TOMMOROW AWAITS

Episode 8-Osas

I watched him as he watched her,my heart brimming with resentment. What did he see in her? She was plain and very ordinary, not someone a guy like Mohammed should go for,he should go for someone like me. Hell,i even show more interest and pay him more attention than she ever will. Sighing deep and long,wondering why everything i wanted, someone always got before me,i turned back to the grumpy middle aged woman i was treating. The frown etched on her face was forming lines and making her look uglier than she already was. I scowled at her and snapped.

"Don't you know you should smile? Eh? Aren't you happy they even brought you here, alive? So, what if you're bleeding?, don't just use this your reggae spoil my blues, this afternoon "

She didn't smile,but i saw the laughter in her eyes.

"You are a shallow and very foolish girl."

She was talking with a note of authority, like i had no right questioning her opinion,rather,observation.

" Before all this,i used to work with troubled children like you..."

"Who says I'm troubled? You see? Evil witch, you should have died a long time ago. You should not be here."

"You should have died a long time ago. You should not be here... "

That was my mom,little, noisy, witchy woman,always complaining about everything i did. I heaved my shoulders as she followed me from the kitchen to the parlor where i plopped on a sofa. One thing with her,she nagged a lot but she didn't know because she was blinded by her own version of religion which i would like to call fanaticism,something rampant or should i say imbibed in Nigerian mothers, but then i'm perceived too young and unwise to make conclusions. She called this discipline, i called it noise. I increased the volume on the TV but her soprano was higher than it. I whirled around,still sitting, she was standing right behind me,shouting and gesticulating wildly.

"Mom,you don't have to shout,i can hear you. Why won't you let me watch TV in peace? Am i the cause of your problems?"

My brows were furrowed now,from vexation. The slap she landed across my face fueled the rebel fire in me.

"You insolent child! After all I've done for you,you have the guts to talk back at me?"

She was shouting now and i knew the neighbours had pressed their ears to their doors to listen. Such gossip.

"You can't even write jamb and pass. Three times,Osas. Three time. Yet you have mouth to exchange words with me? With your father? While your mates are in school? I regret the day i decided to carry you for nine months "

Another slap was coming to sink it in,but this time i held her hand mid-air and stood up.

"Listen to me,mom. Listen and listen good. I am not the reason you got knocked up at sixteen, you should have aborted me when you had the chance,dying is a whole lot better than living with your nagging, complaining voice all my life. That man is not my father, he is your husband and i don't care which part of the gutters you picked him from. It's not my fault he's a broke,lazy,lying,cheating ass. It's not my fault he's cheating on you and you can do nothing about it,so don't you dare transfer aggression to me. You sit down there and keep up the Christian wife act,i don't care. He'll probably give you aids and you die. I'm sick! Sick! Sick and tired of you,and your holier-than-thou attitude, and you know what,I'm not that underage kid you used to hit no more. I'm 18,an adult,and I'm leaving. Fuck you,fuck your policies,fuck the economy, fuck the government. I don't give a shit about you,about any of you"

I punctuated each of my statements with so much verbal force that she looked stunned,like i had slapped her across the face or something. She recovered quickly and folded her arms over her chest in disbelief. The silence was deafening.

"Osas? Me? You say that to me,your mother? "

She threw her hands up to the sky.

"God! What kind of child did you give me? Honor your father and your mother, so that your days will be long. Lord,did i not honor my parents? What did i do wrong to deserve such an insolent child? Oh,God! Anyway i have wronged you,please..."

I rolled my eyes. I couldn't believe what this woman was doing. I walked around the couch to where she sat,wailing on the floor.

"Listen to yourself,mom. Look how pathetic you sound. You seem to know this Bible so well,don't you remember it said don't provoke your children to anger. If you ask me,you'd better keep begging God,but this time,for the right things. Now,if you'll excuse me,i have a lot of packing to do. "

I felt her eyes bore into my back as i ascended the stairs leading to my bedroom. She was still stunned, more from the fact that i told her a few home truths to her face than anything else. Trust her to throw a comeback after me.

"Osamudiamen,if you dare step your feet out of this house,don't even come back. Forget me as your mother ,henceforth "

Watch my back,momma.

Word on the street that evening was that few hours after i left,the extremists stormed the neighborhood. Not a single stone was left in it's place. There were no survivors from my compound, it had been torched by the rebels and the fire burned into the night,along with the shattered pieces of my heart.