Mama Never Lies: A Story
The darkness...
Nana used to love dark rooms. She especially loved being as naked as the earth brought her forth while recreating the darkness that was before the first time she opened her eyes. It gave her an overwhelming feeling of coziness to lay in the dark and let her mind run with the beat of her heart. It used to be a cause of arguments between her and her best friend, Kainene whenever they had one of their many sleepovers at either of their houses.
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Well, not anymore. Change they say is the only constant thing in life and sure enough, change did find her. She could no longer stand dark rooms and she missed Kainene so much, they used to be such good childhood friends. She wished she had believed Kainene all those years ago, many things would have turned out different.
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No one calls my mother a liar...
Looking back now, it all seemed so childish. Back then, it was a matter of who wronged who and who should apologize first, stubbornness at best. If she knew what she knew now, she would have let Kainene win.
On a Saturday morning following a Friday night sleepover, they had just returned from the sitting room where they had gone for the usual early morning family devotion and were relaxing before they set about the few chores they had to perform each Saturday morning when Kainene brought up the story. Kainene’s mother, Nkiru, had told her the story while she had been plaiting her hair the previous day. The same story she now narrated to Nana.
The No-Lie...
It was about a man who had come to settle in Nkiru’s village when she was a little girl. No one knew where the man came from and anyone who asked him got the same reluctantly given answer, “from a far place in the West you do not know”. Sensing the obvious reluctance, no one bothered to question him further. All they did was keep a safe distance from him. Parents warned their children to stay away from strangers with greater emphasis on “that man from nowhere”.
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The man from nowhere was called Ahamefuna which translates to ‘May my name not be lost’. With time however, the villagers lost their cautiousness towards him and so, Ahamefuna became one of them. He took a wife and bore children. In fact, he worked for the king as a translator whenever visitors from afar visited and the need for one arose. He spoke several local languages including the new English language. He was greatly admired for this feat he alone could achieve in the whole village. To the people, he was a widely travelled man and this earned him their respect.
On one occasion, a very important visitor came to visit the king. This visitor came with a small entourage of men and women to visit the king. The king at once sent for Ahamefuna as there was need for translation. According to those present, as soon as Ahamefula stood at the entrance of the palace to step in, one of the visitors, a woman, saw him and her jaw literally dropped on the floor as she followed it in a faint.
In the confusion that ensued towards resuscitating her, no one could account for when or how Ahamefula left the palace but that was the last time he was seen by anyone.
According to the story, Ahamefuna stood very still for a moment, then he was gone. All search for him proved abortive as no one ever saw Ahamefuna again till today. Not his wife and not his kids. The woman had quite a lot to say after she recovered from her shock but the next best translator to Ahamefuna was quite poor and could only understand little.
What they gathered from the poor translation was that Ahamefuna was a member of the woman's family who died. He used to be an only son to his parents but died after a brief and mysterious illness. The other details of the woman's story was muddled up in bad translation.
The villagers never forgot Ahamefuna as the tale was passed on from generation to generation through moonlight tales and moments such as this. Very few of those who weren’t present at the time it happened, cared to believe it. Nana was one of such people who did not believe it.
“You don’t believe me”, Kainene flung accusingly at Nana.
“Why should I? Only a fool will believe such a false tale. Ghosts don’t exist”, Nana retorted.
“But I didn't tell you that he was a ghost. Are you calling me a fool or my mother a liar?”
“Your words, not mine”, Nana readily responded.
“We shall see”, Kainene answered angrily as she began to pack her overnight bag.
That was it. Kainene did not wait to help Nana with her chores that Saturday as was customary for them. Usually, they would attend to all available Saturday morning chores in whichever house they spent Friday night but this was the last of the routine. Why this particular issue escalated so quickly, neither could tell although they both wondered silently. Pride threw the friends apart and even their parents could not bring them back together.
First, they would not tell anyone what the bone of contention was and soon, time played its part in throwing the friends apart even more until...
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Another Saturday Morning...
