"Can you repeat what you just said?", Mama said. She was angry but her voice deceptively sounded soft. What did I say that sounded strange to my mother? I just could not comprehend...
"I said Tinu and I are engaged". Even my whole body felt the tremor that belied the words I just uttered.
"Daddy Lanre, se e gbo nkan ti omo yin so (can you hear what your son is saying)?". My Dad shifted in his favourite chair. He hated the silent storm that was brewing in our parlor and would have loved to have been elsewhere, judging from his uncomfortable scowl.
"Lanre, sit down" Daddy instructed and he gestured to his wife of twenty something years, twenty-eight or twenty-nine years actually.... Only God could have brought these two together and kept them for so long. I found it intriguing that they had this strange synchronised dance when they needed to chastise me or my siblings. They were like words and opposites judging from their characters individually but when they joined hands together to do something... ha, the outcome was usually devastating for their victims. Today, na me be the fish wey stray inside their pond.
The loud silence pushed through my inner musings. Daddy was looking at me the way a school principal looks at a brilliant student that just failed his test. I knew I was in for a great lecture today and I psychologically prepared myself the whole week before I came home. To cope with my job & Lagos traffic, I stayed with a friend, Debo, during the weekdays and came home over the weekends. If one wasn't careful, one could easily shorten his lifespan in the mad traffic along Lagos-Abeokuta expressway.
Daddy cleared his throat and asked "Who is Tinu?"
To convey how perplexed I was, my mouth hung slightly open with no sound emanating from my throat. I was dumbstruck. Kilode? Tinu was my younger sister's friend. They met in boarding school eons ago and somehow Tinu became a regular face in our house during the holidays when we were growing up. Even my parents had met hers when they had to collabo on taking the girls to school and for visiting days. Fastforward to adulthood, Tinu and I jammed each other last year at a training organised by her employer for my company's employees. One hook up led to another and since then we had been seeing each other exclusively. Though she did not surface at my house as often as before, she still came around with me about 3 weeks ago.
"E sir, you know Tinu, Lola's friend from secondary school. She visited some weeks back. Around Easter...."
My father's face showed no comprehension of my answer. I looked at Mama to try to decode if it was a joke or maybe my father had been having recent issues with his memory. Mama's face was raised towards the ceiling with her lips pouting in abject despair.
"She visited on Saturday that Arsenal played against ManU" I tried again. Abi which one is it this one again? I mentally scratched my head.
I started to say "Mr and Mrs John... " Daddy cut me off before I could start on her family tree. "Who is she? Is that a difficult question, Lanre? I know about her. I have seen her. Watched her visit your sister. But who is she? Tani Tinu n je? Or don't you know who she is?
E gba mi! Which kain jamb question is this?
"I said Tinu and I are engaged". Even my whole body felt the tremor that belied the words I just uttered.
"Daddy Lanre, se e gbo nkan ti omo yin so (can you hear what your son is saying)?". My Dad shifted in his favourite chair. He hated the silent storm that was brewing in our parlor and would have loved to have been elsewhere, judging from his uncomfortable scowl.
"Lanre, sit down" Daddy instructed and he gestured to his wife of twenty something years, twenty-eight or twenty-nine years actually.... Only God could have brought these two together and kept them for so long. I found it intriguing that they had this strange synchronised dance when they needed to chastise me or my siblings. They were like words and opposites judging from their characters individually but when they joined hands together to do something... ha, the outcome was usually devastating for their victims. Today, na me be the fish wey stray inside their pond.
The loud silence pushed through my inner musings. Daddy was looking at me the way a school principal looks at a brilliant student that just failed his test. I knew I was in for a great lecture today and I psychologically prepared myself the whole week before I came home. To cope with my job & Lagos traffic, I stayed with a friend, Debo, during the weekdays and came home over the weekends. If one wasn't careful, one could easily shorten his lifespan in the mad traffic along Lagos-Abeokuta expressway.
Daddy cleared his throat and asked "Who is Tinu?"
To convey how perplexed I was, my mouth hung slightly open with no sound emanating from my throat. I was dumbstruck. Kilode? Tinu was my younger sister's friend. They met in boarding school eons ago and somehow Tinu became a regular face in our house during the holidays when we were growing up. Even my parents had met hers when they had to collabo on taking the girls to school and for visiting days. Fastforward to adulthood, Tinu and I jammed each other last year at a training organised by her employer for my company's employees. One hook up led to another and since then we had been seeing each other exclusively. Though she did not surface at my house as often as before, she still came around with me about 3 weeks ago.
"E sir, you know Tinu, Lola's friend from secondary school. She visited some weeks back. Around Easter...."
My father's face showed no comprehension of my answer. I looked at Mama to try to decode if it was a joke or maybe my father had been having recent issues with his memory. Mama's face was raised towards the ceiling with her lips pouting in abject despair.
"She visited on Saturday that Arsenal played against ManU" I tried again. Abi which one is it this one again? I mentally scratched my head.
I started to say "Mr and Mrs John... " Daddy cut me off before I could start on her family tree. "Who is she? Is that a difficult question, Lanre? I know about her. I have seen her. Watched her visit your sister. But who is she? Tani Tinu n je? Or don't you know who she is?
E gba mi! Which kain jamb question is this?
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