A Glimpse

25th December, 2022. 8:14 a.m.

I knew something was off the minute I became conscious. My eyes were still closed, but I could sense a difference in my room. The room was cold. The AC in my room had been bad for the past year, so why was the room cold?

Maybe my parents had repaired it while I was away, and I didn’t know because I didn’t try to put it on. Maybe my mum had come to put it on in the middle of the night; maybe she wanted me fresh and happy for my birthday. Maybe she actually remembered my birthday this time.

With a smile on my face, I opened my eyes and saw a sky-blue ceiling with stars stuck to it staring back at me. Something was definitely amiss here. My room wasn’t blue.

I sat up. My heart race was increasing. Where was I?

I looked around. I was in a blue room three times the size of my own room. I was on a queen-sized bed that nearly swallowed me, and the decorations in the room left me speechless. Everything about the room screamed money.

There was a flat-screen television on the wall opposite the bed I was still sitting on, and a desk in the corner of the room. Expensive-looking bean bags littered the hardwood floor. I stood up and walked slowly around the room. It was surreal. Why was I here? Was this a birthday surprise? I walked towards one of the doors in the room, and instead of an exit, the door revealed a walk-in closet.

No way!

I walked around into the closet that was filled with color-coded clothes, shoes, bags, and accessories; I could see a mirror at the end of the room. I walked eagerly to it.

I jumped away from it, terrified of what I had seen.

Maybe the mirror was not actually a mirror; maybe it was some high-tech thingy that made you see those you wished to be like.

Because the girl in the mirror was not me! It was my coursemate, Eyiyemi.

I slapped my face to wake me up from this dream; the girl in the mirror remained there, mirroring my actions.

No. It was not possible. There’s no way my wish was granted. There’s no way I was Eyiyemi.

***

25th December, 2021. 5:34 p.m.

Standing at the entrance of the living room with my arms folded, I watched my family and relatives eating and laughing, wishing one another a merry Christmas. After the birthday song sung in my room by my mum early this morning, nobody said anything about it being my birthday. Nobody even noticed that I was barely involved in any of the eating and laughing. Christmas meant so much to them. I didn’t.

Just when I thought the day couldn’t get any worse, my phone vibrated in my hand. I looked at it. Someone had sent a video to my class group chat. I clicked on the play button in the middle of the frozen image. My screen was immediately filled with moving images of my class mates dancing and singing.

Where were they? There was a party, and I hadn’t been invited? Whose party was it anyways?

Just then, the people in the video started singing a birthday song, and the camera focused on the girl they were singing the song for. It was Eyiyemi: the girl who had been voted best in my group, the girl who, in my opinion, had the perfect life. Why couldn’t my parents be like those of Eyiyemi? Her parents allowed her to have a grand celebration despite her birthday falling on Christmas day. Why couldn’t I be like Eyiyemi? Why couldn’t I have the finest guy in school or the best parents in the world? We had the same birthday; maybe we were switched at the hospital and the life she was living was actually meant to be mine.

I eyed Eyiyemi’s image on my phone.

She was so pretty. She was the real definition of ebony beauty, with her glowing brown skin. No, like, her skin was actually always glowing. Whatever product she was using to achieve that effect had to cost more than my dad’s salary for a month. I thought being fair made girls more attractive, but my fairness didn’t even put me on her level, let alone make me finer than she was.

And her hair was the most beautiful 4C hair I’d ever seen. Her hair had almost made me chop my relaxed one and grow a natural one, but there was no way I could pull off natural hair like she. No way.

“Ishaya, wa gbe abọ yi lọ si ile idana.” I heard my mom’s voice say.

I rolled my eyes. Wow, being sent on errands on my birthday. This was not the life I wanted.

***

25th December, 2022. 8:20 a.m.

I touched my face as I looked in the mirror. No, it was Eyiyemi’s face, not mine. It’s so smooth, and the hair! so thick and long!

Wow. I spun around. I squealed and jumped up. I finally had it. My dream life. My wish had come to pass! Esu had actually granted my wish.

“Thank you, Esu,” I screamed, “thank you!”

I wondered what surprises were waiting for me outside as a birthday gift. A car? Money? I was down for anything. I jumped around again.

It was time for a little princess treatment. Whatever was outside the room waiting for me could wait.

10: 25 am

That was the best and longest bath I had ever had in my life. Who had a freaking Jacuzzi in their bathroom? I had made sure to use all the products Eyiyemi had, and I loved them!

Picking what to wear was difficult, though. I had a grand closet filled with many beautiful clothes — more clothes than my entire family had.

I ended up wearing a light blue casual dress that complimented Eyiyemi’s skin well.

I was trying to figure out how to pack my hair when I heard shouts. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but I could make out the fact that a male and female were shouting. No, the male was shouting, but the female was screaming.

I moved closer to the door to try to hear what was being said by both parties.

It didn’t help. I put my right ear against the door and kept trying to make sense of the shouted words. The sound of heavy footsteps close to my door made me realize that someone was walking towards it.

I moved back just in time to avoid being hit by the door. A man wearing sokoto and buba walked in, his stomach struggling against the seams of his buba. His stomach and greying hair didn’t hide his beauty though. He must have broken many hearts as a youth.

I knew him to be Eyiyemi’s father because I had seen him in school a few times before.

He sat on the bed, put his elbows on his knees, and buried his face in his hands.

I didn’t know what to do. As Ishaya, I would have walked up to him to calm him down, but what would Eyiyemi have done?

I stood looking at him until he raised his head. “Your mother had annoyed me again.” He said, standing up and walking towards me.

I didn’t know what to say to that. He kept walking towards me, and I was tempted to move back because of the expression on his face. He looked like he was about to kill me, but this was Eyiyemi’s father; he couldn’t possibly do anything to hurt her, right?

He hugged me and whispered in my ear. “Happy Birthday, Darling.”

My eyes teared up. Despite his anger, he was wishing me a happy birthday; my father would never.

“I had planned for us to go out and have fun as a family, but I don’t think we can now, given how your mother is making me feel,” He was still holding on to me, “I like this dress on you. You never wear it. It is beautiful.”

Her father was so nice. I couldn’t remember the last time my father complimented me, if he had ever. This really was my dream life.

He hugged me tighter, probably feeling disappointed that he couldn’t celebrate my birthday like he wanted. “I am going out now; if I am still angry at your mom, you know what it means for you.”

One of his hands moved to my lower back. Uh, what was he trying to do? I tried to release myself from the tight hold, but he held me tighter. He pressed his lips to my neck and whispered in my ear. “Someone has to satisfy me,” He smacked my butt and said, “be ready when I get back, ok? I love you.” He released me and left the room.

I just kept staring. I tried to move my body, but it was frozen. I was shocked. I could barely register my body shaking.

What had just happened? Eyiyemi’s father just sexually harassed her. What. The. Hell? From his reactions, it was most likely a regular thing. Oh my… I felt so dirty, so filthy. The dress didn’t feel all that nice anymore; Eyiyemi’s life didn’t feel all that nice either. I had to get out. I had to leave this life.