Family ties

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TUESDAY MORNING

The alarm sounded ever so loudly, so loud that Miriam jolted and fell off the edge of her bed, leaving her with a dislocated arm.

She was in too much of an emotional trauma to even feel the pains from her dislocated arm.

All she knew was that the arm became useless and has some visible swelling. She was left with an arm and basically did everything with just that one good arm.

BREAKFAST

It was a quiet breakfast as everyone in the family was grieving, Mariam was worse hit because she's the last child who was just getting to know her mother before her demise.

They were four siblings, Anika, Julius, Abel, and then Mariam who were all brought up with love.

People in the neighborhood and other extended family members thought they were close knitted because of their mother's influence and all felt now that the mother is no more, the siblings would fall apart, especially regarding the inheritance.

Close associates have always thought that their mother Octavia couldn't finalize her will before her painful demise. Thus, they felt the siblings would fall out for sure.

“Did we forget to say grace because we are grieving or because Ma is no longer here to make us do it.” Anika spoke calmly with her voice cutting through the clacking sounds of the cutleries hitting against the china wares.

“Ahem!” Abel cleared his throat as he stretched forth both hands to reach out for Julius's and Mariam's. Mariam reached back, but Julius hesitated.

He questioned scornfully, “Of what use is grace when I'm almost halfway through breakfast?”

Anika quietly reached out to Mariam's hand but then noticed she was groaning slightly in pain, and as they said grace, Julius reached out to both Abel's and Anika's hand which had been left hanging on the dinning table.

Halfway through grace, Anika burst into tears…. Julius stood up immediately and rushed to hold her closely from behind… “I'm so sorry, Sist, I shouldn't have said what I said.”

Julius continued: “Shhh…. It's ok, everything will be ok, Ma might be gone, but we got each other. We all look up to you, you need to be strong for us all.”

Anika's tears came as a shock to both Abel and Mariam, as they've not seen or heard her express any grief since the pronouncement of their mother's death the previous day being Monday.

“Why did she leave?, did she even care about us to at least fight for her life?” Anika cried so hard, making both Abel and Mariam to join in.

The sibling's moment was interrupted with a phone call, which was answered by Julius.

“It's Ma's lawyer, he scheduled a meeting for Thursday, said it has to do with Ma's will.”

“I thought they said Ma had no will, or at least it couldn't be finalized….” Abel sniffled and questioned with a creased eyebrow.

“Well, baby brother, we would find out on Thursday.” Julius responded, positioning the telephone properly as he returned to the dining table to be by Anika's side.

“Are you ok kiddo?” Julius questioned Mariam, whom by now has the pain from her dislocated shoulder getting the best of her.

“Why does the other part of your shoulder seem slanted?” Abel questioned.

“Yeah, I noticed it was quite difficult to lift during grace” Anika sniffed and added in a depressed tone.

“I fell and dislocated my arm,” Mariam responded to all three bowing down her ahead in avoidance of eye contacts.

“And you don't think you need a doctor to check that out?” Julius interrogated.

“I'm fine, Julius, just let me be.” Mariam responded defensively.

“Call the doctor,” Anika ordered Julius.

Later that day, the doctor came in and had Mariam's arm sorted out.

WEDNESDAY

All siblings went about their day's routine as they awaited Thursday.

THURSDAY

The siblings were seated with their mother's lawyer, who is always punctual, but nothing was being done as he said to wait.

After sitting for what seemed like forever, an unexpected visitor came in.

“Grandma!!!!” Abel yelled as he stood up, ran to the door and gripped her. The rest siblings followed suit and for a second there, they all seemed to have moved past their mother's death.

“We thought you wouldn't come,” Anika said in a teary voice as she gave their grandma a tight hug.

“And miss seeing my babies? No way!” Their grandma responded cheerfully and hugged her tightly in return.

Immediately all were seated, the lawyer proceeded to the business of the day. Contrary to what others felt, Octavia has finalized her will and handed a copy to her lawyer and to her mother.

She wanted to be certain her lawyer won't be manipulated to play a fast one on her and cheat her children upon her demise.

The inheritance, in equal share, was left to Anika, Julius, and Abel. Just as the siblings were about to question why Mariam got no inheritance, their grandma brought out an old but solid vintage box, handing it to Mariam.

“Your mother wanted you to have this, open it at your convenience.”

After the meeting, there was silence and the atmosphere was tensed. For starters, they wondered what's in the box. But no one dared urge Mariam to open it.

Later that day, Mariam was seated in her room as she brought out the box from underneath her bed.

