Donald sat with his friend and listened to him with rapt attention.But he paused when he saw a lady sitting beside them, alone. He gave Donald a sign, pointing out that she looked beautiful and he would convince her to join them in a jiffy.Donald didn’t argue with him and said he had mastered how to persuade a girl…that he was the one that taught him. They laughed and made more jokes. “Hi, Pretty. I am Stan”“Ella”“Ella. You look sweet”“Thank you” “Uh. You came alone?”“Yeah”“Can I introduce you to my friend?”“I came alone because I wish to be left alone”“I am invading your privacy?”“You said so”Stan thought of the next thing to say that wouldn’t sound stupid. She looked very smart and one had to choose one’s words with care. “Stan, what can I do for you?” she said after waiting for him to utter his intention. “Many things”“Like?”“Your company,” he smiled. “Did you know why I am here?” she said. “Not at all”“Because I don’t need any company,” she said. “Oh. You don’
Ben heard a sound on the door and listened again. This time more carefully. The person knocked the second time. He wasn’t expecting a visitor this Sunday morning. And no one had visited him before on Sunday morning if he could remember. People went to church at this time and there was nobody he could imagine behind the door; oh, he just remembered, he could imagine his neigbour knocking on the door. She just packed in a few days ago, and to his surprise, they had been tagging along. Unlike before, he didn’t have time for women and would find it difficult to make friends with them. After some pressure from his family regarding marriage, he decided to be less focused on his job and have more time for life and its pleasures. But he should be the one to find this treasure, not the other way around. Ever since this lad parked in, she had been looking for his trouble. Wearing skimpy clothes around as if she was intending to seduce him. And he wouldn’t be surprised if she was the one
Emelda made a new hair and looked very much different. She was walking with unusual confidence. Now and then, she looked at herself from toe to chest as though she was going for a beauty pageant and needed to validate herself before anybody else. She fixed long nails, something she rarely did; was it why she didn’t feel comfortable wearing it? As she walked down the market, she would always look at her nails and feel it didn’t just synch with every other opulent fitting in her body. Ben, Obinna or Donald would be wowed to see her new look and she could imagine them shower her some compliments and she would smile and do inyanga for them. She had done it intentionally, at least to attract more eyeballs on herself. For it was the desire of every woman, most women she would rather say, to look attractive and be able to get attention, men’s attention. This new look, she thought, she overdid it. Even her boss would not recognize her for she looked less simple than she ever did. Deep
Emelda ran into an old friend and was amazed at him. He looked younger than even when they were in College. Had he always looked like this? She was battling with this thought when the young man said “How are your children and hubby too?” Her spirit suddenly became dampened and she could not find the right words to answer him. Whatever that made him think she was married, she could not tell. The thought that she was aging or looking older enveloped her psyche and for the first time this week, perhaps, she faked the most tactical smile and said “Michael, we are getting married soon” “I am so sorry, Eme,” he looked remorseful as the sinner who was going to confess his heinous sin before a priest. She told him there was nothing to be apologetic about before asking him too if he had married. “Not at all,” he said. Emelda traced a drop of enthusiasm in his tone but could not see. What she saw instead was a tired bachelor parading the town with his car and the big boy title; she saw a
Emelda was having a good time with her younger sister when Donald badged in with bunched brow. When he saw her with Favour, he tried to control his temper not to utter anything obnoxious until later.But Emelda was already alarmed. She got up immediately and approached him. Held his hand and asked what was wrong. He said nothing and smiled wryly. Turning back to leave as soon as he had come, he said they would talk later. But on reaching the door, he paused and turned back; Emelda was standing, speechless, staring at him.“Why can’t you admit that you like him?” Donald said finally without intending to. He looked at Favour instead of her as though he was reporting her to the sister. He wanted to see the shock Favour would express in learning that her sister cheated on him.But all Favour saw was someone who would agree that her sister was a cheat and should be punished severely for that. Favour wasn’t moved; he would repeat himself several times and she would still not be shaken.Why
When Emelda entered the line that demarcated her village from the other, she knew it was time to brace up for greetings. One reason she had told the Okadaman to drop her at her father’s compound. Not before, not after. But straight to her father’s abode. The Okadaman refused. And watched her eyes sag in frustration. He could see the loads she would carry all by herself. He looked at her and looked at the load, and urged her to carry them as they were only a few clothes in the luggage. What of those older women that carried heavier loads on their heads? Were they stronger than her? He turned his engine on to leave but stopped to hear her last words. Again. She implored him and promised to pay him better but he still refused, saying that the road was bad and the wheel of his motorcycle was shaky and blah blah blah. Emelda wondered why he had said that. Did he think she would believe him? He just didn’t want to drop her at her destination. She might believe the road was bad, anyway, b
“How long would this leave last?” Papa asked, while sharpening his cutlass against a nearby stone. The scrape of metal against stone produced tiny sparks that flickered briefly before they disappeared. “Seven days, Papa,” Emelda said, while washing her face. The dawn was cold and Emelda was almost freezing; it was the kind of weather that pushed her to drink tea whether she wanted it or not. But she was not in town and was contemplating going out to buy one. She could see why the cold was more intense in their compound. There were trees and flowers in and outside their compound. The orange tree in the middle, the seed so close to the ground that one could pluck it without even jumping. The mango tree at the entrance, so tall that children preferred to stone it instead of climbing it, and the hedges before their corridor, rarely trimmed by Papa. And she could feel the air oozing out from them. Sometimes, she heard the crispy noise of some leaves as they fell. “Okay. That means w
Emelda was disordered; she was not focused. At all. Since Ben left her office, she had been deeply remorseful for what she had done. Was her sanity still intact? She was asking herself. The other day she had left very early on Sunday morning to see Ben. And she knew what she wanted. She saw the surprise on his face when she entered his room as if being pursued by an unknown spirit, and in a twinkle of an eye started smooching him. The pleasure was interrupted though; they couldn’t finish what they started. And she was full of guilt thereafter. She had left home that day full of regrets. The memories were incomplete but she could still remember that it didn’t stop there. Something happened some days after. It took place at her home and it was the day Ben visited. She just didn’t plan for it. But how long would she have endured? It was all her fault, or was it Donald’s? She didn’t know whom to blame. She had restricted him from touching her since he hadn’t paid for her bride price