Mabel went into the room to get the cloth she would
wear ready, while Cynthia and her friends gisted
in the parlour. All of a sudden, Cynthia began to cough.
Mabel rushed into
the parlour.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I wrongly swallowed saliva,”
Cynthia managed to say.
Kate got water
for her from the refrigerator. She sat up and drank. When she stopped coughing,
she lay back down.
“Maybe you should sit for a
while,” Mabel told her.
“Don’t worry about me,”
Cynthia said. “I will be fine. The coughing has stopped.”
“Ok.”
Mabel went back
to the room while Cynthia and her friends continued gisting. When she was ready to leave, Mabel dressed up and came out
to the parlour.
“Are you going now?” Cynthia
asked her.
“Yes,” she replied. “I will be
back as soon as possible. Dinma and Kate will take care of you.”
Cynthia’s phone
rang and she checked who was calling.
“It’s mum calling,” she said
to Mabel.
“Pick the call and know why
she is calling,” Mabel said.
Cynthia answered the call. Her mum was calling to
find out how she was and the situation of things at home. She asked who and who
were in the house with her and Cynthia told her that her friends came. She also
told her that Mabel was about leaving.
“To where?” they all heard her
mother ask.
“Give me the phone,” Mabel said to Cynthia and
took the phone from her.
She explained to her mother that she needed to go to
her house and get some things. Her mother told her she would come back from
work early and asked her to wait till she came back but Mabel said she really
needed to go so she could finish all she wanted to do. She reassured her mother
that Cynthia’s friends would take care of her. When they were done talking, her
mother hung up.
“Does mummy think I am still a
small girl?” Cynthia said.
“You are not feeling well na,”
Chidinma told her. “So it is normal for her to be worried.”
“I will be back soon,” Mabel
told Cynthia.
“Do I have afternoon drugs?”
Cynthia asked.
“Yes you do. I should be back
before then.”
“Even if you are not back by
then, I can take them myself.”
“Or let me just bring them out
for you now, just in case.”
“Don’t bother yourself. I can
interpret the dosage written on them. So I know which ones are for afternoon.”
“Ok. We will see later.”
Mabel left the house and Cynthia continued gisting with her friends. Mabel got to
the main road and got a cab straight to her house. In her compound, she met
some of her neighbours and exchanged pleasantries. Most of them asked her about
her sister. She just told them her sister was fine.
‘Who told them about Cynthia?’
she wondered. ‘It must have been Mama Risi.’
She got to her door and looked around for any mail
left for her. She did not see any, so she opened the door and went in. Her room
was looking dusty so she dropped her bag and went into clean up. She swept,
mopped the floor and cleaned the tables and chairs. As she was still cleaning
and arranging, she heard a knock on the door. With the back of her left hand,
she wiped sweat from her brow and answered the door. It was mama Risi.
“Good afternoon Mama Risi.”
“Afternoon dear,” Mama Risi
answered. “How are you?”
“I am fine?”
“How did you know I am
around?”
“My son told me he saw you. I
didn’t believe him because I checked on you severally yesterday and this
morning but you were not around. Then I heard you sweeping so I decided to
check on you again.”
“Ok. How are your children?”
“They are fine my dear. How is
Cynthia?”
“She is getting better.”
“What did the doctor say is
wrong with her?”
“He said it was just muscle
and nerve pain as a result of bad posture.”
“Thank God it is not something
serious.”
“Yes o.”
“He gave her other drugs
right?”
“Yes. She is also getting
regular massage.”
“Did you come with her?”
“No. I don’t want to stress
her. She is resting in the house.”
“Ok.”
“I just came to clean up and then
pick up some things.”
Mama Risi looked around for a while and said, “Ehe,
some people came looking for you yesterday.”
“Did they drop any notes?”
Mabel asked.
“No.”
“Did they tell you their
names?”
“No. They said they’ll call
you.”
