A Story Of Deceit

Episode 16

Mr. and Mrs. Soji argued about my stay at their place. I was too scared to say anything, lest, I incure wrath from Yemisi’s mother. Yemisi just stood there, she gazed at them for a while, then she brought out her phone and started watching a funny video, she had watched severally. ‘what kind of a stupid girl is this?’, I said in my thoughts. How could her parents be arguing and she seemed less concerned. ‘Yemisi’, I called for her attention, ‘your parents na’, I said, ‘I know, they are my parents’, she replied, ‘but, Yemisi, must you press your phone? ‘, I asked, ‘I told you, they don’t get along, right? ‘, she asked, I didn’t have any reply to render, I just shook my head. Their argument went on for a little while and knowing I was the cause got me freaked out. Just when I thought things wouldn’t get worse, I started feeling nauseous again, I was so sure, I would puke, I didn’t want to make things worse for myself by puking in their compound, I pushed the gates open and ran outside immediately with the little energy I had. ‘Uwa, Uwanah’, Yemisi called out continuously but I just couldn’t say anything as I ran a distance from their house, I stopped when I couldn’t run any longer, I was sweating profusely, I still felt like puking, so I looked for a spot of the road and down it went, I didn’t have water to rinse my mouth, hence, I felt more irritated.

I looked back and forth, contemplating whether to go back to their house or head to my own house. After multiple thoughts, I started heading home, I made up mind to call Yemisi later in the day to know if I could still keep my job or not. Getting home that afternoon, was not easy, I walked like a slug, dragging my feet like it was a task. When I got home, my mind was still troubled, I didn’t know what went on in Yemisi’s house after I left, Yemisi didn’t return my phone calls but she sent a text message assuring me that she would call me back. After a week, I was still waiting for that call. My mum noticed, I had started staying at home. One Sunday morning, before she left for her shop, she asked, ‘Uwanah, what are wrong with you?, you don’t go farm since many days, you are not comed outside anymore, you’re act like a woman that carry baby, what’s the problem going on? ‘.

I was aware that lying would only make it worse, she didn’t even know I stopped working at the farm, I told her of Yemisi’s mum, showed my new phone to her and how I was still expecting Yemisi’s call. I told her about everything and everyone , except Dayo, my plans for the city and my illness.

She consoled me, which wasn’t what I was expecting, I thought she’d yell about how stupid I was but she asked me to try and leave the house, to get fresh air, she also said, I could join her at the shop if I was bored at home and she encouraged me, her words of encouragement really improved my mood. I thanked her and she said, ‘why are you thanked me, what is mothers for? ‘, I laughed uncontrollably and bade her farewell as she left for her shop. After she left, I got up from the mat and made the most shocking discovery ever, I felt heavy like a lump of wood, my feet were swollen, it seemed like my body parts developed more, I was just making exclamations of, ‘ah, ah!, ah, ah! ‘, when my phone rang, it was Yemisi, I answered the phone with joy, ‘hello, Yemisi’, I said, ‘hello, Uwanah, she said sobbing, ‘ah, ah, what is it Yemisi?, why are you crying ?’, I asked with concern, ‘see, Uwa, Dayo has not been picking my calls’, she whined. ‘Why na’, I asked, I hadn’t even seen Dayo in a while, ‘he…. ‘, she said, ‘hello, Yemisi, he what? ‘, I asked, ‘Uwa, abi, what is your name?, be coming to my house now!’, that wasn’t Yemisi’s voice, it seemed like her mother’s voice. ‘eh, yes, yes ma’, I said. I ended the call.

Half an hour later, I was almost ready to leave my house after having breakfast. Since my queer illness, eating breakfast was compulsory, I didn’t want to collapse. I picked out one of the gowns Yemisi gifted me, it felt tight but I wasn’t comfortable in it, I tried another one, I wore a T-shirt and one of the skirts, I collected from her, it was still a bit tight but pulling it would waste my time, I took my purse, wore my sandals and left the house. I walked to Mr. Soji’s house with different thoughts of why Yemisi’s mother summoned me, ‘does it have to do with Dayo?, abi did something happen to Yemisi?’, I asked myself. I got to the front of their gate and took several deep breaths before I knocked, ‘who be that? ‘, Mr. Shola asked loudly, na, me, Uwanah’, I said frowning. ‘Good afternoon sir’, I greeted as he opened the gate and I entered. He didn’t say anything to me, he just went into his room by the gate, while I walked to the door, I hadn’t even knocked, I just heard Mr. Soji say, ‘come in ooo’. I entered, what I saw frightened me, Yemisi’s both parents were sitting opposite each other and Yemisi knelt down at the middle of the sitting room.

