BINTA

Chapter 1

"Binta!" "Binta!" "Binta!"
Mama's loud voice woke me up. I
opened my eyes to see mama standing close to the bed, hands akimbo, looking down at me with a look of irritation on her face.

I stretched, rolling back and forth on the bed trying to shake off the sleep that was still weighing heavily on my eyes. Reluctantly, I sat up yawning lazily.

"Good morning mama" I said dizzily"
"What is good about this morning? Ehh Binta, answer me! I want to know why you are still lying down here by this time snoring like a toothless cow. Have you forgotten what today is?" she said, looking at me sternly.

I quickly reached for my phone that was on the plastic table close to the bed. I pressed the home button and was confused when I saw the time.

"Ah mama, this is just 4:42AM. Why did you wake me up this early?" I said, confusion evident in my voice.
"Oh, so you want to tell me you've forgotten that your sister is writing her Common Entrance Examination today and as her elder sister, you are supposed to be helping her get ready" she said throwing her hands in the air demonstrating each word.

The last thing I wanted this morning was to get into an argument with my mom. All I wanted to do was to fall back in the bed and sleep to my heart's content. But I knew that was impossible.

"Mama, it's still very early so what's the rush? And besides, I've been revising with her everyday for the past two months. She can literally tell you everything in her textbook cover to cover without blinking an eye. You know how she is mama"

Mama looked at me and for a brief moment, I thought she was going to push further, but instead she sat down on the plastic chair close to the table. I knew mama. Mama wasn't one to back out of any argument. As a matter of fact, she always won. And watching her give up so easily made my heart ache. I could see the worry on her face. I knew that look. I could read her like a book.
Growing up, my mom has always been the closest person to me. Even though I had few friends in my neighborhood and from my alma mater, nobody could take away that closeness I shared with my mom. In fact, she was my best friend.

So I understood her fears, her worries. All I wanted was to hug her and comfort her...which I did.

I rolled over to the side of the bed where mama was sitting
"Mama, everything will be fine" I assured, hugging her tightly.

Mama held my shoulders, gently pulling me backwards so she could see my face.

"Tata"...she said, a pet name she calls me only when she is emotional or relaxed... "you know life hasn't been fair to us. Ever since your papa left us, it has been from hand to mouth, afraid if we will make it till the next day. My only consolation as a mother is the wonderful children God has blessed me with. I have so much faith in all of you. I know that it is through you all my lovely children that God will answer our prayers and provide us with everything we need as a family."

I could feel the hope in her voice and I never wanted to let mama down and I was very much aware that all my siblings felt the same way. They were all excelling in their academics. Ade and Temi, the twins, were doing very well. But Damola's case was different. She was exceptional. Damola was the third girl and the lastborn of the family. Her intelligence was out of this world. Her teachers were always wondering what could make a young child so intelligent. After her primary one, the school decided to promote her to primary three reason being that they felt she was way too brilliant for that class and they knew she could handle something higher. And she never let them down. She never let us down either. She kept excelling so much that in her primary four, the school was already thinking of enrolling her for the common entrance examination in order for her to start Junior Secondary one. When they asked for mama's consent, she objected saying she wanted all her children to follow the normal school procedure. Although the school respected her opinion, they were still not completely convinced. How time flies! Damola was now in her primary six preparing to write the common entrance examination and we were all positive she will make us proud. Mama didn't have to worry about her at all.

"Mama, I promise you that we will never let you down. We will definitely make you proud" I said gently placing my right palm on mama's left cheek.

A flash of relief and happiness lit up on her face. She smiled and took my hands in hers..."You know, even though we don't have money, I always go to bed with a smile on my face and a thank you prayer to God for giving me such good children. I am so proud of you all"

I smiled back, hoping it was enough to convince her of how much we cherished her..."We love you so much mama and we will keep making you proud"

With a smile on her face, mama stood up..."Oya go and help your sister get ready while I'll go warm the leftover beans and dodo".....she said while walking out and adjusting her wrapper at the same time.

As I watched her leave the room, I wondered how a mother of four could still be so stunning. After papa's death a lot of men had come around asking for mama's hand in marriage again not even minding she had children. There were all willing to take us all in. Among all of them, the most persistent one was uncle John. Uncle John was a popular business man in our village who lost his first wife to cancer. Three months later he married aunty Beatrice who also lived in our village but to some unknown reason the marriage didn't last. They didn't even stay up to three months together before aunty Beatrice packed out of the house. Since then, he has been single until he started chasing after mama. I remember the evening he came to the house to see mama. We were just returning from the market and mama was very tired, only for uncle John to appear unexpectedly, like an apparition. Since mama was to prepare dinner, she asked me to bring a bench close to the fireplace for Uncle John. Mama felt that was enough cue for him to take his leave, but the stubborn man didn't budge. Mama kept blowing the fire but unfortunately the smoke from the fire swallowed up Uncle John making the poor man dizzy. But he still refused to go. He was still sitting there smiling sheepishly at mama who was too exhausted to spare him a glance. The truth is, I volunteered to help mama in preparing dinner but she objected because she felt that if uncle John saw she was busy and not giving him much attention, he would reschedule the visit or better still go home and never return. But mama's plan seemed to be falling apart with uncle John still siting comfortably not even minding the smoke that was enveloping him. Suddenly when mama added palm oil to the hot pot on fire, the smoke became so bad that uncle john started coughing so hard that he was gasping for air. Stunned , I kept looking from the choking uncle John to mama who seemed so unperturbed about the poor man's predicament. Pitying the helpless man, I immediately ran inside to get him a cup of water to help relieve the effect of the smoke. But much to my surprise, by the time I came back uncle John was nowhere to be found. When I asked mama where he disappeared to, she started laughing and before long we were both laughing so hard until our stomachs hurt.

Still smiling at the memory, I got up from the bed and quickly arranged it before rushing off to Damola's room.

....."let's get ready little sis" I murmured to no one in particular.

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Can you believe it guys? We are done with our first chapter and I must say I had so much fun writing this. Hope you enjoyed it. Please don't forget to vote and comment{ it will mean the world to me}. Also feel free to give suggestions and ask as many questions as you like, I will try my best to answer them. See you in the next chappy>>>>>>XOXO

Love, floral_blossom