Mabel asked her
to describe them and she did. One of the descriptions fitted Coker.
“Ok they called me on phone yesterday,”
Mabel said.
“Ok,” Mama Risi said.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Let me go and
continue with my cooking.”
“Thanks for checking on me.”
“I will send Risi to come and
help you finish the clean up.”
“No. Don’t bother the girl. I
am almost done.”
“She is not busy doing
anything now. She will come and help you.”
“Ok oo.”
Mama Risi left
the room.
Mabel brought her phone and checked the calls she
received and those she missed the previous day. None was from Coker. She
checked the messages also. None was from Coker.
“Why didn’t Coker call or send
SMS?” she asked rhetorically.
She dropped her
phone and continued with the clean up. Risi soon came, greeted her and stood by
the door.
“Come in dear,” Mabel told
her.
“My mummy said you need help,”
Risi said.
Mabel smiled and
said, “I told your mummy not to bother. I can handle it.”
“But I can help you clean up
faster.”
“Ok. Which one will you help
me do now?”
“Let me pack the trash.”
“I have already done that.”
“Have you sent them
downstairs?”
“No.”
“Let me do that then.”
“You can’t be carrying trash
for me na. What will people say when they see you?”
“So what do you want me to do?
I can’t stand here and be looking at you.”
“Help me arrange the things I
scattered on the table while cleaning.”
Risi set to work
immediately. She helped Mabel do the much she could. Soon, they were done with
the clean up.
“What about the trash?” Risi
asked Mabel. “You will not take it downstairs?”
“I will do that later,” Mabel
replied. “It is not much.”
“Ok.”
They stood for
some seconds surveying their work.
“Your room is fine o,” Risi
told Mabel.
“Thank you,” Mabel replied. “What
do you want to eat?”
“Anything you have.”
Mabel thought for a while. Then she checked her
groceries cupboard.
“I don’t have any snacks,” she
said.
Risi looked over
Mabel’s shoulder in search of something that would interest her in the cupboard.
“Do you want to eat noodle?”
Mabel asked her.
“I like noodles,” Risi
answered with her face lit up. “Can I cook it?”
“Do you know how to cook
noodles?” Mabel asked her, surprised.
“Yes, but my mummy doesn’t
allow me cook it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes aunty.”
“Ok. I will allow you cook it
so you can learn ok.”
“Ok aunty.”
“But you will wait, let me
shower first.”
“Ok aunty. Where can I wash my
hand?”
Mabel took her to
the bathroom and helped her wash her hand, and then Risi sat on a chair and
waited. Mabel rushed a bath. Then she went to the kitchen.
“Risi come,” she called.
Risi met her in
the kitchen. She lit the stove and brought out a small pot.
“Aunty is your gas cooker not
working?” Risi asked.
“It is working but I can’t
allow you use it so you don’t burn yourself,” Mabel said.
“Ok.”
Mabel stood there and watched Risi as she cooked the
noodles. She told her what to do from time to time. When it was ready, Mabel helped
Risi dish it.
“Aunty I told you I can cook,”
she told Mabel, excited.
“I was telling you what to do,”
Mabel said, laughing.
“It is not even hard sef.”
“Cooking is not hard, as long
as you know what to do and you are careful not to pour hot water or hot oil on
yourself.”
They went to the
room with the plates of food. As Mabel ate, she dialed Cynthia. Cynthia picked
and put her up to speed on happenings in the house. There was no challenge.
Mabel hung up when she was done with the call.
“Risi!” they heard her mother
call.
“I am coming!” Risi shouted.
“Finish up and go answer your
mummy,” Mabel told her.
Risi rushed her
food, thanked Mabel, kept her plate in the kitchen and left.
“I will come back to wash the
plates and pot,” she said as she left. “Let me answer my mummy first.”
“Don’t bother about it. I will
wash them.”
Risi left and
Mabel locked the door behind her.
(...to be continued)
Nedu Isaac
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