The two sisters were packing the next morning and Ginny couldn't hold hold herself from asking her sister anymore.
"So how did you do it?" she asked as she packed a pair of flipflops.
Nissy, acting oblivious, asked with a poorly maintained straight face, "Do what?"
Gin sighed, knowing that her sister wanted her to work for an answer. "How did you convince Dad?" she asked with a low voice in case one of her parents where just outside the door.
Nissy scoffed, thinking back on what she had to say to convince her father to let her take Ginny with her to Lagos. It wasn't easy but then again, she was the only one who always knew how to talk to him among all four sisters. She could go on and tell her sister everything but all she said nonchalantly was, "I told him what he wanted to hear among somethings he didn't. In the end, he agreed."
Ginny gave her sister a sideway puzzled look. "That's all?" she questioned with a frown.
Nissy nodded, "Yah."
Ginny wasn't buying that vogue answer but she let it rest. It would be a worst of time trying to get anything more out of her.
Ginny was glad her sister was doing this for her, at least she will get some rest of mind away from her parents for a few days. They all needed that time apart. Hopefully, when she gets back her parents wouldn't be too hard on her again.
. . .
The trip to Lagos was eventful, very. For starters, they were riding in a private taxi with air-conditioning not those hot public transports that her parents always took. And all the places she had only ever heard of, now she could see them live.
For someone like Gin who had never ever been allowed to leave her parent's side, she felt both scared and excited at the same time.
She had never been to her aunt's house in Lagos before. They always visited them or her mom or dad would visit them with one of her elder sisters. It never got to be her turn and she wondered why. Maybe her parents were embarrassed of her?
That didn't make any sense though, if they were would they still have let her go with her sister to the same aunt's house? No, probably not, and besides, she was her father's pride until recently when she finished highschool.Maybe they didn't want to disturb her studies?
Whatever the reason, she was glad she was finally going out of her home town for the first time. Also, she was very curious about her aunt's house. Now more than before because of how excited her sister was to show her where they will be staying.
Maybe the aunt's house is very luxurious and beautiful. With all the latest technology and stuff.
Well, nothing prepared her for what was waiting for her no matter how much she had imagined it.
"Ohhh-My-God! Sis? This is way better than those houses in the movies! I can only imagine how it feels like living here everyday! Is there a pool? PLEASE tell me there's a pool! Oh, oh, oh! Is there a hot tub? I would love to try one of those! Oh my goodness, this is too beautiful I can't imagine people..." Gin paused her non-stop talking and looking around and turned to her sister who had just been observing her with an excited smile. Almost like she couldn't keep something inside but she was trying so hard to wait for the right moment. "Wait! I thought aunt's house was a bungalow? This house has an upstairs right? Did they move? And..." she stopped and listened for a second, "... didn't you all say they lived in a very noisy neighborhood? It's so quiet here. Are we lost? We can't be cause you opened the gate with a remote control thing and it opened..." she squinted her eyes and looked at her grinning sister seriously. There was something she hadn't been told yet, "Spill."
Nissy came and dragged her to the door were she used her finger print to open while all Gin could do was gap at all these things she was seeing in real life. She never thought she would ever see something like that in her life.
"Welcome to my house, sweety. Make yourself at home." Nissy was smiling, very pleased with her sister's reaction as they walked in.
"But..."
"My boyfriend gave it to me on my birthday. It came with a car but you know I can't drive yet so it's in the garage." Nissy said in a nonchalant tone like it was not a big deal and she's used to this kind of treatment.
Ginny gulped as she looked at all the sparkling, and expensive looking things in the house. She immediately rushed back out and removed her forgotten shoes she had on making Nissy giggle.
"Anyways, let me show you your room first then I will give you a tour of the house. Then we will have to get some rest cause we are meeting my boyfriend later."
Ginny had lost her voice by now, all she could do was look around. Every corner had something pretty to look at. She realized that this house was designed for her sister. It matched her personality to a T.
"And don't worry about anything, dad doesn't know about the house yet but he will soon enough. I would like to enjoy this for a will longer. You know what I mean, sis?" Nissy implode.
Ginny nodded, she did. How could she not? If their father found out, it will rain blood and ice that day. And all this peace will be gone in a second. Their parents would blow things out of proportion and will probably chase Nissy's boyfriend away with the way they will behave.
They had all seen how they were with Glo's husband. Things turned ugly so fast, if not because her husband has experience in dealing with nasty in-laws, he would have ran for the bushes. As long as the man isn't from their church, he will be labeled a bad man who wants to take advantage of an innocent girl. It doesn't matter if the man is a good man, for every man who's not from their church is a bad man.
When Ginny saw the pool and the hot tub, she didn't want to move from there anymore. Squealing, jumping up and down, tasting the water and asking her sister for permission to use both.
Nissy laughed looking at her little sister, "I almost forgot how much of a child you are. You can swim or use the hot tub tomorrow. Today we are going out, so use the bathroomtub instead. You will love it. Besides, you wouldn't enjoy it in this heat, it's better at night. Come on."
"Hmph, okay." Ginny sulked as they walked back into the house. She decided she will settle for the bathroom tub for now thinking it was a compromise until she saw the huge stand alone bath tub. She was gasping, gapping and caressing it like it was some precious world treasure.
Nissy smiled with love for her little sister, she had forgotten this side of her. She met mature Ginny from her second visit back home. She can only imagine how bad her parents had been to her for no apparent reason. And when she realized that they both knew that they're being unfair to her, it made her so angry with them.
Seeing her so carefree and relaxed made her happy. At least she could see her like this again and hopefully, she could make it last. This happiness she saw on her face.
Ginny turned abruptly and threw herself at her sister making her stumble, "I love you, Sis," and she meant it. She understood that she had to put in a lot to get their dad to agree to let her tug along.
"I love you too but you don't find me trying to make you fall down with such a hug," Nissy laughed as they hugged each other.