A new home

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All the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action.

James Russell Lowell

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The drapes that abated the sun rays  from spreading across the room were pulled apart. light rays danced on Agatha's face as she gently snored .

Her eyes fluttered open and she flinched at the brightness. Her hand slowly sought out Nnamdi so that she would instruct him to shut the windows but they landed on an empty space.

She reached out to her phone and checked the time, it was only 6:30 in the morning.

Her husband hated Saturdays and always slept in, which had made her develop the habit of having her sanitary cleanups on Fridays.

Agatha slowly sat up and muttered a brief prayer, yawning occasionally while she spoke.

She secured her wrapper on her chest and stood up to insert her feet in husband's slippers which dwarfed her own feet.

She walked towards the children's room, their doors were ajar and the beds empty.

It felt strange that they were already awake. It had always been a struggle to prepare the Children for school now it seemed as if they hadn't slept in.

She could hear voices outside and so stepped out the house following the direction from which the sound emanated from.

Her husband was laughing heartily with a hose in his hands which he used in washing his car.

He bent down pointing the water hose at his car Tyre, then signalled Chijioke to turn the tap on which he did. The force with which the water met the wheel of his car sent water splashing on Obanma who had bent down to peek at what her uncle was doing.

Adaugo laughed at how shocked the little girl was. She was stunned, so she moved closer to the wheel and instructed Nnamdi to carry out the action again. She thought the water came out by magic

"Dee mee ya odo! Dee do it again! "

He winked at Chijioke and Adaugo and this time they decided to increase the water. The splash sent Obanma to the floor and she giggled happily.

Agatha watched them with a smile spread on her face.

"Dee! Mee ya odo" Obanma beamed excitedly. Nnamdi turned the hose towards her and splashed the water on her body.

She screamed happily and ran around the car while Nnamdi chased her. Chijioke soon joined in and they all became wet in matter of minutes.

Nnamdi saw his wife staring at them and halted his action. Chijioke turned the water off and Adaugo hid behind the car. They all had guilt written all over their faces. The car was still dirty and dusty but the water that had been wasted was enough to wash three cars.

Agatha only shook her head, then walked back into the house.

She could still hear Obanma's voice as she beckoned on her uncle.

"Dee! Dee! Mee ya odo! Dee! Ịchọrọ I mee ya? Do you want to do it again?"

"Ngwanu let's wash the car before your aunty will make me cook lunch, we've already wasted enough water"
The words were accompanied by a visible shudder.

He fished out three pieces of sponge and handed over to the children. They all donated their pair of hands in washing the car, where their hands could reach.

Obanma was the only one who was secured on Nnamdi's shoulders. The two of them washed the roof of the car. Obanma was more interested in the foaming, than the actual job.

Nnamdi left her on the roof and she helped spread the lather on the roof before slipping to the windshield.

The children clearly enjoyed washing the car and Nnamdi took two hours to get his vehicle clean.

They had barely left the garage before obanma threw an amusing question at him.

"Dee I chọrọ I sa ya ọdọ, do you want to wash the car again?"

It seemed she only enjoyed the water that dripped from her dress.

They had played ludo later in the day after Agatha fed them with beans and pap that made them sleep till afternoon,her husband inclusive.

Agatha's phone rang interrupting the play and Obanma was instructed to fetch the object.

On getting to the room she quickly pressed the button with the phone icon and began to question the caller.

"Hello ehe onye? Who is it? "

The man's voice seemed familiar and she sat down on the bed with the phone secured on her ears.

"isi la ibu onye? Who did you say you are?"

"Ọnọ ya, she's around,"

"Ngwanu chere m n'abia, wait I'm coming"

She climbed down from the bed and slowly walked to where her aunty sat.

"But aha gị o bu ngiri? What is your name?"

"Ooooh dee Osisioma ọ bụ gị? Oh uncle Osisioma is it you?"

Obanma handed the phone to Agatha then ran to where Nnamdi sat with her siblings.

"Would you even listen to yourself! Stole which children!" Agatha's voice rose

"We are coming for the burial, but they are not staying with you. Nna kpọrọ m gaa court ịnụ Take me to court"

"Why would I care about what the villagers are saying eh! Is Iheanyị going to train those children from the prison. My daa is still very sick. Osisioma you and your siblings should be grateful I took them in."

"Bịa Osisioma do not insult me! Besides why are you so keen on taking these children with you? Why do I feel that you've planned something"

Agatha could sense the blistering rage as the man spoke to her.

Nnamdi moved to where his wife sat and held her hand. He was tempted to take the handset from her and talk sense into the man who she was speaking to.

"Ekwuchala m, I have said my own"

She angrily ended the call and turned to her husband.

"imagine that shameless thing, saying that he will feed me and my family! Hei Chineke atala m ahụhụ

These children were alone the day I came. Now they are all Interested in taking them. Remember what I told you someone told me at the king's Palace.

I have a strong feeling that these children are targets and it will be a huge mistake letting them stay with anyone else. "

" They're not going anywhere ịnụ, the three of them " Nnamdi assured his fuming wife and she exhaled deeply.

A loud scream followed by wails brought Agatha and her husband back to where the children sat.

It turned out that Obanma had somehow left  with Nnamdi's phone and had gone to the toilet with it.

They opened the door to her crying her eyes out. The phone was inside the toilet which she had urinated in.

She turned to Nnamdi with her glassy eyes.

