MARIE'S HIGH - CHAPTER NINE

PRODIGAL DAUGHTERS

My little nephews spend most of their life playing PS 3 so I wasn't a novice who didn't know how to deal with guys holding gamepads against each other. One might think they’ll be easy to deal with because they are kids but it’s still the same to me. But why are guys so annoying when it comes to sports? Why do they act as if their whole existence depends solely on it?

Coupled with my experience and Pupo’s advice, I planned a strategy to make my presence known to Loveboy without inviting his wrath which still didn’t work so I had to switch off the switch for their play station.

"What was that for!" He squalled at me.

For once in my life, I played hard to get. Loveboy pleaded with me to forgive him for the way he reacted but I didn't listen. Not until he got on his knees to do that while Bola and I were on our way to the main gate of his home.

“Hey stop, overreacting”, I laughed.

“So what do you want to talk about, honey?” He led the way in.

“I’m signing the contract”, I announced.

“You’ve just made me the happiest guy in the whole universe”, he spun me around.

“Please put me down”, I enjoyed what he was doing.

Bola and Freaky congratulated us with a hug while Pupo got a bottle of champagne from the minibar. After uncorking it, she poured its content into each of our glasses but I refused to take even a sip. I was being careful not to repeat the same mistake.

Saying goodbye to my new boyfriend, his housekeeper, and best friend wasn't easy. I cherished every second, minute, hour, spent with them because people like me don't get to meet good people, friends who won’t take advantage of your weaknesses every day. They were the kind of people I had been waiting to meet since my diaper days. I was already accustomed to Loveboy's enchanting eyes and his petty fights with Pupo. I also didn't see the need to tell Bola to be cautious of her friendship with Dj Freaky anymore.

Our compound looked different though there were still dry golden leaves surrounding the giant mango tree within it. A replica of prison walls was still fencing the whole of our home, a young coconut tree continued springing up near our car park and Scott still derived joy in almost tearing Segun’s favorite tee-shirt over a chase. I knew if he eventually succeeded in doing that, their friendship would have been destroyed forever, which would have been the perfect chance to have my baby all to myself again!

The first sign that signaled that we were in big trouble was Gbemi refusing to say a word to us as if she knew we purposely called her instead of using our fingerprints in unlocking the pedestrian’s pass to our private living room. We wanted information on Grandma’s mood, but she didn't give any to us.

Mrs. Adeoye was sitting in the living watching a program on TV, which was about teens and corrupt practices which includes pulling pranks on their parents or guardian to get what they want, sneaking out of their rooms at night to attend strip clubs then becoming rape victims or sex workers. Even with the dark circles around her dull eyes, she concentrated fully on what the presenter was saying and nodded to our greeting.

As a form of apology, Bola suggested taking grandma’s favorite dish, "amala with ewedu and beef soup filled with cow intestines. Although she left no utensil unwashed after using it, talk less of letting me peel seasoning cubes! She carried out all the cooking procedures by herself.

My agenda was to shower, read, and sleep after dinner but I couldn't help thinking about the events that transpired today because it made me feel important! It was hard to take away the scene of Loveboy, a young pop star begging me to stay on his goddamn knees!

In the process of closing my eyes, Bola entered my bedroom for the first time since they moved here - another bad sign. My anxiety got worse after she informed me Grandma wanted to see us.

Disrupting our order of height, we moved to the master's bedroom and Grandma started admonishing us with scriptures from the Holy Bible, emphasizing the consequences of disobedience and lying. Thereafter, she showed us videos of my kiss scene with loveboy that went viral.

I was tempted to blurt out the truth but Bola remained adamant. She claimed it was photoshopped by my bullies at school because I refused to attend our freshmen party, showing her contrary pictures and videos taken at the Adetiba’s mansion. It seems she had forgotten this old woman was also a skilled cinematographer and photographer.

“What about Mrs. Adetiba being spotted at a conference in Brazil” Grandma surprised us.

“No. You must have seen the wrong person. She’s home with her family. I can call…"Bola tried to cover up her dirty deeds.

“Gbe gbogbo menu e shun(Keep quiet!)”, Grandma slapped her a slap on her cheek and faced me “How could you make a fool of me? I trusted you so much, Nifemi!”

“We did nothing wrong!”

Honestly, I don't know where that came from!

“What did you say?” Grandma pretended not to have heard my last statement.

