My cat moved into an alert position as her ears stood straight up. This signified that someone had gone out the door and the only person who could have gone out that door was my brother. My parents were fast asleep and my sister was occupied with her toys. This was my golden chance.
Thoughts swirled through my five year old mind as my curiosity and apathy were conflicting:
My curiosity: Just go for it. You know that you really want to see what he is hiding.
My apathy: You were given clear instructions to stay away from that compact disc(CD) so why even bother?.
My curiosity: this is a lifetime opportunity. You do not know when you will get such a chance. Go for it.
My apathy: it is better safe than sorry. What if you get caught.? Remember you do not know how to lie on the spot.
As you would imagine, my curiosity won this battle of indecisiveness. I gave Lucy(my cat) a light pat on her head as I set out to explore. I tiptoed to my brother's room, trying my best not to alarm anyone. His room was a mess; typical for male teenagers. Amidst the mess, I kept searching for the deep blue Jewel case that housed all the CD's he had. After about three minutes of futile search, I spotted the jewel case at the top of his wardrobe.
I was less than 4 feet and reaching the top of that wardrobe was impossible with my height. I grabbed two stools and piled them up. I climbed atop them as carefully as I could because I didn't want to lose another front tooth. With the help of the piled stools, I had reached the top of the wardrobe. But there was a problem.
I saw over fifty compact discs in that jewel case and I couldn't remember clearly how the particular one my brother warned me against looked like. I started rummaging and after a while, it got really boring. I threw a quick glance towards the side and something else caught my attention; coloured thumb tacks.
I didn't know what they were but the fact that they had so many colours made me conclude that they were beads for the hair. I put the thumbtacks in my pocket and went ahead to explore the rest of the area, forgetting my main aim. Still at the top, I saw a box that was covered and I desperately wanted to know what was inside.
I was supporting myself with my left hand so I tried using my wee right hand to open the box but it didn't budge. I had two options; use your two hands to open the box and risk falling head flat on the ground or throw the box lightly on the bed and then check it out immediately . I went with the second option as I didn't want to fall head flat; I didn't trust the wonky stools.
With the box on the bed, I slowly descended the piles of stools . I rushed to the box to open it but I heard a clicking sound that got me even more curious. What could that sound be? After applying all the force I had embedded in my little arms, I finally opened the box. It was indeed a moment of glee.
I saw two very beautiful wine glasses. The stem had an intricate yet intriguing design and all I could do was admire. I picked up the first glass and gave it a 360° admiration. As I picked up the second glass, the bowl separated from the stem. Did I cause that or was the pair structured that way? There was only one way to find out.
I carried the broken glass to my mom's room, woke her up from her sleep and showed her what I had found with a very wide smile.
"Oh My Heavens!" My mom exclaimed in agony.
Where did you get this from?
From the top of Nick's (my brother) wardrobe. I replied, still smiling.
Do you know what you just did?. This wedding glass was passed down to me from your grandmother. You just broke a family treasure, Wongi.
My smile faded. For a moment, I was glad I didn't go to my dad first because I would have gotten an ass whooping before an explanation. I didn't have anything to say in my defence. I just stood there like a mouse with no tongue.
"I'm…I'm ..sorry mommy" I managed to stutter as tears flowed effortlessly from my eyes.
My mom who just woke up to see the result of my curiosity had all the right to be angry but she wasn't. She sat me down and gave me the history of the wine glasses. Her narration ended with the words
"Now that you have broken the glass, you and your siblings are going to miss out on the feel of drinking out of a family treasure".
I was devastated to say the least. I would have been okay missing out on this feeling if my siblings had already married but we were all kids and teenagers.
My mom went to my brother's room, picked up the box with the functional glass then said:
"It seems you kids are in luck as you didn't break both glasses. Now your spouses would miss out".
She kept them in her room and told me sternly not to go close to the glasses anymore. Did curiosity kill the cat? It most definitely did and I was the cat in this scenario. My curiosity had climaxed at this point. If only I had listened to my apathy.
In the end, I didn't find the compact disc and I still wreaked an avoidable havoc.
Ps: I took the coloured thumb tacks to the salon the next day and asked the hairdresser to use it on my newly braided hair. My mom was called to the salon. The juice and biscuits I took to the salon were seized and I got yet another lecture at the salon from my mom. Anguish and more anguish.
All images used belong to me except stated otherwise.
With love, wongi ✨
