TEARS OF EVE EPISODE 2

 EPISODE 2

Emi la o ni yosi, 

E la o ni yosi,

Ba se fe o ri, bee naa lo ri, 

E la o ni yosi?

Why won’t we rejoice, 

Why won't we rejoice,

Especially since it turned out the way we wanted, 

So why we won’t we rejoice?

The two middle-aged women sang out the chorus, shaking their bosoms with all vigor as they danced.

“Once again, my friend, congratulation. I pray that for the rest of our lives, we will only experience joyous moments. In sha Allah,” the fair-complexioned woman prayed.

“Amin!” Madam Kash rubbed her raised palms against each other.

They both settled down on the green luxurious silken couch in Madam Kash’s office.

“Ore mi, my friend, the latest grandmother in the whole Gbagi municipal, I hail you again." She adjusted her gold-colored hijab as her lips widened, revealing her golden tooth popularly known as eyin mooka; mecca’s teeth.

“You can say that again.” Madame Kash straightened the top of her lace blouse stylishly with her two hands pulling it from one end to another. "But I won’t lie, I felt pained by your absence that day. I really wish you were there to celebrate with me.” She feigned annoyance, her lips pulled into a frown.

“Ore mi, I don’t think you can be pained more than me. Because my not being here to regale the joyous news was highly unwarranted. You know the reason for that was Alhaji’s unholy pilgrim. I had no other choice but to cut it off by feigning some mysterious illness.”

“I trust you, Abeni, the clever one who never runs out of tricks,” Madam Kash hailed.

‘’That’s me oh, and In sha Allah, my trick pocket will never run dry,“ she boldly proclaimed.

“Definitely, by God‘s grace and for the sake of people like us that constantly need to draw tricks from your well of knowledge, it will never dry up. I hope your cutting the trip short didn’t cause distress to Alhaji?” 

“Who cares if he is distressed? How about all the stress he has been putting me through in the name of his annual trip to his hometown and his late wife’s grave. Iya Bamidele, you know how much I detest that unnecessary trip, because the main aim is to visit his dear beloved wife’s grave rather than visiting his kindred as he claims. Everything about the annual visit is all because of Iya Khadijah’s grave. Spending precious time over the grave of one whose bones I am sure has grounded finely to dust!" Her voice raised with each sentence she spoke. 

“Haba, Abeni, you shouldn’t say that. Outsiders mustn’t hear such from you because they would see you as inhumane,” Madam Kash reprimanded.

‘’Is it not true? Is Iya Khadijah not grounded dust? Beneath the six feet she is currently laying in, can she come out and compete with me? Even when she was alive, could she compete with me? Probably if she had, her beloved husband wouldn’t have resorted to chasing me around with that long thing between his thighs.” She stretched her hands forward in demonstration of 'the long thing’.

Madam Kash shook her head at her friend but a smile played on her lips.

“To me, Abeni Ede, the only inhumane act in this whole matter is the fact that Alhaji won’t allow bygones to be bygones. He wouldn’t allow the dead to stay dead in their shallow grave. Isn’t it outrageous that over three decades of Iya Khadijah passing, Alhaji still carries a torch in his heart for someone who can never be a resident of this living realm anymore? Do you know how much Alhaji squanders on renovating her grave site yearly not to now mention the huge amount of money that goes off our budget over the unholy pilgrim to offa, laise pe mooka (mecca) abi medina la hun lo loodun? (When it is not as if it's an annual visit to mecca or medina.)" She hissed.

Madam Kash watched Abeni as she tucked in her lower lip while using her index finger to rub the middle of her forehead. She was lost for words of pacification, none was coming to mind to offer to her friend in her state of dilemma for indeed the body laying six feet beneath was competing with her friend over her husband’s heart. Not that her friend had a clean slate though, Abeni Ede’s saga wasn’t a story that the old traders and those who had been apprentices along with them in their early years at Gbagi will ever forget. Even to this day, female traders were on the watch out for any female apprentices who had a slight trait of Abeni, most especially apprentices who were light in complexion.

Abeni, popularly known as Abeni Ede or Abeni Agbon, a name alluded to a Yoruba movie witch character, had come from her hometown, Ede, in Osun state, to Ibadan, to be an apprentice under the great tutorship of Amina alaso oke, the cloth weaver. Madam Kash could still recall the day she met Abeni vividly; her own mistress had sent her down to Amina's store to look for an aso oke that matches the color of a fabric a customer had requested for, funny how that was Abeni’s first day at Gbagi. Madam Kash would never forget the innocent and naive look on the face of the light complexioned girl. She had looked like one holding unto the last chard of life and her eyes had carried a lack of depth in it, it seemed she was struggling to live just for a day. 

