That Sunday morning came with heavy rainfall, the kind of rain that doesn’t even pretend it will stop anytime soon, it was the type that makes the whole environment cold, quiet, and muddy all at once, i was in the room with my laptop open, trying to get some work done, when my sister walked in and casually announced that she would be going out, I looked at her in disbelief, Outside, the rain was pouring heavily, beating the zinc roofs like it had a personal problem with them, anyone who knew our area knew that once rain fell, movement became a serious issue.
“Are you seriously thinking about going out in this rain ehn?” I said to her, looking her up and down like maybe she was joking.
“I need to go pick up that order at Iyana Ipaja,” she replied calmly, “If I don’t go now, I’ll have to wait for another one week again.”
I sighed deeply, i already knew this argument was going to drain my energy, but I tried anyway, “Ehn, if it is like that, just call the driver and tell him you want to reschedule the pickup till tomorrow afternoon, At least by then the place would be dry”, I was really trying to be reasonable.
The thing is, the area we recently moved to is always bad during rainfall and the roads are always terrible even on dry days, and then when it rains, they turn into muddy traps, We have heard stories of people falling off bikes because of how slippery and uneven the road gets, Some people even avoid going out completely when it rains like this, So for me, my advice was coming from a place of concern, not control.
But my sister wasn’t having it. After minutes of trying to convince her to stay back, she dressed up anyway, tied her rain jacket, adjusted her bag, and headed for the door.
“I don go o,” I heard her say, just as I was about closing my laptop from where I had been working.
I shook my head, “This girl no dey hear word,” I muttered to myself.
Feeling frustrated, I went to complain to my mom, I told her how my sister never listens to advice and how she makes you feel like a fool for even trying to reason with her.
“You don’t worry your head,” my mom said calmly. “She will realise herself soon enough.”
I didn’t even argue, Sometimes experience is the only teacher some people understand.
About one hour later, I was in the kitchen washing dirty plates that had littered everywhere, I was murmuring under my breath because my mom had earlier complained about nobody washing dishes on time, as I was scrubbing one plate aggressively, the kitchen door opened and my younger sister walked in.
I just froze...
Her dress was muddy, like completely soaked from top to bottom, her hair was just scattered anyhow and also messy, her slippers were barely holding on, she stood there looking like a rag doll that had been dragged around in the mud, then for a second, I was shocked, then I burst out laughing.
She wore a deep frown on her face, like she was clearly not in the mood for jokes, my laughter must have been too loud because my mom and my cousin, who had just returned from work and was inside the room talking to her, they came out immediately.
“Shey I told you not to go outside ehn?” I said between laughter. “Why don’t you ever listen?”
My cousin looked at her once and couldn’t hold it in. She joined my laughter and said, “This your laugh is just making me laugh o sister.”
Seriously, the whole scene was funny and not funny at the same time, it was funny because I had already warned her, and not funny because it could have been worse.
My younger sister did not say a word, s she just dropped her package quietly, she avoided all our eyes, and walked straight into the bathroom, lol... you could tell she had learned her lesson the hard way.
And that day reminded me that sometimes, when people refuse to listen, life will humble them gently or not so gently, and sometimes, trying to advise someone makes you feel like a fool, until reality proves you right.
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