“Pheeewww” Mariam exhaled not knowing what to expect, but she opened the box anyway and saw some written notes bound together with a twine to form a diary, some notes had the ink washed a little with a liquid that seemed like tear drops.

In the notes, Octavia apologized for sacrificing her motherhood time with Mariam to pursue wealth. In her defense, she did it to make sure Mariam and her siblings had a shot at a better life.

She also disclosed a very vital secret of Mariam being of a different father.

As if Mariam had not had enough of her mother's act, she went further the note to discover that her supposed father didn't go missing like Octavia had claimed.

He was murdered by her and in collaboration with Mariam's real father (who happened to be the best friend to her supposed father) had disposed of his body.

According to Octavia, Mariam's biological father, Hector, told her he loved her and wanted to be with her.

By that time, Octavia was pregnant with Mariam without the knowledge of Hector. But Frank, her supposed father, had found out from their family doctor, who broke the news to him in a congratulatory call having not being able to reach out to Octavia.

In rage, as they have not been intimate, Frank confronted Octavia in the kitchen and, in a bid to defend herself, stabbed him to death.

Mariam could not hold her feeling as she held her mouth, sobbing quietly not to alert the others.

She read further to also discovered that Octavia, having found out that Hector was stealing from her, poisoning her slowly with her favorite wine and also making move to lay claim over the company that Frank had left behind, had Hector killed.

There was nothing she could do to expel the poison out of her system, but to live with it until it finally got her dead.

All these happened 17 years ago and Octavia had prepared for everything. In her final words, she said to Mariam, it won't be fair I leave you a share of Frank's wealth, but I know for sure that your siblings will not leave you hanging because I have raised you with love.

On getting to that part Mariam screamed as she threw the dairy at her mirror causing it to break and alerted the others.

They all ran to Mariam's room to see what's going on. Mariam at her end has hid the note and the box, leaving just the mirror pieces on the floor.

As her siblings and grandma walked into her room having a glance at the surrounding, they found her crying bitterly and didn't know what to process.

Anika walked to her bed side and leaned Mariam's head on her shoulder. Julius held on to her other hand, while Abel stood in front of her rubbing gently on her shoulder telling her everything will be fine.

FRIDAY

Mariam just woke hoping that all what transpired the previous day was a dream. She looked by her dressing mirror and see that it's still broken, she looked by her bed side and saw that the box was still there, and finally, she went to her box of clothes where she hid the diary, and saw it sitting pretty amidst her clothes.

Immediately, hot tears started running down her face as the discovery is now her reality. She picked up the diary, wondering why her mother didn't just take all that secret with her to the grave, why does she have to leave her with such traumatizing memory?

As she contemplated on what to do, she heard a knock on her door, which prompted her to hide the diary back in a box of clothes. It was her grandma who came to inform her that her siblings would like a word with her.

“Just a minute grandma, I need to get in a better wear” Mariam sniffled

As the Grandma turned to leave, Mariam called out to her…. “Grandma, the box you gave to me yesterday, I know you are aware, why didn't you say anything?”

The grandma looked at Mariam and said, "Octavia was my only child, was she foolish, yes, but then she's a part of me, I am her mother, and I am duty bound to protect her against all odds.”

She continued “I know it's a lot to take in, but I believe you know the right thing to do.”

The grandma made her exit while Mariam got in a better clothing and rushed downstairs to meet the rest of her siblings. She was shocked to see Octavia's lawyer and as she was about to ask questions, Anika asked her to sit down, handing her some documents.

Mariam sat and went through the documents to discover that her siblings had included her in the inheritance, dividing their share to create an equal share for her.

“We figured Ma didn't leave anything for you, and while she knew we won't let you lack, we felt it's more fair to give you your wealth so you won't be dependent on us.” Anika informed Mariam, who was already amidst tears.

As Mariam got up to give Anika a hug, the rest siblings joined in.

“Octavia did raise you all with love” the lawyer said, smiling as he made efforts to leave.

“Just out of curiosity, what was in the box Ma left you?” Julius questioned.

Mariam stole a few looks at her grandma and responded, “They were poems Ma used to sing me from childhood.”

“Poems? I never knew Ma could sing” Abel intruded.

“Your mother was plenty of things, musician inclusive” their grandma quickly cuts in

“I know Ma was a dynamite girl, but you see that music? With her horrifying and commanding tone? No wonder Mariam ended up the introverted one” Julius joked.

They all laughed and as they continued hugging themselves, Mariam knew immediately what to do.

“I would have to be the one to take the secret to my grave, Ma” Mariam thought quietly as she wore a beautiful smile to distract her siblings from her troubled mind