Flashback
2008
Sundora International School,
Kano, Nigeria.
Friday, February 15
Everyone could be seen happily playing either in pairs or in groups expect for a young girl in the corner underneath a withering mango tree playing with a Disney Princess doll (Bella in Beauty and the Beast). She sighed sadly as she adujusted her doll's glown which was as yellow as hers, both of them looking cute with matching yellow ribbons in their hair.
"What's wrong, Angel." the little girl said, in a high pitched voice, talking from the side of her mouth on behalf of the doll as though she were a ventreloquist.
"Northing, I'm fine." she replied in her normal voice.
"You know you can tell me anything right?" the doll replied. "That's why were friends..."
"Then why does no and want to be friends with me apart from you. Am I tully a freak?"
"Of course not!" the doll retorted "They are just too jealous of how awesome and talented you are."
"But-"
"No Buts, bestie! You are a rare gem and a kind girl, that's why I love you!"
"I love you too, bella!" she said, hugging the doll.
"Aunty Zainab, there she is! Thai's the girl with the idol!"
Little Angeline looked up to the the class bully, Fatimah, pointing to her. She had brought her older sister Zainab and some some other seniors in Zainab's class all of them either wearing a hijab or a skull cap. Fatimah smirked in misief as Senior Zainab the doll from poor Angeline who now he arms pinned to the back.
"So, this is the idol you wanted to me to curse my sister abi?!" Zainab said, chuckling dangerously.
"Senior Zainab, No! It's not an idol!' little Angel cried, struggling against her oppressors. "Please it's the last thing my mum gave me!"
" 'It's the last thing my mummy gave me' Aije butter!" Fatimah taunted slapping her hard. "Shege banza!" (Illegitimate child)
Her outburst caused mummurs of disapproval to rise from the crowd of spectators.
"Ah!"
"Haba now, Fatimah. That's not fair."
"Stay out of this, Abdul!" Zainab hissed, eyeing a very handsome brown half-caste boy with a skull cup over his curly hair.
"Senior Zainab, this is unfair. You know it's haram to make an orphan cry before sallah...."
"Fine, I'll let you go this time! Senior Zainab said to Angeline after pondering on it for a while. "But not until I've redesigned this!"
"No! Please, don't ruin my doll!" Angedane wailed, trying to frantically to free herself.
"Fatimah, you send you wanted it you can have it! I dash you but please beg your sister to not ruin my doll."
Some of the kids felt bad for her as they now understood what is going on. It turns out that Angeline had been playing peacefully till Fatimah showed up and tried to make her give up the doll. Angeline refused causing Fatimah to hurl very heavy insults at her. She then kicked sand in Angeline's face promising to deal with her before stomping off only for her to return with her big sister and other seniors to deal with her.
Led by Abdul, everyone began to plead on Angeline's behalf but it was too late as Zainab sudden snapped the leg of the doll.
"Noooo!" Angeline roared, her pupils suddenly circumferenced with amber.
Almost immediately, great gusts of wind errupted from the ground where Angeline stood, swirling around her like a new born hurricane; the force flinging all the pupils away from her.
"Mayya o, Mayya o!" (Hausa: It's a witch o! It's a witch o!) their cries rented the air as they scrambled to flee away.
Angeline weakly fell to her knees as she crawled towards the remains of her once beautiful doll. Her heart sank as with misty she remembered all the fun she and here late mother used to have with it and bursted into fresh tears. It was as the though the heavens felt her pain, as it soon began to cackle and rumble; the chouds joining her cry with a drizzle.
***
Along Avron Drive,
Sea City, San Diego.
6:52 pm.
Daniel
My ribs almost cracked after Dylan finished telling us about an old lady that came to thier resturant earlier to get brunch but kept saying the darnest things because she had forgot her hearing aid at home. We were all currently heading home in Grandfather's limo after we had seen off our friends.
"Hey, what's that?" Draco said, his curiousity piqued as he pointed to a house surrounded by police cars which had its doors barred with yellow and black 'do not cross' tapes.
"Guys, I think its a murder scene!" Kai shivered.
We feft a wave of digust wash over us as we got a glimpse of the mangled bodies of a family of seven being examined and bagged.
As usual, if Draco, Dusk and Damien felt anything they never show it as thier faces still had the same bored wooden expressions except that Dusk and Damien's expressions are more colder than Draco's.
"I hope these poor souls get justice." Dylan muttered sombrely.
I couldn't really understand what was going on but I had this wierd feeling that this gruesome murder wasn't just going to die down and this was just the beginning.
