Benita and I looked at each other and smiled, she knew what I was thinking.
We climbed up the bed and held each other’s hands as we jumped up and down on the soft mattress. Nobody else was home.
“Jekele jekele, my baby, jokolo jokolo, my baby…” we shouted at the top of our lungs.
Above our heads, a fan was billowing in the ceiling and it subdued our voices.
We continued jumping until I heard my stomach growl.
“What happened?” Benita asked when I stopped jumping.
“I’m hungry,” I replied.
She laughed at me, “you said you can fast till six o’clock now!”
I regretted the decision. It was barely 2pm. I sat on the floor while my stomach continued rumbling.
“There’s nobody at home now. Let’s go and make pancakes,” Benita said, smiling with mischief.
“I will stand by my word,” I told her because I felt I could handle it, after all, Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights.
“My mommy usually keeps biscuit and groundnuts in a cupboard in the kitchen. She doesn’t know that I know that it’s in that place,” Benita replied.
For some reason, I followed her as she led me to a kitchen cabinet that was locked with a red padlock.
Benita, upon seeing the cabinet was locked, opened some drawers on the kitchen isle searching for keys.
“She normally keeps the key inside one of these drawers.” She looked at my face and saw how disappointed I was, “I swear, I’m not lying…”
“You have sinned. Thou shalt not swear, your pastor said it on Sunday,” I told her.
“My pastor is not God and you are too self-righteous. My mummy said David was a chronic womanizer but God still loved him. Then who am I that God will not forgive?”
My stomach growled.
“Let’s go to Uncle Kachi’s room. He also keeps a bottle of groundnut and cookies in his drawer,” Benita sounded ecstatic.
At this junction, I was tired. I just wanted to lie down and wait till the adults returned from the outreach.
Benita was not deterred, she walked out of the kitchen and I ended up following her.
We heard flappy noises and a weird sound when we approached Uncle Kachi’s door.
Benita was about to knock on the door but changed her mind and peeped through the keyhole. She gasped but didn’t take her eyes off it.
I opened the door to the surprise of both Benita and Uncle Kachi. Uncle Kachi was lying on the bed covered by a duvet while watching a movie.
“Good afternoon sir,” I greeted.
Uncle Kachi was flustered but managed to compose himself. There was vaseline and used tissue papers on his bed.
“I thought both of you were sleeping,” he said prepping himself up on the bed.
“Do you have groundnut and biscuit in this room?” I asked him while my stomach growled loudly.
He pointed at a drawer beside his bed. I went and opened the drawer. A naked woman was staring at me from a magazine cover.
“JESUS” I shouted.
Uncle Kachi realized his mistake and closed the drawer before Benita would sneak up behind me.
“It’s not that drawer,” he said while he opened the lower drawer and brought out a pack of Danish cookies and groundnut.
Benita collected it from him but my eyes were glued to the top drawer.
“You people can go,” Uncle Kachi said as he laid on his back, his phone in hand and covered himself with his duvet. “That reminds me, I thought today was outreach, why didn’t you people go?”
“Mummy said it would be hectic that we should watch and pray at home,” Benita replied and tried to take me away from the room.
“Uncle Kachi, you are a Sunday school teacher and you preach to flee the devil but you are housing his devices,” I said still trying to make sense of what I saw.
“Obinna, are you mad?” He shouted at me.
Benita backed away from the room while I was left standing alone.
“You will not make heaven,” I shouted back.
Uncle Kachi was so upset that he literally flew from the bed in singlet and boxers and slapped me.
I ran out of his room and locked myself away in mine. Benita knocked on my door severally but I ignored her.
This happened twenty years ago.
I was in a mall with my twin daughters, shopping for their fifth birthday when Benita called.
“Obinna, guess what?”
“You finally decided to leave the world and follow Jesus?”
“Bro, I am saved already. But the gist I have for you will shock you.”
“Is it from our family group chat again, this girl?”
“No. This one is happening live. Uncle Kachi’s wife is leaving him. Apparently, he has been having affairs and he still masturbates.”
I was shocked. Out of my mind at that.
“She said he doesn’t do things right and anytime he does his duties, he doesn’t last long but when she caught him through the window, he was there for a long time.”
I gasped.
“Nna, are you still there?”
“I’m shocked. I thought this stopped a long time ago. It is true that habits left unchecked can become a tool for destruction. I didn’t expect this.”
“Thank God it is a family matter. What will happen if his church finds out?”
“Who cares? Salvation is personal. This is not good news.”
“Anyways, can my children come over to your place this holiday? My husband and I are traveling to Ghana for a renewal of our honeymoon. I cannot leave them in this commotion.”
“Benita, you can leave them with your sister or your older brother. Why me? Don’t you know that these my girls crave attention like there is no tomorrow? You now want to add your own to their own.”
“My baby, my nna, nobody gets me like you. How am I supposed to tell you these things?”
“Get out of here,” I said and we both laughed.
“I will also be needing help with my digital art store and supplies. The truth is, my family and I will be relocating to the UK soon and I already got a job which will be taking most of my time there. You are the only one I’m telling till we travel. I told you, Obinna, not your wife.”
“What do you mean, this babe?”
“You don’t keep things from your wife which is good but she doesn’t need to know this one.”
“Love don make man mumu.” I chuckled and she hissed.
“I’m serious.”
“I have heard you—“
“Daddy, I like this one,” Jessica said and I turned to check the red dress. I envisioned her in the dress and smiled, she definitely knew her colors like Benita.
“Alright baby. What about you Jemima?” I asked my youngest who was busy picking race car toys.
“Anything she wants, I will have it too.”
I rolled my eyes. Jemima was clueless about fashion but she was my best, no drama.
“Buy them fine things. I don’t know why your wife left you alone with them.”
“She had a meeting and I happened to be free today. Plus, I have missed hanging out with them alone. This doctor work nor dey let me see my children back-to-back.”
“It’s well. So about the business, do you know anyone that can help me manage it?”
“Business woman. Well, yes. My wife’s sister in the UK has this virtual platform that helps her manage her business. I think their name is hello something. I will speak to her to find out about it…”
“Daddy, the name is Hellomom. Mummy said she will tell them to help her mannage her bookstore business so she can have time for us this holiday,” Jessica said as she picked a barbie doll.
The price tag caught my eye and I shook my head at her. She was downcast but dropped it anyway. I mouthed a “thank you” and she looked away from the counter to the row for cookies. The Danish cookies brought back memories of that day when I was eleven years old.
“Hellomom it is. Please send me their number or link so I can reach out to them today.”
“You can hear things sha,” I mocked and she hissed.
“Thank you, nna.”
“You are welcome, achalugo.”
As the line disconnected, I found the cart filled with clothes, toys, snacks and a few coloring books. I shook my head as I calculated how much I would be spending. My consolation however is that these children will be adults one day.
———
Hellomom is a digital support hub created specifically for moms in the United Kingdom who are building businesses while raising children and navigating demanding work schedules. We help you build systems that support your goals through time management and organization.
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