Compared to the present day Abeni, who now robed herself in the most expensive mismatched fabrics, young Abeni, was different. The cloth she had on that day was a complete mismatch of colors as the colour of the worn out blouse, purple, was different from the colour of the wrapper, green. Her feet looked like they could do better without the local slippers made from worn out tires. One didn’t need to think far for indeed young Abeni had come from one of those wretched families, but one thing that stood out that day was beauty. And it wasn’t long before several Gbagi drivers and male traders around started disturbing her. Abeni, however, remained committed to her work, not yielding to the advances from men. 

Before long, the beautiful dark Amina had started to eulogise her apprentice, as Abeni being a fast learner had started making a whole lot of success as an apprentice. Within the space of two years, she had rightly learnt almost all the lessons and procedures of how to make aso oke, out of the five years she ought to stay under the tutorship of her boss.  Amina, alaso oke really loved this apprentice of hers, as not only was she brilliant, but also focused unlike her other apprentices. Indeed she had won the heart of her mistress. However, some believed Abeni’s behavior was part of a scheme  to ruin her boss’ marriage as her eagerness towards work endeared her to her boss, who as at that time had started committing bigger work unto her apprentice hands. This bigger work extended to allowing Abeni’s help with small chores at her home. She even made Abeni move in with her when the former started having issues with the relative she was staying with in Ibadan. 

Not many saw this as anything bad until the morning the news spread like fire in the whole market that the well-behaved apprentice of Amina alaso oke had a child on the way and the father was no other person but Wasiu Abebe, the one and only husband of Amina alaso oke. Many had thought it was mere rumor, some people were even already taking oath with various instruments that it could never be true but alas, it was indeed true. More suprisingly was that Abeni’s relative who she had purported to have sent away was the one who had come down fighting on behalf of her ward, that the Abebe family must do the ‘right thing’. And so, the right thing was done as Abeni became the second wife of Wasiu Abebe. That period was frustrating for Amina, as she became depressed by the deceit of her favorite apprentice and the love of her life. 

Nine months later, Abeni gave birth to a bouncing baby boy, she did what Amina had not been able to achieve in the past fifteen years of her marriage, giving Wasiu his heir. Ironically, upon the arrival of the new heir, one would expect Wasiu’s love for Abeni to grow stronger while his affection towards Amina would diminish but the contrary was the case. As Wasiu’s affection towards his first wife only waxed stronger, rumor had it that ever since Abeni was put into the family way by her boss’ husband, the latter had been apologizing to his wife, Amina, and trying all means to seek her forgiveness. He had acknowledged Abeni as a seductress, whose intention was to destroyed their home. And as the saying goes 'love covers all wrongs', Amina accepted her husband into warm arms while Abeni bore the brunt of being the home destroyer from both husband and wife. Life was really unbearable for the rebellious apprentice for a while as her husband paid little to no attention to her needs except it involved the child.

At this point, the song of 'God of vengeance had avenged Amina' rented the air in those days, and  many cast spiteful eyes towards Abeni, the home wrecker. It was really a miserable period for her. She had lost most of her friends as many of them were apprentices like herself and being warned by their mistresses to stay clear off of her or stand a chance of losing their space as an apprentice, many had no option but to oblige the instruction of their tutors. For Madam Kash, she had to be discreet about her relationship with Abeni then. Till date, she believes that it was because she had chosen to stay true to their friendship that period that their friendship remained unwavering.

Miserable times continued for a while until the day the worse happened, it was a day not many will ever forget in Gbagi. Everybody was going up and down, carrying out their usual trade that early morning, when noise rented the air that Amina alaso oke had slumped while working, and had been rushed to the nearest hospital. There had been a faction that day who believed it was a sign of pregnancy while others believed that finally Abeni was dealing with her boss. And lo, before the end of the day the tale bearer came bearing the news of Amina’s demise. At the end it seemed the latter part of the faction were indeed right as barely two months after Abeni’s boss demise, she came back as the reigning queen of not just the Amina alaso oke store but the household of Wasiu Abebe. Indeed to all, Abeni, had shown her prowess and had outsmarted her boss by  resorting to diabolical means. 

Madam Kash sighed as she reminisced the past.

 ‘’Just calm down, everything will be alright,” Madam Kash reassured her friend.

‘’See, forget about that side, I definitely know how I will sort Alhaji out in due time. Don’t let us push the juicy gist we were having over unserious matter.’’ Abeni grinned. ‘’So, I heard about the celebration you threw for your grandson's birth, the whole party that happened and all the bonus attracted to it.’’ 

“I can see you’ve gathered your news from the talebearers already,” Madam Kash interjected, rolling her eyes at her friend.

“I don’t know what tale bearer you’re referring to, but the grapevine I heard it from is a really reliable one.’’ Abeni adjusted her hijab with her left hand.

