FED UP!

(…continued…)

They slept that night without any incidents.

The following morning, they all woke up early. Their mother asked how they were doing and they reassured her that they were feeling better.

  “Are you still feeling dizzy?” she asked Mabel.

  “No.”

  “Like vomiting?”

  “A little but I have not vomited this morning.”

  “Ok.”

They briefly said their morning prayers.

  “What will you eat for breakfast?” Mabel asked them.

  “The leftover of the yam yesterday will do,” their mother said as she rushed to freshen up.

  “Don’t bother about me,” Cynthia said, pressing her phone. “I will cook noodles later.”

                Mabel warmed the food and dished for her mother. Then she surfed through the internet and chatted on social media for a while. Their mother got ready, ate her food and left for work.

  “Take care of yourselves,” she said as she left. “Call me if there is need.”

                They stood at the door and waved her goodbye. Then they went inside.

  “By what time are you going to see Dr Obinna?”

  “It should be in the afternoon, after I have gone to my house.”

  “I will go with you then.”

  “But you said Chidinma will be coming to make your hair.”

  “I can reschedule.”

  “It is not necessary. What will happen to your hair?”

  “My hair can wait. I don’t have a date.”

  “Ok.”

  “Besides I want to be with you when Dr Obinna tells you whether you are preggy or not.”

  “My mind skips anytime I hear that. Can you not talk about it right now?”

  “Ok, sorry.”

  “I can’t wait to carry my neice sha.”

  “You can carry your daughter this year for all I care. Maybe Chuka can be her father.”

                They laughed.

                After a while, Cynthia prepared noodles and ate. Then she took her drugs.

  “Can you massage me?” she asked Mabel.

  “My tummy is paining me.”

  “Sorry. Since when?”

  “Yesterday. I don’t think it is something serious sha.”

  “Abeg o it had better not be. So that means I am not getting massaged this morning again.” 

  “Hold on let me finish checking this stuff on the internet.”

  “Ok.”

                After a while, Mabel massaged her, and then she went to bath in preparation to go to her house. While she was bathing, her phone was began ringing. It rang repeatedly. Cynthia had to check who was calling and informed Mabel.

  “Mabel your phone has been ringing repeatedly,” she told her.

  “Who is it?” Mabel asked

                Cynthia told her that it was mama Risi.

  “Why is she calling me like this?”

  “Should I answer and find out?”

  “Don’t worry. I will return the call when I come out.”

                While Cynthia was keeping back the phone, she mistakenly touched the message button and Mabel’s inbox showed. She wanted to exit when she noticed a message that didn’t start well. She opened it. It was Kemi’s hate SMS. She read the message in shock over and over again. When she heard the bathroom door opening, she closed the phone and kept it back.

  “Mama Risi has never called me like this before,” Mabel said in thought as she came to the parlour still tying her towel. “Is it Risi’s school fees I promised to help her with?”

  “You promised to pay the girl’s school fees?” Cynthia asked passively, still thinking about what she had just read.

  “Yes o. I didn’t know when it fell out of my mouth.”

  “If you have the money, you can help na. I kinda like that girl.”

  “They are nice people, and the school is a state owned school.”

  “So it is not expensive.”

                Mabel returned the call. When Mama Risi picked, she talked in hushed tones.

  “Why are you talking like this?” Mabel asked her. “Is all well?”

                Mama Risi asked where she was.

  “In my mother’s place.”

                Mama Risi told her she needed to be careful.

  “Why?” Mabel was getting tensed.

                Mama Risi told her that some rough looking young men had come to her place that morning and had asked few people about her but no one replied them. Mabel was scared and kept quiet for a while. Mama Risi asked whether she was still there.

  “I am here. Have they gone?”

                Mama Risi told her they were still hanging around in the neighbourhood. Then asked her what she planned doing about it.

  “Don’t worry, I will handle it.”

                When they were done talking, Mabel hung up. She hissed and sat down.

  “So this girl was serious,” she said in thought.

  “Which girl?”

  “Kemi.”

(…to be continued…)

-©2015.Chinedu Ezeala