Twirl

Chapter 11

“Mummy, when are you starting your baking business?” Tomini asked her mum. It was Saturday afternoon, they were in the kitchen, and her mum was baking cupcakes. She then remembered she had talked about starting a baking business before.

“Your daddy said I should wait until we have the baby.”

“But you can still do it now. When you have the baby won’t it be even more stressful? I don’t know sha.” Tomini shrugged.

“You don’t know so don’t speak.”

“You can still do it; he’s barely at home except in the evenings. You can still do it, he doesn’t have to know.”

Her mum laughed. “It doesn’t work that way, Tomini. You don’t just go behind your husband’s back and disobey him.”

Wow, Tomini thought. If this was the reality of marriage, why did many women crave for it so much?

“This is just ridiculous,” Tomini muttered under her breath. If her mum heard her, she’ll definitely scold her. Her mum’s phone began to ring from the sitting room so Tomini dashed off quickly to get it before the ringing ended.

“Hello?” her mum said into the phone.

Tomini fondled with her phone while her mum spoke on the phone. When her mum finished with the call, she reminded her to clean her dad’s study but Tomini said she’d do so the next day. She left the kitchen for her room where she lay on her bed till Aunty Bamike came.

Her aunty gave her a curly wig; Tomini hugged her tightly.

“You never buy anything for me,” her mum complained.

“Sister mi, you’re the one that should be buying things for me.”

“What work am I doing?” Tomini’s mum asked in Yoruba. “Anyways, Tomini and I will share it.”

“Ehn?” Tomini laughed. “Mummy, don’t go there. I’m not sharing this wig with you, it belongs to me.” She made emphasis on the ‘me’. Her mum slapped the back of her head lightly.

“Mummy, haba, I’m not a baby, you can’t be beating me. Wait for the one in your stomach to come out.”

Aunty Bamike laughed. “I
Ìwo omo yii, your mouth…When are you going to do maternity photo shoot, sister?” Tomini had thought about that, too but knew her mum would most likely dismiss the idea.

Her mum laughed cynically. “Èmi ò se yén (I’m not doing that). What’s the use of that one?”

“Ah God!” Tomini sighed. “I knew she was going to say that.”

“Sister mi, you’ll do it o. It won’t even take time. You can do it at home if you want. If it’s about money, don’t worry about that. I’ll sort it out.”

“Sé ìyen la ní ko se? Give me the money let me use it for something better.”

“Mummy, why don’t you even want to do it?”

Her mum ignored her question, asking her to bring her phone from the kitchen. Tomini did as told.

“Time has gone, Bamike. When will you go home?”

“It’s just past seven.” Aunty Bamike replied.

“So what? Won’t your husband eat? Abi when do you start cooking in your own house?”

Tomini chuckled. If only her mum knew that Uncle Demide cooked in their house. Aunty Bamike seemed to have found her mum’s statement funny, too because she was grinning.

“Sister mi, we cook dinner whenever we are hungry.”

“Bamike,” her mum called. There was a frown etched on her face. “What do you mean “we cook”? “

“I mean Ademide and me.”

Tomini was enjoying this. Her mum delved into a lecture about wifely duties and how some things shouldn’t change no matter how much the world had evolved. Western culture wasn’t ours, her mum said. Husbands did not cook, were not meant to cook and so a woman letting or making her husband cook was plain disrespectful. It was not how they were trained. She told Aunty Bamike to make corrections; she had only been married for a few months so it was expected that she did not fully know how things worked in a marriage.

“Thank you, ma,” Aunty Bamike said when the little ted talk ended. She immediately announced that she was leaving and Tomini’s mum seemed pleased, perhaps thinking Aunty Bamike was already heeding to her advice.
Tomini sometimes wished she came as a boy.

***
Only a few teachers still came to class to teach. Their exams were starting next month and almost everybody had turned serious. Tomini was in the library with her Zainab, Esther and Ginika. They were reading on their own but sat together. They had had only one class that day which was chemistry. Mr Akinola was one of the few teachers that still taught them; the irony was many understood only a few things from his lessons. They were somewhat a waste of time.

“I’m going back to the class. I’ll see you guys later,” Ginika said about thirty minutes into studying.

“Why?” Zainab asked.

Ginika waved her hand dismissively. “Abeg I’m tired of reading.”

Tomini chuckled and decided to reserve her comment.

“How long have we been here?” Esther asked.

“You people should free me abeg. I’m tired. Bye bye.” And off she went.

“I pity Ginika, I swear. She should be the one studying the most. Somebody that ordinary school exam she finds it hard to pass, and she’s playing with waec like it’s a joke,” Zainab said when Ginika was out of earshot.

“Abeg tell her that one. It’s none of my business,” Esther said.

“I second that,” Tomini said and went back to reading.

They later went for lunch and Tomini returned to the library without her friends. She saw Michael there staring blankly into space. She went closer to him and waved her hand in front of his face.

“Mister Man,” she teased smiling.
“You’re thinking about your girlfriend abi?”

He chuckled. Tomini liked how deep and smooth it sounded. “The one you gave me right?”

Tomini smiled and sat on the seat beside his. “Better read your books and stop thinking about girls.”

“Why, you’re jealous?” he smirked.

“Eww,” she pretended to be disgusted. “You wish.”