‘’Really?’’ Madam Kash asked feigning bewilderment. "Isn’t it Gbagi market, a whole city on its own? What can ever go on in the vicinity of Gbagi that won’t be heard by both young and old? They will even fabricate their own extra plot to the original storyline. Gbagi, the home of open secrets. No wonder they have this funny adage that Gbagi kan, Ibadan kan."

"The heart of Ibadan resides inside Gbagi," Abeni translated. ‘’Yes, it’s really reliable. I heard everything, from the huge donation you made towards the new vehicle   for the security men watching over the market, down to the distribution of food to the four corners of the market and biggest of it all was the 30% slash discount for any goods bought from you that day. To cut the whole story sha, I heard the celebration party you threw that day was more than the one Baba Loja, patron of the market, threw when he took over his new office.”

 ‘’Ahhhhhhh!’’ Madam Kash opened her mouth in amazement. “If it’s about this last statement you just mentioned, I can boldly tell you that your grapevine or graveyard isn’t reliable. Which one is that the little celebration party I did passed Baba Oloja’s own? Whatever I did that day, it was in accordance with my pocket size, don’t allow anybody give you rumour that is not true oh.” She rolled her eyes.

‘’Indeed, it must be according to your pocket size, your huge pocket size. Whatever the pocket size, it doesn’t matter and even if your celebration passed Baba Oloja’s own, that one is not the issue, because what matters most is that our prayers didn’t turn out unanswered. Every of our plans worked out well,  for that I am glad. That our enemies do not have any cause to shame us, that alone deserves a huge celebration.”  

Hearing Abeni's statement, Madam Kash lifted her hands in the air, rubbing her palms together in adoration.

‘’Anyway, I hope you kept my own goodies?’’ Abeni asked.

‘’Of course, I did. So you mean I would give other people gifts without keeping yours?" She shook her head. "That can never happen. I have already saved up all your gifts from the celebration.”

“I trust you my friend. Are the new parents back with our grandson?” Abeni asked.

‘’Yes oh, they came back on Saturday.’’

‘’That’s great and how are preparation towards the main naming ceremony?’’

‘’It’s actually coming up in full gear, this coming Saturday precisely, and I really want you to be there with me this time.’’

“Of course, I will definitely be there. Not even Alhaji can stop me from coming this time.’’

‘’Okay, that means I can count on you, niyen?’’ 

‘’Definitely.’’ Abeni nodded in affirmation.

“Lest I forget, do  you know  that  ever since the day that  I received the beautiful news of my grandson’s birth, Mama Bola has refused to congratulate me? I thought with the birth of a newborn, she would allow bygones be bygones.’’ Madam Kash frowned.

‘’Mama Bamidele, don’t tell me you're allowing that pest called Mama Bola to have a hold over your emotions. That will be very disappointing if you allow that oh,” Abeni said, a stern look on her face. “Indeed it should have been Bola in Nonye’s position today. Yes, you and Mama Bola should have been in-laws but tell me, would you have allowed Bola to become Bamidele’s wife while your goals of having plenty grandchildren is dashed to pieces? Or have you forgotten what the two clerics that we went to visit on two different occasions had to say about the two girls? Both Woli Agba and Alfa Ilorin had attested that while Bola in this life cannot have more than one child, Nonye on the other side is the fertile one, everything about her is fertility. From her head to her toes, everything is children in different sizes and gender.” 

Madam Kash smiled as Abeni mentioned Nonye’s name, remembering how her friend had been in support of her son’s choice of Nonye as his life partner from the beginning.

‘’Mama Bamidele, no matter how you love someone, if they aren’t beneficial to you, you let them go. This life is about give and take, you can’t afford to lose your dreams of having more children through your only child just because you want to  keeping a friend happy. Take a look at it; barely one year into their marriage, you're already a grandmother. A fulfilled woman you are. Let Mama Bola be, let her be frowning her face like burnt akara, that one is none of your business. Don’t allow anyone join their own bad luck to yours oh. Instead of her to go and look for how to erase her daughter’s bad luck, she is frowning her face up and down. Don’t let that one bother you.’’ 

Madam Kash sighed. “I have heard you, it's just that…"

“Mama Bamidele, there is no 'just' in this matter. I know you have a spot soft for Bola more than Nonye, but one cannot see a fruitful orange tree on the ground and then go for the barren one on a hill. That, my friend, is what they call foolishness.” Abeni shook her head as she spoke.

"Fine. I've heard you."

"Let's leave that one. Come and tell me more about our new baby," Abeni leaned closer to her friend.

Madam Kash's face lit up with a smile as she leaned closer to Abeni too. Her first grandchild was one thing she would never get tired of talking about—at least, until the second one came. She couldn't wait for that day.