We were laughing and chatting about every random thing we could think about. In the parlour together with Jeremy and Debby, my siblings. I try not to think of when daddy would be back home. It's Friday night and there's always gifts to anticipate when daddy comes home on Friday night.



Finally, Aunty Jaiyeola, our maid came into the house with daddy's office bag but she was shaking like a leaf with her head hung low.



Daddy came into the house with a bull-face, he slammed the door shut and his expression only got worse. "Dad are you okay?" I tried to reach him but he slapped my hands away "hey look here, don't you ever! Ever! Call me that!" My heart dropped to my mouth, I heard Debby whispered "Jesus" out of shock. I tried to remember when he ever addressed me this way but it has never happened! We all silently watched him march upstairs to his bedroom with a brown envelope and boom! He banged the door shut. No one said a word, not even the shaking house girl, this has never happened before so what's going on?



Not too long after mum ran down the stairs crying and screaming incoherent words. Jeremy rushed to her to hug her, we were all trying to fathom the ongoing turmoil here. Mum was now crawling on her knees, rubbing her hands together and pleading for something we the kids don't know of as tho her life depends on it.

Dad's face was like that of the devil now, he slammed the brown envelope he came into the house with straight at me, why me?



He pointed a shaky finger towards me, he tried to speak but was having a second thought on what to say, alas! He said "listen to me, you are in no position to call me dad as far as this DNA result is concerned, take this whore of a mother and i give you 3 hours to get packing out of this house" his eyes were red and angry tears streaming down his beards "and Temitope you had better get up and take that bastard of a child away with you" he gave mum a dirty look as tho he would lose his control and become violent. He walked out the door and left us all in dismay, the shock of our lives, in ruin.



DNA...'that bastard of a child'...'this whore of a mother'...the brown envelope...the way he slapped my hands away from him...it all makes sense now. The house was so silent as everyone shared the same expression of shock except mum who was too scared to lift her head up, she held her head in her hands vibrating as she cried and cried still uttering incoherent words. Jeremy has shifted away from her, as if she was a poisonous snake. I think of all just happened and what would take place after, I think of myself as a mere stranger in my father's house, a nincompoop, an alien to my siblings, a worthless product of adultery.



I ran out to the garage, I saw a sniper insecticide there yesterday. I will drink it and forget that all of this ever happened. I smile at the satisfaction of dying rather than to live with a label of a bastard, that is the only escape route from this mess!