As Cynthia stooped to pick the last cloth to spread
on the clothesline, she felt a sharp pain in her back region and shouted.
“What is it?” Mabel asked,
going close to her.
“My back o,” Cynthia said and leaned
on the wall of the building.
“What happened?”
“I just felt a very sharp
pain.”
“Which side?”
“My lower back.”
Cynthia managed
to point at the spot and Mabel touched it.
“It is not something very
serious.” Mabel told her. “I think it is just a strain,”
“I don’t think so o,” Cynthia
said. She tried to move and squirmed in pain.
“You need to relax. Let us go
back upstairs.”
“How will we manage?”
“I am definitely not carrying
you.”
“Why? Are you not my big
sister?”
“So that my own back will
break. Then who will carry two of us?”
They laughed.
Cynthia managed and stood straight, obviously in pains. She supported herself
with Mabel’s shoulder as they gently walked up the staircase.
“What about the buckets?” Cynthia
asked as they climbed the first flight of stairs.
“I will come down and get
them,” Mabel replied.
“Ok.”
They met Mama Risi coming down the staircase. They greeted
her.
“What is happening?” she asked them.
“Aunty I don’t know o,”
Cynthia said. “I just feel serious pain in my back.”
“I think it is just a strain,”
Mabel said. “Nothing more.”
“Is that why you are doing
like a woman in labour?” Mama Risi asked Cynthia.
“You will not understand what
kind of pain I am going through now,” Cynthia said.
“Let’s get you to the bed
first. Then you take a pain reliever for a start. You should feel better.”
“I can also massage her if
need be,” Mabel added.
Mama Risi helped
Mabel support Cynthia as they climbed the remaining stairs.
“We did not say you should
relax your whole weight on us,” Mama
Risi said. “We are not carrying you like a baby.”
“The day you will be in labour
there will be problem o,” Mabel said.
“You will not understand,”
Cynthia said. “I feel as though someone hit me with a hammer.”
“Sorry dear,” Mama Risi said.
They got her to
Mabel’s room and lay her on the bed. She lay in a way that eased the pain a
bit.
“Is the pain as before?” Mabel
asked her.
“Yes o.”
“Don’t worry,” Mama Risi said.
“You will be fine.”
She turned to Mabel and asked, “Do you have any pain
reliever here?”
“No o. The only bottle of
drugs here were for a different purpose.”
Cynthia kicked her mildly in a way that Mama Risi did
not notice.
“Let me check in my house
whether the ones I use are still remaining,” Mama Risi said and left.
“Why did you kick me?” Mabel
asked when Mama Risi left.
“You wanted to tell her you
have suicide drugs here?”
“How can I do that?”
“You were almost saying it, if
not for the kick.”
“I would not have said it.”
“Ok o.”
Mabel sat beside
Cynthia on the bed.
“Are you feeling the pain internally
or just on the outside?” She asked Cynthia.
“Both,” Cynthia replied.
“Which one is more?”
“I can’t really say.”
Cynthia tried to
sit up, felt the pain and lay back down.
“What are you trying to do?”
“I wanted to remove this top.
I am sweating.”
“Don’t bother removing your
top. Let me put on the Air Conditioner. I put it off before.”
“Ok.”
Mabel put on the
Air Conditioner.
“I have not felt this pain like
this before o,” Cynthia said.
“Oh this is not the first
time,” Mabel said.
“No. It happens once in a
while but it has not been as serious as this.”
“What do you usually do when
it happens?”
“Nothing.”
“I mean which drugs do you
take and feel better?”
“I don’t take any. I told you
it has not been this serious before. It just comes and goes.”
“It’s ok.”
They waited for
Mama Risi much longer than they expected. Mama Risi was taking time to come.
(...to be continued...)
Nedu Isaac
