Chapter 5
It was the last week of October and Tomini’s dad was yet to give her back her phone. She couldn’t believe that she survived that long without her phone. It sounded silly but it was true. The first few days had been difficult. Social media had become almost like a basic necessity for her; she had become too attached and so the sudden withdrawal had had great effect on her.

Nevertheless, she had learned to cope with her new lifestyle. Study occupied her. She had home lessons Monday to Friday, and there was extension lesson on Saturday at school, too. She no longer thought of her phone often, and when the thought did seep in, her mood never dampened.

Sunday was her free day or was supposed to be. She no longer had the pleasure of sleeping in on Sunday mornings. The weekly chores that were formally done on Saturdays, she now did on Sundays because her Saturdays were now occupied with her extension lessons at school. Her mother grew tired easily now. She was nearing the end of her first trimester and now had a small bump. Most of the cleaning was now her responsibility and this heightened her stress level. As she couldn’t do thorough cleaning everyday because of school, the work piled up and she tackled them on Sundays.

It was another Sunday, another workday. Her mother usually cleaned the kitchen simultaneously while cooking, and that lessened the work she had to do in the kitchen. She only scrubbed the kitchen tiles and cleaned the plate rack. The sitting room was where most of the work lied. It was quite big. She swept and mopped the floor, cleaned picture frames and furniture, got rid of cobwebs. She washed the guest bathroom also. There was the staircase too, her dad’s study and the rooms upstairs.

By noon, she was nearly done. It was only her room and dad’s study she hadn’t cleaned. She took a break to eat some fried eggs and agege bread that she had asked their gateman to buy from a bread seller that morning. Quite a number of bread sellers hawked passed their house every morning. She cut the bread into half and put the fried eggs in-between the two halves. She made a chilled thick milo beverage and drank it while eating. This was the highlight of her day so far.

…

After her meal, she fell asleep on the sofa in the sitting room. There was no electricity and the heat caused her to sweat. She woke up at past two in the afternoon, and found her mother in the kitchen picking beans.

“Mummy, Good afternoon,” She greeted.

“Báwo ni, dear. Kú isé (How are you, dear. Well done). I purposely didn’t wake you up. Are you done with everything?”

“I’m not done, remaining daddy’s study and my room. But I just might skip cleaning my room today. Maybe anytime I’m free during the week, I’ll do that. I have Mr. Chuks' chemistry assignment to do, too. Ah!” She let out a sigh.

“I hope your teachers are teaching you well. I mean Chuks and what’s his name, the maths teacher.”

“Yes, mummy. You should see how high I’ve been scoring in my math past questions.”

Tomini was smiling as she spoke. “Me! A whole me! I can’t believe I’m doing so much better at math.”

“Thank God o. You see, your dad has your best interest at heart,” her mum spoke softly.

Tomini nodded as she leaned against the counter.

“That reminds me, we’re going for Aunty Deola’s baby’s naming. Did your dad tell you?”

“Today?” Tomini frowned. She was too tired to go out. All she wanted to do was have a cold shower and go back to sleep. She was exhausted.

“Yes. 4’o clock.”

“Ah mummy you should have told me since nau,” Tomini chastised, a bit angry.

“I thought your dad had told you.”

“Who’s the Aunty Deola sef?”

“Ah ahn, you don’t know Deola? Haba Tomini!“

“I don’t know her o.”

“Okay, do you know mummy Ibadan?”

Tomini was quiet for a while, trying to remember who Mummy Ibadan was.

“Is it that Mummy that usually sends food stuffs through Grandma, that you said you lived with while in University?”

“Yes. That’s mummy Ibadan. Deola is Mummy Ibadan’s senior sister’s daughter,” her mum explained.

“Basically her niece. How are you guys related?” Tomini inquired, very curious.

“Mummy Ibadan and your Grandma are from the same compound.”

Tomini shook her head as she laughed.
“I really don’t understand this compound thingy. At all at all.”

“Tomini, go and start getting ready. The naming is by 4 but we’ll leave before that. Boya 3:30, ehn?(Maybe 3:30, okay?) Your daddy will be back soon,” her mum said.

“Okay.”

