Chapter 3

The month went by like breeze. October came, and school became even more intense. Teachers dished out assignments, taking every opportunity they had to remind them that their exams were drawing closer. She spent all of her free time in the Library expect for Lunch break. There was nothing too hectic about being library prefect and she was thankful for that. She didn’t think she could handle more pressure. She usually sat at a corner reading her own books while trying to also monitor students. The librarian was there to do most of the work so she only gave her a helping hand. There were only a few students who visited the library. The population of students in the library was dependent on the time of the term. When Mid-terms approached, more students would visit the library, and that also happened during examination periods. To be frank, there was nothing much to her job. The title was good, though. Her dad had been pleased that she had been selected as a prefect.

At home, she had extra lessons with Mr. Ahmed who took her mathematics and physics, and Mr. Chuks who taught her Biology and chemistry. Her dad had decided to get her an English teacher although he was yet to find one. She had told him she would be just fine preparing for English on her own but he had dismissed her words. He wanted her to have an excellent result, perfect if possible. People who had A-parallel results did not have two heads, he had said. The pressure was squeezing her, almost choking her. She found herself on the verge of tears on some days. She wasn’t sure she could have the perfect result her dad wanted. Mathematics was a difficult subject she found hard to understand. Mr. Ahmed had been helpful, and she was beginning to grab some concepts and topics that she had found difficult. Even with Mr. Ahmed’s impressive teaching dexterity, she wasn’t sure she could get anything higher than a ‘C’ in mathematics. If she got a ‘B’, it would be pure luck. She and mathematics didn’t get along.

She focused her attention back to the teacher who was explaining the types of clauses. It was another Saturday and she was in school for her extension classes. They rotated the subjects every Saturday, and that Saturday she was to have English, biology and chemistry. English was the first class, and the one she was currently in. The class had started only thirty minutes ago but she was already losing interest. By 1 pm, classes ended and she walked with her friends, Esther and Zainab to Esther’s house. She had laundry waiting to be done, and she had to clean her room also. But she couldn’t be bothered about those at that moment. If she went home, she would be alone and she was almost sure that there would be no power. Her mum had gone to a party and her dad had gone to work. What was the point of going to an empty and boring house? She would deal with her chores later.

“Tomi, do you understand Electrolysis?” Zainab asked, as they walked. It was very sunny and Tomini was squinting a little. Esther’s house was not too far from school but it still was quite a distance.

“Electrolysis…kind of,” she shrugged. Mr Chuks had just started the topic with her on Thursday and they were yet to complete it.

“Please you will teach me. When Mr Akinola taught us in SS2 I did not understand one thing. I can’t even remember the definition. It’s that bad.”

Esther laughed on hearing that. Mr Akinola’s teaching methodology was quite strange. He spent most of the class period dictating his notes to the students, and explained topics very briefly. His exam was usually tough, and most students managed to get a pass. The intelligent ones would teach the others; that was how they survived chemistry. They had prayed that Mr Akinola would for one reason or the other leave the school and be replaced but that had never happened.

“Abeg Mr. Akinola shouldn’t even be called a teacher. That man does not teach anything. And he’s very wicked, always setting hard exam for somebody. It’s God that will punish that man…With that his opolo eye,” Esther said. Tomini and Zainab laughed hard, even halting their steps. When their laughter subsided, they continued the walk to Esther’s house.

Esther’s parents and brothers were not home. Zainab made noodles and fried eggs which they all ate in the living room. There was no power supply in Esther’s house, too so the heat was almost unbearable.

The power supply was restored about an hour later just as Esther had predicted. Apparently, the power supply company had some sort of routine they followed in supplying electricity and Esther was already accustomed to it. The power didn’t stay for up to thirty minutes, however. They had been watching Soundcity when the power went off.

This was the Nigerian story. Many would be disappointed at such occurrences but definitely not surprised. Paying electricity bills did not mean you would have constant power supply. On days when power was supplied for a long period of time, people praised ‘NEPA’ and when that wasn’t the case, which happened a lot, people cursed them. Nigerians did not expect to enjoy stable electricity, so when it was handed to them for a short while, it was seen as a privilege, rather than a right.

Now, they were all sitting on the living room centre rug. The room was still a bit cool as the air conditioner had been on when there was power.

“Esther, eh ehn,” Tomini started. “You don’t want to tell us about that boy abi.”

“Which boy?”

Zainab laughed and gently pushed Esther’s shoulders. “If you like be pretending.”

“The boy in your church. That dark one that wears glasses.”

“Wait, Joshua?” Esther frowned. “There’s nothing to tell.”

“Esther you don’t need to lie. I know you like him.”

“Tomi, can you stop? I don’t.”

