Episode 5
I thought I still had fish in this house o!
As I bent down to rack my wooden cupboard for more pieces of dry fish to complete my Egusi soup, I felt a very sharp pain in my tummy.
âJesus!â I exclaimed suddenly as I quickly drew a stool nearer and sat down.
What pain was that now, ehn?
I had read in one ancient book that had survived the test of time with me since secondary school- âWhere there is no doctorâ that whenever a pregnant woman feels any sharp pain in her tummy, she should see her doctor as it could mean a lot of things.
My eyes were so swollen as if they would jump out of their sockets!
My headache was very great!
What could be wrong with me?
Or was it the stress of the day?
The stress of knowing that I was pregnant after three sets of twins with my fate unknown as regards what my husbandâs reaction to the news would be?
Or was it the embarrassment of seeing my baby boys on the Almajiri mat, singing beggarsâ songs?
Or was it the stress I had undergone in transferring my anger on Taiwo?
I shook my head in sadness.
After I had seen what I saw at the market, not knowing what to do, I acted a very wise woman and smiled at my neighbor who only got bothered.
She looked scared when I smiled and even more scared when I patted her shoulder and spoke patiently.
âThank you. Letâs go homeâ
She looked into my eyes again to be sure that I was very okay âupstairsâ
âDid you know about the whole thing before?â she had asked me and I could only shake my head in the negative.
âLetâs goâ I said calmly again, smiling
She turned the ignition key and there was a very thick silence in the car as went home.
âYou sure you would be okay?â she asked as I alighted from her car.
âYes. Thanks, I am gratefulâ I said as I walked towards the wooden door.
These children didnât lock the padlock again, ehn!
âMama, sanu da zoaâ Taiwo, one of the eldest twins said from behind me and I turned to look back at her.
She was coming from the shop, a wrapper tied round her slim waist.
Her eyes were very red
âIs it firewood you are using?â I asked and she nodded
âThe coal has finished, so I just broke the faulty stool that was in the backyard and used it to fry the chinchinâ She explained and I nodded.
She was the most industrious of my children.
âWhere is Kehinde?â I asked and she hit the back of her right palm in the hollow of her left palm
âI donât know oâ she said and I turned to move inside.
âWhat about Bola and Tola?â I asked again.
The second set of my twins could do nothing better than read.
They could read just anything so they must have gone to find something to read somewhere.
I could not afford to buy them books
âWhat about James and John?â I asked, trying to see if she knew about my boysâ whereabouts
She turned back to look at the shop, then she fumbled with her wrapper
âI donât know oâ she said again, hitting the back of her right palm in the hollow of her left palm again.
âYou donât know where they went to?â I asked again
âI swear to God Almighty, I donât knowâ she said again, her index finger travelling from her lips to pointing to the sky.
That gave me the sure answer.
She knew about it!
Whenever my Taiwo swore, it was because she was trying to cover up some lies
âIs my shop locked?â I asked again
âYes maâ she replied, swinging her right hand
She didnât know what was awaiting her.
âCome insideâ I said calmly again and she followed me inside the house.
I locked the door from behind and pulled her inside the room.
Despite how scanty my room was, it was always neat.
I never condoned any form of dirtiness.
âMama, what did I do?â she asked as I pulled her in
âJust kneel down thereâ I said as I dropped my purse on the bed and climbed a plastic chair to pick the koboko I had hid on one of the planks supporting the roof.
I had begged one of my customers who was a teacher to get me one koboko and she gave it to me as she passed in front of my shop last week. I had hid it carefully because if my children should see it, they would have thrown it away.
âMummy, truth to God, I donât know where they went toâ she started crying
She just gave me more reasons to know she was the one.
I jumped down from the plastic chair and with no restriction, I started beating her.
âBy the time I take breath from your mouth, you would know that your mum hates liesâ I started as I readjusted the mouth of the koboko
âMummy, they told me they were going to Kasuwaâ she said
She had started confessing
Let me increase the tempo of the beatingâŠshe has to confess
Taiwo of all people!
âI told them not to go o mummyâ she said again, tears cascading down her face.
I landed two clean slaps on her face.
Why lie?
As she increased the gear of her crying, I pinched her tightly.
She screamed
âIf you donât keep quiet!â I whispered quietly
I donât really beat my children that hard but I was mad!
Mad that my children- the youngest of them all could embarrass me
Mad that my most industrious daughter could know about the dirty engagement of her brothers in that dirty business
-And she could still lie that she didnât know!
I threw the koboko away and pulled her by the ears to myself as I sat on the bed.
âWhere did James and John go to?â I asked again
She sniffed wetly
âMummy, they said they were going to Kasuwaâ she said GB h
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Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6 Episode 7 Episode 8 Episode 9 Episode 10 Episode 11 Episode 12 Episode 13 Episode 14 Episode 15 Episode 16 Episode 17 Episode 18 Episode 19 Episode 20 Episode 21 Episode 22 Episode 23 Episode 24 Episode 25 Episode 26 Episode 27 Episode 28
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