She went upstairs to her room and had a cold shower. She had not had her bath since morning. After her shower, she went to her wardrobe to look for something suitable to wear. There was no time to waste, so she settled for the first Ankara gown she saw. It was a straight gown that stopped a few inches above her knee and had an off shoulder with bell-shaped sleeves. She placed it on her bed and went ahead to apply her body lotion. She usually ironed her clothes after washing and drying them but the dress had somehow gotten rumpled. Perhaps she should have hanged it instead. She wore a bubu over her underwear and went to the ironing board to press her gown quickly.

She did not bother with makeup, as she was conscious of her time. It was almost 3 o’clock already. After wearing her dress, she put on a pair of triangle shaped loop gold earrings and a matching chain. She wore her curly wig over her neatly plaited cornrows.  She wore a simple pair of black sandals and carried her small black purse. She stared at her reflection in the mirror and thought of taking a mirror selfie but then remembered that she had no phone. She was going to use her mum’s phone, she concluded. She was looking too pretty not to take a good picture.

She hurried out of her room in search of her mum. She knocked on her room’s door and entered after hearing her say ‘come in’; she ventured in and asked for her phone.

Back in her room she took several mirror selfies and normal selfies too. Perhaps she would post them when she got her phone back… if she got her phone back.

…

The naming ceremony had begun when they arrived at the venue. There were two small canopies set up side by side against each other and white plastic chairs were arranged under them. The first rows of seats were occupied, leaving most of the seats empty. There were only few people present.

Her parents sat side by side, and she sat beside her mum. Her mum left her seat soon after they had taken their seats, explaining that she wanted to go into the house to see how she could help with one or two things. She wasn’t so pleased about staying alone with her dad, and so she asked her mum if she could follow her in. As she trailed behind her mum, she noticed the new parents seated in the front row, dressed in traditional Yoruba attire; the man in buba and sokoto, and the new mother in buba and iro with a headgear tied on her head. An elderly woman who was also dressed in iro and buba sat beside the new mother, carrying the newborn in her arms. 

Tomini was eager to get to the food part. She did not care much for the baby’s names and the prayers that were now being rendered. The interior of the flat looked better than she had expected. The sitting room, which was the first thing she viewed as they entered, had plush black leather chairs and a glass centre table that was seated on a small centre rug. She noticed a plasma TV hung on the wall and she admired the colour of the curtains. There were six people in the living room, including the toddler that was playing with a car toy on the rug. Her mum walked towards an elderly woman who sat on a single sofa.

“Mummy, Énlé ma(Mummy, hello ma),” Her mum greeted going down on her knees. Tomini copied her actions and also greeted.

“Ah ah ah!” the woman exclaimed, adjusting the loose head tie that sat on her head. Tomini could see grey hairs peeking out.

“Busola, ìwo re. Báwo ni? Ó t'ójó méta.(Busola, this is you. How are you? It's been a while.)”

“Ojó kan pèlú (Indeed a while),” her mum replied.

“Báwo ni?(How are you?)” the woman asked. Her mum was still on her knees, so she remained in that position also. Her mum gave a reply, a smile on her face.

“Ah Dìde dìde omo mi!(Ah get up, get up my child!)”

Tomini’s mum stood and so did Tomini.

“Is this not my child?” the woman asked in Yoruba.

“Béèni ma (Yes,ma),” her mother replied smiling and tugged at Tomini’s hand, pushing her forward. Tomini knelt and greeted again , but this time she stood up immediately after the greeting.

“Do you know me?” the woman probed, smiling at Tomini. Tomini was surprised the woman could speak good English. It was a good thing she didn’t have to have this conversation in Yoruba. She could speak it quite well but was not very fluent and would rather speak English, especially because the woman might ask questions that required her to talk at length and give details.

“No, ma”

“You don’t remember me. Ah! I used to come to your grandma’s house when you were small like this.” The woman placed her hand close to the floor, as if to demonstrate how little she had been. Tomini gave an awkward smile and her mummy frowned.

“Tomini, you don’t know mummy Ibadan?”