Tomini laughed heartily and continued teasing her.
…

They were in the mall now and contemplating whether to go window shopping or go to the toilet to take mirror selfies. They decided that they would do both. They did not have enough money on them to watch a movie, buy food or shop. They entered different stores, looking around and leaving without buying anything. Soon, they got tired of window shopping and headed to the toilet to take pictures.

Afterwards, they found a spot outside the mall that wasn’t busy and they took turns taking pictures of each other. They left the mall around 5pm to Zainab’s house, which was close to the mall.

Tomini wondered if her mum would have been back from the wedding she had gone for. Her dad did not usually come home until it was late in the evening, so she was sure she was safe. As for her mum, she could easily explain that she was with her friends and get away easily. Once again, she remembered the pile of clothes waiting to be washed. Even though they had a washing machine, she still hated doing her laundry.

Zainab’s mum gave them cupcakes and drinks and they watched TV in the living room, as the generator was on in Zainab’s house. Her phone battery was low and she needed to charge it. Zainab had warned her not remove her charger from where it was plugged, so she charged her phone in Zainab’s room. It was almost 7pm when Tomini decided to leave for her house. She went to Zainab’s room to get her phone and saw 12 missed calls from her dad. Her heart began to race as she hurried into the living room.

“I have 12 missed calls from my dad”

“Ahhh,” Esther exclaimed. “Better get going.”

“Wasn’t I planning to leave already in the first place,” she snapped. She hated it when people stated the obvious.

Her friends walked with her till she found a commercial motorcycle in front of the mall. Esther wasn’t leaving Zainab’s house yet. Climbing the motorcycle, she said a quiet prayer under her breath. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

…

When the motorcycle stopped in front of her close, she came down and drew out a 100 naira note from her pocket. She stretched her hand towards the rider.

“Na one pipty be my money,” the rider spoke in his heavy Hausa accent. Many of the okada riders were from Northern Nigeria and were known to interchange ‘f’ and ‘p’ when pronouncing words that contained them.

Tomini glared at the man. The fare from the mall to her close was normally 100 naira. Okada riders sometimes increased their fare when it was late in the evening. She hadn’t negotiated a price with him before she climbed the okada because she had been in a hurry.

“Which kyn one-fifty. I look like person wey you fit cheat?”

On a normal day, she would have relented and given the rider the fare he requested for peace’s sake. But she was already in a bad mood. She did not know where her sudden boldness came from.

“Hey anty na one-pipty I dey collect. No be shofrite I carry you?”

“If you no collect this money for my hand now…” The sound of her phone ringing interrupted her. She brought it out of her pocket to see that her mum was calling her. She put the phone back into her pocket and faced the okada rider. He was speaking in his native language. Her anger escalated.

“Abeg no curse me for your language. If you no wan collect the money I go dey go.”

She was tempted to reach out for the dark sunglasses that sat on his uncombed hair and break it. She stretched the 100 naira note towards him and he grudgingly collected it, still speaking in his language.  God knows what the man was saying!

She walked away and entered her close. Her house was the fourth house on the right. She was already in trouble so she might as well take her time in walking.  When she entered her compound, she walked past the gateman without greeting.

“Tomi, how you dey? This one wey you no greet me today.”

She halted her steps, turned and waved at him before walking into the house. The door was open. Her dad was on the couch; his legs sprawled out on a stool in front of him. He was watching a football match, but had turned when he heard the door open. She walked slowly towards him and greeted him, her heart racing faster than it had been earlier.

“Oluwatomini,” her dad said in a low voice. Oh God! Her dad called her full name. She was in more trouble than she had thought.

“Sir,”

“Where have you been?”

That was easy. She took in a breath as she watched her mum walk in from the kitchen. She sat on the couch that was beside her dad.

“I was in Esther’s house with Zainab and we went to the mall later on. Then, we went to Zainab’s house.” She was stuttering and she didn’t know why. Perhaps it was because she was scared.

Her dad removed his glasses and placed it on the arm of the chair. He removed his legs from the table.

“When did you start lying Tomini?” her dad asked. That was not what she was expecting to hear. She had thought he would scold her for coming back home a bit late, probably hurl harsh words at her and that would be all. Why did her dad think she was lying?  She couldn’t form any words in reply to his question.

“Am I not talking to you?” he raised his voice. “Àbí etí e ti di?(Or are you deaf?)”

“Tomi, answer your dad,” her mum said.

“Dad I’m not lying. After school, Zainab, Esther and I went to Esther’s house. There was no light, so we got bored and we decided to go the mall.”

She paused.

“Zainab’s house is not far from the mall so we went there and I swear I did not know when you were calling. I was charging my phone in Zainab’s room and we were in the parlour.” She didn’t want to cry but her tears were threatening to fall.

