Beauty For Ashes(Chapter 1, Part C)

‘Eseee,’ Mother called from the living room.
‘Coming, mum,’ I said as I left my bedroom to answer her call. I was fully dressed for school except that I had not yet combed my curly low-cut hair.
‘Dear, aren’t you ready for school yet?’ Mother said as she let her long wavy hair slide over her shoulder.
‘Hmm, I will be ready in a jiffy,’ I said now standing before her.
‘Try and be ready in time. The driver is ready to go,’ Mother said taking a look at her gold wristwatch. She wasn’t going to work today but seemed ready to go somewhere. I knew it wouldn’t be wise to question her until I was completely ready for school. I hurried into my room so I could get myself set and ready to go.
       Mother’s name is Katherine Osehon, nee Adekunle. I was already taller than her because she had a petite stature which suited her. Dad, on the other hand was a tall and masculine figure. I must have gotten the gene for tallness from him. He was fairly dark and always had on his face the most pleasant and disarming smile I have ever seen. His charming smile must have been enough to make Mother fall in love. Mother seldom smiled. The nature of her job may have been one reason why her face was virtually always set.
       Mother wasn’t just a pretty face, she was also a very successful career woman and this coupled with her other fine qualities made her the envy of all and sundry. It felt good being the daughter of the beautiful, elegant and successful Barrister Katherine Osehon.
      Mother was happily married to her heartthrob, another successful personality. Father was a business mogul with many business outfits to show for it, and mother a renowned Barrister in the law court. I knew I was their bundle of joy. I was really a gift to them as my name suggests. They had given up hope of ever having a child when I came into their lives seven years after their wedding.
‘Mum, I’m good to go,’ I said now all ready for school.
‘All right, let’s get going,’ Mother said.
‘Where are you going to?’ I asked as I followed her outside.
‘I want to pay a visit to my friend, Mrs Ibrahim. She lost her son who lived in Abuja to the bomb explosion there yesterday,’ Mother said in a very sad tone.
‘That’s very unfortunate,’ I said feeling some pain in my heart.
‘Yes it is dear. I can imagine the kind of grief these terrorist attacks have subjected the victims’ relatives to.’
‘In a little while, this would be over,’ I said hopefully. Michael was waiting patiently at the garage when we got there. He was lanky and dark. We got into the car and zoomed out of the compound and onto the road. Thirty minutes later, we found ourselves in my school compound.
‘Bye dearie,’ she said with a kiss on my forehead, after which she went on to say things like ‘keep away from trouble', 'pay attention in school'... and as she spoke, she looked at me with her eyes shining and her lips giving out her rare but  gorgeous smile. In my heart, I admired her pink lips that no doubt complemented her fair complexion.