SheWrites:
CHAPTER 1
Rukevwe packed a few clothes in the big black handbag. She was leaving school for home that weekend. She and her elder sister returned home twice every month to collect food stuff and allowance from their parents. She was a first-year student in the English department, while her sister was studying Mass Communication. She was in her third year.
“Are you going home?”
She glanced back at one of her roommates who laid on her bed and nodded her head.
“Yes, I am.”
“Please bring enough food stuff,” Adiza sat up. “I don’t know when my father will send me some money.”
Another roommate hissed and eyed Adiza. “When did Rukevwe turn to Father Christmas?” Uloma leaned against the wardrobe.
“Which one be your own, now? Was I talking to you?” Adiza looked the girl up and down and laid back on her bed.
Gbemisola, the fourth girl in the room, shook her head in wonder and continued loosening her hair. She was in no mood to join in the conversation. She was more concerned about the braids she had caried for three full months. She hoped her natural hair was still in good condition.
“Don’t worry. Whatever I bring, I will give you some,” Rukevwe smiled at Adiza.
“Thank you jare, my good friend”, she smiled back at Rukevwe and threw a quick glance at Uloma who hissed again.
Someone knocked and pushed the door open. A tall dark lady walked in, clad in a short sleeve lacy white blouse, complimented by a blue jean and a pair of white sneakers. A big red handbag was strapped to her smooth shoulders.
“Are you ready?” her eyes fell on Rukevwe.
She picked up her black bag and looked up at her elder sister. “Yes, I am.”
Ejiro sighed with relief and noticed her younger sister’s roommates staring at her. “Hello girls.”
“Hello,” they chorused.
“Shall we?” She turned her attention back to her sister.
Rukevwe nodded, got to her feet and followed her out of the room.
“I was able to plead with one of my course mates. He will drop us as far as Cele Bust-stop,” Ejiro sauntered down the hall way.
“Cool! It wouldn’t cost us much to get a bus to Yaba,” Rukevwe beamed.
“Exactly.”
They got to the stairs and climbed down.
“Eru told me that dad is travelling to the East on Monday morning.”
“Why?”
“His supplier refused to bring down his consignment to Lagos.”
“Nawa for all dis people sef,” Rukevwe groaned.
“Now, dad has to get his goods himself.”
“I once overheard him telling mum that his chemist shop is almost empty.”
“Do you know that he has paid this particular supplier?”
“Haba! I am beginning to suspect the man. I won’t be surprised if he has spent the money on other things?”
Ejiro grunted and shook her head. “Dad will skin him alive if he dares.”
“He is so in trouble.”
They walked out of Queen Latifat hostel and spotted Ejiro’s course mate. He was seated on the bonnet of his car, obviously waiting for them.
***
Itoro leaned over the table and began to cut the fabrics while her apprentices watched. She heard people talking outside the shop and raised her head when she recognized her children’s voices. Were they back from school? The voices got closer, then Rukevwe and Ejiro walked in with their handbags strapped on their shoulders.
“Mummy, good evening,” the girls chorused.
“Hey! See my omalicha, see my princesses.”
The girls giggled and smiled back at her.
“You two are here again to raid my kitchen, ba?”
“Haba! Mummy,” Rukewve folded her arms across her chest.
“If we don’t, who will?” Ejiro winked the woman.
“Oh really? See me see trouble o. Have you both seen your father?”
They shook their heads.
“His shop is locked,” Rukevwe rested her tired eyes on the fabrics on the table.
Itoro looked towards the window. “Maybe he is in the house.”
“He is probably preparing for his trip,” Ejiro pulled her younger sister by the elbow. “Come, let’s go."
Itoro watched them leave. Their three bedroomed flat was on the ground floor of a two-story building, opposite the building her shop was located. The proximity to home made her work easier. She sighed heavily and returned her attention to the fabric she was cutting.
When Rukevwe and Ejiro walked into their apartment they met their elder brothers in the sitting room watching soccer on the flat screen television.
“Good evening,” the girls said in unison.
“You people are back again,” Eru eyed his younger sisters.
“In our time, we don’t come home at every drop of the hat, you know?” Ochuko scratched an itchy spot on his elbow.
Rukevwe rolled her eyes.
“In your time, you were both so far away that we only see you like once in a blue moon,” Ejiro dropped her bag on a chair.
Rukevwe began to laugh.
“That was why I advised dad not to allow you two to choose schools close to home,” Ochuko faced his elder brother.
“Exactly, the constant raiding of mum’s kitchen and dad’s pockets are the results of schooling close to home,” Eru added.
“Abeg, abeg, leave that thing. It is our time, make we enjoy. Where is dad, sef?” Ejiro made her way out of the sitting room, pulling her bag after her.
“Don’t let your sister influence you,” Ochuko waved a finger at Rukevwe.
“Point taken,” she yawned out loud and headed for the room she shared with her sister.
Eru and Ochuko exchanged glances, shook their heads and returned their attention to the television screen.
***
She tossed and turned, rolled over and tossed around again. She grimaced, eyes shut, breathing heavily, lost in slumber land. Suddenly, she broke out in cold sweat and began to scream.
