Her mother got up, locked the door and went towards
the room.
“Are you going to sleep?”
Mabel asked her.
“No,” her mother replied. “Let
me check on Cynthia.”
“We have not finished
discussing o.”
“About?”
“About finding a solution to
the issue at hand.”
“Ok. I am coming out
immediately.”
She checked
Cynthia who was still fast asleep, killed a mosquito on her body as softly as
she could so as not to wake her up, and then went to the kitchen. She dished
food and went back to the sitting room to eat.
“You have not yet eaten?”
Mabel asked her.
“No,” she replied.
“So you are still doing this
thing you always do.”
“What is it?”
“You don’t eat until we have eaten.”
“Yes o. You girls come first.”
“When you checked Cynthia, did
you touch her body?”
“Yes.”
“Is her body hot?”
“Like fever hot?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t think so but I am not
very sure.”
“Let me check.”
Mabel went into
the room, touched Cynthia’s body and came back.
“Her body temperature is
normal,” she told her mum. “She is not having fever.”
“She can’t have fever after
taking the drugs,” her mother said.
“She was sweating. I just
opened the window a bit.”
“Ok. Hope the net is still
intact?”
“Yes I made sure of that.”
Mabel checked her
phone. It had charged enough to be put on, so she put it on. As soon as the
phone came on, she received several text messages. Most of them were
unsolicited bulk messages.
“All these messages from these
four and five digit numbers sef,” she said still standing. “Who told them I am
interested in what they are saying?”
“My dear I thought it was just
me that receives those messages o,” her mother said.
“It’s not only you.”
“How did they get our
numbers?”
“I don’t know for them o.”
“It is annoying.”
“When you are expecting text
messages like credit alerts, you will be getting messages to subscribe for one
thing or the other.”
“I heard there is a way to
stop them.”
“I heard too but I have not
tried it yet.”
Mabel deleted them
and then read the messages from people she knew. She stood for a while replying
the messages.
“You will not allow the phone
to charge now there is light,” her mother said.
“Let me reply the messages now
I have the time,” Mabel replied.
“Then sit down and do it.”
“I am almost done.”
When Mabel was
through, she sat beside her mother.
“You have not yet finished
your food.” she said.
“What am I rushing it for?”
her mother replied. “Is there any competition going on?”
They laughed.
“No competition, but it is not
good to eat late at night.”
“I am not looking for slim
tummy o. That one is for young ladies like you. At my age, nobody is looking at
me.”
“Is not about slim tummy o,”
Mabel said laughing. “It is not healthy to eat late. You eat early so your body
system can digest it so as you are sleeping, your body is also resting from all
the work.”
“I know about that but I can’t
help it sometimes. Sometimes I don’t have appetite for food. I just eat so I
won’t eat in the dream.”
“Too much thinking causes loss
of appetite.”
“Is not thinking o. I resolved
long ago to live a joyful life. Especially, after the last blood pressure
attack.”
“You are right.”
“And you girls are not living
lives that will make me think. You make me proud.”
“Awww.”
Mabel hugged her
mother.
“So it has nothing to do with
thinking at all,” her mother said.
“Ok.”
Her mother ate
the last spoon of rice remaining in the plate and dropped the plate on the
center table.
“So, about the issue we were
discussing yesterday,” Her mother said.
“Hold on,” Mabel said. “Let me
return the plate in the kitchen.”
“Help me get some fruits from
the fridge first.”
Mabel went to the
fridge and brought out two peeled oranges. She also poured drinking water in a
cup for her mother.
“Let me get knife for you in
the kitchen,” she said.
“For what?” her mother asked.
“To cut the orange.”
“What happened to my teeth? Don’t
worry, I will use my teeth.”
“Mummy, you have refused to
upgrade o.”
“Old school is the main
school.”
They laughed. Her
mother cut the orange with her teeth, sucked the juice and ate the flesh. When
she was done, she dropped the waste in the plate and drank the cup of water
Mabel had poured for her.
“Back to what we were
discussing,” she said Mabel, relaxing on the couch.
They suddenly
heard noise in the room.
(...to be continued...)
Nedu Isaac
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