The sun was already crawling up our roofs when my parents drove off to Owerri. They were on their way to a wedding. I was left alone at home with my kid brother and repeated instructions from my mum
“Look after your brother o. If anything happens to Jnr while we’re gone, I won't take it lightly with you.” Mummy had warned, pulling my ears as if the words would enter better that way.
I nodded like a model firstborn. And looked over to my kid brother, Jnr. A six-year-old who disturbs like he was born with it. Surprisingly, he was glued to the TV like a humble kid. My parents had given birth to him when they had already given up that I was the only child.
I waved my parents goodbye and turned into the house to meet Jnr, still glued to the TV, his face glowing with joy and Dino Patrol cartoons. I walked over to him and gave him a few packs of digestive biscuits I had bought earlier to keep my mouth busy while I worked. I added a chilled Ribena Mummy left in the fridge and whispered to him.
"Please focus on this TV and cause no nuisance today. I have a lot of work to do. Except it's urgent, if you need anything, I'll be in my room" I said
He nodded like a good boy.
Then I walked into my room. Locked my door to stop the TV noise from disrupting me. Then I buried myself in my project. I was working on a proposal for a new company I was working with.
Everything went smoothly. The house was so quiet that I had to peek several times to be sure Jnr wasn't up to some mischief. But he wasn't. I smiled, maybe for the first time God has answered my prayers.
It wasn't long after I peeked through the door that I heard a knock. Soft at first. Then harder. Then followed by the sound of little sobs.
I quickly rushed to the door and swung it open. I was met with Jnr and his crying face. His little hands clutched his belly like it was about to fall off.
I quickly knelt to him. My heart was already racing. “Jnr, what is it?”
He didn’t answer at first. He just stood there looking at me with tear-stained eyes and fresh ones gathering.
“Did you fall? Did you hit something? Is it your stomach?”
He nodded, but didn’t say anything.
I was beginning to shake. My mind ran in different directions. I could taste my mouth turn bitter. The fear of what Mama will do to me if she comes back and realizes that Jnr was hurt. What was I going to tell them?
“Talk to me na! What happened?” I almost yelled this time out of frustration.
Slowly and almost inaudibly, “I… I swallowed an orange seed.”
I blinked. “Okay… so what again?”
He hiccupped between tears clutching his belly tighter. “Now it will grow in my belly and come out of my mouth!”
I paused. Took a deep breath of relief. Then I stared at him and laughed hard, dropping to the floor.
Jnr stood there in shock, looking at me and laughing at him. I know he felt like I was mocking his final moments.
I finally composed myself and asked “Who told you that nonsense?”
“Moses.”
“Wait, which Moses?”
“Our neighbor. He told his brothers that… that…" he stammered.
"... that if they swallow a seed, a tree will grow inside them and poke its head from inside.” I completed it for him. I knew how mischievous Moses could be.
I paused. I could see the worry in the young boy's face. The small innocent look that was really scared of becoming a germination ground for an orange tree.
"Come here." I pulled him into my arms and let his head rest on my belly. At least that's how high his head could reach.
“Listen, I know you're still six years old,” I said gently. “But you have a big brother you can ask if stuff like this is true. Moses was just messing with you guys." I let go and knelt to him. "Orange seeds don’t grow in people’s stomachs. It's a seed and can't be digested in our system, so our body will just throw it away later, just like it does with everything it doesn’t need.”
He looked up at me with a bit of relief on his face. “So… it won’t grow in my belly?”
I shook my head. “No. A seed requires soil and rain and sunshine to grow. Your belly doesn’t have soil, rain, and sunshine. It only has beans and rice and maybe that biscuit I gave you and enough cartoons.”
“But it felt like it was moving.” I could sense he wasn't still satisfied.
“It wasn't. It's just the fear Moses instilled in you that was moving. Not the seed.”
“So how will it come out?”
"You'll poo it out I guess.”
“Can I check for it when I poo?"
I squeezed my face playfully. “Yuck, please don’t do that.”
He chuckled a little. I rubbed the top of his head and stood up.
“Don’t sweat it, Jnr. You’re not going to become the orange tree man.” I smiled.
"Can I stay with you in your room?" He asked.
I looked at my room, at the work I had going on. Then to him and his dreamy eyes.
"Only if you promise to stay at a place and not disturb me."
Without waiting for me to invite him in. He ran past me into my room and onto my bed. I sighed, shrugged my shoulders, and returned to what I was doing.
Surprisingly he was quiet and just fumbling with my phone while I returned to my project. I turned back to him a few minutes later and he was already asleep.
I smiled.
As for Moses, I knew I still had to teach him a lesson not to lie and instill fear in kids.