Saturday mornings were such a relief for Nana who had since graduated school and now worked as a personal assistant to a CEO in Lagos. She was always so busy during the week and even on some weekends that she always looked forward to Saturdays to unwind. Today was no different. She had a housekeeper who came in trice a week, Saturdays inclusive so, she was lounging on her favourite sofa in her well-furnished sitting room, surfing channels on her wide-screen television when the doorbell chimed.
Her housekeeper, Mama Ibeji (mother of twins), an elderly woman in her early fifties was busy inside the rooms and so Nana stood to go open the door but her gateman, Usman, beat her to it as he let himself in.
Usman had a funny way of speaking English which sometimes served as a comic relief to Nana but annoyed her on few occasions.
"Somebody for gate e wan see madam. I tell am say madam I no want disturb for weekend but e no 'gree go away," He said. Nana told him to let the person in. She would know what the person wanted and quickly dismiss her to continue her rest. Imagine her surprise when she opened the door to find Kainene at her doorstep. She shouted and hugged her, forgetting that they were supposed to still be angry at each other.
It had been years since they had last seen each other, they had gone off to different secondary schools outside their towns and the years have made her realise the level of stupidity that made them throw away a beautiful friendship. She had missed her best friend dearly.
Nana welcomed Kainene into her home and they proceeded to catch up on all those years they had each missed out on of being a part of their lives. Kainene had come to Lagos to start over from Benin City where she was formerly based. She had almost lost all hope of living after series of unfortunate incidents befell her. Her parents were late. Her shop and warehouse mysteriously got burnt weeks after she was sacked from her federal government job for moonlighting.
Nana consoled her and told her of her own mother’s death. Before long, they had both settled into being friends as they once were as Nana tried her best to make Kainene settle in nicely. They went everywhere and did everything together. It was as though they were trying to recoup all the years they had lost. Kainene soon got a job as well and started dating Kenechukwu, best friend to Nana’s fiancé. They were happy to take life one day at a time.
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I Told You; Mama Never Lies.
Nana’s father, Mr Okonkwo, was coming to the city. He had called to tell her and ask permission to see her. They weren’t as father and daughter should be. Nana had discovered from her mother’s diary after she died that he had cheated on and maltreated her mother severally all those years she was away from home, studying abroad. Although her mother was dead, she still felt resentment towards him and blamed him in part for her mother’s untimely death. Afterall, her mother had died of hypertension at such a young age. She told this to Kainene who advised her to make up with her dad. According to Kainene, Nana’s mother would not be happy with the way things were between a husband she chose to love despite all flaws and her only daughter. Nana resolved to grant her father’s request.
A day before Mr Okonkwo arrived, Kainene travelled. Her boss had given her a last minute assignment in another city and she had to go. Nana was to extend her greetings unfailingly to her father. Mr Okonkwo arrived and during a rather awkward conversation, Kainene was mentioned. Nana’s dad would have none of it.
“Which Kainene are you talking about?”
Her voice reeking of impatience, Nana replied, “How many Kainene do you know?”
Truly, there were only few persons named Kainene which means “let us look on”. The name was not a common one and was often given for a reason peculiar to the parents of the bearer.
“The mutual Kainene we know is dead, so I have to ask to be sure”.
Needless to say, Nana was in shock and remained so for the rest of her meeting with her dad even while he explained to her that her best friend, Kainene died alongside her parents and fiancé in a car accident about a year ago. She remembered the story that caused their separation all those years ago as she wept.
On getting home, she made straight for Kainene’s room. Sitting on her bed still weeping, her eyes fell on a piece of paper partially tucked beneath the lamp on her bedside table.
It read, “I told you, Mama never lies”.
She never saw kainene again but she was grateful for the brief time within which they shared a renewed friendship.. She could not tell what happened after death, if ghosts did exist or reincarnation possible. All she could tell for sure is that Kainene had been here. And, oh of course, Mama never lies.
All non-original images were obtained from a free source
