DAMOLA

Chapter 11

D

amola had always loved Saturdays. They signified that there was not much work to do or that there were plenty parties to attend. However, to her right now, Saturday was another uneventful, quiet, sunny day.

Damola got up to clean her room and put things in place. She had planned to watch a scary movie that morning because she couldn't imagine watching it at night but she had to eat first.

She jogged down the stairs and as usual, met Chichi busy in the kitchen while Aunty Ndidiamaka was already eating in the dining room.

"Good morning everybody"

"You're happy today. That's good. I hope you're ready to eat?"

Damola rolled her eyes. If Aunty Ndidiamaka was a therapist, her solution to everything would be food. " I am"

"Chichi please her egg and bacon. Damola, bread is in the fridge"

Damola walked to Chichi's side and whispered, "Please can you teach me to cook?"

Chichi was surprised. She looked at Damola's face like she wasn't sure of what she heard before replying, "Yes"

Damola smiled and got the bread from the fridge.

"I will be going out soon but the gardener will be arriving by 12 pm so both of you should expect him"

Damola's ears pricked up once she heard 'gardener'. This was a wish come true.

"Chichi what time will your sister arrive?"

"She said she would be here in the evening"

"Okay"

The day was going to be eventful after all.

Damola was watching the movie when the gardener arrived and started work.

She quickly stopped the movie then changed from the oversized shirt she wore, to a tank top and three qurter shorts. The gardener was about to have company.

"Good afternoon sir"

"Good afternoon" He replied, puzzled.

"I'm madam's niece"

"Oh! How are you?"

"I'm fine. Please what can I call you?"

"My name is Justin but my friends call me J.T"

Damola smiled, "It Okay. My name is Damola" was typical for most of these people to have names people could hail them with.

"You're Yoruba?"

"Yes I am but I'm familiar with both cultures: Igbo and Yoruba. J.T, I came to ask questions about flowers today"

"Okay"

"I want to start a garden but not here because it's not my house but I also want to start now. What plant can I start with?"

"Hmm do you want a crop or flowers?"

"Flowers "

"Well you can start with hibiscus, sunflowers..."

"Sunflowers grow in Nigeria?"

"Ahh yes oo"

"Wow I didn't know that"

"There's also ixora, casa lily, crown of thorns, bougainvilleas"

Damola smiled on hearing bougainvilleas but J.T. didn't notice. The bougainvillea flowering plant seemed to be somewhat magical to Damola. The way it framed houses or served as gateways to places, the way it clothed some bare, unpainted wall and transformed it to look like the doorway to a secret garden. "How do I plant a bougainvillea? I'd like to put it in a pot in my room"

"Those plants need sun oo. Does your room get enough sun?"

Damola explained to the gardener that she could see the sun rise every morning from her room and the sun's rays would be in her room up till about an hour after midday.

"Then you can plant it in a pot and see if it thrives. I'll get the plant from Aunty's own but you'll have to get the pot "

"Thank you very much" Damola said smiling widely. She even almost felt like hugging him.

She continued watching as he trimmed some flowers and transplanted some, while she asked him more questions.

The gardener was done by evening and Damola returned to the house. Entering her room she saw that she had missed calls from her mother and a text from her cousin, Nkem.

It was the normal conversation with her mother, talk about her well being and everything else.

Nkem asked her to call on FaceTime and Damola called her.
"Dammy! How are you?"

Nkem was probably on her bed."NK! I'm okay oo"

"How's the house? I miss the house a lot"

"Didn't you want to get a headstart this session? "

" I did. I have to. I didn't really do well last year so I have to this year. I can't wait for you to come over here. You'll be my junior"

" Please, all this seniority talk doesn't matter in the University and you know it"

Nkem laughed, " I know, I know. I'm just joking. I hope you're better now?"

" I am "

" Will you tell me what really happened soon? "

" Yes I will"

Before Damola could say more, Nkem told her that she had to go and the call ended. As soon as the call ended, Damola heard voices downstairs. She hadn't heard her aunt's car horn so it was probably Chichi's sister.

The two sisters were in Chichi's room by the time Damola got downstairs. Damola walked to the room and peeped in, "Hi Welcome"

Chika turned around, as she was backing the door, "Good evening"

She bore a striking resemblance to Chichi but looked older.
"You must be Chichi's sister. What's your name? "

"My name is Chika. You?"

"Damola. It's nice to meet you" Damola said with what felt like a polite smile to her. She closed the door and left the sisters to catch up.

All this nice things she was doing, she was not used to it and it was tiring. However, she had to it. It was part of being polite and she needed it to keep relationships. Just thinking about it stressed her but she was going to have to get used to it soon.

That incident had really shaken her up but she would survive.

During dinner in the evening, Damola noticed that Chika was a very jovial person. She had a lot of interesting things to say and moved her body a lot, maybe she was a dancer.

Damola imagined being friends with her, she looked like she could help her feel better about her social life. The sparkle in her eyes when she engaged Chichi in conversations, her contagious laughter and demonstrations while explaining, all intrigued Damola.