Aeipathy ➳ Normani ✓

twenty-two

Ayoola shook her head, "Madam-"

"My son could marry this rubbish woman and you won't help me? Do you not see how serious this is? She will corrupt my son. Do you care so little for me and my family that you will not help us in our time of need? You want an outsider to influence him? Have you lost your mind?"

Ayoola had no time to respond before she felt a hand slap through her face and then there were fingers tugging on her ears, pulling her this way and that. Ayoola tried not to scream. She knew it would be worse for her if she did.

"If you don't talk, you will have no food and swallow your spit for an entire week, I swear on your dead mother's grave!"

Ayoola's face was already soaked with tears and mucous ran down her nose. Her entire head burned with the pain of the assault being inflicted upon her and she was so racked with fear she felt as though her heart was about to stop.

"I'll talk, I'll talk!" Ayoola finally cried after Mrs Ikande had begun to pull on her hair.

It had been a while since this had last happened and she'd foolishly thought that if she acted good and did as was told, she could avoid it.

Madam Ikande tugged on her ears one more time and muttered something about her being an ungrateful bitch before she let go of her.

"Talk to me, I'm listening."

Ayoola fidgeted with her hands and asked God and Normani to forgive her.

"She mentioned to me once that she had dated a girl before..."

"Heh, do you hear this? And she praises God with that mouth?" Madam exclaimed, throwing her hands to the sky and shaking her head. She turned her attention to Ayoola who stood as still as a corpse as tears continued to flow down her face.

"Anything else?"

"No, Madam."

"Does she smoke? Have you heard her talking to any other men while she was here?"

"No, Madam."

"Did you see her reading any evil books? Eroticas and other works of the devil?"

"No, Madam. I've only ever seen her read the books that are in this house."

"Have you ever walked in on her touching herself or watching sinful videos on her phone?"

"No, Madam," Ayoola replied.

"If you breathe a word of this to my husband or my son then there will be hell to pay. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Madam," Ayoola replied.

"You know I can make your life very difficult for you. You have not forgotten what I did to you when you disobeyed me?"

"No, Madam."

"Now get your dirty body off of my clean chair and get out of my house, you lazy, foolish girl!"

Ayoola managed to scurry out of the kitchen like a rat caught in the light and ran back into her room before Madam could finish her sentence.

She spent the rest of the night crying.

×

Joseph's performance had been received so well that many people in the industry present wanted to talk to him after his set. He and Normani had stayed at the party for a few extra hours and had finally returned home in the late evening.

Normani had only been lying in bed for half an hour after a FaceTime call with Anika when Keith returned from work, worn and exhausted looking.

Normani had watched him undress with reflective, sombre eyes and had asked him, "what's the first thing you want to do when we get back to New York?"