Category Archives: TM WRITES
Ndubuisi – 3
3
***
IF the lizard did not puff up its chest in courage to take the jump from the rooftop, then it would not have the chance to nod its head in pride at its landing.
Her mother used to tell her that when she skulked at corners, twisting her fingers as she scraped up the courage to approach her father for a favour.
She was twisting her fingers now, wringing them around the hem of her blouse and rubbing them hard against the heated satin fabric when her palms became damp with sweat.
The thick curtains that acted as door for the canteen were drawn to the sides, leaving the entranceway widely open. She wouldn’t go through it though. She had no wish to enter the canteen. Someone might notice and call to her and she preferred to escape such notice that would definitely end in questions, unsolicited counsels and then sighs of pity.
Say Yes – 5
#5
Say Yes.
* ~ *
She was on her bed, in her bedroom, right inside her house. Eve peered down at herself—and she was wearing her night shirt.
So, it’d really been a dream.
All of it? Or just… some of it?
She raised her head to stare at her mother. She was busy inside her closet, sorting through her clothes for laundry. She liked to handle those sorts of things. “Mum… I came home last night?”
“Of course you came home last night. Are you not here now? I did ask you though to sleep over at Lindy’s because of the rain. But you didn’t listen to your mother.” She clucked her tongue. “Walked in here soaked and soggy like a wet rag.”
It had rained.
It had been raining when she’d gotten into the cab. That part had been true. “Did I come home in a cab, mum?”
Her mother ducked out her head from the closet. “But of course, you did! What else would you have come in? You’re not still woolly headed, are you? You sure were when you staggered in last night.” She clucked her tongue again and her head went back in the closet. “Anyway, you should get up and start getting ready or you’ll be late to work. Still going over to Lindy’s after work?”
Say Yes – 4
#4
When you believe, you love.
* ~ *
The thud against the bare earth whooshed the breath out of her.
“Oh heavens!” Eve groaned, staggering off the ground and inhaling and exhaling to steady her wild beating heart. “That was some long fall. And from where?”
She peered up at the skies and was mildly surprised to find it clothed in pearly white and blue clouds with the sun peaking out of it and lighting the surrounding atmosphere.
“I’ve never seen the sky so beautiful before.” She muttered, dropping her gaze to glance around studiously. “Where the heck are we now and in what era are we in?”
And where was Adam?
She whirled around, calling out. “Adam?”
There was no response and he was nowhere in sight.
One More Time… And Forever – 2
CHAPTER TWO
♠
Mid-April didn’t always come with heavy downpour and thundering storms. But it seemed to be doing so this year. It certainly was doing so that morning. The roar of rumbling thunder accompanied by the whistling crack of lightning rent the air and Kobi winced, ducking even though she was safe under the shelter of her veranda.
She would call in sick, but she never called in sick. She never took excuses, worked on holidays when it was required and beat all her targets. It was how she’d wound up store manager of one of Lagos’ biggest retail stores in just four years.
Hard work kept her grounded and animated. It kept her from losing her mind. So, she would go in today, stormy downpour or not, and she would have a good day at work.
Inhaling, Kobi flipped open her umbrella and walked into the rain.
Ndubuisi – 2
2
***
SHE let the boy play by himself on the floor. He was making tiny sand moulds from the broken earth of the floor. She would sweep it later and pour back the sands into the holes they’d come from. When she could afford a linoleum carpet, she would cover the cement floor with it.
That was her plan.
It was more of a dream. One of the many she had. One of the many, she sometimes, maybe it was many times, feared would never be reality.
How could she make them come true?
She didn’t know. But still, she dreamed and she kept hope in her heart.
NDUBUISI – 1
1
***
SHE woke up that morning and there was gratitude in her heart. She was alive. That was enough. That was a new beginning. She opened her door, wincing at the creaking sound it made. She would oil the hinges, if she had oil to spare. But she didn’t. Not today.
The puddle had once again carpeted her frontage. She grimaced, wiggled her toes, and then sank her feet into the dirt brown water. It curled around her ankles and a floating leaf skirted in between her legs. She refused to think about it, her feet buried in muddy water and dirt, from gutters that had overfilled, scrubbing against her skin. Instead, she paddled forward, desperate the urinary.
She squatted over the hole on the cemented floor and lifted her nightdress, her breath held in as she relieved herself. Done, she jiggled and heaved up, then paddled back to her room. She would brave the bathroom later, when the sun returned with some warmth. Now though, she brushed her teeth and washed her face, changed to a day cotton dress and proceeded to light her kerosene stove.
Breakfast, and any other meal, was always what was available. She never thought about it, the lack of choices. She never saw that she had the right to complain. When a day brings with it what it wills, you take its offerings and do what you can.
Ant Hill – 7
SEVEN
♣
I crawled towards the Nursery Chamber, impatient to see Zita. The way I felt, I neither cared if I crawled into Kaza or if she crawled all over me. I needed to see my Zita, to know why she’d left me restless and heavy-headed the night before.
I marched into the chamber and as I’d hoped, Zita was there, her head bent over, doing her duty. So was Kiki. But I didn’t care.
The sight of Zita—all shiny and glowing—quelled most of my anger but not my pain. “Zita, you kept me waiting all through the night.” I said even with her back to me.
She swung around. “Zoro, why are you here so early? Don’t you know that Doga is usually around this early?”
“I don’t care where Doga is and at what time of the day she is there.” I hissed. The pain in my heart and head were visible through my eyes. “You promised you would come to meet me last night. You did not come.”
