"Waking up very early in the morning with the bright sun almost blinding my bulging brown eyes is one of the greatest things I appreciate. It's an honour to share anmity with the shining yellow sun".
What a terrific day it was!!
Hello...Good afternoon!
I don't know about you but it's currently afternoon in the part of the country where I reside. In case it's morning in your own time,I greet you joyously but if it happens that it is evening,it's no problem of mine. I greet you with all lightheartedness.
Good morning!
Good afternoon!!
Good evening!!!
....and probably, Good night!!!!
You may want to know my name but that wouldn't be a problem at all. I'll tell you my full name some other time. For now,I want you to have it at the back of your mind that the girl talking to you is Jessie. I am a seventeen year old British American teenager. My dad is a white, British by birth and nationality while my mum is a typical black American.
I was born in the United Kingdom
UK
but I was bred in the United States of America
USA
You see,I'm so kind-hearted that I equalised my parents' nationality. Well, my mum and I returned to the US when I was three years of age. I often asked her about dad but she always told me that he left.
How and when did dad leave?
She never told me anything except the fact that she said he left. Since I couldn't fathom what she meant,I frequently told people who asked about my dad that he left even if I didn't know when he left and where he left to.
I finally realized what mummy meant when she said that dad had left. I think I can still remember because I'm blessed with a retentive memory. I realized that about two years back when I was in grade eleven. One day,I was returning home from school as the usual routine,when I eavesdropped at my mum's conversation with one of her friends. It's not good to eavesdrop but my instincts told me to do so,just that time. Actually,I was about to enter the house when I overheard their conversation from the backdoor because they were sitting on a stool in our meagre kitchen,lacking in utensils, equipments and food items. As at that time,our light bulb damaged. We stayed for one whole week and two days before mum could afford the money to purchase a new light bulb.
"Things have really become difficult for my daughter and I lately. I wish my spouse was still here today,we wouldn't be experiencing such hostile hardship that has become our august visitor" I heard my mum say this exact words to her friend. My mum was tearsome and of course,the emotional type so she spoke such doleful words in sobriety.
"Speaking of your husband,where is he? Pardon me for keeping this question to myself all this while. I would have asked you but I didn't because I had a feeling that you didn't want to share your family issues with me because such issues ought to remain private" Her friend, well-known in the area as mummy Derrick asked. She didn't ask in a sympathetic way but I had a feeling that she was eager to help and would even offer to help if there was a need or arousal for such.
"Well,my husband is late. He kicked the bucket when my daughter was three and ever since then,I had no contact to his relatives or even his assets. I just made up my mind to return back to the US with my daughter"She said those few but touching words. I couldn't hear anymore of it because I was already disheartened. I decided to go into the house through the front door at the entrance of the mini bungalow.
What! My dad is late?
Why didn't mum tell me all these things? All my life,I have lived in hopes and anticipation longing to see my dad someday only to hear these tragic news.
But why did he die?
Mum might be correct that he may have died but about the other things she said,I wanted to get to the root of the matter. I felt that she cooked up a story on returning to the US with me. There must have been a reason behind it. Mum would have no other choice than to tell me everything I need to know. That will be the only time I would have peace of mind.
One thing I knew for sure was that I couldn't remember anything that happened to me in the first five years of my life,not a dime of remembrance. I started training my memory from six years and that was when I acquired the talent of retentive memory. I didn't know how strong and unbreakable my bond would have been with my dad. It was no grammatical fact that daughters shared a greater bond and closeness with their fathers than their mothers;that must have been so in my case.
With all truthfulness and sincerity, I really missed him. It was just like a long distance relationship with someone you never met.
When I came across his photo
a photo he had with mum and twelve months old me
,I had a striking resemblance with him. We looked alike in every fathomable indication but the first difference of which everyone knows was that he was a man and I am a girl. In addition to that, he was white skinned and had a smooth coffee brown hair while I was brown skinned and I had a curly dark brown hair like a typical black American just like Melissa...that's my mum. Dad and I bore an atom of resemblance of each other. I named him 'My twin whom I never saw in person' or 'My older twin'.
That's not the present situation on ground, anyways. I am completely baffled that mum hid such enormous news from me and I have been oblivious all this while.
* * * * * * *
At night, when mum was chewing few peanuts in a blue sauce plate that we both shared,I walked into the living room
a small sitting room looking antiquated and lacking television;not even a malfunctioning TV was found in the sitting room. There were only but two cushions that were already loosing their quality and durability
with deliberate anger in my voice and appearance. For an undoubtedly sincere truth, I was extremely mad at mum for hiding this mystery away from me. The anger was written all over my visage. I knew it was disrespectful to do so but before I could retract my action in my speech,I already heard myself screaming at Melissa,my mother.
"Mum,how could you?"