The Doorbell

We weren't really kids, little kids at that. We were teenagers who wanted to re-explore the life of a kindergarten. The X and O paper game was becoming boring. Even the rock-paper-scissors and the popular Suwe game no longer create the excitement we once felt. Because we wanted something more fun and game, Blessing and I decided to make the next house our target.

It was a newly built storey building. A modern one with wide glass windows and smooth walls accented with dark stone tiles. The entire structure of the house is giving a clean, contemporary look, and a solid brown gate guarded the entrance to the entire house.

What really caught our attention wasn't just the modern design or the beauty of the house, but the bell at the gate. It was a small, silver-toned fixture, mounted just beside the smooth shining brown gate. When pressed, it rang softly, but clearly inside the house with a tone that felt more like a chime. Everything about the house looked perfect and drew attention.

Image source

“Press it,” Blessing said. “Press it very well.” I pressed the bell with my heart pounding, and it rang. The chiming sound echoed inside the house. When we heard the click of the door, we ran and watched from a distance. A woman opened the gate and looked left and right. When she saw no one, she went back inside.

“I told you she won't catch us,” Blessing said to me.

I didn't want to do the pressing a second time because I was scared of what the woman might do to us when we get caught. But, I was pressured by my friend. She told me I was weak and fearful and I don't want to appear as such.

“Press it,” she said.

I did as I was told. It was more like Blessing had a remote control which she used to control me. The bell rang. We waited a little to see what would happen next. But when we heard a clock, we ran and watched from a distance.

The same woman came out. She looked left and right and saw no one. She was angry and muttered something we couldn't hear.

Blessing started to laugh. Although I was initially scared, I started laughing too. The game was becoming interesting. We derived pleasure seeing the woman look left and right with no one to figure out.

“Press it,” Blessing said again.

“You go instead. I've pressed the bell twice,” I said.

I reluctantly went after Blessing assured me that she would go after this last time.

“It's your last chance. I'll also press the bell three times just the way you did,” she said.

I never knew that my last chance would be the end of it all. Unknown to us, the woman didn't go inside. She hid behind the gate waiting for the ghost that would ring the bell again. Immediately I pressed the silver fixture, the gate open. Lo and behold, it was the same woman with an angry stare that is enough to make tears fall from my face.

“Yeeeh!” I exclaimed.

“Ehm,” I began to confess my sins even before I was asked. Fear consumed me totally and I began to shake.

“It's Blessing ooo. She said I should press it the first time, the second time, again and again.” I spoke loudly with tears streaming down my face.

“She's there,” I pointed towards the angle where Blessing stood. She was no where to be found. I looked left and right, but I couldn't find Blessing.

This time, I increased the volume of my tears. I began to cry bitterly. Not because I was caught by the woman, but because I stupidly obeyed the command, “Press it”. I wished I never did it. I prayed to God as the angry woman held me by my collar and dragged me to my house.

She explained to my mum who was highly disappointed.

“Kneel down there,” my mum said angrily. “Your dad will hear of the nuisance that you've been doing.”

“Mitcheeew” the angry woman hissed. “And you are not a baby ooo. Big girl like you,” she vented and left.

I was so pained because Blessing left me to suffer the consequences alone even after obeying her “Press it” command. Although I was lucky because I wasn't flogged by my parents, my free time was spent reading books or doing chores. I was not allowed to play outside the compound again.