***
Back in the Nest,
6:57 pm
Angeline
I wierdly felt drained as I came out of the Board Room. Blaise was right after all; Great Father had indeed introduced me to his children - twelve in all - promising to help me that my stay will be wonderful.
Yeah, meeting them was overwhelming but I don't understand why my head was aching me. It was like someone had carried a knife and repeatedly stabbed my brain. I didn't know how affered I was till I tripped. Luckily, Mr. Chung was swift enough to catch me.
"Please be careful. Here, let me walk you to the dinning room."
"Thank you, sir!" I said, taking his arm. "Mr. Cheng, do all of Great Father's family live with him in the Nest?"
"No, only his great grandchildren, thier parents and a few of his grandchildren live here. His children just visit once in a while, mostly you celebrate Family Week, which coincidentally, is ongoing." he said, as we entered the dinning hall.
There was a large oval table in the center of the room with a thick vertical black stripe in the middle making it look like a race track. The table was well set and a few persons were already sitted when we entered. I scoffed, mentally rolling my eyes, as I heard a low wolf whistle. Mr. Cheng was kind enough to help me to my seat which was beside a beautiful curvy lady with short brown hair, just beside the head of the table.
"Good evening, Mr. Cheng, is this the girl?" she asked, good-naturedly.
"Yes, Mrs. Boston. Enjoy your dinner." he bowed, before turning to leave.
"Hello darling! You must be Angeline!"
"Good evening, Ma'am!" I bowed, still on my seat. "It's an honor to meet you."
"Please don't be scared of me. I'm Sofia, by the way!" she beamed, kindly. "Welcome to the Nest, I hope you'll enjoy your stay here."
"Yes Ma'am...I mean, Sonia. I just met your parents."
"They were intimidating, right?" she chuckled. "Just wait till you meet the rest my family then you'll know..."
"Hey Sonia, who's the neat chic beside you?" slurred a femine guy with a black hat set on a jaunty position on his head, seen standing akimbo a few seats from us, on the other side of the table.
He looked rully cute with his long auburn ringlets and small mustach which woefully failed in making him look like a guy.
"She's a special guest, Dustin!" she replied, sweetly, though I could feel the warning in her tone. "And her name's Angeline. Angeline, meet Dustin, my cousin, he's a fashion designer."
"Oh, it's nice meet you, sir!"
"The feeling is totally mutual. I must confess, you're as beautiful as your name!"
"Actually, her name is Angie!" said the sweet dimpled darling that sat opposite me.
"Ari!"
"Hi, nanny! I love your dress!"
"So do l!" chipped in a tall guy with short red hair. "Hi, I'm Scott."
"Nice to meet you too, tallie! Are you a basketballer or something?"
"Yeah, I'm actually..."
"Angeline, do you see these two ladies that just walked in?" Sonia interuptted, bringing my attension back to her. "They are my cousins, the one in green is Aura, while the one on red is Ariel..."
Soon, the table began to fill up and Ari and Softa kept me busy by introducing me to everyone who came in. Some warmly greeted me back while the others were cold and snubbed but I was too engrossed in my discussions with the ones eager to know me more to care.
"Woah, I'm also a fan of Moonlit Fantasy!" Owen said, an adolescent nerd with brown messy hair. His thick glasses and green eyes making him resemble Harry Potter.
"No way!" I exclaimed in glee.
"Yes way!"
"What of your quiet brother beside you?" she asked, pointing to a frail looking boy with square glasses, currently reading a book.
"Oh, Alan? He's not really interested in anime or sports." explained his older brother Roy, an artsy looking guy, who looked around my age, with long greasy hair, piercings and deep brown eyes.
"What's your spark, Alan?" I asked, curious to hear his voice but he just bent his head as a bashful shade of red spread across his face.
"Don't take it personal. Alan's a bit shy around new people. He just needs some time to warm up to you." Tamika explained, Benjiro's immediate cousin as she tried to pacify her two sons - sons Dade and Bade.
Just then the Head Chef announced dinner and the servants trouped in balancing cloche-covered dishes on thier fingertips and gracefully placed them on the black band before uncovering them to reveal many mouthwatering dishes Angeline had never seen before, probably because they were Asian.
"Let's dig in!" Ron squealed.
"Wait!" I suddenly cried.
"Why?" he pouted as everyone's attention was now on us.
"Some people are not here you!" I said, gesturing to the five empty seats on the table.
It was not like I wasn't hungry but I was just really curious to know who thier owners were - especially the one beside her.