“You got bored,” her dad chuckled. “You got bored and you couldn’t read your books abi. Are you hearing yourself? Are you even reading for your JAMB? You think this is a joke? You want to waste my money. Foolish girl! When your mates are reading, you are gallivanting with boys!”

She was trying her best to hold in her tears.

“Dad I was with Zainab and Esther,” she tried to explain.

“If you were not with a boy doing God knows what, why didn’t you pick my calls?”

“Daddy remember I said that I was charging my phone in Zainab’s room and we were in the sitting room so I didn’t hear when you called. I’m sorry, sir.” Her voice broke and the tears she had been holding fell.

“You are telling me to remember.” He turned to face her mum, anger evident on his face. “See, your child is telling me to remember.”

Her mum let out a loud sigh. “Tomini, say the truth. Just say the truth.”

“Mum, I’m not lying,” she cried exasperated. Why did no one believe her?

“I would ask you for the last time, where were you Tomini?” her dad said

Her voice rose an octave. “Dad I’m not lying. I was with Zainab and Esther.”

Her dad stood up and walked towards her.

“Who are you shouting at?” he shouted in yoruba.

“Can you see your daughter?” He faced her mum. He was now standing right in front of Tomini. She felt like she was going to choke.

“Are you training this girl at all? I’m not keeping you at home for you to be painting your nails and watching TV all day. Cause that is all you do. Every day, I work hard to provide for this family. The only duty you have is to watch over this child and take care of my home. How is that hard?”

Her mum was silent as usual and her gaze was fixed on the wall.

“Tomini, kneel down there.” She obeyed immediately, keeping her head down.

“Dad, I’m sorry,” she said, hoping it would make him calm down a little. He ignored her statement.

“Now, give me your phone.” She handed it to him, hoping that he wouldn’t seize it.  She wondered what he was checking there. After a minute, he asked, “Who is Michael?”

“My classmate,” she answered, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“He’s your classmate. Then why did he call you ‘dear’ here?” He asked, looking down at her. Her body was trembling from fear. She opened her mouth to speak but the next thing she felt was a slap on her back. She winced and raised her head. It wasn’t very painful but his hand had made quite an impact.

Her dad walked to where her mum was sitting and handed her the phone.

“Can you see how your child is shamelessly flirting with a boy?” She saw her mum reading what she figured was her chat with Michael. Her dad retrieved the phone from her.

“Dad it’s pretty normal for someone to call you ‘dear’. There was nothing attached to it. I wasn’t even the one who said it; he was the one that said it to me.”

At this point she was frustrated. She felt the urge to walk out of the scene but that would only make matters worse. Her mum had not said anything in her defense. What was all this?!

“I’m sure that’s the boy you were with. It all makes sense. You must have followed him to wherever from school. You think you can come here and lie to us that you were with your friends blah blah blah. Look here I was not born yesterday. I’m going to call this stupid boy that thinks he can be messing around with my daughter. Yes!” This was unbelievable. Her dad believed her when she said he was her classmate but did not believe every other thing she had said.

She watched her dad as he put her phone to his ear. A few moments later, he was hurling insults and threatening Michael who was at the other end of the phone. Tears were streaming down her eyes now. Poor Michael had to be involved in her family drama. He must have felt confused and shocked. She hated her father at that moment.

…

She spent Sunday morning doing her laundry and cleaning her room. She also joined her mom in cleaning the entire house. Their house was a duplex so it was always a hard time cleaning from top to bottom. In the afternoon, she studied physics and Biology. Mock examinations were going to begin in the last week of November, so she had about a month and a couple of weeks to prepare for it. 

Her dad had not given her back her phone and this intensified her sadness. The previous night had been hell; hell she did not want to pass through again. She had been accused of what she hadn’t done. Her dad’s claims were irrational. Everything she had said was the truth. She had never done anything to make them doubt her so she wondered where her dad’s ideas sprang from. She had gone to bed without eating dinner, and had wept till she fell asleep. She wondered how she was going to face her classmate, Michael in school the next day. The whole situation was beyond embarrassing.  She would do her best to avoid him. That was the only thing she could think of.  But how long will she keep up with that?

Her dad stayed at home until evening, when he left to visit a friend. She joined her mother in the kitchen, helping her out with the cooking. She had only spoken a few words since morning and her mother had asked her a couple of times if she was okay. As if she could read her mind, her mother asked again.

“Mummy, I’m fine.”

“You’ve not eaten anything since yesterday. You must eat this night.”

She simply nodded in reply. If she spoke too much she’ll end up crying again.

She ate dinner alone in her room, even though her mum had tried to persuade her to eat in the sitting room with her. She only ate half of the Beans and plantain her mum served her.

Afterwards, she ironed her school uniform and polished her black shoes. She stuffed the books she would need the next day into her school bag and changed into her pajamas. As she laid in her bed that night, she cried again. She did not know how she was going to get through the next day.