"Dee I chọrọ iwefuta ya? Do you want to bring it out?"

The situation made  Nnamdi tiresome, he turned to his wife who had already begun to scold the crying girl.

"This is the one Osisioma will take" He teased.

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"You're sure that your trap caught something" Onyedikachi enquired as they scaled the fence that surrounded that particular segment of the Bush.

"Ehe nụ ! Amadi has already checked it for me. He said two rabbits are there" Arinze beamed as he rubbed his hands in high expectations.

They landed beside some plantain trees that had been badly burnt from Bush burning.

Onyedikachi could see the green grasses that already begun to sprout from the ashes of the dead plants. It reminded him of the Phoenix and partly about the advantages of Bush burning.

A rustling startled Onyedikachi and he quickly tapped his brother. It seemed they were not the only ones in the bush.

He could hear the voices of  strange men.

"Arinze, I think some people are here, let's go home biko"

Arinze only shrugged off his brother's concern and proceeded deep into the bush.

Onyedikachi trailed behind Arinze still skeptical about their actions. He preferred visiting people's farms and bushes alone. For all they knew, the owners of those voices could be dangerous.

Arinze sighted his cage and gave his brother a broad grin.

"I told you it caught something"

The two of them tried to be as quiet as possible as the trod on the dried sticks littered around the bush.

On close inspection they realized that the supposed rabbits were two kittens that got trapped in the cage.

Onyedikachi would have found the situation amusing if he wasn't terrified.

Arinze felt betrayed and disappointed. He knew his friend Amadi was dumb but the level of his stupidity was something he wasn't aware of.

"Are you going to take them?" Onyedikachi enquired as Arinze bent down to grab the cage.

"What will I be doing with them?" He gently opened the cage and let the kittens out.

They slowly progressed to the part they had emerged from. Arinze hissing all the way with the disappointment that engulfed him.

He had spent a lot of money on the cage which only  seemed to catch stray pets. The last time it was Chukwuka's fowl, the week before that it was Ekene's kid.

He angrily threw the cage over the fence when he saw a cat fur, the evidence of his fruitless hunting.

"Shhhhh Arinze listen" Onyedikachi instructed.

"It's called pipeline, it cut across all his lands. Do you know how much the government would pay?"

The conversation aroused Arinze's attention and he grew quiet 

"It is not your land to sell. Besides if the kings finds out you'll be in a lot of trouble" The second voice argued

"Gịnị? How will he find out? No one can hear us. Stop thinking about the risk think about the money nwoke m.
Just because of ordinary mast that was built on Ikechukwu's land they paid him 5million. Imagine how much money this will produce"

"I am not so sure about this, it seems unfair to his family" Onyedikachi could sense that the hesitancy from the second man's part was because he still had an atom of good in him.

It baffled him why someone would want to reap the proceeds of another person's land. It made him want to discover the owner of the land in question and report to the king.

He turned to see his brother smiling at a stray dog defecating in the bush, however he didn't quite understand the amusement drawn from the irritating act.

He barely had time to think about his brother's warped source of amusement before Arinze picked a huge stone and hurled at the dog.

The dog gave a loud yelp, startling both boys.

The voices Onyedikachi had been listening to grew quiet and he suspected they had heard the dog as well.

The dog turned to stare at the source of his pain and quickly sighted the two brothers.

It barked at the two boys then ran towards them with a devouring look.

Arinze ran towards the other part of the Bush leaving his brother behind. Onyedikachi struggled with the dried sticks and ended up tripping on one of them. He landed on the ground with a scream, kicking his feet seriously as to ward of attacks from the dog. Dizziness tugged at him and he felt the world spin.

The animal ran toward him with a growl, it's canines bare, liquid seeping out of its mouth. Arinze could see the deadly look the dog bore.

His brother had left him once again, when he had been the one who had gotten them in the unpleasant situation.

The dog whimpered after he caught sight of something. His head mellowed in submission as it slowly retreated from where Arinze lay.

He sat up shaking his head to ward of the uneasiness he felt.

The dog barked and he flinched, then it ran backwards and howled into the air.

If continued whimpering till it finally sat down its eyes fixed on something behind Onyedikachi.

Onyedikachi gently stood up, pain shot up his leg and he clenched his teeth. He limped as she turned to see who had saved him from the dog's fury.

The dog was flat on its belly this time whimpering. Onyedikachi found it quite strange and simply hobbled away from his current position. Nobody had stopped the dog but it appeared to afraid of something.

A certain tree growing beside the fence caught his attention. He noticed that somehow the dog was staring at the same thing. It was an achịcha tree. There were many achịcha fruits on top and one chose to fall at that point startling him the more.

The fruit made him think about one person. Memories of plucking an achịcha fruit and splitting it amongst Obanma and Obinna came flooding back and he gasped in fear.

Was it Obinna that the dog saw? If it really was Obinna then he would be very unhappy that he had hurt his twin.

Goosebumps spread across his skin and the hairs on his body stood at attention.

A Sting on his arm notified him of a bruise that had already started to bleed. The dog howled again causing Onyedikachi to hobble out of the bush, quivering with fear.

He didn't stop moving till he left the bush.

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Hello everyone!

How are we? Happy Sunday!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, What do you think the dog saw?

Do you think Obinna is angry with Onyedikachi?

How would you describe the growing affection between Nnamdi and the children?