. The action irked her and made her loose the little politeness she had sustained for him.

"Don't you know what this your useless personality is causing me and the others? Okay lets forget secondary school and how you caused me that boy, lets talk now, you are about to cost me my career and family. You are about to cost me christmas and you cannot even get it into your brain that you are an outsider. You are not in this family, yet, all you've done since you came is be destructive. First it was the picture yesterday, today you suggested the swimming, you made my uncle drink pepper, you made me break my mothers things, what the fuck is wrong with you?" She could not afford to heave, the anger was in her chest, all of them moved up her chest towards her throat as though she would vomit the words.

"Slow down there-"

"Slow down? What is slow down Asike? How can you be human with absolutely no conscience? You have a family, don't you understand what it is to actually be in the need to impress everyone? Don't you understand that I am not the only child as you are? Because all you have to do is nothing to impress your parents does not mean I do not have to impress mine. I cannot keep living in the shadows of my sisters." That was the basic truth, she felt this way, right from the time she had began to acquire knowledge, her sisters were good at everything and anything.

They easily took the first position in school, won debates, quizzes, maths competitions, science functions, scholarships and even friends. Several times they had been called for TV talks and features in globally known newspapers, they were celebrities on social media and everyone adored them. She had to strive hard to beat their record or her family and the world will know her only as the little sister to two amazing twins.

She had to make sure, as artly as it was, her Event Planning made her outshine them both. Make her outstanding and make her be who she was without being favored by the admiration of her sisters.

"Don't you talk like you know so much about me," he replied her with a cold harsh tone, the only time she ever felt the cold chill was when he had began to get angry but she saw no reason for him to.

"As a matter of fact, I know too much. I know you don't respect others, I know you don't care about the feelings of others, I know all your life all you want to do is destroy, damage, separate. I know you don't understand what it means to have a full house family, I know you don't know what it is to have an actual life goal." Sadness passed through the eyes of Asike, then quicky it was replaced by a growing intense anger.

"Eboseremen," this was the first time he had called her her full name since the first time they were introduced.

He had smiled at her, with his teeth full of gaps then and had offered her into his house. For some reason, he had not let her go see his father because he was too scared to talk to him. She had admired the brown painted house as he led her straight to his room, which felt too weird for Ebose but she could not disobey the orders of her Mother when they entered the house. She had been told to make sure she got along with the boy and she tried to do so even though she wondered why her sisters did not have to suffer the same fate as her.

The room was filled with toys of different sort including a Barbie Collection. Her eyes had gone straight to the doll but she was handed a different toy entirely. She would have preferred a barbie doll to the soldier he had given her to play with but she could not complain because it was his house and not hers.

"So i'll use this car to kill this soldier," he brought out a hand-sized big truck which he placed on the floor on which they sat and pushed towards her to 'kill' her soldier.

"Why do you want to kill him?" she had asked with confusion written on her face. She wondered why of all things to have thought about, it was a kill. Her mother and father had told her times without number about killing being bad and hearing the forbidden word from his mouth made her much more confused.

"Cause there is somebody I want to kill," Till date she had not understood what he said or why he had said it. She had left it at that and never to raise up the memory until now.

Asike moved dangerously closer and his height soared above hers with his eyes full of anger as he said the next statement,

"Do not talk like you know so much about me. I did a few pranks on you but do not talk like you know what I like to do." The scenario brought another memory back.

They had been older, teenagers. She had accused him of pranking her with the hot food his mother had given her and had called him stupid. He had moved close, very slowly, with anger and mischief in his eyes.

She was scared because they were in his room and his door was close, courtesy of Asike and he had moved silently until his nose was above hers. Then, movies and books resurrected wild imaginations and she feared that he would move his nose closer and his lips would grace hers until the powder substance was poured on her head.