"Forget them, they're not imUportant…" jibed Roy, earning him a jab in the ribs from Fay, fourteen-year-old Korean girl who looked like a living incarnation of Wednesday Aadams, except that instead of pigtails she had greasy jet black hair and a thick fringe.
"What my stupid brother was actually trying to say was that they told us earlier that they'll be running late." Aura explained. "So, it's best we help ourselves till they come."
"You may not be used to our foods but there's no harm in trying something new." Sonia smirked at me, pressing a small button on the table, activating the black conveyor belt (dummy waiter) which slowly began to rotate the dishes around the table so everyone could help themselves.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Harry smirked, he was a cute Chinese guy with brown hair and blue eyes.
"Just eat would you!" Snapped his twin sister, Helen, beside him.
With a shrug, I helped myself to some Chinese fried rice and coleslaw with honeyed sesame chicken on the side, blessing her food before digging in. Soon, I found myself trying my best to answer as many questions that were hurled at me, while the waiters kept filling our glasses with grape wine even before our glasses got empty.
"Hey Angie! Senu de Newa!"
"Pardon?" I asked, corking my head to the side out of habit.
"I read that it's Nigerian… don't you know how to speak your language again?!" Layla taunted, with a condescending smirk.
"Layla!" Sonia scolded.
"Mrs. Layla, I think you've been mistaken. Nigeria doesn't have a fixed general language, like Korea. Debatably, we do have an official lingual franca which isn't English - French was added not long ago - but with over 400 indigenous languages and ethnicities, there's no way we'll ever get one. Even with the adoption of the three major languages: Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo for the Northern, Western and Eastern protectorates of my country, in accordance, there has still been the clamor for minor languages to be heard. Back to your Mrs. Layla, I think you attempted to say, 'How are you?' in Hausa but it's actually, 'Senu de zuwa?'"
"Oh, my bad!" shrugged Layla, airily.
"I know, learning can be exhausting." I muttered, rolling my eyes "Besides, I'm not even part of any of the three major tribes so I still wouldn't have understood what you had just said.
"Is it true that you guys have like a hundred names?!"
"Well… it depends on how many the registrar can squeeze into the birth certificate." I joked, causing everyone to laugh, except Fay and Imogen, Aura's daugher and Fay's prodigy.
"Angie, you've got to try these sushi Kris made! They're the best in Asia!" Harry shouted as the dummy waiter started bringing the tray of sushi towards her.
"Wow, Akiara! They look so...so…"
"Do you went to poison her!" Ari snapped, halting the machine with a remote
"Ari?"
"I don't want anyone feeding my nanny with filthy undercooked aquatic flesh!"
"Ari Cleo Daniella Yong!" Angie chided her. "That was rudely said. Apologize!"
"I'm sorry, Cousin Kris! "she mumbled grudgingly, to everyone's shock.
"It's okay, Angie…"
"No, Mrs. Sofia. I'm sorry she behaved this way, it's just that I'm allergic to seafood. Except, maybe it's crayfish or any other shellfish…"
"Crayfish! What's that?" Ron asked.
"It's just another word for 'Prawns'." Jiro explained, expertly using chopsticks to eat his noodles.
"That's weird." Dustin said, quite puzzled. "I thought all Nigerian girls loved fish. Well, I mean, the few I've hung out with always ordered sea food…"
"Well, you better change your mentality 'cos I'm different." I chuckled, sipping from my glass.
"In what way?"
"Let's just say, I'm full of surprises."
At that moment, a deathly hush fell over the room when the doormen opened the doors and five men with pale skins and dark hair walked in. And I gasped in recognition.
It was LOL!
They looked hot as the porters took their jackets and coats before they occupied the chairs. I know I've been having a lot of weird feelings lately but, right now, I couldn't help but feel like I've has known them all my whole life though I'm just meeting the rest of the other three members for the first time.
Their leader, Daniel, took his rightful seat at the head of the table, just beside Sonia, Dorian sat by his other side, Draco slipped beside Aura, the other two sat by Ari, getting a good view of my face while Damien sat down beside me.
"You're late!" Fay spat disdainfully, breaking the silence.
"We're so..."
"We would have been here earlier, " interrupted the LOL member with glasses, cutting their leader off. "If Kai hadn't made us to stop at every gift shop after we had dropped Dylan off!"
"Oh, sorry if I was just trying to find the best welcoming gift for our guest." Kai scoffed, rolling his eyes while their leader turned his attention to the black girl.
"Hello Angeline, I don't know if you'd know me but, I'm Daniel."
