Life Before a Storm (A Nigerian Story) COMPLETED

Chapter 5

I was sitting under a tree which served as a shade at the riverbank, singing a melancholious ditty.

Brutus was half dressed washing himself in the water. When he was through, he walked up to me and I extended his hand which I took. He gave me a tenacious stare. He grinned. Then I felt something odd, something dark about him which I could not explain. His teeth had turned into fangs.

I gasped.

Then I saw a man, a face I could not recognise appear from nowhere holding a plank. The man hit Brutus hard on the head and he fell down with a thud.

"God no!" I got up gasping for breath. It was a bizzare nightmare. I was sweating profusely. I knelt down by the side of my bed and said a prayer, hoping to bring to nought what I saw.

_________

"I would like you to learn a trade Ima." Papa said, still lying down on the bed. He was sick, and had turned pale. The physician came and examined him and said it was malaria.

"Bring me some water." He said and coughed slightly.

I walked hastily to our big pot of water in the corner of our room and scooped some water with a cup. He sat up, took the cup from me and drank slowly.

He still had a fever. I noticed how he shivered, his teeth gritted. Then I took a clean wrapper from mama's box and covered him from his feet to his neck. I felt his feet, they had gone cold. I worried.
I carried a small towel, rinsed it in water and dabbed his forehead.

"Have you eaten anything this morning? Have you taken your prescribed drugs?" I asked, with a concerned look on my visage.
Papa had always been agile, so I didn't like him in this condition.

"Worry less about me Adiaha mi (my first daughter). Think of yourself." He coughed again.

"I do not want you to stay at home all day wasting your days. I have spoken with Mfon the seamstress. She is expecting you soon. Go to her shop and learn sewing."

"Yes papa. Sósongó (thank you). I will not fail you."

"Meanwhile, bring me my food." He said.

I hurried out to bring him his food; boiled yam with palm oil sauce.
I curtsied and exited.

***

I dressed up for the seamstress, Mfon's shop. I wore a dress I loved; a flowery pleated gown with hope that I would come in contact with Brutus. I was fast having butterflies.

At the crooked street with lush lilies by the side, I saw some dirty looking children chanting after the infamous maniac drunkard.

"Asikpo the mad man!!!"

They brought out their tongues in mockery and kept chanting in cacophony. The man was too drunk that he started dancing, a bottle of beer, hiding under his armpit.
He was a mess though he didn't seem as one who was catatonic.
I felt a tinge of pity for him and hasten my steps towards Mfon's place.

"I gave you a material to sew Mfon! It's been 2 weeks but you've done nothing and you're giving me a lame excuse!" An irate woman was quarelling.

"Sorry my customer. I was ill last week. I will sew the cloth. Come back in two days time." Mfon responded calmly.

"It better be ready by then o!" The woman reeled off.

Mfon's lips protruded in a long hiss.

"She must be mad o. For coming here to scream at me in that manner. Shameless tout." She whined angrily.

An apprentice, Aniekan giggled timidly.

Mfon's purple lipstick, dry and flaky made her face look comical. She was smallish in stature. She had long box braids that dropped at her waist.

"Good day Mfon. My name is..."

"I know who you are." She retorted, cutting me off.

I felt irked. I took a look around the shop, it was disorderly. Series of clothes of different textures and colours were scattered around. I was almost tempted to salvage the place in its entirety.

"Take this cloth, put it on the mannequin. Then come and sit down let me brief you before anything else." She said to me, distracting my thoughts.

_________

Few hours had passed. I was glad to be relieved from my sewing class. Unfortunately I did not quite enjoy my first class as a large portion of my heart was clouded with pictures of Brutus.

The skies had gone dark and there was gale, to my disappointment.
On my way home I saw Ferdinand across the road. He was buying roadside corn from a road side seller.
I tried to hide to avoid him seeing me but I was too late.

"Hey ima-obong." He waved.

I pretended not to hear. I walked faster, increasing my speed with each step I took. Then it started raining heavily. I didn't care. I ran in the rain, drenched, untill I got to a shade far away from where I saw Ferdinand. Little did I know that he was following closely behind.

"You choose to run away from me ugh?" He said with an unsmiling face.

"My mother will be infuriated if she finds out I am standing in the presence of a man."

He laughed hard.

"Aren't you an adult?" I could feel his gaze linger on me.

"It doesn't matter. This is not England." I retorted. This time, I was getting agitated.

He ran his slender fingers through his hair then squeezed his hair to drain it of some rain water. I imagined him as a model. I saw an iota of handsomeness in him. But he did not tickle my fancy.

"The phone you sent. I want you to have it back. Mother said I cannot use it."

"Why?" His eyebrows were raised.
"I didn't send it. Brutus did." He shrugged.

My eyes bulged out in marvel. "Oh. That's kind of him." I smiled.

"You like him." He said, disappointment filling his face.

I felt uneasy. I tried to hide my excitement.

"No." I denied.

"You lie. I can see it in your eyes. But have it in mind that Brutus has a woman in his life whom he loves so much." He said examining my expression.
"I felt something for you Ima-obong, the moment I saw you."

I was shocked.

"What!?" I exclaimed.

"Ferdinand is in love with me? The man I love, loves another woman. The man I do not love, is in love with me." I thought.

Half heartbroken, I held my bag firmly and ran into the unfriendly rain towards home.

😎🤩😎🤩😎🤩😎🤩😎🤩😎🤩😎🤩

Hi,

I'm sure you must have asked yourself, what if Ferdinand is lying???

Watch out for the next banger in chapter 6! See you!

Say 'hi' back please?

©Maryamada Kasi
2020