Toria’s sudden halt at our room door brought me and Wofai yelping in fright.
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“What is it?” She asked, looking wide-eyed from me to Wofai and back.
“We should be asking you. Who is chasing after you?”
Toria looked around and behind her as if she was truly being chased. She closed the door with a bang and turned the key twice.
Wofai and I exchanged questioning glances.
It was Christmas again, and according to the Bassey family tradition, everybody everywhere had to travel home for Christmas. It didn't matter who you were, what you did for a living, or how much you earned, once it was the end of the year everyone was expected to take their families and come down to the ‘ Family Villa’ to spend time with their relatives.
My grandmother, Mma as she was fondly called, enacted this policy. And she was the most respected person in the family.
The Villa' was a two-storey building with seemingly endless stairs and branches that led to rooms, rooms, and more rooms. There was a big central room downstairs where meetings and prayers were held, but apart from that, everyone stayed in their rooms with their families.
The children loved to stay together too, the girls in one of the big rooms and the boys in another, however, some children felt too important, or acted on instructions not to stick closely with other children in the house.
Toria was one of them.
According to her, her mother kept insisting that she had been warned in church against death by poisoning so she was skeptical about coming to the village that year. She only came because who could disobey Mma?
Toria, on the other hand, was quite an adventurous child. So whenever her mother's eyes turned the other way, she was fast enough to zoom over to our room to gist or play with us.
“Treasure, Wofai, if you hear what I just heard,” she said, coming to sit opposite us on a water jerry can. We waited anxiously for her to speak.
“Hmm” she continued, “I went to the kitchen to wash my mother's plates when I heard that Aunty Vero and Uncle Sylvester were talking to Emmanuella”
“This one Uncle Sylvester is advising someone, it cannot be good” I retorted. Uncle Sylvester was the last child of my grandmother, yet he was the most notorious of all her children. Despite approaching age 35 according to my mom, he had refused to get married, but had 3 children from 2 different women.
“My dear, you don't want to know what they were telling the poor girl”
“Spill it already. You're making me anxious” Wofai snapped.
“Emmanuella wants to study music, but I heard them tell her that our family only produces noble people like doctors and lawyers”
Wofai sucked her teeth and I screwed my nose in disgust.
“That's not all. They also advised her not to be like you, Treasure”
“Ah…what have I done this time?”
“Uncle Sylvester specifically called you a rebel. He said you betrayed the family by studying Theatre Arts”
I don't know where the laughter emerged from but I laughed to my heart's content before responding to Toria.
“Jealous people everywhere. I don't know why our relatives cannot see what has been spelled out boldly before them. Every generation of this family has an artistic person in it. And every generation, they try to stifle that gift that should make this family outstanding….”
“And we talk about having old women in the village who do not want our progress. We are the witches of ourselves!” Wofai said in support.
“Listen, when I get an opportunity to advise any child in this family, I will warn them about cowardly giving in to the discrimination of our artistic tendencies. We are an artistic family. The earlier they come to accept it, the better for all of us”
Toria and Wofai sat in deep reflection before Toria spoke again.
“I think Treasure is right. Wofai, you paint, but in secret. Treasure writes, I dance, Emmanuella sings. Imagine we all come together and harness these beautiful gifts of ours, with the support of our families…..”
“How splendid it would be” I finished for her. “In this family, you have to be the change no one is willing to accept. That is what I would advise the future generations of this family”
Toria rose just as I finished speaking. A somber expression on her face.
“Let me head back to my room before my mother gets hold of me. And if I come across Emmanuella anywhere, I'll send her to meet with you. She needs to hear this advice you have for us”
With that, she left Wofai and I whispering to ourselves about how best we could tackle the war against our artistic passions.