Christian Stories: Love II

My mother believed that wearing the same clothes would make us more beautiful and identical. She had always nursed this idea of having twins but when she got two seperate girls, she tried to merge us into one. For every cloth we sew, it was always the same style. Infact, she loved how people called us twins, which unknown to her, was unappealing to me.

Who would love to be called a twin with someone who should be your younger sister? 

For many years, I continued to live in the shadows of my younger sister. Things changed for me when I gained admission into secondary school. It was the genesis of my rebellion. I stopped her attempts of making us sew the same style. I stopped bathing with my sister and I refused to be called her twin. 

I told everyone who would care to listen that I was the eldest, we were not twins and would never be. My adolescence hormones were kicking in and I became irrational about many things. I became a dreaded, bitter teenager but then, she saw it.

She saw me. My mother called me that day and without saying a single word, pulled me in her embrace. I wasn't the type to do embraces. I wasn't the type to do emotions. It felt uncomfortable and weak to me. Only kids and weak people do that. I had to be strong to have enough strength and to put up a fight, a fight no one sent me to. 

So, one other thing you probably don't know... I wasn't a "hugging" person.

She hugged me and for fifteen seconds the only thing I could hear was the thumps of  her heart in her ribcage. No words from her and when I thought she was not going to say anything, she finally said it.

"I'm sorry, Ife. Ma binu, but I can't watch my daughter slip out of my hands. I can't afford to lose you. I'm sorry."

They didn't make sense to me; her words. I couldn't understand the taste of sincerity in them. Why was she apologizing? Why? What for?

"Ife mi, I see you and I love you."

And my heart melted a bit. She saw me...........

We hope you’re looking forward to the next episode of the Love Series. If you’re just reading this story for the first time and wondering what it’s all about, simply click here to read the first episode of this story in the Love Series and follow through from there. You can also check Mobolaji Titilope’s author profile here to read other interesting articles and related content by the author.