He looked irritated and I could tell that he was getting angry. He didn't even look at her. He was looking at the wall. ‘Dora, how can you be
alone sitting in the midst of 5 other people… the same people who you call
friends? How?’ She said ‘It’s not like…’ He continued like she hadn't said
anything ‘I had been gone for no less than two, maybe three minutes yet you say
you were left all alone.’ She walked forward, walked past me and went to hold
his hand ‘JD, it’s not like that now. It’s just that… well, they are not you
and it’s only you…’ Jide gently retrieved his hand and said‘It’s fine. Please,
let the guys know that the food is served and they can come around.
I couldn't see her face but she whispered something to him and he
nodded reluctantly. She turned around to leave and I swear, I saw hate in her
eyes. I had to look away. I wondered why she would ever think to hate me then
but now I understand that she saw me as a threat. As soon as she left, Jide
looked at me like he wanted to say something but he changed his mind. I was
about to ask him when John entered the dining room followed by the others.
Jide asked me to bring out his special wine from the fridge. I got
the wine and I kept it with them then I left to go look for Kemi who had gone
out through the back door in the kitchen. I was sure she would be hungry. I
called out to her severally but she didn’t answer so I suspected that she had
gotten bored staying by herself and she had gone over to the neighbors’ to
play. I decided to wait until after the guests were done eating before going
over to get her hoping that she would come over before then.
I sat in the kitchen and I left the door slightly open so I could
hear my name if I was needed. Not too long after, I had the tiny voice calling
‘Rita! Rita!’ I knew it had to be Dorothy so I took my time. She must’ve called
the name more than five times before I got up (slowly) from my seat. When I got
there, she gave me her plate (clearly scraped clean of rice and salad) and she
asked me to dish out some of the vegetable soup with “enough meat”. I had done
that and handed back her plate when she said ‘Ehen, Rita before I forget, You
must learn to cook your rice to be soft because when it is hard, It is usually
very difficult to chew and therefore tasteless’ All I thought was ‘Did she just
call my food tasteless?’
The older woman said ‘Hard ke? Dora, did we eat the same food
because I enjoyed the rice – both the Jollof and the Fried. I thought it was
just perfectly cooked and it tasted delicious. I am even waiting to get a
serving of this soup that the men seem to be devouring at abandon. Rita, my
dear… you’ve done really well. At your age, you cook better than some of us.’
The younger woman said ‘Yes, now. This generation is so smart.
Rita dear, you have to teach me how to cook this vegetable stew. I can’t get
enough of it! Hmmm, Jide. Is this how you’ve been enjoying in this house? No
wonder you’re getting chubby. You better take care of Rita oh or else I will
just come and steal her from you.’ We were all laughing at her jokes when Jide
said ‘I plan to keep her with me for as long as she’s willing…’ I didn’t look
at him because I was sure that he would be looking at me and I didn’t want to
be weak.
John cleared his throat so I looked at him and I saw him exchange
a look with Jide. Dora said ‘Well, the soup is not bad though.’ Just then, the
door to the kitchen was opened and I saw Kemi so I left them again. I knew she
was hungry so I sat her down and I served her some pepper soup first before
dishing out some rice and vegetable stew for her and sitting down to eat some
pepper soup myself. There was a lot of laughter in the dining room. I wished I
could join them but I settled for spending time with my baby and making sure
that she ate well. I squashed my idle wishes to join the adults at the table
and I forced my mind back to Kemi’s gist...
Source: GreenNews
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