Novels by Joyce Dammy Taiwo

Juana climbed into bed feeling very sad. Tears welled up in her eyes. Could any good news come about her mom? She was as good as dead. But if she wanted to hear her voice, she always did hear it. She only had to close her eyes and imagine her still alive and around, calling her to come help in the kitchen. As soon as she opened her eyes, her voice was gone.She felt terrible for getting her father emotional. He was trying to be happy and she had just come to spoil his mood. It was almost dinnertime when her granny returned with groceries and rice and chicken and a lot of sweet potatoes. She began to prepare dinner and it only made Juana's mood worse because it felt like she was trying to replace mom. She tried not to show it too much that she was mad at both of them for not talking about mom anymore. She heard and perceived the sound and smell of her cooking from her room, and refused to come out even when her granny came knocking to say 'Dinner is ready, darling' She felt like shout

Baron stared at the road. It was still dark but he could see a figure running towards him. His mind flashed back to the previous night, it had been hell for him. He had left home in frantic search of his daughter and had returned home without her. The bus driver had reported her missing and he was shocked to receive that news."What do you mean you can't find her? Like she's a matchstick or a pin?""I don't know..I thought she was in the bus with others" the school bus driver complained shivering.Baron had started his car immediately and dashed off to her school but she wasn't there. The driver who had followed him unlocked the school gate and shouted her name in all the classrooms but it was all futile."Look! Here's her bag" he beckoned to Baron who immediately turned towards his direction. There in the sand, few metres away from the gate lay a schoolbag recognized as Juana's. Her phone lied in the sand beside it. Baron screamed her name and searched the woods close to the school.

She was awoken by a bright light blinding her face. She shielded her face from the light with her palm and yawned. The atmosphere was calmer but it was even darker. She stood up stretching her limbs and massaging her ankles. Every room had their lights on now. Her head was throbbing but she was more aware of her environment now. It was 7.15pm. "Come in here and have supper with me, sassy doll" She heard him say."You have to eat you know, to be strong" he said coming out of the room towards her with a plate of fat chicken in his hands and a glass of milk. The chicken had a putrid smell and Juana was sure the milk was stale too. He squatted before her, dropping the meal and she realized that he had been drinking. He had a bottle of half-empty alcohol in his back pocket"Eat" he commanded"I want to go home" she mumbled tearfully"This is home, baby. All you ever need is here" "What do you want from me?" She asked with a straight face. She didn't want to let him see her fear."I just

The next day was nice. Baron took his daughter to school in his car after packing her breakfast. The future looked bright for both of them and his daughter's cheerfulness encouraged him. There were still moments of tears and longing for Dawn but everything was better. They prayed together and spent a lot of time together. At school that day,during recess, Juana decided to go out for the first time in weeks. She went to the school eatery to buy some food and a bottle of Coke for lunch. Aunt Ann was absent that day and she wondered why. The eatery was full when she got there. Everyone minded their business instead of mocking her like they did before. Juana didn't know what was worse-those students treating her like she was invisible and minding their businesses or them seeing her and mocking her everyday. She stood at the back of the eatery and waited for someone to leave his seat so she could take it. She waited five minutes before two tables got vacant. She went in quietly and bough

"Dear dad, thank you for everything. For loving mom so much and not leaving her even during her crisis of miscarriages. You're indeed the best dad in the world. I hope you don't miss me too much. I promise to be around here watching over you and granny even though you won't see me. Tell granny that I love her and that I'll visit her too. Tell her that I'll be joining Uncle Cornell in heaven. And mom. I've even started imagining myself sitting and talking with him but I guess the dead don't talk to one another, do they? Tell Ivy and Alicia (if they ever ask after me) that I will miss them and that I still love them. I'm so happy because I can see peace before me. Soon. No more scary nights, no more weary days, no more asthma, no more bullies, no more tears for I am going to rest like Uncle Cornell and maybe I'll meet mom too?"Baron found that note in his daughter's drawer two weeks after her suspension ended. She had been cheerful and he had been wondering what got into her even thoug

It was getting dark when Baron returned home from his ranch. He looked so tired but he managed to prepare dinner for his daughter. He didn't eat himself but he watched Juana eat. Juana was in her parents' room when he arrived. She was hugging her mom's things, her cream, her jewelries, her pillow, her dresses, and she had fallen asleep in that position. It was Baron who woke her up and took her to the dining room while he began preparing dinner."Did you have anything to eat?""Yes I fried chicken" but she was lying. She had only eaten some cookies she found in the kitchen and she was famished now. At the table, she smelt the soup and tasted it. It was delicious. Baron had taken pain to make his mind alive while preparing it. He was deeply repentant for ruining his daughter's breakfast on her birthday and for not coming to make lunch as he promised"I called you but you didn't take it" he said"I was not aware" Juana said.The house was boring and dull without Dawn. No one had even c

