(…continued…)
Mabel ran into the parlour
“What happened?” she asked.
“I wrongly swallowed saliva,” Cynthia
managed to say.
Kate got water
for her from the refrigerator. She drank and stopped coughing.
“Maybe you should sit up for a
while,” Mabel told her.
“Don’t worry about me. I will
be fine.”
They continued
gisting while Mabel went back to the room. When she felt it was time to leave,
she dressed up and came out to the parlour.
“Are you set to go?” Cynthia
asked her.
“Yes. I will be back as soon
as possible. Dinma and Kate will take care of you.”
Cynthia’s phone
rang and she answered. It was her mum calling to find out how she was and the
situation of things at home. She asked who and who were in the house and
Cynthia told her that her friends came and also told her that Mabel was about
leaving.
“To where?” they all heard her
mother say through the phone.
“Give me the phone,” Mabel
told Cynthia and took the phone from her.
She explained to
her mother that she needed to go to her house and get some things. Her mother
asked her to wait till she came back from work but she said she really needed
to go. She reassured her mother that Cynthia’s friends will take care of her. When
she was done talking, her mother hung up.
“Does mummy think I am still a
small girl?” Cynthia said.
“You are not feeling well na,”
Chidinma told her.
“I will be back soon,” Mabel
told her.
“Do I have afternoon drugs?”
“Yes you do. I should be back
before then.”
“Even if you cannot make it, I
can take them myself.”
“Ok. We will see later.”
Mabel left the
house and Cynthia continued gisting with her friends.
When Mabel got to
her compound, she met some of her neighbours and exchanged pleasantries. Most
of them asked her about her sister. She just told them that her sister was
fine.
‘Who told them about Cynthia?’
she wondered. ‘It must have been Mama Risi.’
She got to her
door and looked around for any mail left for her. She did not see any, so she
opened the door and went in. Her room was looking unkempt so she dropped her
bag and went into clean up. She swept, mopped the floors and cleaned the tables
and stuff. In the middle of the clean up, she heard a knock on her door. With
the back of her hand, she wiped sweat from her brow and answered the door. It
was mama Risi.
“Good afternoon Mama Risi.”
“Afternoon dear. How are you?”
“I am fine?”
“How did you know I am around?
I looked around for you but did not see you.”
“My son told me he saw you. I
didn’t believe him because I checked on you severally yesterday and this
morning but you were not around. Then I heard you sweeping so I decided to
check on you again.”
“Ok. How are your children?”
“They are fine my dear. How is
Cynthia?”
“She is getting better.”
“What did the doctor say was
wrong with her?”
“He said it was just muscle
and nerve pain as a result of bad posture.”
“Thank God it is not something
serious.”
“Yes o.”
“He gave her other drugs
right?”
“Yes. She is also getting
regular massage.”
“Did you come with her?”
“No. I don’t want to stress
her. She is resting in the house.”
“Ok.”
“I just came to clean up and
pick up some things.”
Mama Risi looked
around for a while and said, “ehe, some people came looking for you yesterday
after you left?”
“Did they tell you their
names?”
“No. Each of them I met said
they will call you.”
Mabel asked her
to describe them and she did. One of the descriptions fitted Coker.
“Thanks. They called me
yesterday.”
“Ok my dear. Let me check what
I cooked on the fire”
“Thanks for checking on me.”
“I will send Risi to come and
help you finish up.”
“No. Don’t bother the girl. I am
almost done.”
“She will come and help you.”
“Ok oo.”
Mama Risi left
the room.
(…to be continued…)
-CHinedu Isaac
No comments:
Post a Comment