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All Chapters of Sister, Sister: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

26 Chapters

One

AFTERLilyMum scowls every time she sees me in Luc's room. She probably feels I will condemn the place with my Lily-ness and all traces of Luc's Luc-ness will be lost. It is one of the things she and Dad fought about during their numerous post-Luc's death fights. After the funeral, Dad wanted me to move into Luc's room so Krystal will have the bedroom we share to himself but Mum would not let it happen, over her dead body. I secretly sided Mum. I don't want to sleep in Luc's room. I still dream about her. Sometimes in the dreams I have, she is alive and stable – the way she was before she attempted suicide – but sometimes, she is dead. Stiff and unmoving. She would try to pull me down with her into her watery grave. I would wake up screaming, my whole body covered in sweat and shaking with sobs. If I sleep in Luc's room, her ghost will kill me.

Two

Sister, Sister/Elizabeth Ukeh

AFTERLilyPeople think it was suicide but I know it was murder. Suicide was not Luc's way. She had once attempted suicide. It landed her in the hospital and she pinky swore that she would never do it again. Besides, Luc could not have drowned herself because her body was found on the shore, but nobody else thought that, nobody seemed to notice how odd her death was. Everyone accepted the fact that she had died, no questions asked. Her death changed everything; Mum cut her hair, Dad became distant, Krystal stopped being the vibrant chatterbox he once was and I avoided everyone. I became withdrawn and stopped talking to people, even severed the small connections I had. Everyone wanted to know how. They would ask me for details I did not want to give. People that did not know Luc would cry as if she was their best friend. Neighbours came over to offer their con

Three

Sister, Sister/Elizabeth Ukeh

BEFORELucieLily and I laid patiently on the springy double bed we shared waiting for Dad's snore. Outside, a blue-black blanket of sky shone with mesmerising stars. Mesmerising was a new word I learnt in English class. It means something very beautiful it puts you in a trance, something hypnotising. Trance was also a new word I'd learnt. Once I heard Dad's snore, I tapped Lily even though I know that she was not asleep. "It's time, Lily. Dad is asleep.""What about mummy? What if she is not sleeping?" Lily asked and I wished Mummy snored too."Let's just... Risk it." I liked the word risk. Lily did not argue, it was one of the things I loved about her. She was my partner in crime and a faithful follower, the best sister anyone could ask for.The wind howled outside the sliding glass window, lighting flashed through our curtains and a rumble of thunder

Four

Sister, Sister/Elizabeth Ukeh

AFTERLilyWhen I was thirteen, I drank alcohol for the first time. I immediately loved the taste, the burn in my throat, the warmth in my belly and the tingle in my belly. I loved the sensation of walking on clouds after many swigs. It is a distant memory. The last time I went to Luc's happy place was months before her death. It is an abandoned building on a hill close to a small river. I was lying on my bed groaning like a woman in labour because of the terrible menstrual cramps I was suffering when Luc barged in with a thick cloud of vanilla around her. She looked at me and wrinkled her nose like I was the most irking thing ever."You smell edible," I said. It just flowed out my mouth, "like ice cream.""It's my perfume." She walked to me and pulled me up, "get dressed, puppet. I want us to go somewhere special!" I was naked from the waist up. T

Five

Sister, Sister/Elizabeth Ukeh

AFTERLilyThe foamy waves crash noisily against the bank. It is a beautiful sight.The wind tousles my hair and the scent of the ocean is so intoxicating like rich wine, I take more steps towards the calling ocean.My toes are caked with wet sand and goosebumps decorate my arms due to the cold but I keep walking until I am ankle-deep in the bone-chilling water.The water is a dark grey colour, almost black. And the sky is the same colour as the ocean so they bleed into each other at the horizon.I know I should not go deeper, I'll drown, I can't swim. But I do. I take another step, then another and another until I'm knee-deep in the water. The hem of my black summer dress is already soak.I hear my name in the waves, it sounds like a g

