Mr. Herbert's tree House

Ummah, David and I finally worked up the courage to sneak into Mr. Herbert’s yard. I opened the latch guarding it from intruders, I was the tallest and the eldest, therefore I took the natural lead. Ummah had her hands wrapped around David’s shoulder protectively as the latch creaked open. The grass was warm and tickled the bare soles of my feet. I heard David sigh in wonder as he saw the electronic horse that Laura and Mirabel, Mr. Herbert’s grandchildren, often road in hot afternoons such as today. We always had the pleasure of watching from afar.

David wasted no time in getting on top of the horse, Ummah had picked up something that looked a lot like a remote from the floor. I however, feasted upon the sight above me. Wedged between the thick, brown branches of an oak tree was the treehouse. It looked sturdier than I thought and bigger. And I realized how easily it must have fit both Laura and Mirabel. It was calling to me.

“Hey.” I called sharply. “Stop playing and come here.”

Ummah answered my call, David was still entranced by the horse. The creaks it made were annoying but I longed to have a ride. It looked fun, but then I remembered that Uncle Joe said I was grown up now and that I shouldn’t play with small children things. I quickly put the horse riding at the back of my mind.

Ummah followed my gaze back to the treehouse. She jumped and giggled, clapped her hands once before screeching out, “It looks

even bigger from here. Let’s go!”

I pulled her back by her shirt as she ran to the ladder. “Wait. Let me check something first,” I said, ignoring her pout.

“What is it now?” She asked. Her voice was laced with annoyance. We had dreamed on going into the treehouse for years and here I was stopping her just because I was worried the ladder might give under our weights.

“Shut up.” I pulled on the ladder. Its ropes were tied to branches bigger than my arms but I still had my doubts. Getting to play with dollhouses and makeup and a karaoke machine wasn’t worth breaking arms over. But maybe it was.

“Okay,” I resigned. “I’ll go first.”

“What about me?” David asked in a small voice. I looked to Umma, knowing there was no way he could come with us. David was short, slow and got hurt too easily.

“Do you want to ride the horse anymore?” Ummah asked patronizingly.

“But I want to come with you.”

“Do you want to play with barbies and makeup?”

“No.” He answered with slight repulsion.

“Then stay here. And shout if you see Mr. Herbert.”

And then we climbed.

The floors let out a small moan as we tried to walk quietly, even though no one could hear us. I held on to the walls, still scared that the entire thing might collapse.

We stood still for a moment, not knowing where to begin. The room was big enough for three Ummahs and two of me. It was clustered with toys and dolls and makeup and wigs and machines with pink plasters on them that I had never seen before. I shared a look with Ummah. We had never expected it to be so pink, so many, so bright.

Sunlight entered through glass windows, which were no doubt meant to keep the squirrels out. Hesitantly, I let go of the wall to hold the nearest thing to me. A Teddy Bear. It was brown and soft and smelled like pineapples. I held the bear to my budding breasts and immediately felt like I was intruding. I knew how angry I got anytime Ummah or one of the other kids touch my stuff. I wondered how Laura and Mirabel would feel, if they found out we had been in their treehouse. But I honestly couldn’t find it in my heart to let the bear go. My eyes caught a machine that had ice cream cones on it and I dared to dream. I moved closer, trying to read what it said but most of the words were all more than six

letters so I was stumped.

Ummah squealed. A silver, plastic tiara with a purple jewel hung awkwardly on her head. She also had a necklace around her neck made of half eaten cookies strung together. She twirled in front of a mirror and danced on her toes like I once saw girls in tutus do on television. Inevitably, she fell on her face but she was back up in an instant.

“Look at this place! I never want to leave!” She laughed and it was infectious.

Me neither, I thought as my eyes caught another machine. But this time, it was plastic and looked like the inside of a small kitchen. But the pots were big, not like the ones Ummah and I made with the clay on our farm. I picked one up and examined it but dropped it and yelled when I saw ants the size of small stones in it.

“Is it a snake?” Ummah asked, coming to stand behind me. I had never seen a snake climb a tree and wanted to call her out on her stupidity but decided not to. Sometimes, if she got angry, she told on me to Aunt Clara.  

“Mind your business.” I said, walking away to look through the window. David had gotten bored with the horse and was playing with the remote Ummah had dropped. I knew he would soon ask to join us. Then we would have to go back home.

“Look, I found the singing machine!” Ummah said, trying to pull something out from beneath a chair. “It’s broken though, the wires have spoiled.”

“Give me that.” I collected it, felt the weight of the mic on my hands. It was light, not like the one we used at church. “It didn’t spoil. It just has not being connected. It works when there is light.”

Instinctively, we both looked up. The bulb was out. The rest of the room was Ummah’s dream but the one thing I had wanted to see was the Karaoke machine. It had been my luck that the electricity wasn’t running. I tried not to feel bad, knowing a stupid machine wasn’t what I came here for in the first place.

“But we can still sing nah,” and then she began to sing the new hymns we had learnt. The hymns reminded me of aunt Clara and Uncle Joe and what they would do if they knew we were here.

“Let’s go back Ummah. Mr. Herbert will soon be home.” My eyes grazed around the room one more time. I knew Mr. Herbert wouldn’t be home until Dark but I had to say something to make Ummah leave. I knew she would tie herself to the chair if she could.

“No, we just got here. I want to play with the dolls.” She answered stubbornly, clutching one of the dolls to her chest.

I pulled at it, “We’re going now or I leave and tell mummy you’re here.”

That stopped her struggle. “You wouldn’t. Please, just a few more minutes.”

“No, we’re leaving. Now.”

“This is why nobody likes you.”

“Nobody likes me because I have sense. I’m not a baby like you.”

She scoffed and went down the ladder. I looked through the window as she led David through the latch and walked home, barefoot. Her urgent feet walked down the street, the road got narrower and narrower as she eventually ran out of road and only a dusty, weedy path remained. And she was out of sight.

I breathed. It felt like my heart was trying to leap through the skin of my chest. I grabbed a polybag, and grabbed everything that would fit, everything that looked expensive. Things Kola would be able to sell without trouble. I took the dolls, the ones that still had full heads of hair. I grabbed the Doctor’s set, even though it was missing a needle and I took all the crowns, and necklaces and tiaras I could find.

I paused when my hand reached the tiara that Ummah was wearing before. My fingers skimmed its smooth surface but I threw it in the bag as well. By the time I was done, the bag was heavy but not as heavy as I would have liked. I contemplated adding a few more things but I couldn’t risk the bag tearing so I forced myself to let it go.

With the bag secured on my arm, I took the teddy bear and gave it one last sniff.

Making my way down the ladder was hard. The bag almost fell a few times and I lost my footing once but I made it through.

Soon, my feet were brushing the grass again and I felt the hot glow on the sun on my back. The latched was wide open as I made my way through.

I went the same way Ummah had, but paused for a moment to stare at Mr. Herbert’s house once more. I wonder what he had done to deserve a house bigger than he would ever need while I slept in mouse trap with six people that hated my guts. All the guilt that had started to bud died suddenly. I convinced myself Laura and Mirabel wouldn’t miss it.

“He’ll just buy them more anyway.” I said aloud, my voice drowned by the song of the red, tiny birds on the blossom trees.

I walked quickly to Kola’s house, knowing there was still time for us to go to the market and find out just how much imported toys could worth. Hopefully, it was enough for me to get away from Aunt Clara’s insults and Uncle Joe’s belt lashes.