He laughed and she flipped her physics textbook open. She was in the middle of a calculation when she felt her hair being pulled. She turned and saw Michael laughing.

“Are you okay? Don’t touch my hair!”

“Okay, ma” He smiled.

“I’m serious. Why did I even sit beside you?”

“Because you can’t do without me”

“Jesus, can you shut up? We’re in a library for God’s sake.”

“Yes, ma,”

She turned back to her work but he pulled one of her braids again.

“Michael!” The only reason she wasn’t shouting now was because they were in a library.

He only laughed at her and reached out to touch her hair again but she slapped his hand.

“Ouch,” he was feigning hurt and she scowled at him. “Jeez you can’t be physically abusing me like that. If I do my own now they’ll say you shouldn’t be hitting a girl.”

“If you don’t shut up, I’ll hit you harder.”

“She’s even threatening me,” Michael laughed. He was obviously enjoying annoying her.

“Oya sorry,” he spoke again. Tomini pouted and fixed her gaze on her physics textbook.

“Tomini,” he placed a hand on her shoulder but she brushed it off. “Sorry na.”

***
On Valentine’s Day, Tomini cooked jollof rice and fried turkey for dinner. Her mum had complained of fatigue and so she had to help her out. However, her mum refused to eat the jollof rice when it was ready. Instead, she demanded that Tomini bought her yam porridge from Sweet Sensations. Tomini protested; it was Valentine’s Day, there would be a crowd there. Her mum insisted she went, she had no choice.

The crowd wasn’t as frightening as she had anticipated. She got the food and was out of the eatery in barely fifteen minutes.

When she got home, she found her mum on the sofa eating noodles.

“Mum!” she shouted.

“Tomi, you’re back,” her mum said nonchalantly.

“Mummy, how can you be eating indomie when you sent me to buy porridge for you?! I went all the way to buy it and you’re here eating something else.”

“I just felt like eating indomie. Don’t be angry, don’t worry you just eat the food.”

“Mummy, you said you felt like eating porridge. You forced me to go and buy it. How did you just change your mind like that?” Tomini was confused and angry.

“I said don’t be angry. You can eat the porridge.”

“I already ate jollof,” she replied dropping the plastic bag carrying the food on the dining table. “I’ll give it to saheed. I can’t believe I just wasted my time, energy, oh God! Mummy, the next time you send me to buy you food I’m not going.”

If her mum heard her, she didn’t act like she had. She was busy with her plate of noodles.

“Tomi, please make one more indomie for me. I thought two will be enough for me.”

“Mummy, I’m tired. I want to sleep plus I have books to read.” Tomini strutted out to the gateman’s post with the plastic bag in hand. She found Saheed sitting on a wooden stool in front of his small shelter. He was very thankful for the food.

When she got back in, the sitting room was empty. She heard sounds coming from the kitchen so she knew her mum was in there, perhaps cooking more noodles for herself. She shook her head and hissed as she went up to her room.

As soon as she sat on the bed, a came from Esther came in. She let out a sigh.

“Hello?” she said into the phone.

“Hi bestie!” Esther said excitedly. “How are you?”

“What do you want?” Esther only used endearments for her when she wanted a favour. She knew something was up.

“Ah ahn, we are not fighting now. Calm down.”

“Esther, I know you want something, you never call me bestie. So just talk.”

“Okaaaay, do you have any Ankara top, Fine one o, preferably off shoulder or something peng sha.”

“Mtchew. I knew you wanted something from me. Anyways, I have, will bring it to school for you or when do you need it?”

“On Saturday, we have this teens’ programme in my church.”

“Why can’t you wear something you have? Must you wear an Ankara top?”

“I’m in the choir now, that’s our dress code for the day.”

“Why are you in the choir? Can you even sing?”

“Tomi, just shut up abeg. Bring the top tomorrow o, don’t forget.”

“You didn’t even say thank you, let’s see if I’ll bring it tomorrow,” Tomini said in feign anger.

Esther laughed. “Thank you, my one and only bestie.”

“Let Zainab hear you,” Tomini chuckled. “Goodnight.”

“Night, bestie.”

Tomini laughed and shook her head.

***
As the month drew to an end, Tomini became more anxious. Her exams were going to begin soon; she had been preparing but was not sure how well she was prepared for her exams. She wanted to pass once and for all.

“Do you have a pencil?” Michael asked in a low tone. They were sitting side by side in the library. She shook her head. He turned back to his textbook. Instead of doing the same, she found herself watching him. He had not smiled that day, teased or annoyed her. She wondered if something was wrong with him. He was always in a cheery mood.

“Michael, are you alright?” She decided to ask.

He nodded briskly, his face literally buried in his book.

Later, when she went back to her class, a junior student came in and told her that their food and nutrition teacher was calling her. She went to the Food and Nutrition Lab, wondering what the teacher wanted from her.

“Good afternoon, ma,” Tomini greeted, bowing her head slightly.

“Yes, afternoon dear,” the woman smiled at her and motioned for her to sit on one of the stools.

“I want you to help me mark some test scripts. I gave tests to all my classes this week now I have too much work to do. It’s objective so it will be easy to mark.”

“Okay, ma.”

She took some test papers off her table and placed them on the lab table in front of Tomini. She gave her the marking guide and some instructions for her to follow. She was there till closing and the teacher told her to come back the next day during her free time so she could record the scores. She gave her a cupcake before she left.