[b]Aso-Ebi: Episode 12: Aso-Oke Patchwork[/b]
**SEMI FINAL**
Previously on Aso Ebi…
****
“Why the hell would you do that?!” she yelled without looking at him as she searched for her phone. The pounding in her head was beginning to return in pumps.
“I love J for chrissake! He is your boss! You shouldn’t have done that.” Her eyes were welling up now as she headed for the door. She stopped before turning the lock and then turned to look at him with all the authority she could find. His hands had formed a cradle for his head.
“The day J finds out you ran into me in Abuja,” she started, her anger growing with each word, “that will be the day you lose your job.” Her eyes found an empty tub in the bin next to the door and flung it at him. “I did not need another secret! I really did not!”
***
He stood outside the room, staring at her, before he entered and gently shut the door behind him. That was when she saw the disgust on his face. His back to the door, he continued to stare at her, his eyes searching hers. He was silent and her heart began to race in response.
“Eight years, Moh. For eight years you made me stay up worrying and praying for us to get pregnant. Eight. Years.”
He nodded and slowly made his way to their bed.
“You know how much I wanted a child. You know. And yet you kept it from me.” His voice was as cool as ice.
“I have to give it to you, though. Very smooth. Well done. You really are deceit personified.”
Moh continued to stare at the space he had occupied at the door, her mouth open, her mind blank and her heart racing as she watched all hope of redemption for her marriage slowly fall to the floor and shatter into a million sharp, ugly pieces.
***
Anita looked at the caller ID and finally decided to pick up the call. She activated the phone’s speaker before placing it on the kitchen slab as she busied herself with the peppers she was dicing.
“Are you home?” She could hear fear laced with frustration in his voice.
“J, are you ok? Moh’s not picking up her phone.”
“We had a fight and I really need to talk to you.”
“J, are you cheating on her?”
He sighed and replied defeatedly, “Anita, no. No, I have never and will not cheat on Moh. You know it and I thought she did too. I really don’t understand what’s going on with her. We need to talk. Can I come to yours or are you still at the hospital?”
“I’m home. Night shift.”
“I’m on my way.”
“J… I don’t know how I feel about you coming here. Moh might want to come here to talk to me and if she meets you here I’ll be in trouble. She’s not over us yet and I don’t want to give her something else to be upset about.”
“Anita, look, I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
***
Jai continued to stare at Anita as she let go of the battle for composure and in those moments, he felt a surge of thoughts of all that he had given up to follow his ministry rise to the surface. He drew her closer to him as she whimpered, circling his arms around her body and stroking her back. She hid her face in his shoulder, allowing her senses to soak in his alluring masculine scent. She lifted her head to his face, staring into his eyes through her tear-clouded ones. He began to feel an urge that he thought he had successfully rid himself of forever and as the realisation hit him of the pending danger, he released her from his embrace and stood up from the couch. As if she was programmed to follow his every move, she got to her feet and before he had a chance to open his mouth, she pressed her lips against his and her body against his. That was when he began to fight his own battle inside. His lips stayed pursed together as his body refused to obey the distant voice in his head pleading for him to pull away and run far from the temptation he was slowly yielding completely to. She continued to kiss his lips and just as he was about to will his body to walk away, he felt all the power, will and judgement rush down from his head to between his legs. With the last bout of will he had left, he forced his lips open and took hers in them, allowing himself to fall with her on the couch and obeying whatever instruction her body had for him to follow.
***
“Oh my God, Ladi,” she shook her head in a disapproving manner, “please stand up. What is this now?”
He put his finger in front of her mouth. “Like I said, I know what I feel and I don’t see the point in waiting months or years, even, before letting you know. I’m not asking you to marry me today. If I know you, this is far from what a proposal for you should be,” he smiled and she chuckled, “I’m just letting you know that if you will have me, then I am done searching for that woman that I will build a home with. You’re a fascinating woman, Anita Momoh. You have no idea what you do to me and yes, it might seem too fast but when you know, you know. Listen, I’m ready to deal with whatever side of you there is left for me to see and you know by now that I am as old fashioned as they come. So, when I promise to stay with you till the end, I will be there till the end and I will fight to work through whatever might happen. I’m a man of my words, you know that. Anita, I’ve been looking for you and now that I have found you, with your permission, I want to keep you.”
