“It couldn’t have gotten any more awful for us. I mean, the very worst had happened to us in this short life. Our father left the country and abandoned us for another woman, and now the one we depended on was dead. All before any of us hit the age of twenty. It was really tough. Extremely tough.”

The hall was silent, with many stunned at the tragic unraveling of the awardee’s tale. It had been no joke when she said what she said; she really had gone through some hard times.

“At that point, the fighting ceased. Totally. I mean, it had to. My mother’s words rang true; we were all we had, and we shared in this pain together. And so we held on to each other and became closer than we ever did. I became the big sister I was supposed to be, doing my best to stay strong for him through it all. From the time one of our aunties came by to take care of us, down to the day of the funeral, I became his pillar, the one he could depend on.

“As time passed, that aunt of ours stayed on and took care of us. Auntie Martha. She’s here, if you could please acknowledge her…”

Everyone clapped and cheered as the elderly lady rose to her feet and waved gratefully to everyone.

“Yes, a wonderful woman by all accounts. Came in and cared for us like we were her own, and I’ll never forget that. She did her best to fill in the gap. As for my brother and I, about a year in, and we were on such good terms, it felt like our perennial beef had joined our mother in the coffin.”

A wistful smile appear on her lips as she shook her head.

“Unfortunately, though, it wasn’t. That aggressive attitude of mine was a volcano that had gone dormant. But, little things Worlanyo did got me irritated, and I tried to overlook them, reminding myself that I owed it to Mama Xorla. Sadly, I allowed my patience to wear thin too quickly, and I started that attitude with him again. He wasn’t happy to see that side of me, and of course, he had developed his own attitude toward it, and so these ugly sibling moments popped up again.

“And it all culminated in a terrible, terrible face-off one Saturday morning…” 

The year was 2007.

It was a Saturday morning, and it was business as always in the Logan household. Their aunt had reminded them of the chores to be done for the morning, then stepped out to do some shopping. Over the past year, they had grown accustomed to it. While she went out to get the ingredients for the day’s dinner, the two would ensure the house was spick and span before she arrived. And so they got to it.

Or at least, Worlanyo did.

It was about 10:40 am. As he busily mopped the veranda, humming along to Karl Jenkins’ ‘Adiemus’ masterpiece, he passed by the kitchen, then looked back in.

Selorm was nowhere to be found. And all the cups, plates and cutlery she was supposed to wash sat on the kitchen counter, untouched.

Frowning, he shook his head. “This girl too, she should come and do her work, eh,” he muttered.

He walked over to her room and knocked on her door, already guessing that she had gone back to her room. “Selorm!”

“What?” she responded.

“Selorm, the things in the sink ooo! You have to wash them.”

“Ohhhhh, ah! Don’t you think I already know? Leave me alone! I’ll go and wash them.”

The rude and dismissive tone of her voice instantly got Worlanyo irritated. He barged into the room without asking. “Selorm, I don’t like the way you responded. Ah, I was just reminding you of your job…”

Relaxed on her bed, she was startled by his sudden entry. She sprung out of the bed, a fierce look on her face. “Are you deaf? Did I not say I know what I have to do? What kraaa is wrong with you?”

In less than five minutes, the tension between them was raised back to life in full force as they shouted angrily at each other and traded the most nasty of insults at each other.

Then things took a turn for the worse.

Worlanyo, still in possession of the mop, raised it high and struck her on the shoulder. Incensed and wincing from the impact, she retaliated by grabbing a hairspray can nearby, and striking him twice on the forehead.

Her counter seemed to do more damage, as both hits sent him tumbling to the ground, holding his forehead and grimacing in pain.

“Fool! How dare you hit me with that dirty mop! How stupid can you get, you useless good-for-nothing?”

Reeling from the pain, Worlanyo looked up as his sister, driven by a fit of fury, rained the nastiest of words upon him. At that point, he felt nothing but the most intense hatred for his big sister.

And in that moment, anywhere far from her would be heaven. He just wanted to get out of there. And fast.

“Selorm, I can’t stand you and your selfishness! You’re a horrible girl, a terrible person, and I do not want to be anywhere near you. I hate you! I’m getting out of here!”

With that, he sprung to his feet and stormed out of her room.

As she followed him, calling him a coward for running away, he took his money on the dining table and flipped the middle finger at her before he stormed through the front door.

And as he went, Selorm yelled after him.