Six

Sister, Sister/Elizabeth Ukeh

BEFORELucThe day I met Joseph, I immediately knew that we were soulmates. I felt it in my bones, I knew it in every cell of me. I had never felt the same way about another guy. My other romances were sporadic and brief. A few kisses here and there, meaningless text messages and unimpressive dates. Joseph was different, I just knew it. When he bought me a silver ring with my name, Lucinda, etched inside the band for our one month anniversary, I promise him that I'd never take it off and I kept my promise. Maybe it was his rare emerald eyes hooded by thick lashes or maybe it was the way his dimples sank when he smiled or laughed. Whatever it was, I was smitten from the moment I set my eyes on him and have been besotted ever since.That day, Precious arrived my house with her bikini in her handbag, it was a Sunday and that meant we hang out at the swimming pool in any hotel we wish to unt

Seven

Sister, Sister/Elizabeth Ukeh

AFTERLilyTap-tap-tap.I wake up to tapping sounds at the glass window facing the empty backyard of Dad's rented bungalow, I could hear the loud tapping in my sleep. Bleary eyed and with a curse at my lips, I pull the silk sandy beige curtains away and I see the form of tiny cute birds pecking at the glass window with their small black beaks. My irritation fades away and I can't help admiring their gorgeous cloth of feathers. The poor fools probably think their reflection is another bird. A pair of white birds with bright green and white feathers and a lone black and white bird with whiskers are next to it.They remind of when Luc was Lucie and we used to bury birds that died by flying head on into our window.I wake Krystal up, hug him good morning and whisper that little birds came to greet him. He presses his palms to the glass and

Eight

Sister, Sister/Elizabeth Ukeh

AFTERLilyMy mother's sister—Aunt Alami travelled from Jos in Plateau State to grieve with us. She called Mum and announced over the phone that she has arrived Calabar. Mum asked Dad to drive her to the bus station to pick Aunt Alami because she has not been behind the wheel in a week, everytime she tries to drive her hands would tremble. She won't be able to move the car out of the driveway. I dashed into the back seat of Dad's car with Krystal in my arms before Dad could start the engine because I wanted to be as far away from our grieving relatives— who had came to stay—as possible. Surprisingly, my parents did not object me going with them. It has been seven days since Luc died by drowning in the Atlantic ocean and three days after we buried her. My parents decided to bury her as quickly as they could because they did not want to have a formal burial for her. It would be too p

Nine

Sister, Sister/Elizabeth Ukeh

BEFORELucMum's yelling bounced off the walls and travelled down the corridor into the kitchen. Dad's voice was low and soothing, it reminded me of times when he would try to get Krystal to stop crying.I imagined Mum in the distinct blouse and wrapper she wore every third Sunday of the month. It was the only time she would wear a heavy mask of makeup and flaunt her lastest handbag. She enjoyed showing off at the meetings she attended. Personally, I found the meetings boring and pointless. Why gather every month to gist and eat? When Mum it was Mum's turn to host the meeting, Lily and I would be servers and cleaners, cleaning up after middle aged women. Mum's defense of their meetings is a speech narrating how the association feeds orphans. I argued that you could feed orphans without the fancy attire and monthly gathering.My eyelids felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. I wa

Ten

Sister, Sister/Elizabeth Ukeh

BEFORELucAs I applied rogue blush to the peaks of Lily's cheeks, I realised that I was jealous of my baby sister. Maybe it was the way her hair was pulled up in a messy bun so soft tendrils of ringlets touch her cheeks and stick to her lipgloss or the way her doe eyes were heavily lined (she copies my style at every chance she gets). Maybe it was because Joseph commented on how beautiful and delicate she was on our first date while we were waiting for our moin-moin. "Why do you call her puppet?" He asked, poking the moist food with his fork. I watched the stainless steel prongs sink into the moin-moin. He took me to a trendy restaurant at Highway, the place was lit by chandeliers and the tables were set with embroidered napkins and various sizes of cutlery. "It's just a pet name," I told him with a smirk. I imagined that Joseph would date my sister behind my back. Would Lily do that to me? The th

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