They laughed and he left. They
went inside, only to perceive the smell of smoke everywhere.
“What is
burning?” their mother asked and rushed towards the kitchen.
“O my God!”
Cynthia exclaimed. “I was warming the remaining rice in the pot and forgot it.”
“You were
thinking about Chuka,” Mabel teased her.
“Mabel
please stop.”
“Don’t mind
your sister,” their mother said.
She
brought the pot of rice down from the stove and put out the stove.
“This one
is condemned,” their mother said.
“I will
still scoop the top and eat,” Cynthia said.
“No you
will not,” her mother replied and took the pot with a rag to upturn the content
into the bin. “Why will you eat what is burnt?”
Cynthia took the pot from her and
kept it.
“It is not
good to waste food,” she said.
“So why did
you let the rice burn?” Mabel said.
“Because I
was trying to put the generator on for you.”
“For me?”
“Yes na.”
“You are
funny.”
Their
mother opened the kitchen window very well so the smoke will diffuse.
“Make garri for all of us when the smoke goes out,” their mother told Cynthia and
left the kitchen.
“Ok,”
Cynthia answered.
“Don’t
worry I will do it,” Mabel said.
“I will help
you. Let’s do it together.”
Mabel
boiled water and made the garri while Cynthia dished the soup. They ate in the
parlour.
“Now you
are eating garri,” their mother said. “What will happen to the burnt rice?”
“I will eat
it tomorrow morning,” Cynthia replied.
“As burnt
as it is?”
“It is not
as bad as you think.”
“Ok o. Let it
not cause stomach problems for you o.”
“Don’t
worry.”
They
had a rough upbringing and somehow the culture of non-wastage stuck on Cynthia
more than others.
When
they were done eating, Cynthia packed the plates and washed them while Mabel
went into the room she shared with Cynthia to change into something simpler to
wear. She did and joined her mum in the parlour.
“Is it time
to put on the generator?” Cynthia asked their mother when she was done washing.
“No o,”
their mother replied. “Put it on when it will last into the night so we can
sleep with it.”
“There is
no need waiting o,” Mabel said. “Moreover, it is not good to allow the
generator go off on its own. Dirt will enter the engine.”
“But it is
still too early to put it on,” their mother insisted.
“Ok. Let us
wait until 7pm.”
“I am
thinking of 9pm sef.”
“9 what?”
Mabel exclaimed.
“pm,” their
mother said, laughing.
“No o”
Cynthia’s phone made a ‘battery
low’ sound.
“Ahh my phone is down o,” she said. “I
have to charge it.”
“Mummy
there is no point waiting till the 7pm sef,”
Mabel said. “I am going to put it on now.”
“Ok o.”
Mabel
went to the backyard where the generator was. Cynthia followed her. They put on
the generator and came back into the house and plugged their phones to charge.
They spent the night gisting and
watching some home videos Cynthia borrowed.
“You see
why I don’t like watching these kind of movies,” Mabel said when one movie
finished. “You can tell how the
movie will end.”
“I like
them like that,” her mother said.
“You should
be watching better things.”
“It is just
home video and news that we watch here o,” Cynthia said. “We need cable.”
“Which
cable,” their mother said. “We need to be watching local news to know what is
happening around us.”
“That is
why you have a radio,” Cynthia said as she brought out the movie that just
finished. “Should I put another one?”
“Check any
of the local TV stations,” her mum replied. “Let’s watch news.”
“Ooohm,”
Cynthia lamented and searched the local stations. She left the one where it was
their news time.
Mabel
took her phone from where she was charging it and checked the messages she had
gotten while it was charging. She read them and replied the ones she needed to.
When she was done, she surfed the internet. Cynthia watched the news with her
mother, enduring the commentary her mother was running after each story.
“Mummy,
just watch the news,” she said. “All these things you are saying, these
politicians are not hearing you.”
“Leave me,”
her mother said. “I must speak my mind. Things must change in this state.”
“You want
to change the world from inside your parlour. Take megaphone and go to
government house and shout your opinion.”
They
laughed.
“Yeye girl,” their mother said.
When
the news was over, Cynthia put another movie and they watched for a while.
“It is
getting late,” Mabel said. “I should go to bed.”
“We will
pray together before we sleep.”
They
put off the TV and prayed together. Then Mabel went into the room she always
shared with Cynthia, their mother went into her room while Cynthia stayed back
in the parlour to finish the movie.
“Wash the
plates before you sleep,” Cynthia’s mother told her as she left the sitting
room.
“I have
done that na.”
“Don’t fail
to put off the generator.”
“I will.”
“Ehe
Cynthia.”
Her mother came back into the
parlour
“Oooohm,” Cythia lamented. What do you
want to tell me to do again?”
“Nothing.
Never mind. Goodnight.”
She
went into her room.
“Goodnight
ma,” Cynthia said and lay on the couch.
Mabel
thought she had overcome the pain of the heartbreak but that night, it surfaced
again.
(...to be continued...)
Nedu Isaac
For the continuation, click here
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