“We did nothing wrong!” I repeated, yelling at her this time.

“Hey, what’s gotten into you”, she checked my temperature with the back of her right palm.

“Let go of me!” I pushed her away,
and ran out of the house with only my strawberry pajamas and flip-flops on, till I could no longer hear her voice ordering my return.

I needed to show her I was no longer the child who used to worship her. I needed to make her pay for the years she abandoned me. I needed to show her what having a bad child entailed so she could show me even a little bit of respect and appreciation.

“You’re quite the bad ghoul, aren’t you?” Bola panted behind me. I least expected her to follow me.

“What’re you doing here?” I frowned.

“That attitude of yours can’t work on me”, She tightened her shoelace. “We’re in this together since I started this.”

“I know it’s because you think I’m not smart enough to take care of myself. I’m stupid and big for nothing! I’m a big fool!”

“I'm sorry that things didn't turn out well. It's all my fault ”Bola encouraged me not to follow the path she was treading.

There were no neighbors to plead on the children's behalf when they mess things up in my new neighborhood. Everyone knew how to mind their own business. If you somehow offend anyone, you’ll be dealt with by the estate’s complaint service. No one will knock on your door at dawn to tell you stories that touch the heart, disrupting your morning routine, or at dusk when you're damn tired from Lagos' hustling and bustling.

Eventually, Bola and I arrived at our destination which was quite different from where we came from. Welcoming us into the new environment was a group of elderly men begging the parents of a runaway girl to take her back, reminding me of my plight. Well, she was caught fornicating with a Yahoo boy, resulting in an unwanted and rejected pregnancy.

In another angle, middle-aged married women sat in wooden chairs to separate beans from husks outside and gossip about the parent and child feud going on around them. This made me determined to make sure we lock the louvers when we were about to have our conversation so I don't appear on the punch newspaper headline the next day. A big radio was turned on near a group of men having an endless political argument while a large number of kids playing a game of hiding and seek abandoned their positions when they saw my cousin who would rather use our last card to buy them some biscuits.

According to her neighbors, Aunt Simi didn't come home for a couple of days yet Bola made us wait for her on the balcony, believing she'll come home that night. Even though we were starving, she declined a meal offer from their closest family friend politely.

As the night got colder, I coiled myself in a corner and dozed off. Then shortly, I sensed a warm hand hitting, my lap. Immediately, the rape scene in Faceless flashed into my mind. I never thought what happened to Fofoncould happen to me because my location was far from Sodom and Gomorrah. Yet my mind said to me, “No place on earth is safe from corruption.   Obedience is better than sacrifice”.

After hearing that, I started crying, thinking I was about to face grave consequences for disobeying grandma but Bola was the only one I saw preventing mosquitoes from sulking me dry when I opened my eyes.

 “You and this your mumu (stupid) cry!" She made fun of me."What were you thinking about again?"

"Thank you so much", I hugged her.

"I only did that because you’re now popular and if you’re being called to model, it’ll affect me so we need to maintain your skin”, She claimed

“Yes, ma”, I saluted her.

Aunt Simi came to her old apartment before midnight in a check-shirt dress that matched her deep blue canvas. On her right hand was a transparent shopping bag containing Ankara and cord lace materials.

“Mum, where have you been?” Bola acted as if she was her mum's guardian.

“And why are you here?” Aunt Simi unlocked the door. “Don’t tell me mum threw you..."

“No. She left the house by herself” Bola spoke on my behalf.

“It’s gonna be alright”, Aunt Simi held me tightly.

The fuchsia pink walls in her master bedroom consisted of family pictures taken on special occasions like Bola’s junior school valedictory service. The photographer successfully captured the picture as her parents bombarded her with tickles that made her laugh since she rarely smiles. It was a very nice picture.

“Mum, I told you to remove that photo, didn’t I? “ I didn't know she was also staring at the picture until she spoke about it.

“This is my matrimonial bedroom, young lady. I can do whatever I want”, She arranged the stuff in her bag on her dressing table.

“So where have you been, Simmy?” Bola entered the bathroom with a brown towel wrapped around her slim body. A black net was also covering her hair, “With the doc?”

“Yeah, Boo” Aunt Simi stressed the last syllable. “Before you lecture me, it’s his family house; I do a part-time job with his mom so she offered to help with accommodation since my workplace is far from home. And he hardly has time for me anyways. The wedding date keeps getting closer so I need to save more”.