Tomini’s eyes widened a bit in remembrance. She did know Mummy Ibadan, but it was by name only. Her mum and Grandma mentioned her severally, but there had never been a face to the name. How did her mum expect her to recognize someone she had probably seen last when she was a little child? She stared at Mummy Ibadan’s face. Her eyebrows were shaved and there was a thin line drawn with black eye pencil in place of her brows.

“Oh!” she said quietly. “I know her but I didn’t know she was the one.”

The elderly woman beckoned her to sit on the sofa beside hers and began asking her several questions. Tomini’s mum left her in the living room and ventured into the kitchen. Tomini wasn’t pleased and began to regret leaving the ceremony outside. She should have sucked it up and just stayed with her dad. It wasn’t like he was going to bite her head off.

…

Her mum was busy walking from place to place. When the naming ceremony ended, her mum came for her and they walked outside. She had had to stay with Mummy Ibadan for half an hour but it had felt longer than that. Outside, the number of guests had doubled. Tomini was not surprised; it was almost normal for Nigerians to come to an event very late. Apparently, the most of these guests must have been following the ‘African Time’, arriving when it was almost time for food to be served. Tomini shook her head at the thought.

Her mum introduced her to several people, she lost count. She was tired of kneeling and speaking in Yoruba, answering the same questions over and over again, but from different persons. She had hoped her pain would be worth it that perhaps a few people would gift her money but her hopes had been dashed. What good was their greeting if they couldn’t gift her some money? She was glad she had opted for sandals. Her feet would have been hurting from walking from place to place if she had worn heels.

After the greeting spree, she looked around for her dad. She found him where she had left him, talking to a man who occupied the seat next to him. She greeted them both, the other man first. There was no empty seat around so she stood leaning on the canopy’s pole.

“Go and check the back… Or walk around. You will find a seat,” her dad said.

She turned and walked towards the back searching for empty chairs on her way. She found none and there were no seats at the back, too. She grew irritated and contemplated going into the house to sit. She however walked back to where her dad was and returned to her former position.

“Daddy, there are no seats.”

Food was now being served. There were women carrying large trays containing plates of Jollof rice and fried rice and fried meat. Some were serving amala, ewedu and gbegiri. None of the servers had reached their side of the canopy. She would love to have some rice but how was she going to eat standing? It wouldn’t be comfortable.
She saw her mum walking towards them.

“Kilode?(What happened?) Tomini why aren’t you sitting?” She would have rolled her eyes if it was not her mum who asked the question. Wasn’t the answer obvious? Her mum spoke again, not waiting for her to reply.

“Have you eaten?” she asked them.

“They’ve not brought food here. We might have to leave soon. Let’s say thirty minutes. It’s 6 already. Tomorrow is Monday,” her dad replied.

“Okay. What do you want to eat?”

“Amala is okay,” her dad said, shrugging. He was looking intently at something on his phone.
“Tomini, what of you?”

“I have to find somewhere to sit first. I can’t eat on my feet”

“That’s not the question I asked you. Just follow me. You’ll sit inside.”

She walked behind her mum.
“Sit down,” her mum pointed to a vacant space on a three-seater when they got to the living room. There was a teenage boy sitting there. She sat down at the other end of the sofa leaving space sbetween them.

“What do you want to eat?” Her mum spoke quickly.

“Rice”

…

When they got home it was past nine pm. Her dad retired to his room while her mum lay on the sofa watching the news. She ironed her school uniform and packed her bag for the next day. In the morning, she found her dad at the dining table having a breakfast of bread, eggs, baked beans and sausages.  She greeted him and went into the kitchen to get her own breakfast. It seemed like her mum had made extra efforts in preparing breakfast.

“Good morning mummy.”

“Morning, dear. How was your night?”

“Fine”

“You’re early today,” her mum commented.

“I’m always early. Is it not just last week Monday that I woke up late? And that’s totally justifiable. The sleep was too sweet. You know how it is when it rains.”

Her mum served her breakfast and she set it on the counter, intending to eat in the kitchen.

“Tomini!” she heard her dad call.

“Sir” She strolled to the dining room leaving her food behind.

“Sir,” she repeated.

“Sit down. I want to have a talk with you.” She sat down on the chair next to him, thinking about her food in the kitchen.