Ebose pushed him backward and gave him a glare, "If you do not want me to talk like I know you, then do not cause unnecessary trouble. Do not do what you are not supposed to do, do not make christmas a terrible occasion for me, so not do all those sort please," she was tired of the whole bad luck that had happened all through. She just wanted him to behave until christmas was over, there was little trouble her strengths could carry with planning and running around to perfect the catastrophic christmas.

"This season is just full of bad lucks girl," he retorted and turned his back on her to hide his expression, "They say Christmas is a fucking season of love but where is love? Who loves who and those we love don't love us back. Those we think love us are the most evil. Christmas is overrated."

Ebose felt her body begin to tremble, there was no means of talking to the boy at her front with reason. She hoped their voices were not too loud for the people inside to hear, "This is why you're being such a jerk?" Asike turned to face her as she asked the rhetorical question.

"Oh alright, you're such an unloved human being so you have to take it out on my family? On me?"

"I didn-"

"You're a big idiot, you know that? You care less for others truly, you just confirmed my point. I have been striving so hard to make this a good day, to make it memorable, to make me memorable and you're here spitting nonsense about no one love you." She shook her head but continued never the less, a soft wind blew her skin,

"My mother letting you come to a family restricted occasion was not love? My family taking every word you say as though it were the folktale tortoise word was hate? You're just too full of yourself you've always been a ego filled pompous thing."

"What about you?" He did not look up at her but Ebose did not care, her rage was at the brink of bursting.

"Me?" She gave a sinister chuckle with a frown I between her brows, "you ask what of me? Is it not obvious enough? I despise you Asike, you make me hate you every time you do those nonsense pranks in an attempt to do what? Frustrate me? Annoy me? I don't know but I am at the brink of naming you a nemesis." Deep down, her subconscious tugged at her, her words felt like lies. She had not entirely forgotten about Asike all the while he had not showed up in her house or life. But she had been grateful he was gone, she had the chance to be alright and fear no oncoming prank. She did despise him, but as she said those words, she wondered how true they were.

The girl heard the boy sigh deeply and allow his eyes meet hers, she wondered if he was angry but she could read no anger as the day turned dark slowly. She never anticipated to hear the next set of words that came out of his mouth next.

"Alright, I won't prank you again," he had just decided to stop, without anyone pointing a gun at his head and it shocked her to the bone. She could not believe it.

"What?" Her left eyebrow arched up as she stared at him, an action that was to question his words. She wanted to not believe so hard.

Jagajaga raised his hands up in a surrender motion and from his expression, it was easy to tell it was not a mock surrender. "Truce, I won't cause any trouble," he chuckled a bit, "but trouble just loves me sha."

"Are you being serious?" That was an important question to ask, she wanted to be sure before she released the held up emotions.

"This is a promise," he gave her a smile, "which I believe is equivalent to a dare and I can never not do a dare. So technically I am daring myself to not prank you."

"Thank you," she was not sure of the words to say to him. A sigh followed immediately and relief washed over her. She did not know she had held all these since she sighted him at the door of her house, his statement held a huge amount of truth and honesty she had not known he had. She checked the time to see it was some minutes past six.

"No problemo," they stared at themselves for sometime and Ebose could not help but notice the sadness that was in his eyes. All the while, it had been very dim obstructed by the mischievous glint he always had but now, she saw it clearly, she hoped it was not one of the things she had said to him that caused it to be brighter than the Christmas lights outside of the house.

"We better get inside before they think we are fighting outside." His words made her remember the current issue and she groaned.

"You should apologize to my sister, in fact, apologize to my sister." she commanded him as they walked into the house, she though she heard a 'Never from him' he knew better than to break his truce.

A question popped into her head before he could open the door of the home, "Asike have you ever not been able to do a dare?"

He opened the door and had slipped part of his body through before he gave his reply. With the same honesty in his voice as when he had promised to not prank her he said the words with the addition of an unnecessary information that would cause her to forever think.

"Yes, it involved you."

°°°

Well, eight and coincidentally I'm eighteen today.

Till tomorrow for nine.
Lots of love,
Adult Emmanuella.