NKEM 8
She paced about her room wondering how best to tell her mother. She neared the door but shrank back from it. It was even more difficult to look her in the face, let alone telling her about Nkem's people coming to see her. When she eventually came out, her mother was at the corridor peeling cassava and singing excitedly. She greeted her and walked past but turned back when she didn't hear her response.
"Mama good morning", she greeted audibly as if her mother is deaf in one ear.
She stopped both her song and the peeling of the cassava and peered into her daughter's face with a blank expression. She mumbled a response that sounded like a grunt and continued on as before.
Gladys stood with her heart beating very fast. She noticed the beads of perspiration on her forehead and she felt the sweat sneaking quietly from her armpits. She hated the way she felt.
She wondered how the communication between herself and her mother had generated so badly. It was like standing before a monster ready to devour without batting an eye. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
She felt a light throb on her temples. This usually happens when she is angry or nervous. When she didn't say anything, and because her shadow had obstructed the rays of sunlight shining in the corridor, her mother asked disinterestedly.
"Why do you keep standing there?".
When she heard that, her heart seemed to leap out of her chest with excitement. This was her chance and she was going to take it.
"Mama, Nkem's people are coming to see us today".
Glady's statement was like a bombshell that went off unannounced. The knife fell off her mother's hand and she stopped her song. She seemed to contemplate the statement like a riddle she was trying to understand.
Gladys waited, stealing a look at her face, hoping to see any sign that might encourage her to speak further but she saw nothing there. Her mother's expression was as blank as ever.
"Mama I hope you heard what I said", she announced again feeling every tension in her chest evaporate like the mist.
"I'm not deaf ", her mother retorted and continued her work but the song had disappeared from her lips. This happened three days ago.
The fear that something bad was going to happen penetrated her heart like an iron forgotten in the fire. She tried to ward it off by making sure all arrangements were taking shape. She had invited two of her friends to be part of the occasion. The trio went about preparing the meal that would be served to the guests they were expecting.
Glady's mother sat outside like a stranger observing the movements about her. She seemed to have lost her old self. The distance between her daughter and herself had widened to the point that she almost forget Gladys was her daughter. The feeling was forgetting self and everything that was once associated with it. She felt angry and jealous because the trio carried on as if she was not there.
She was supposed to be the one giving orders, sending one on errand and another to make sure the kolanut were ready and the best they could find. She wondered what she was going to say when Nkem's people finally arrived.
What will be her excuse if they were ready to do the needful? Would people not accuse her of being a bad mother who doesn't want her daughter to be married? Whenever she thought about Nkem's mother, there was that old wound in her heart that seemed never to heal.
I hope you enjoyed this? Be patient, we are going somewhere! I am still Yours Truly,
Julius Topohozin.