***
Anita’s throat felt dry and gritty, her eyes sore and her palms felt like she had soaked them in hot water. She turned her face away. “Moh…”
She felt a hard slap across her cheek forcing her mouth shut.
Mohini turned to walk away when she felt Anita’s hand holding back her dress. She faced her sharply, oblivious of the growing crowd surrounding them.
Slap.
“SLUT!”
Slap.
“Lying, desperate, SLUT!!!”
****
And now, we’ve come full circle. Back to the end that was the beginning…
Anita’s face stung from the humiliation of being face raped in front of what now seemed like hundreds exclaiming, yet watching intently at the free piece of theatre before them. She felt her entire body flush with heat that made her eyes water and caused her palm to itch for rapid retaliation. She looked at her friend’s eyes and all she saw were streaks of lazy crimson, clearly beating behind a glaze film. Mohini turned to leave the scene again when she heard Anita’s voice, struggling to remain as silent and calm as an anxious whisper.
“Moh, calm down and listen,” Anita said, reaching out to touch her friend and hoping that some chill will flow from her fingertips.
Mohini stared at Anita’s fingers on the back of her hand and then back up at her sharply, “listen?! What have I done all our lives? I have listened to you whine about your family. I have listened to you whine about school, I have listened to you whine about work, I have listened to you whine about men! ‘Oh I do not like that one, he farts.’ ‘That one smells cheap.’ ‘Never Akin! He… he breathes!’ All I have done is listen to you complain and whine like the spoilt ungrateful bitch that you are. And what do I get in return? What do I get?!” She was screaming now and the blood pumping violently in her ears prevented her from hearing the words that had pulled them a larger audience than that inside the hall. She shook her head violently and tried to walk away, her petite body visibly vibrating even the air around her. She had barely taken a step when she turned sharply, pointing her right middle finger at Anita’s face. “I knew it! I just knew it! ‘Haba Moh! J and I are irrelevant history. You have nothing to worry about, trust me.’ I just knew you were bidding your time. My God! I cannot believe I called you friend and sister! So you waited till my marriage was falling apart and swooped in like a dirty, desperate, lonely… vulture. Now, you have the guts to tell me to listen? Listen to what? Listen to how my supposed best friend is pregnant for my husband after she helped me not get pregnant for him? Argh! Anita!!! You are the devil’s right hand woman. The devil’s manager.”
The tears rolling down Anita’s cheeks were hot and unshy. They flowed freely, not minding the whispers of the crowd that had since shifted closer for a better view. She could very clearly hear the whispers of ashewo, husband snatcher and the likes but the shock of Mohini’s words, loud in her head, held her tongue steady behind her teeth. Mohini finally turned in her glorious anger, walking away with head held high, like a woman holding on tightly to anger to keep from breaking down into the tiniest of pieces. She marched straight through the wide open entrance to the hall, sandals in hand, and eyes darting across the room like a mad bull dog that had had his first taste of human blood. She was at the centre of the hall when the MC announced the long awaited arrival of the couple. She glanced towards the entrance in time to see the white stretch limousine shield what she recognized as Jaiyeola’s car. She all but ran towards the entrance and stopped as soon as she sighted Jaiyeola step out of his car and to the limousine, to give the ecstatic groom a congratulatory hug. He glanced behind him and the genuine smile on his face faded gradually when he sighted Mohini standing arms akimbo, soaked in madness.
She could not take her eyes off him. She wanted to charge at him and just claw at his skin and then she wanted to find the guilt in his eyes and punish him with silence. As he opened his mouth to question her, she spoke; but the words which she threw like David’s stones were incomprehensible. She spoke in a language that only those who have fallen apart will understand. Suddenly, in response to the tortuous vein that was now visible on her forehead, she turned away from Jaiyeola, past Anita who was hurrying towards them; leaving the bride, groom and the new crowd of escorts of the couple staring in awe.
“Anita, what’s going on with your friend?” Jaiyeola asked as Anita took her place beside him. She began to speak but Mohini’s voice over the public address system rang loudly throughout the hall and into the ears of those just outside the hall.
“Good afternoon everybody,” Mohini said with the calm of a possessed soul, after successfully reclaiming the microphone from the MC.
