The Girl Next Door

Miriam had a very difficult childhood. She was the second child of John and Telia out of a family of seven children.



Miriam, the second born was the only one not John's biological child out of the seven children. Miriam was not fully accepted by her sisters and brothers as a result of this and was always treated as a foreigner in her own parents' home. This went on during her childhood life up until adulthood life.



Miriam did not know this fact that she was not John's biological child until she was a teenager. Miriam's family background was meant to be kept as a family top secret from both John's and Telia's family. But this family secret wouldn't have been broken if it was not for Enie the eldest in the family. Enie had developed hatred for her sister Miriam for reasons we do not know. This hatred is expressed through her courage in spreading the news both in the neighbourhood and at the school where the whole family attended for their secondary education. This was all through the influence from John's close family who did not like Miriam because she was adopted and accepted by John as his own daughter.



Miriam only knew that she was not John's biological daughter through a close friend called Tombi. When Miriam heard the news she could not keep it to herself. It was too big an issue to be kept to herself. She immediately confronted her parents who seemed very disappointed with family members who never keep secrets. Both John and Telia knew that it must have been one of the elderly family members who told Enie everything. However, Enie was grounded for being used as a tool by some adults against her sister.



Miriam was conceived out of wedlock during the time when Telia and John went on separation because of John's short-lived period of infidelity lifestyle. His unfaithful lifestyle did not last long as he contracted a sexually transmitted disease. Out of anger, Telia later left John to be with her parents who were pastors of a church in a small little town situated in the eastern part of the country.



Telia was a very beautiful young lady. It was not long that after she got healed of STD, a single young man called James failed to resist the temptation and the attraction he had for Telia and made her pregnant. However, James and Telia were very committed Christians who were also serving faithfully as Sunday school teachers in the same church were Telia's parents were pastors. In the end, James was asked to resign as a Sunday school teacher and John strongly requested for Telia to join him back into his life in the city where he worked and lived as an engineer even though his decision was against his parents' wish. The time Telia went to join John, she was about two months pregnant and she never saw James again.