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There's no place like home. I grew up hearing this but came to fully agree with the saying when I traveled to Lagos to spend my holiday with my aunt.

![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/iskawrites/244obQW7JoshmKuPTvtArNPSZJ5uB2MjvwhBC9BbTHEp63D7hkutmZGddLyaRycrwEgkt.png)
[Source](https://pixabay.com/vectors/chalet-mountains-summer-holiday-5218666/)
Lagos is a world of its own. The bustling cars, the loud honking noises struggling to be heard above the loud music blaring from various salons. The compacted streets and aroma of tasty delicacies, wafting through the air from small food stalls known as 'buka', the sight of hawkers chasing after a vehicle, trying to convince whoever was in it that he should get a particular brand of bread from them and not the next person.

I was born and brought up in Lagos, but since I left at 16, this was the first time I was returning to visit. My aunt had specially requested that I spend this holiday with her family because her only daughter who used to be my favorite cousin was also visiting from China where she studied.

As I stared out of the car window, I didn't know what to expect. Boma used to be a sweet little girl, a year younger than I was though, she was way bigger and even more pretty in my eyes. I was the closest idea she had of a sister and this made her really cling to me when we were in the same space.

She asked me everything, told me everything, even asked me to take the calls of some guys who were troubling her for a relationship at that tender age. I was the one who made her love cooking, left to her mother alone, she saw it as a dreaded chore.

Now she was 20, and by her latest photos, she was even bigger than I imagined, I wondered if we would get along well. The driver rolled the car into the large compound and before he could come to a final halt, my aunt came out to receive me.

"Treasure, welcome. Your sister is so excited to see you" she was beaming with smiles when I stepped out of the car to embrace her.

"Good evening Aunty" I responded. She asked the driver to take my bags in and guided me into the house. I had not been here before. When I was much younger, my aunt and her family lived in a rented apartment close to our estate. Now, they had migrated to a bigger, well-furnished duplex. I had my mouth held open at the grandeur almost for a full minute before I caught myself.

When I went in, Boma was descending the stairs.

She had a faint smile on her lips and took time to regard me from hair to foot before saying a reluctant "Welcome sis".

I knew something was off from that minute.

Naturally, I was asked to share her room, but I became uncomfortable after I noticed she didn't come into the room except at night when she thought I was asleep.

For the first time, Boma and I hardly had anything to say to each other except for the warnings she gave on a daily basis about her priced, princess room.

"Treasure please don't use your slippers on my rug…Treasure don't hang your dresses in my wardrobe…Treasure dry your body before you climb the bed…" it was so obvious she didn't want me in her space. I had to complain to my mom.

"Are you sure it was Boma who wanted me to come over or it was just Aunty's plan?" My mother sighed.

"Your aunty thinks Boma has picked some immoral habits from that school she attends, she was hoping you would maybe come and have some effect on her or something."

I sighed. I didn't want to seem ungrateful, but my aunt had paid my transport fare all the way to Lagos because she was concerned about her daughter so I had to quit complaining, afterall, it was for just 2 weeks.

But then I craved the comfort of my house where my roommate and I who loved each other, shared everything. I couldn't imagine my roommate asking me not to lie on the bed because my body hadn't dried off or not to hang my clothes in the wardrobe because it was hers.

The next morning, I decided to talk to Boma.

"Boma, are you okay?" She stopped fiddling away at her phone but didn't turn to look at me.

"Okay?" She asked me back. I wanted to find out what the challenge was, and why she was so different and hostile. Boma was sanguine, she should have been all over me, especially with our history.

"Yes. You seem to be…" I didn't want to use the word cold "...disturbed". She chuckled and finally turned her eyes to me.

"Who do you think you are Treasure? The perfect child who was transported all the way to fix all the loose nuts in my head? Please go back to wherever you came from and allow me to live my life."

I realized why she loathed me and decided that I would no longer subject myself to such a toxic environment. I packed my bags and informed my aunt that I had to return to school urgently.

The minute I landed in my house, I appreciated the warm embrace of my roommate and jumped into the shower then crawled right into bed. I could almost hear Boma's nagging but a voice in my head corrected her, "Keep quiet Boma, this is my house". 

I was finally home.

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