‘Good afternoon ma, good afternoon sir’, I said with a shaky voice . ‘Uwa, good afternoon’, her father replied, ‘Uwa, who is Dayo? ‘, her mother asked me, ‘why would she ask me who Dayo was?, who would I even say Dayo was?, would I tell them, he came to visit their daughter when she was alone? ‘, I stared at Yemisi who was sobbing,
I was confused. ‘Are you deaf?, okay, you don’t know Dayo?, okay, see this Yemisi here, she have carry pregnancy and she said it’s Dayo, I was made to understand that he knows you because your mum runs a beer parlour, so I don’t know if you know his house ooo but you will take us to your street because he refused to pick her calls, the other day when I called him and introduced myself as Yemisi’s mum, he ended the call in a haste and put my number in divert, if I catch that boy, I will break his bones’, she said angrily. ‘Eh, pregnancy, for Dayo?, what?, Jesu!, yeh’, I said aloud, I had compassion for Yemisi immediately. I lied to them that I didn’t know Dayo’s house, but I would ask questions. Her mother got up immediately and asked Yemisi to stand up too. ‘Oya, take us there, wait let me get my car keys’, she said and looked at me, then her eyes went to my feet, ‘ah, nawa for all these village girls, see how your feet is swollen, abi you sef get belle? ‘, she said, ‘no, me?, no, I’m not ma’, I replied, ‘na you sabi’, she mocked and turned to Yemisi, staring at her in a despicable way. ‘you!, I will show you’, she threatened Yemisi and went inside.
Mr. Soji didn’t say anything, it was as though he was dumb, he stood, picked up his phone and went outside. I held Yemisi’s hands immediately, ‘what happened? ‘, I asked, ‘it’s Dayo ooo, he said I will not get pregnant and now he’s not responding to my texts, neither is he returning my calls’, she said, I was speechless, so Dayo slept with me and Yemisi, only God knows how many other girls. I started memorizing thousands of curses I would lay on him, if I set my eyes on him that day, ‘thank God, I’m not pregnant oooo’, I said to myself. ‘I’m sorry dear, don’t worry, let’s go to his house first’, I said.

I wanted to ask her why she didn’t tell me that she had gotten intimate with Dayo but I decided not judge her, after all, I was guilty of the same thing. Minutes after Yemisi’s mum came out, We all hopped into her car and she drove off speedily. It was my first time in any car, the seats were comfy and the air conditioner was on, I didn’t feel so weak as I did earlier, the coolness of the car dried up sweat from the pores of my skin but Yemisi was still sweating profusely. Soon the fantasy came to an end, when we got to the road that linked my street and Dayo’s, Yemisi’s mum couldn’t go any further, she came down with Mr. Soji and started grumbling about how bad the road was.

Yemisi also got down from the car but I remained, I was enjoying the coolness of the car when Mr. Soji opened the door and said, ‘oya, come down na’, ‘okay sir, I’m coming now’, I said and got down quickly, ‘so you don’t want to come down again?’, her mother asked, ‘maybe, she can’t open the door na’, Mr. Soji said, ‘mtcheeew, like I asked you, oya Uwa, take us there’, ‘okay ma, I replied. I walked to different houses and asked several people pretending to have missed my way to avoid suspicion from Yemisi and her parents that I knew Dayo’s house all along. At last, I took them to Dayo’s house, we knocked but there was no response, we called out for Dayo, there was still no response, ‘maybe they’re not around’, I said, ‘what do you mean by that?, we will wait ooo, we can wait’, Yemisi’s mum said. We stood for a while, Yemisi’s tears couldn’t just stop flowing because of endless curses from her mother, ‘it’s okay na, mama Yemisi, let’s see the boy first’, Mr. Soji said. ‘that one is your business, after all she was in your care, you didn’t watch her well enough, you even hired someone to clean that house that will not take thirty minutes to sweep’, she yelled at Mr. Soji and gazed at me. I knew Mr. Soji wanted to say something but he couldn’t because, Dayo’s mum showed up.

It seemed like she went to the market, we could see vegetables peeking through one of the many nylons she carried. ‘Good afternoon ooo’, ‘Good afternoon’, Yemisi’s mother said lewdly, ‘na me una dey find? ‘, Dayo’s mother asked, ‘why we go find you?’, Yemisi’s mum abruptly said, ‘okay, who una dey find’, Dayo’s mum asked, Yemisi’s mum wanted to say something but her speech was cut short by her husband. ‘The person we are finding na Dayo’, he said. ‘Dayo, my son?’, she asked, ‘no, Dayo your daughter’, Mr. Soji’s wife mocked, ‘my son don go back’, she said, ‘hehehe, Don go back where? ‘, Yemisi’s mother asked, ‘back to city na’, she said.

The father of your pikin don run, you see yourself? ‘, Mr. Soji said. My hands were on my head the whole time, Dayo ran away, what would happen to Yemisi? .