Grounded
CHAPTER 1

She wasn't quite sure she was ready to meet her mother yet. It had been horrid since the past few months after she revealed her decision to abandon her bank job for bartending. It was not much of an unwise decision as she felt everyone thought it was. "People should be allowed to do what they love," she thought. Notwithstanding the fact that she studied for a number of years to achieve that banking feat. It was more of a feat to her because she had worked so hard all those years and rarely even slept at night. Sometimes, when she remembered how hard she worked for it, she almost gave herself a hard knock on the head despite everything, she had abandoned banking. It was no wonder it drove her mother wild when she began bartending; the poor woman wondered why anyone would leave the King's meal for a beggar's empty plate.

Stopping at the door to peep at her wristwatch, she felt her heart skip a beat and her legs become wobbly. She knocked at the door slightly, listening with rapt attention for any reply. She wasn't sure she heard any. She turned the doorknob quietly, and the door gave way. She stepped a foot in and stopped to think for a bit, then she glanced in. The sitting room looked cleaner than she had left it just a couple of months ago. She had already forgotten what a neat freak her mother was. She stared at the vase on the table for a while. She couldn't help thinking its position had changed. She entered and tugged the door shut behind her still she heard nothing.

The sweet aroma of fried plantains filled her nostrils. She walked to the kitchen and heard the sizzling sound of the plantains in hot oil. That was very much like her mother-always eating fried plantains. She walked back into the sitting room, looking around like she was searching for something. She heaved a sign when she noticed that her mother had removed all of her pictures and portraits from the living room. All that was left hanging on the walls and resting on the stereo were the pictures exhibiting the rest of the family. She was in shock when she finally saw a family portrait without her in it.

She couldn't believe her mother took the fight as far as erasing her existence from the family's records. It meant a lot that her mother hadn't changed, and if she really hadn't, it meant trouble for her. She heard drips of water at that instant, nearly jumping out of her skin, she turned around. It was Sam. He had pushed over a cup on the table. The water spilled across the table and began to drip onto the floor. Her mother still kept Sam, and the ferret hadn't changed a bit. He purred as he saw her and licked his paw.

"Look what you've done to the table," her mother's voice rang across the silent living room as she rushed in with a rag to wipe the table feebly. She noticed Gina standing just a few steps away from the kitchen, looking terrified. She must have noticed that Gina was tense because she went back to wiping the table with a lot more energy this time as she thought of how best to act.

"He must have mistaken it for milk," she said, looking at Gina as she wiped the table.

"Oh dear, my plantains!"

She walked briskly to the kitchen and turned the cooker off.

Gina became a little less tense, but she wasn't ready to speak. Her mother's reaction shocked her. She expected something fierce and brutal. Maybe her mother had changed after all.

"If you care for plantains, you are going to have to fry them yourself. You know I don't share these." She smiled at Gina as she spoke, carrying her plantains on a paper plate across the living room to the dining table. Gina felt her fear disappear. She sunk her tired body into a nearby sofa. She was not hungry earlier, but after the tension she felt, she wanted a whole lot of food. The room was quiet for a while until her mother spoke. "I prepared some noodles. You should be hungry." Gina smiled thankfully and made her way to the kitchen. This was going far better than she had even hoped.

"It's been a while, Gina. You disappeared without a trace." Her mother's voice sounded dry as Gina appeared with a plate of noodles.

"I'm sorry, Mum." She put the plate filled with noodles on the dining table and took a seat. Her mother laughed lightly at her words.

"You are sorry. For what?" She took another plantain and added it to the one she was already munching. Gina tried to avoid her mother's prying eyes and focus on her meal.

"If you are rendering heartfelt apologies for what you did months ago quitting a bank job to become a bartender, 'I'm sorry,' won't do the trick. You'll have to do better than that." She took the last plantain with her fork. "But if the apology is for disappearing for a couple of months, then I don't think it's necessary." She pulled the plantain with her teeth and chewed effortlessly.

The room became quiet once again. Gina did not know how to reply to her mother. This was the exact same reason she had left home over seven months ago. This same issue was back to haunt her.

"At least tell me why you quit banking? You weren't asked to resign...."

"You don't know for certain if I was sacked. I had a lot going on in my life, Mother. I had no other choice but to give up banking for bartending." She looked up fiercely at her mother, who was staring at her intently.