Ejiro woke up with a start with her heart pounding aggressively against her chest. She sat up and looked around the dark room. She sighted her younger sister at the edge of the bed, curled up in a ball and screaming her lungs out. She leapt towards the girl and shook her into wakefulness.
“Rukevwe, Rukevwe! Rukevwe! Wake up!”
She opened her eyes many seconds later and grabbed her sister’s hands.
“Are you okay?” Ejiro directed her worried gaze at her.
Rukevwe shook her head and began to cry.
“Hey… ssssh. It’s okay…” she drew her closer and wrapped her arms around her. “It is okay. It is just a nightmare.”
“No!” Rukevwe lifted her head, her glassy eyes met her sister’s tired ones. “It wasn’t a nightmare. It was real.”
Ejiro rolled her eyes and yawned.
“Where is daddy?” Rukevwe looked towards the closed door.
“In the room with mum.”
She leapt to her feet and jumped down from the bed.
“Rukevwe! Where are you going?”
She didn’t respond. She unlocked the door and dashed out, clad in her night wear.
Ejiro closed her opened mouth.
What’s wrong with that girl? She mused.
She contemplated whether to follow her or continue her beauty sleep. She had a feeling that her parents might call for her in any moment. She groaned inwardly and dragged her weight off the bed. And in slow tired steps, she walked out of the room.
Rukevwe went into her parents’ room without knocking. She switched on the bedside lamp and sat at the foot of the bed.
“Who in God’s name have the audacity to wake me up at this time?” His hoarse voice filled the room.
Itoro turned on her side, looked at her husband, then sat up when she noticed her youngest daughter. “Who else, but Rukevwe?”
The man pulled himself up to a sitting position. His red eyes sized her up, “What do you want?”
“Don’t go…”
He clenched his teeth and looked at his wife. He was losing his patience. “Rukevwe, what is it?” he glanced back at the girl. “For the love of God, what are you even doing here?”
“Daddy, don’t go,” her eyes became misty with unshed tears.
“Don’t go where? What nonsense are you blabbing?!” He glanced at the alarm clock. It was 2:30 am. “Look at the time for heaven sake!”
Itoro sighed heavily. She doubted if she would be able to sleep again.
Ejiro heard her father’s voice before she entered the room. “She had a nightmare,” she approached the bed.
“Nightmare?” The man hissed and faced his wife. “Are you the one who told them to come home?”
Itoro shook her head.
“These girls better remain in school henceforth until their holidays. I don’t want to see them in this house.”
Ejiro sat beside her sister and gave her head a push. “You see what you have caused?”
Rukevwe ignored her sister and faced her father. “If you go, you will encounter a bad accident.”
Silence filled the room. They all stared at her.
Itoro cleared her throat. “That is why, as Christians, we always commit our ways into God’s hands.”
“Exactly, our coming and going is safe proof,” he added and laid back on the bed.
“Go back to sleep, dear” her mother encouraged her.
“I can’t…” she whispered.
“Ejiro…” he glared at his older daughter, “… match your sister out of this room this minute!” his voice echoed through the walls.
Eru and Ochuko came in, clad in their boxers. They yawned and stretched out their arms.
Ejiro jumped to her feet. She didn’t want her father to transfer aggression at her. “Oya oya… sleeping beauty. Let’s go,” she pulled Rukevwe up to her feet.
“What’s the commotion about?” Eru looked around the room. While watching a movie with his brother, he heard his father shouting.
“Your sister had a nightmare,” Itoro turned to her first child.
Ochuko started to laugh. “Hey… wonders shall never end.”
“I know I heard someone screaming a while ago. I thought it was the movie we were watching,” Eru turned to Ochuko and scratched a spot on his head.
“Daddy…” Rukevwe directed her gaze at her angry father. “Please, don’t travel. It is not safe.”
Silence filled the room.
“Ejiro, what are you people still doing here?” he glared at her.
“Let’s go now!” She grabbed her sister by the shoulder and pushed the girl out of the room.
Eru and Ochuko followed behind them.
Rukewve walked into the room she shared with her sister and sat on the bed. She covered her face with her palms and started to cry. What she saw in the dream was so vivid and so real. She had a feeling that the danger was real. Her father was in danger!
“When you get dreams like that, you pray and cast and bind,” Eru advised her.
“Exactly,” Ochuko added and sat at the foot of the bed.
Ejiro felt sorry for her sister. She wasn’t a fan of nightmares. She sat beside her and pulled her close.
“I saw… I saw…”
“Sssh… it is okay. Whatever you saw, daddy will be fine,” she made an attempt to wipe the girl’s tears.
“If it will make you feel better, let us pray for daddy,” Eru joined them on the bed.
“There is nothing God cannot do,” Ochuko reached out for their hands.
“Oya, bring your hand,” Ejiro eyed her.
They all held hands and said a word of prayer for their father. They prayed against accidents on the journey that he was embarking on and committed his life into God’s hands.
Rukevwe felt a bit relieved, but deep within her, she still felt uneasy. Just getting started on this story. I'm halfway through Beauty and the Mechanic I love your flow  |