“Some of you may have witnessed the scene that my friend and I caused,” she chuckled and clenched her teeth. “I apologize. I had no intention of tainting this beautiful ceremony. I also want to wish Beverly and Enejo a very fruitful and happy marriage. Beverly dear, be very careful of the friends you allow close to your husband. You see, my best friend over there by the door, the one wearing the blue dress… steel blue as she calls it…,” she flinched and smiled awkwardly, “she’s really particular about everything; she always knows what she’s doing… that’s how I know she had this planned for a long time. She just told me that she is pregnant with my husband’s child!” The tone of her announcement suggested that applause follow, but as her words reverberated a tad louder than expected, the heads under her voice turned as one to have a good look at the culprit standing at the hall’s entrance. The shocked silence that grasped the hall at the start of her little speech was now replaced with exciting chatter and gesticulations of disbelief. “Oh by the way,” she continued, “my husband, J, is the tall fine man standing beside the groom. So, Beverly, and indeed every woman here… hmm don’t be doing my friend, my friend oh and trust what is precious to you with people… Don’t do it!… That is my advice to the new couple. Thank you.”
Jaiyeola moved the empty plastic chair closest to him and he sat down quickly like his legs could not hold him anymore. With his elbows on his knees and his hands supporting his face, he laughed and shook his head. The groom looked at Jaiyeola, his eyes asking questions, while his stunned bride tugged at his suit asking for confirmation.
Anita felt her remorse and shame slowly being replaced by anger as she watched Mohini approach the exit. She mopped at the tears dancing in her eyes and walked ahead swiftly to block her path. Mohini ignored her and found her way past her. Anita rolled her eyes, stretched her hand and held on firmly to Mohini’s right arm, pulling her towards her, not caring that her nails were boring into her skin.
“You tink say na only you get crase abi?” Anita’s voice was audible and steady, “you will now stand here and allow me to finish what I started, okay?! Then, you can go running around like a headless chicken and bring every lagosian into every dirty detail of your life. Since that’s what interests you these days.” She placed her other hand on her stomach and took in a deep breath in an attempt to fight back the nausea. “Yes, Moh. I messed up,” she said with her eyes dancing about Mohini’s face. “But I wasn’t talking about Jaiyeola…” she sighed, shame covering her once again. “It’s… Jai… your brother.” She said this softly and she watched it sink in as Mohini looked back at the smirk on Jaiyeola’s face and then at Anita.
You know that feeling you get when you’ve been railing violently in righteous indignation against someone for doing something only to find out someone else actually did it? That feeling that’s like someone just threw a bucket of ice-cold water on your face? Yeah, that.
Mohini’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly like a fish in search of water, and then she shook her head repeatedly as an unexpected chill engulfed her from her crown, down her spine, to her sole. She fell into the empty chair beside Jaiyeola and looked at him again.
She moved her gaze to Anita, waiting again for her to tell her she did not just hear what she thought she had heard. “But… but… Jai? But… how? You? Jai? When? Why?… Wow!”
***
Later that night at the Gbadebo home…
“Where were you?” Jaiyeola asked as he heard the door to the bedroom creak open. Mohini turned on the light switch on the wall adjacent to her and found him lying on the bed, his back to her. She rolled her eyes, placed her bag on her vanity table and sat at the edge of the bed to remove her shoes. “Didn’t you see all my calls and messages?” Jaiyeola spoke again, this time sitting up. She turned her head to him and sighed, “see, stop questioning me abeg. I’m really not in the mood.” Jaiyeola smiled and motioned to her with his right index finger, “come, come let me give you a hug. You need it. You have a lot of anger for a woman your size, don’t you?” He tugged at her blouse and she sprang to her feet, pointing a finger at him. “Ehn ehn! Jaiyeola, leave me alone! Leave me!” Her voice was hoarse, “what do you want from me?! Am I not miserable enough?! Do you not see what I’m turning into? Stop acting like everything is normal. Stop it!!! I’m begging you, give me a divorce and let me go on my way. How much longer do you want to keep punishing me?” She was now pacing the breadth of the room, her eyes twitching and her previously blank mind opening doors to troubling thoughts she had worked hours to suppress. She had almost recovered from the shock of the news she received earlier in the day and the last thing she needed was Jaiyeola’s recent fondness for sarcasm. With every step she took, her skin itched on the insides and her restlessness grew. She felt a constant feeling of scatteredness; it was as though her person had left her body, hence losing the ability to control what it did, thought or said. The only thing she felt in control of was swallowing and for a reason she did not care to understand, she held on to this power as she heard her feet glide continuously across the marble floors; preventing herself from swallowing her spittle for fear that she might choke. She glanced at Jaiyeola who was watching intently, with a smile sitting comfortably on his face, the entertainment looming. In a short amount of time, to his surprise, he had grown accustomed to her new lunatic outbursts and although he was certain they would end, he was beginning to doubt the short lifespan he had apportioned them.