The next day at school, during the training at lunch break as usual, Uncle Robinson read the rules to us like he always did before going into the lesson:Be punctual to training (It's either you eat your lunch earlier or eat it after the training). Coming late to training lessons attracts punishmentTraining lasts for two hours everyday. 30 minutes during lunch break, and one hour, thirty minutes after closing hour between the hours of 1:30pm-3:00pm. On no account should you leave the school premises except the training lessons are over for the dayWhen you're asked a question, you're mandated to respond as soon as you can.Do not eat during the training hoursThese were the rules for the time being. I decided to break all of them, and so when Uncle Robinson asked me a question, I acted like I didn't hear him. I also brought some of my leftover food to the hall and ate so openly. My other competitors warned me but I was hell-bent on getting disqualified. Uncle Robinson and the other t

Joe didn't appear to me in human form like I envisaged; he answered my questions in a dream. I woke up with mixed feelings because Joe's response elicited both joy, surprise, anxiety and fear in me. Besides that, my second dream that night was totally bad. It was not new to me, yet it was still scary. It was the dream about mom's baby dying. That would be like the third or maybe fourth time I would see mom in my dream, with a baby in her arms but she looked sad and tears streamed down her face as she stared at it because the baby in her arms was no longer breathing.I was not the type that dreamed. In fact these dreams would be my first ever since I was born. They were spectacular dreams, and I was not as confused as I thought I'd be, because the two dreams were interwoven. In my last letter to Joe, I had asked him what the significance of his white pouch was-the small bag he left in my room before he passed away. It had taken him a while to reply me. Probably he was trying to decide

The next day, I woke up earlier than anyone in the house, mostly because it was my birthday but also because I was returning to school. I had my bath without any help, cleaned up and dressed up. I sat at my desk and took out Joe's white pouch, the one he left in my room on the last day I saw him. I kissed it, smelt it and after staring at it for a while, returned it to its rightful place. Then I thought of what i can do to set my mood well for the day. I wanted to be in a good mood. I decided to send a message to someone faraway hoping for a reply . Remember that superstition I believed in? Yeah, that.I designed a kite and affixed a message at the top. It was a letter to Joe. This is how it read:"I hope you're doing great up there, buddy. I am returning to school today after weeks of mourning your death. I want to be strong, I want to make mom happy, she's been worried about me. I want to live for both of us, and I promise you, Joe that I'll avenge your death. I don't know how to d

As soon as mom alighted from her vehicle, she started up the hallway stairs with one of the luggages. I carried the other. Cameron was not anywhere around but as we both climbed up with our luggage and one baby strapped to her chest, and the other in a baby carrier which she pushed as we walked, we heard a phone ring, and Cameron answered the call. He was inside the house after all. And we could hear his footsteps approaching us in the hallway. He must have heard a car drive into the parking lot. Mom went over to click the switch in the hallway and the lights came on. He needed to see how much of a beauty she was, even after having three babies(me and the twins)-- three beautiful girls. Then, with her shoulder bent backwards, and her chin raised, mom walked farther into the house towards my room. He stopped mom halfway by standing on the way."Hey" he said, smacking his lips. It was obvious that he liked what he saw, but he also looked shocked and confused."Hey too" mom said and pa

I was sleepy but I tried to keep myself awake. I checked the time on the wall of the hospital, it was about half past 3am. Or was it 2am? I didn't see because my eyes were already blurry. Mom had been inside the ward for an hour or so. Jack was fully awake, watching over me. God too. Lol. He noticed that I was sleepy and offered to take me home but I told him not to mind, that I was fine. He asked if I was hungry but I said no, even though my stomach was rumbling. I just wanted to sleep but I wanted to see the baby first. I wanted to be sure mom was okay, including the baby, and I could tell from Jack's confused expression that he as well as I needed to know what transpired between mom and Cameron, how she got to the foot of the tree, how her phone's screen broke, and the streak of blood from her leg? For now, she had to be fine first. They had fought again, obviously. Only God knew what they fought over, this time. But deep down, I was glad that the baby in mom's stomach was not aff

Cameron returned home at exactly 6:45pm that evening. To my surprise, he embraced mom tightly, until she yelled that he was hurting her belly. They both laughed as he apologized, and for some reason, I loathed that moment. I just hoped in my mind that he'd not hit mom again and she'd deliver the baby safely. "Look at you!" He said laughing. "Ain't you just a strong woman, carrying a whole human in your tummy! Or are they two? When are you due, babe?" He asked. I wondered what kind of husband he was. He didn't even know how many months his wife had been pregnant. The pregnancy he put there."I'm 32 weeks gone, Cameron" she said going back to the kitchen and Cameron walking towards his room. I walked past him towards the main door, and he pulled me back. "Your daddy is back, little big thing" he said. "Are you behaving at school?" He asked. He actually did bend down to my height to look at me closely."Get your hands off me!" I yelled and stormed out of the house. He turned back and s