The Blue House S01 E09

“On the other hand I quite understand your predicament because Banke told us your finances are unstable because you just got married. She is a little worried but I’ve told her that it will be alright because I know you’re not a lazy man. You have to understand that you married a girl who has known nothing but wealth so deal wisely with her. It’s not everything you tell a woman. Anyway back to the matter, that plan of yours will not work. This is my first granddaughter, all my important friends and acquaintances will be present and I’m sure you know what you have planned will be very unsuitable for them. This is what we will do, let me know how much a befitting ceremony will cost then come to my office tomorrow and I’ll give you a cheque or drop it with my secretary.”
“Er… sir that won’t be nece…” Kunle was saying.
“Don’t worry” Banke’s father laughed “It’s a gift not a loan”
“Thank you sir… But sir….” Kunle tried again
“So, come around tomorrow” he said and hung up.
Looking at the cheque again Kunle tried to remember the last time he had collected money from his own father for anything. He couldn’t remember. He sighed feeling out of control and very angry with Banke.
**********
Peace missed her family terribly but she had also come to accept that living with the Afebioyes wasn’t bad at all. The madam was nice, at least most of the time, she ate very good food, she had new clothes and shoes, she was going to a better school and most of all she had a boyfriend- at least she liked to think so. That first night when he had seen her panties, she had been unaware of her sitting position but when she saw the effect she had on him she decided it was a mistake she would repeat more often.
He spoke nicely to her and wasn’t mean to her like Joke was. The brat! She couldn’t understand why the girl always antagonized her but she became irrelevant when Ayodele looked her way and smiled. She was the same age as he but she looked older, she was slightly plump and her adolescent body had begun to blossom. She was in the boys’ room now, sweeping out all the smuggled food from under the bed. The door suddenly burst open, and she jumped up from under the bed in alarm.
“Oh Ayodele it’s you!” she said holding her chest
“Yes…did I scare you?” he asked laughing, throwing his backpack on the bed.
“Yes now!” She replied trying to keep a straight face.
“Sorry” he said staring at her.
“I will tell Mummy that you and Posi bring food into your room. See everything…bones, biscuit, rice, beans, bread.” She said mischievously.
“I know you won’t tell her!”
“You think I’m joking!” she said seriously
“Oya don’t tell her now. Okay if I hug you will you tell her?”
Peace stared at Ayodele trying to decide if he was teasing her or if he was serious. Her silence made Ayodele think his offer wasn’t good enough so he said:
“Okay should I kiss you?”
Again Peace was silent but this time she spoke up. “Small boy! Can you kiss?” she asked tauntingly.
“Is it because I’m quiet at home? I’m not a small boy at all!” Ayodele said confidently moving towards her. “And I can prove it” he said and kissed her.
It was awkward at first but Peace kissed him back and then she dropped the broom.
**********
The baby was cooing in her grandmother’s arms while Banke watched TV. She was glad to be home and away from the dull and serious environment of the hospital.
“Where is Kunle?” her mother asked
“I don’t know, he should be in our room” Banke said thinking that he had been unusually quiet all day.
There was a knock on the door. Banke got up to open it, it was Ronke and her maid Peace holding a basket of fruits.
“Good evening. Congratulations o!”
“Thank you…” Banke said warmly letting them in, she and Ronke had gotten along in their own peculiar way.
“This is my mother, Mummy this is my neighbour. She lives upstairs.” Banke said introducing the women.
“You’re welcome!”
“Congratulations ma!”
“Thank you! And may we celebrate such in your home too!” Banke’s mother replied
Banke laughed “Ah! She‘s not a young girl like me o! She has three children already, her first child is a teenager.”
“Really?” Banke’s mother said surprised observing Ronke’s slim stature.
“Yes ma” Ronke replied obviously pleased that she was considered younger than her age.
**********
They were on their way back upstairs when Ronke remembered Banke’s mother’s prayer and compliment and she smiled. She had always had a wonderful stature, people had said she would get fatter with time but she was thirty-nine now and she was still as slim as she was when she was twenty five. Her stomach rumbled and she remembered she hadn’t eaten.
She looked at Peace thinking that the girl was putting on weight. Iya Ibeji would be happy that she was being well taken care of. Then she realized she had never asked the girl if she had started menstruating. In the light of all this baby talk she needed to be sure that all was well within her household.
**********
Effiong lay on the bed rubbing his eyes, it had been a long but productive day. He made a mental note of the things he needed to do tomorrow when his phone beeped. He reached for it as Olayinka got out of the bathroom, he tore his eyes away from her and unlocked his phone. It was a text message from an unknown number.