She reached for her phone in her bag, dialled a contact and activated its speaker phone. With every ring, she felt her heart pump black blood, firing her anger and pushing remorse far into the background where her shame and sense of reason were starting to feel comfortable in.
“Moh…,” Anita’s voice, calm and apologetic, reached her ears and she focused her gaze on the phone’s screen.
“So when and how did this happen?”
Anita sighed, “Moh please, I’d rather not. It’s not something I’m proud of.”
Mohini scoffed, “not something you’re proud of abi? Of course. Anyway, I just need to find out… did you talk to my brother about it? Or have you spoken to him since he went back to his base?”
“No, no I haven’t.”
“Wait sef, when exactly did you bang him?… Oh… this is the reason you sent away Ladi, prince charming, isn’t it?!”
“Moh… please, don’t. Don’t do that.”
“Oh are you getting angry now? Miss ‘I have the self control of a thousand men’? Anyway, don’t tell him. That devil that pushed you to taint a man on a journey to God’s service will not succeed in ruining his life o. Nobody will tell Jai anything.”
“I don’t plan to.”
“Good. So when are you getting an abortion?”
“Is that a joke?” Anita asked, perplexed.
Mohini looked at Jaiyeola’s confused expression as if expecting him to share in her disbelief. “Do I sound like I am ready to joke around with you? You can’t possibly be thinking about keeping the baby, though. You know that can’t happen. You want to have the baby but you won’t say anything to Jai? Nah, I’m not letting you risk it.”
“Mohini… listen,” Anita’s voice was now stern and confident, “I messed up, I owned up to it. Should you be mad? Oh yes, yes, by all means, you should. I’m not even asking you to apologise for the humiliation you put me through today. That’s all fine. Be mad. But my dear… nothing! Absolutely nothing gives you the right to ask me to abort this child I’m carrying, okay?!”
Mohini stared at the phone’s screen, silence keeping her mouth open and dry. She looked at Jaiyeola again whose head was now buried in his palms. “So you won’t get an abortion?”
“No Moh, you know what my convictions are on that issue. No, I’m keeping the child.”
“You want to keep the child,” Mohini nodded slowly as she articulated each word as if trying to understand how they each made sense in the sentence.
“Why will you even suggest it?”
“Fine. Bye… and when I say bye, I mean bye. Done with you.” And with that, Mohini ended the call and began to walk towards the bathroom as if nothing had occurred, ignoring Jaiyeola as he began to speak.
“How dare you?! Why did you ask her to do that?” He rose to his feet, hurrying towards her in time to pull her away from stepping into the bathroom. He turned her body to him and shook her from her shoulders. “So you don’t even care about how you might feel tomorrow? She made one mistake and because she won’t yield to your… your irrational solution, you’re done? Did I write you off like that?”
She freed herself of his grip and stepped backwards, “please, please, please. Did I ask you not to write me off? I’ve been begging and…” His heart sank at the reality looking up at him. He shook his head and said in a near whisper, “this is never ending, is it? This… this… new you?” He looked at her again and his head welled with hot emotions. “Go and shower. I’ll file for divorce on Monday.” She had barely turned into the bathroom when his voice stopped her again. “Funny; there was a time when that word, divorce, made you cringe and forever was what appealed to you. Remember when I made that joke about leaving you and you made me promise never to give up on us? Well, look who is forcing my hand now.” He smiled weakly at her and she stared at him, a certain chill running through her body, holding her numb and frozen to the ground; sewing her lips and her mind tightly shut.