"Nice to meet you, sir." She beamed. "Of course I know who you are. You're the leader of the LOLs! I'm a fan..."
"Not a 'huge fan'?" sneered the last member, whom she recognized as the main rapper of the LOLs and her sassy role model - Draco.
"I am that!" Daniel chuckled, brushing his brother's rude interjection under the mat. "But I'm also Ari's elder brother."
"Eldest brother!" Ari corrected him.
"If you say so…" he chuckled handsomely as Sonia dished his food.
"Angeline, meet my other brothers Dusk and Draco." he said, gesturing to the cold guy with glasses and her role model who had a livid look on his face.
"Hi, guys!" she greeted, with a small wave.
"I see you've already met Dorian and Damian." He said, nodding at the dark masterpiece of a demigod beside her.
"Not really! We didn't really have time to get to know each other." Dorian said, his eyes on her. "I was looking for a gift beautiful as you name Angel so I got you these..." he said, smapping his fingers and three servers came carrying banquets and chocolates.
"OMG! Are those ?"
"They're just flowers!" Draco scoffed.
"Not just any flowers, Draco." Dusk muttered. "Those flowers she's holding are some of the rarest in Africa."
"And, they cost a for a fortune!" Angie completed his sentence as she gave them to a servant take to her room "Dorian, you shouldn't have!"
"Well, for a lady as rare as you are, you'd only deserve the best."
"Thank you, Dorian." she smiled, wholeheartedly.
"Oh please call me Kai -"
"Ok?!" Daniel interrupted, ruining on his flow. "Since we're all here how about a toast to the newest addition to our family?"
Angie blushed in pleasure as the servers made sure everyone's glasses were filled to the brim before they were raised.
"To Angeline!"
"To Angeline!" they chorused, drinking to her health.
"To me!" I muttered and gulped down my juice, trying not to choke when I glanced at how Damien's Adams apple bobbled up and down as drained his wine down.
"So Angie," began Ari, "Where were we before my brothers came in and stole the spotlight as usual?"
"That's not true!" Kai protested jovially as everyone laughed.
"How many names do you have, nanny?"
"17!" she confessed, causing the more dramatic ones to spit out their drinks and the less dramatic ones to gasp.
"What?"
"But, just a few were allowed in your birth certificate, right?"
"Yes."
"So, what's your full name, Angel?" Kai asked, his head in his palms as he stared her like she was the prettiest thing he had ever seen.
"Angeline Danica Oyiza Iyabo Richnen Ozigi."
"Oiza?"
"No, it's pronounced Oi-yee-zah." said Benjiro.
"It's Ebira .... my tribe." I explained proudly.
"Really, what do your names mean?"
"In my language, Oyiza means 'All things good' but contemporarily, it is interpreted as 'Joy giver'.
"Wow, your name really suits you."
"Thank you, Mrs. Sofia."
"What about Iyabo!"
"It was given to me by grandmother who is Okun - it's a type of Yoruba but not Yoruba - and it means 'Our mother has come again'."
"Why did they give you this peculiar thing name?"
"Well... when I was born, my great-granduncle said I resembled his grand-mother so they said I was her in the flesh..."
"Like an incarnate?"
"I guess!" I chuckled dryly, ignoring the knowing look Daniel and Damien shared behind my back. "Looks like she has a lot of unfinished business for me to take care of. What about you, Daniel?"
"Me?"
"Do you have a traditional name?"
"Joon-Woo."
"So, you're Long Daniel Joon-Woo?"
"Nanny, it's Yong Daniel Joon-Woo. But, everyone calls him 'Young Master Yong'."
"Oh, so you're Young Master Yong, the intelligent and handsome, Mrs. Sally told me about." she teased, causing scoffs and giggles all around the table.
"Do they reach Korean back in Nigeria?"
"No, not really. Ari has been a good teacher though." I beamed, noticing Draco's intense gaze on me so I decided to talk to him.
"Hi Draco, how was your day?" I began, nervously.
"I'm sorry but do I know you?" he said, icily eyeing her.
"Draco?!" Daniel grunted, warningly.
"Draco, don't you know who this is?" Ari exclaimed, not getting his sarcasm. "This is Angie, my new nanny. You know, the girl that saved me and Ben?"
But the next words that came out of my idol's mouth made my heart crack.
"Oh, you are the charity girl Damien told us about!"
"Looks like I'm not welcome here..." I thought with a sad sigh.
Do you think Daniel's hunch is real?
How many names do you have?
What is the colour of Draco's problem?