"Why did you return?" she asked calmly as if counting her words. Gina had nothing to say. She slowly stopped eating her noodles and dropped her fork on the table. She had lost her appetite for her food. She was upset. Her mother stood up and picked up her paper plate, which was now empty. In her left hand was her ferret. "If you think I will accept you back as a bartender, then you must be out of your mind. My daughter is a banker. That is the Gina I know, and if that isn't you, then leave. Allow me to mourn my daughter in peace," she said with so much hate in her voice and left for the kitchen.

Gina was right. Her mother had not changed, and she could feel a pang of hatred in her mother's voice as she spoke. She had to brace for the challenge of living with her mother again even in her refusal to forgive her for quitting her bank job. She stood up in a bid to check how bad her room looked. It had been seven months already.

"Oh, sugar!" she exclaimed as soon as she turned around.

"You didn't think I would be coming to see you, did you?" There was scorn in someone's voice as she spoke.

Gina stared at her in shock. "Galena!" she exclaimed.

Gina thought Galena looked so different. She looked so beautiful in her chiffon blouse tucked into a grey pencil skirt like a formal lady. Was it her mind playing tricks on her or had Galena lost weight? She loved what Galena had done with her hair. The curls fell down her back so perfectly and that lipstick shade created a glow for her supple skin.

“Seven months later and you creep up behind me to scare the wits out of me. How nice," Gina said with an unsure smile.

Galena laughed lightly and sat on one of the chairs at the dining table.

"I didn't hear you come in," Gina said truthfully, avoiding eye contact with Galena.

"You couldn't have. You don't expect me to jump into your arms and give you a great big hug, do you?" Galena asked in a snarky manner, looking at Gina who was seated comfortably across the dining table, listening with rapt attention. Galena was Gina's twin sister. She was the perfect one who always had everything fall in the right places. For one, she was married with two children. Her husband was well to do, and her marriage was in perfect condition. She was a proud mother, wife, and medical doctor. Talk about perfection—she had it all.

Gina, on the other hand, could not even get herself a decent boyfriend. She stuck with Craig because she was rather lonely most of the time as she could not even maintain a good relationship with her family. Craig was her boyfriend from her varsity days. They used to go clubbing together. They had even received an award for "couple of the year" during their final year in school. Gina knew they had no future together because Craig could not keep his manhood in check despite that she tried to satisfy his sexual desires as best she could. Besides, he had no job or any house to call his own. He depended on his parents, Gina, and a few friends to meet his every need.

All he did daily was gamble with some thugs, and he had a taste for any woman who caught his attention. But he was the last person in Gina's life, and she could not bear to lose him yet.

"You quit your banking job and gave us no reason whatsoever for doing so," Galena said. "When mother and I showed how displeased we were with you, you took off and suddenly returned after several months. What did you expect, a party?" Galena asked wide-eyed in a displeased tone.

"Would you believe me if I told you why I quit banking?" Gina asked calmly.

"I don't care!" Galena blurted. "I am just here to ask if you're ready to take on another bank job?"

"No, I am not. I am here to reunite with my family," Gina stated clearly.

"How is the reunion going for you?" Galena asked with a cackle.

"Listen Galena. I am twenty-eight, not eight. I make my own decisions and live my life how I deem fit for me. I appreciate your concern, but I need you to stay out of my way and mind your business. Go back home, boss your husband and children around like you should, but you cannot do that to me. Not anymore. I will never let you or Mother drive me nuts with your forced opinions anymore," Gina concluded with an angry face. She felt victory surge through her bones like electricity. Galena was quiet, staring like an injured kitten.

Galena had always been the smart one. She was the one with the brains to study medicine at the prestigious University Downtown. She was always right. Their mother always agreed with her. She always put up a good argument during every fight. Gina felt caged, locked away, and abandoned every single time. She had lost all hope of a bright future at a young age as she was terrible at almost everything. She barely made it through school. All her decisions were influenced by her father because he loved her and knew of her insecurities, and her need to be loved and respected like her sister. After he died, she lost everything and everyone. Her source of inspiration and will to fight on died with him.

"If you'll excuse me." Gina broke the silence that had already enveloped the sitting room as she stood up and made to leave, leaving her sister alone at the table recovering from Gina's words.