“Daddy, let me get my food.”

When he said nothing, she stood and went to the kitchen to get her plate and placed it in front of her seat on the table.

“You’re starting Further Maths lessons tomorrow,” her dad said. Tomini’s eyebrows furrowed as she stared at her dad. Was he serious? Of course he was serious. He was always serious. Why did she need further maths lessons when she wasn’t offering the subject?

“Dad, I don’t do further maths.”

He chewed on his bread before speaking again. Tomini watched him.

“Well, you’re going to study engineering, so I think it’s best you start learning further maths now. Even if you don’t write it in WAEC you’ll need that knowledge. Although I’m even thinking you should register for it. I’ve not made a decision yet. It’s up to you to choose what kind of engineering you want, as far it is offered in Covenant.”

Tomini stared at the plate of food that she hadn’t touched. What was her dad saying? Was she hearing him well? Everyone knew she wanted to study Food, nutrition and dietetics, so why did he mention that she was going to study engineering? She had no interest whatsoever in the field.

“Daddy, what do you mean? I don’t understand. I’m applying for Food, Nutrition and Dietetics not Engineering. I think you’re getting it all wrong. I never mentioned Engineering.”

“I mean what I said,” He said in his authoritative tone. She hated when he spoke like that.

“Dad, I have no interest in Engineering. You know this. You never complained about my choice of course.”

“Look here, your new teacher will be coming tomorrow evening by 5:30 pm. Because you have a lot of catching up to do, she’ll be taking you three times a week for two hours each day. Make sure you buy new exercise notes, okay?” He was done with his meal and rose from his chair, adjusting his suit jacket.

She raised her head. “Dad, you can’t be serious!”

“My friend, will you shut up? You better watch your mouth.” He wagged his right index finger at her.

“It’s the best for you,” He continued.
“Food and Nutrition or whatever is a pretty good course but I’ve thought about how much more opportunities you’ll have if you do Engineering. I will help you find a very good job when you graduate, probably at an oil company. I know people who know people.”

Tomini’s elbows were on the table and her hands were pressed to her forehead.

“It’s not as if I’ll share the money with you when you start making it. You children nowadays just throw stupid tantrums. Who’s going to lose if you end up unemployed or working as a teacher or at a job that doesn’t pay well? What do Nutritionists and Dieticians even do? You better accept this with joy. It’s all for your own good. Or you think I make the money I make from following a dead passion?”

Tomini remained silent, trying to prevent her tears from falling. She did not want to cry here, perhaps later when he left. Her appetite was gone and all she wanted to do was flee this house. She had no choice. He gave her no choice. He hadn’t even asked her to consider it or think about changing her choice of study. He just dropped the bomb shell on her. She was already dreading the fact that she was going to study in Covenant, and now she was going to study a course she had no interest in.

“Make sure you think about the type of Engineering you want to study. Definitely, your interest will begin to grow when you start the course. Okay?”

“Yes, sir” she muttered. She watched him walk to the kitchen and come out almost immediately.  Tomini carried his used plate and her untouched food to the kitchen when he finally left. Her mum noticed her untouched food and frowned at her.

“Why didn’t you eat?”

“Mummy time has gone. I’ll eat Lunch in school.”

“My friend, you better eat that food right now. So you want to go to school on an empty stomach?”

“Mummy I’m not eating. I’m not hungry.”

“Is it because of what your dad told you?” her mum asked softly.

“Mummy, so you knew.” Tomini sniffed, fighting back her tears as they threatened to fall from her eyes.

“Of course, he told me about it and I heard your voices when you were talking. Tomini, your dad wants the best for you. Stop seeing all of his actions as if they are against you. Everything he’s doing, he’s doing for you. Why would he make you do something that won’t be beneficial to you? I don’t want you crying, okay? It’s for your own good. You may not understand it now.”

“Eat your food, so gbó?(Eat your food, you hear?)” her mum persuaded, taking her left hand and stroking the back of it.

Tomini sat on a stool by the kitchen island and placed her food on it. She took a bite of her sausage and chewed slowly. She would just eat a little so her mum will get off her back.

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