The måd woman at the junction is actually my elder sister, but when I saw my father washing her hair into a strange red bucket he brought out from his car, I didn’t know when I screamed.

I couldn’t hold it; I screamed. God knows I did.

But no sound came out of my mouth.

My mouth opened, but nothing came out. Fear swallowed my voice even before it could escape.

After Papa was done washing her hair in the bucket, he held her both shoulders and pulled her up to into standing on her feet.

For a moment, my måd sister, Chisom, looked quite alright, like she had regained sanity.

The way she began to gaze at Papa so passionately like she was perfectly okay.

Wait, wait, wait!

Honestly, something didn’t seem right. Maybe I was dreaming. But it just didn’t feel like I was.

Everything felt so real even though I was peeping from the window.

“Maybe I’m not close enough.” That was the thought in my head.

With the back of my palm, I cleaned my eyes, then I moved closer towards the window, allowing my whole body to touch it.

I opened the curtain a bit wider and managed to fix my face between the window bars.

In a bid to get a clearer view of Papa and Chisom, my elbow mistakenly hit the iron.

And that was it!

The sound echoed… it resounded so loudly, sending electric shivers across my spine.

Just then, I saw Papa looking straight towards the window—where I was.

I closed the curtain immediately.

Like a village drum, my heart was beating in a fierce manner. My legs were quivering.

I was scared. I can’t lie.

But despite the fear, something kept telling me to peep through the window again.

Then I summoned up the little courage left in me, and I slowly opened the curtain, slightly.

My heart almost stopped the moment I saw Papa; he was walking towards me, towards the window.

Within the twinkle of an eye, I disappeared to my room, carefully shutting my door not to make any sound.

I jumped on the bed and covered my entire body with the white dirty duvet I had refused to wash for weeks, pretending to have slept off.

But that was how I actually dozed off that night.

***
THE NEXT DAY

I woke up the next morning with a severe headache, feeling really exhausted.

It was then I remembered all that had happened the previous night.

Everything began to resurface.

How Papa had driven to the town hall in the dead of the night, picked up a måd woman that was actually his own daughter—my sister, how he had brought her home and washed her hair into a red bucket.

But how come they left and I didn’t know?

“Oh gosh!” I muttered in disappointment, hitting my forehead. “I fvcked up!”

If only I had enough courage, maybe I wouldn’t have run into my room and slept off. Definitely, I would have seen where Papa had taken her to.

While I was still battling with my thoughts, rolling on the bed, my room door suddenly flipped open.

Someone had just walked in without knocking.

And for the first time in my life, I wished and prayed it wasn’t Papa.

To be continued…