TITLE: FIVE MINUTES
My stepmom wasn't a witch or a goblin. She was caught between these two diabolic entities. Although human, because she was a woman and a beautiful one at that; she possessed the qualities of these two evil creatures. Her comely countenance never betrayed her emotions. It was hard to tell her actual mood at any point. One minute she was reciting 'Hail Mary' like she knew the virgin mother in person. Next minute, her lips are pouring out in the most acidic phrases heard only in brothels and pubs. You never could see what would be hurled at you, a pot, knife, shoes, and even herself. We learnt how to appear prepared in her presence, the ducks and dodges were like an innate part of us. The only lovely thing about her was her cooking. She was an excellent cook who hated clean plates. She loved to soil dishes with food, and I was always there to keep them clean. Washing the dishes was my hubby being a gourmand...
One fateful morning, a happy one I should say. My stepmom had prepared a delicious pot of vegetable soup. The aroma nearly made me skip school. It was worth staying at home for, unfortunately, I had a no reasonable excuse to tender. I returned home from school earlier than usual. Fortunately for me, she was leaving for the store. I would have the opportunity to have the first bite before any of my brothers got home. Fortunately for my plan, she had been waiting for any of her four children to return home so she could head for the market. I had barely dropped my bag or stripped my uniform, when she called me to the kitchen. She pointed at the simmering pot of soup 'put the soup down and turn off the stove after five minutes'. I want to hurry to the store. I will be back in the next thirty minutes. Don't leave the house, don't open the door to strangers bla bla bla '... The sad part of this instruction was that I didn't know how d clock worked .. I was just eight years and in form four. I was the brainiac of the family, the one bringing home academic accolades so it was hard to tell I had a flaw.. on several occasions I had made my elder brother look dumb because I had answers to almost everything.. I could sing I could dance I was comlier I was Albert Einstein when you needed me to be.. but none assumed I never knew something as simple as time..
When my step mum left the house my intentions shifted from nibbling the beef to what five minutes meant.. my idea of the clock was when the minute hand touches a particular number on the clock. So when the minute hand touches eleven it is eleven minutes to, when it is on six it is six minutes past...
I waited for the minute hand which had just travelled down two from twelve.. I journeyed from the sitting room to the kitchen every now and then watching the journey of the minute hand as it gradually strolled down four. At this point the soup wasn't looking as pleasant as it was before the instruction.I couldn't help it any longer when the kitchen went smoky I couldn't see the pot nor the stove . I just wanted to be the good girl I had always been. 'Wait till it is five minutes so mum won't be mad at me'. The soup was burning and the braniac in me said, 'maybe she wants to use the burnt soup for some other meal'. I waited till the minute hand touched five at this point a neighbour had knocked to ask what was going on.
I placed the black pot and it's black content on the floor, wondering what on earth she desired to prepare with burnt soup. Well I was to know later. She returned from the store earlier than I thought, my siblings had returned from school as well. We were in the sitting room fighting over the remote control when I heard my step mum's voice ring out from the kitchen. The tone was enough for the scrambling to cease. Everyone knew there was something amiss.I was too shocked to be summoned in such beastly tone that I forgot my guard... I walked sheepishly to the kitchen on wobbling legs, forgetting to guard my cheeks . I was just about a foot or two away from the devil herself. I didn't see her face, I only saw a hand landing on my fluffy cheeks with such aggression that I saw the firmament and nine planets,I saw Zeus as well. When I returned to myself I cried bitterly. I cried till dusk; I cried because I had been done great injustice. I was repaid fouly for obedience. I did exactly what I was instructed to do. My siblings almost cried along with me. We hated step mum more that afternoon. After I had simmered down, I narrated the cause of my trouble to my elder brother, but was stunned at his reaction. He laughed until I felt like stabbing him. when he was done laughing he said mockingky,
'imagine she had asked you to put the soup down in twenty minutes, you would have been looking for twenty on the wall clock'.my younger siblings roared into laughter. I broke into another feat of tears.