Are we not strong,
Broken concrete in the sun?
Are we not fire,
Sweated red, bleeding heat,
Feeding off the air that we breathe?
Are we not tears, warm, salty, mute,
Staring at the wall, dead.
Are we not the sea, sleeping,
Drinking the sky, waiting for life to go on?
SCENE ONE
Mama is gone. The thought clung to her brain like cobwebs. She could not wipe it off with the swipe of a broom, this one. She stared at the wall, peering into the cracks that held it together. She was still in the room, in the house her father had given to her mother in the family compound.
She had refused to move to a different accommodation despite the pressure from her step mothers and step siblings. The moment she had gained access into the house, taking the key from Moses’ girlfriend, with the excuse of needing a change of clothes, she had barricaded herself inside and the entreaties of the family did not deter her.
She had been speaking to the wall since she entered the room. She had asked it for her mother. Where is mama? She had said. Where is mama? The words hung empty in the silent room, fluttering about aimless, directionless.
Her eyes were dry. She had not shed a drop since she was roused from her faint the day before. She had simply sat and stared at the floor until she finally made her way into the house.
She sighed and got up from her bed. She walked passed her mother’s unlocked room without looking at it and went to the sitting room; someone was knocking again. She was heading to the kitchen when she heard the voice calling her name; it was her father. She walked to the door and opened it. She stepped aside silently and bent her knee in greeting to her father;
“Migwo papa.” She greeted softly.
“Vrendo.” Her father replied.
She turned her eyes away from the pity in his eyes but not before she saw the pain reflected in his eyes. He mourned mama. Her father turned away too and looked about the sitting room. He walked slowly to a picture of her mother on the wall. He looked at it then he turned and backed it. She stood beside the open door, looking at an orange tree waving its branches in the afternoon breeze. She turned to look at her father then she smiled sadly;
“Papa is there any need for me to go to Lagos now?” she asked.
Her father raised his eyebrows in surprise. He walked to a chair and sat down, motioning for her to do the same. Mabel found a seat opposite her father and sat down.
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“I… I may be a hard man sometimes but I know how to feel; I am not made of iron. You are a also not made of iron. What is wrong with you? You didn’t go for the service of songs this evening; why?” he asked, frowning.
“If I am to go to Lagos, should I take all my clothes or will I get new ones there?” she asked, ignoring her father’s question.
Her father sighed and closed his eyes. She studied his wrinkled face, the laugh lines around his eyes and his shaved skull that shone with oil and sweat.
“I do not think you are in the right frame of mind to be travelling anywhere. You will stay here until you get yourself together.” He replied.
Mabel nodded her head and stared at her hands, placed on her laps. From under her eyelashes, she saw her father studying her curiously.
“You are not going to pester me about going to Lagos?” he asked, unable to conceal the surprise in his voice.
“I do not expect you to keep your word. You said I could go because of her. Now that she is gone, I am nothing but a female child to you.” Mabel said.
“What is wrong with you?! You talk to me like I am one of your classmates in secondary school. Are you mad?! You think you are the only one who lost someone? I lost a woman I love, I lost my wife! She was my light! The beacon that led me home from distant shores every time. I built all this because of her. This was her dream, not mine! She wanted everyone to live as one. So don’t think you can sit there in your tiny bubble of grief and talk to me about keeping my word as if I was your little brother!” he yelled, a little vein popping like a tributary in his river of anger.
“You will go to Lagos. I have had enough of this rubbish. Moses!” he called out.
Moses entered the sitting room on silent feet. He walked to his father and stood by his side.
“You will buy a ticket for Lagos at the GOD IS GOOD MOTORS. She would be travelling tomorrow.” Papa said.
Moses simply nodded and stared at Mabel.
She saw neither of them; in her heart she saw her mother’s smile and it hurt to look at.
SCENE TWO
Deborah walked into the office and closed the door quietly behind her. The lady at the table was young and beautiful. Her well coiffed hair and makeup showed her to be a lady who took her beauty seriously. She raised her head and frowned on seeing Deborah;
“I am busy. Whatever you came here to say, say it fast and leave.” She said and bent her head back to a file opened before her.
Deborah went to the window and drew the curtain close. The office darkened instantly as the curtains were thick and of a dark blue colour. Deborah turned to the lady and smiled;
“You said what?” she asked.
“What is the meaning of this? My friend, open that curtain this moment, before…” she said then paused as Deborah’s palm slammed hard into her face leaving fingerprints on her makeup.
“You were saying?” Deborah asked, still smiling. She walked to the door and turned the key. “How old are you? Twenty-five? twenty-seven? I am thirty-five years old. That is enough reason for you to respect me but no… that is not enough. I have worked here for twelve years. You have been here for three, is that not enough for some respect? But no… you can’t show it because you lack it.” She added.
She walked close to the young lady who held her cheek with her mouth open in shock as pearls of tears gathered around her lower eyelids. Deborah placed her hand on the young lady’s shoulder and pressed her back into her seat.
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“Your stupidity is about to cause a good man his job. If that man loses his job, a woman and three children will go without the basic necessities of life. How does that make your Brazilian weave feel? Does your Fenty eye shadow feel any remorse about this?” Deborah asked her , standing before her like a bulldog.
“I… i… don’t know what I did o?” the girl replied, tears gathering in her eyes.
“Jesus Christ! You are supposed to be a lawyer. Just a little talk by a lay woman, you collapse? I don’t understand. Anyways, you were supposed to have approved the Samson deal before it came to our table. How come you didn’t know that he still had business with Empire Books?” Deborah asked.
“Oh… I thought he didn’t o. He did not say anything.” The girl replied, frowning in thought.
“You are fool, Tolu… or is it Barrister Tolu? It is your job to know about the legal implications involved in any deals we have in this firm. Your failure is now being plastered on us. We are being asked to pay the price for your mistake. The thing is I don’t really care about this job but that man that you are about to make lose his job has a family to feed. So what are you going to do to fix it?” she asked.
“I will go and explain to the boss that it was my fault.” Tolu replied.
“And why would he listen to you?” Deborah asked her, raising an eyebrow. Then she burst into laughter. “Little girl you are playing a dangerous game. Have you met the boss’ wife?” she asked, smiling.
Tolu shook her head. Deborah nodded.
“Don’t worry, with the way you are going, you will soon meet her. I hope you have more spine than you just showed me. Fix the mess.” Deborah said, and then she turned and walked to the door, opened it and closed it quietly behind her.
Tolu stood in the darkness, rubbing her cheek.
Stay Tuned for Episode Three
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New Words
Migwo- a word from the urhobo language, spoken by the Urhobo ethnic group predominantly found in the southern part of Nigeria. It means 'my knees are on the ground'
Vrendo-a word from the urhobo language, spoken by the Urhobo ethnic group predominantly found in the southern part of Nigeria. It means 'get up and well done.'
