Maraa - Season 1 - Episode 5

5 years ago

Maraa - Season 1 - Episode 5

I thought I still had fish in this house o!
As I bent down to rack my wooden cupboard for more pieces of dry fish to complete my Egusi soup, I felt a very sharp pain in my tummy.
“Jesus!” I exclaimed suddenly as I quickly drew a stool nearer and sat down.
What pain was that now, ehn?

I had read in one ancient book that had survived the test of time with me since secondary school- “Where there is no doctor” that whenever a pregnant woman feels any sharp pain in her tummy, she should see her doctor as it could mean a lot of things.

My eyes were so swollen as if they would jump out of their sockets!
My headache was very great!
What could be wrong with me?
Or was it the stress of the day?

The stress of knowing that I was pregnant after three sets of twins with my fate unknown as regards what my husband’s reaction to the news would be?

Or was it the embarrassment of seeing my baby boys on the Almajiri mat, singing beggars’ songs?

Or was it the stress I had undergone in transferring my anger on Taiwo?
I shook my head in sadness.

After I had seen what I saw at the market, not knowing what to do, I acted a very wise woman and smiled at my neighbor who only got bothered.

She looked scared when I smiled and even more scared when I patted her shoulder and spoke patiently.

“Thank you. Let’s go home”
She looked into my eyes again to be sure that I was very okay ‘upstairs’
“Did you know about the whole thing before?” she had asked me and I could only shake my head in the negative.

“Let’s go” I said calmly again, smiling
She turned the ignition key and there was a very thick silence in the car as went home.
“You sure you would be okay?” she asked as I alighted from her car.

“Yes. Thanks, I am grateful” I said as I walked towards the wooden door.

These children didn’t lock the padlock again, ehn!

“Mama, sanu da zoa” Taiwo, one of the eldest twins said from behind me and I turned to look back at her.

She was coming from the shop, a wrapper tied round her slim waist.

Her eyes were very red
“Is it firewood you are using?” I asked and she nodded

“The coal has finished, so I just broke the faulty stool that was in the backyard and used it to fry the chinchin” She explained and I nodded.

She was the most industrious of my children.
“Where is Kehinde?” I asked and she hit the back of her right palm in the hollow of her left palm

“I don’t know o” she said and I turned to move inside.

“What about Bola and Tola?” I asked again.
The second set of my twins could do nothing better than read.

They could read just anything so they must have gone to find something to read somewhere.
I could not afford to buy them books
“What about James and John?” I asked, trying to see if she knew about my boys’ whereabouts
She turned back to look at the shop, then she fumbled with her wrapper
“I don’t know o” she said again, hitting the back of her right palm in the hollow of her left palm again.

“You don’t know where they went to?” I asked again
“I swear to God Almighty, I don’t know” she said again, her index finger travelling from her lips to pointing to the sky.

That gave me the sure answer.
She knew about it!
Whenever my Taiwo swore, it was because she was trying to cover up some lies
“Is my shop locked?” I asked again
“Yes ma” she replied, swinging her right hand
She didn’t know what was awaiting her.
“Come inside” I said calmly again and she followed me inside the house.

I locked the door from behind and pulled her inside the room.

Despite how scanty my room was, it was always neat.

I never condoned any form of dirtiness.
“Mama, what did I do?” she asked as I pulled her in

“Just kneel down there” I said as I dropped my purse on the bed and climbed a plastic chair to pick the koboko I had hid on one of the planks supporting the roof.

I had begged one of my customers who was a teacher to get me one koboko and she gave it to me as she passed in front of my shop last week. I had hid it carefully because if my children should see it, they would have thrown it away.
“Mummy, truth to God, I don’t know where they went to” she started crying
She just gave me more reasons to know she was the one.

I jumped down from the plastic chair and with no restriction, I started beating her.
“By the time I take breath from your mouth, you would know that your mum hates lies” I started as I readjusted the mouth of the koboko
“Mummy, they told me they were going to Kasuwa” she said
She had started confessing
Let me increase the tempo of the beating…she has to confess
Taiwo of all people!
“I told them not to go o mummy” she said again, tears cascading down her face.
I landed two clean slaps on her face.
Why lie?

As she increased the gear of her crying, I pinched her tightly.

She screamed
“If you don’t keep quiet!” I whispered quietly
I don’t really beat my children that hard but I was mad!

Mad that my children- the youngest of them all could embarrass me

Mad that my most industrious daughter could know about the dirty engagement of her brothers in that dirty business
-And she could still lie that she didn’t know!
I threw the koboko away and pulled her by the ears to myself as I sat on the bed.

“Where did James and John go to?” I asked again
She sniffed wetly

“Mummy, they said they were going to Kasuwa” she said GB h