“YOU CAN DIE FOR ALL I FREAKING CARE! STUPID IDIOT!”

*

Gasps emanated throughout the hall.

Shaking her head, Selorm sighed, her head low. “The power of anger. It is such a terrible thing. It’ll make you say the most horrible of things to people who are dear to you. And the worst part of it is that you can never take back those words…”

Her voice dropping to a choked whisper, she went on.

“You can never take back those words. And sometimes, they will haunt you. They will haunt you…”

*

Selorm was in one of the living room chairs, still steaming over that violent encounter.

“Stupid boy!” she snarled to herself. “The nerve of him! The audacity he has, to hit me with that mop. Nonsense! Abi he’s run away. He’ll come and meet me here. Foolishness!”

For over an hour, that was all that dwelled on her mind: to deal ruthlessly with the boy for hitting her and running away.

Then she heard her phone ring. She rushed to her room to answer the call. It was one of her friends from school, so it was a short conversation about something discussed in class. After hanging up, she took extra notice of her phone’s wallpaper.

It was a picture of her and Xorlali.

She shook her head as a flash of sadness ran through her. “Oh Ma! Hmmm. If only you were here…”

Just then, a sharp flashback occurred. The last few words her mother had spoken to her before her unfortunate passing.

…it’s crucial that you two have a strong bond. You need to look out for each other…

Be protective of your brother, Selorm. And watch over him. Jealously…

An immediate twinge of guilt followed. Oh God! What have I done? She was right. I should’ve been more gentle with him. Oh God!

Her fury evaporated in an instant. She had messed up big time. How could she have gone back to the old ways when she had promised her late mother she’d do right by her brother? This had to stop immediately.

She quickly dialed his number to apologize.

His phone was switched off.

She tried five more times.

Same response.

She sighed and put the phone aside. Fine. I’ll wait for him to come home. Then I’ll apologize. I really have to watch myself now.

Midday came, and the aunt arrived from the market.

No sign or word from Worlanyo.

Three hours passed by, and still no sign of Worlanyo.

Where the hell was he? And why had he switched his phone off for so long?

It was about 3:30 when she continued to try calling. Her aunt, who was watching the TV, suddenly exclaimed, “Ei, Selorm, they say there’s been a terrible accident on the George Bush Motorway. A trotro colliding headfirst into a stationary truck. My goodness…… it seems there are no survivors ooo…”

Her heart skipped a beat.

Suddenly, a horrific thought came to mind. What if… was it possible that…

No, no, she immediately dismissed the thought. He’s just turned his phone off, that’s all. The boy is extremely pissed off with me. No need to overthink this.

About half an hour later, and as she continued to attempt to call him, an unfamiliar number flashed on Selorm’s phone screen. She usually hated seeing ‘strange’ numbers call, but she quickly answered, thinking it was him. “Hello?”

“Um, hello, good afternoon, madam. Please, am I speaking to Selorm Logan?”

She got a little nervous. “Uh….y-y-yes?”

“Please, do you know any young man by name Worlanyo Logan?”

The knots in her stomach suddenly grew tighter. She swallowed hard. A cold sweat broke out on her forehead. “Yes… h-h-h-h-he’s my y-y-younger brother.”

The male voice on the other side sighed reluctantly. It was quite obvious he had no desire to say what he was about to say, yet he had no other choice but to say it.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Logan, but it appears your brother was involved in a motor accident on the George Bush Motorway earlier this morning…”

*

Many in the audience had their hands over their mouths, aghast at the direction this story had taken.

Selorm took a deep breath as she held the podium, beginning to shake with grief. The MC quickly sprinted to her side, a handkerchief in hand as she began to shed tears. Her sobs had an impact on the gathering, as many others began to wipe their eyes, heartbroken for the lady before them.

Taking the handkerchief, she wiped her eyes. The MC patted her softly on the back and murmured gently to her, “You can stop if it’s too much for you.”

Sniffling, she shook her head. “No, no, I’ve come this far. I’ll be fine,” she whispered. “Just… give me a moment.”

Taking in a few deep breaths, she looked up at the audience. Tears still standing in her eyes, she whispered into the microphone.

“It was the worst day of my life. Going there, seeing my dear Worlanyo laid out on the floor… realizing I failed my mother… it was horrible… so horrible…”

The hall was dead silent, save for the cries of Selorm, as she broke down and wept.

Oh God! This is… this is just terrible. It’s hard not to leak a tear right now. Poor Selorm…